The fire is eternal.
If everything including all the wicked the spirits where annihilated at some point, why would the fire be eternal?
Math 25:41
“Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!
Lucy, (other message timed out-this is the edited one)
You seem like an intelligent person and there are people here who were raised believing as you did--I was one of them--I didn't realize until just a few years ago that I was holding two incongruent thoughts in my mind. However, I prayed about it then studied it--no one taught Annihilationism to me--I didn't even know that term. It took a matter of minutes to see what was there all the time. The bible must be read as a whole--if it says people perish or are destroyed, then they can't also be suffering eternal torment. Torment in the context of Revelation is 'punishment'.
When reading Scriptures the context is vital. For example Jesus said He
only spoke to the people in parables and reiterates His point. He also tells the disciples He spoke using figurative language.
"All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in
parables, and He did
not speak to them without a parable."--Matthew 13:34
"“Though I have been speaking
figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father."--John 16:
Eternal Fire is also called
Eternal Punishment and
Eternal Destruction--these figures of speech are interchangeable. any word ending with 'ment'/'tion' means it is final, not ongoing
The first lie of Satan to mankind was "
You shall not surely die." But God had warned them beforehand--if they sinned against His commandment not to eat of the tree they would die. It's important to note that it says
IN THE DAY (not on) you eat of it--of course they did not die immediately, but
in that day, they received the death sentence that was pronounced for sinning for all mankind. But God 'covered' them with the animal skins, just as believers are covered by the righteousness of Christ.
Eternal conscious torment would mean the unbeliever also gets eternal life, but the bible says
only believers receive it--and it is called a 'gift. Burning forever is not a gift. Instead Scripture says:
"No man can see God and live."
"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."--2 Thessalonians 2:8