Will Evil Men Be Annihilated?

An individual once asked me, “Some of our religious friends suggest that from the text in Matthew 10:28, evil men will be completely annihilated (put out of existence) by God through the use of the word, "destroy." Is this true?”

If this is the case, then the rich man in Luke 16:19-31 certainly refutes this argument, since he was aware and conscious of his surroundings plus the fact he was able to communicate with Abraham (Luke 16:24-31).

W.E. Vine in his Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words, defines the word “destroy” (Gk. apollumi – Strong’s 622) as used in Matthew 10:28 as “not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being.”

We also have an example in the Old Testament of God’s people (Israel) being “destroyed” (Heb. damah – Strong’s 1820 – Hosea 4:6 – marginal reading – Heb. “cut off”) because they “rejected” the knowledge of God.

Obviously, they were not completely put out of existence (cf. Hosea 4:7-19;5:1-15).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

Related Articles:

• Can The Soul Be Destroyed?
• Will Wicked People Be Annihilated in Hell?
• The Eternity of Hell - Does Destruction Imply Annihilation?