Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) 📕

turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, MAKING THEM AN EXAMPLE TO THOSE WHO AFTERWARD WOULD LIVE UNGODLY" New King James Version.
• "And God also destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them until they were ashes. HE MADE THESE CITIES AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST GOD" New Century Bible.
• "And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [AND THUS] SET THEM FORTH AS AN EXAMPLE TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE UNGODLY" The Amplified Bible.
• "God reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemning them to total ruin AS AN OBJECT LESSON FOR THE UNGODLY IN FUTURE DAYS" Revised English Bible.
If Sodom and Gomorrah are an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, how could the ungodly have an eternal life of torment? These cities were both reduced to ashes and when there was nothing more to burn, the fire went out. They are an example of extinction, of total destruction, not of eternal torment.
What is Sodom an example of?
"Condemned them too extinction" -- Sodom -- or an eternal life of torment?
"Condemned them too extinction" -- ungodly - or an eternal life of torment?
Does anyone think Sodom is now being tormented in Hell today? If it is not, then how is it an example of being tormented in Hell?
WILL THERE BE DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL? Christ spoke of the Day of Judgment for lands or cities.
1. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum [Matthew 11:21-24, Luke 10:10-12].
2. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the cities that did not receive those He sent out [Matthew 10:14-15, Mark 6:11, Luke 10:10-12].
There is no mention of eternal punishment of any individual and no mention of Hell in any of these passages. The punishment spoken of is a punishment of cites and took place IN THE DAY WHEN GOD JUDGED AND DESTORYED THEM, NOT IN HELL. HELL OR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT MENTIONED IN ANY OF THESE PASSAGES. Those who believe in Hell read it in. WHEN ARE CITIES AND NATIONS JUDGED? WHEN IS THEIR DAY OF JUDGMENT TO BE? "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades" [Matthew 11:23]. It was a great city but would go down to hades-the grave. Today, there are only a few ruins of Capernaum. They went from greatness to non-existence. From exalted to heaven to the grave [hades].
Nations and cities will not be judged at the judgment at the coming of Christ. Matthew 24 is of the judgment of Jerusalem [Matthew 23:36-38]. ALL THESE CITIES HAVE HAD A DAY OF JUDGMENT AND WERE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE GRAVE. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT FOR THEM IS PAST. The destruction of Sodom was quick and soon over. The destruction of Jerusalem, which saw and rejected Christ was long and drawn out with much more suffering, therefore, much less tolerable. The Day of Judgment for a city or a nation is the time when God will cause it to be destroyed. The Old Testament is full of God's days of judgment on nations and cities.
"Punished by death and destruction, neither Sodom nor Gomorrah ever again became a living city. Rather, the two joined as one became a symbol of total destruction as used by Moses and the prophets (Deuteronomy 29:23; Isaiah 1:9; 3:9; Jeremiah. 49:18; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2:9), By Jesus (Luke 17:29), and by the apostles (II Peter 2:6; Jude 7; Romans 9:29)." Homer Hailey, "God's Judgments and Punishments of Nations and Individuals" Page 30.
"From that day until this day, Sodom and Gomorrah have symbolized God's fierce hatred of all immorality...The grave of Sodom and Gomorrah is not covered with fertile soil bearing grass, forests, and crops like other cities of antiquity, No, its grave is covered by the Salt Sea, the Dead Sea...God has utilized this symbol of his wrath over and over throughout the history of the world...Sodom represents brazen evil followed by the judgment of God from which none can escape...Thus, Sodom symbolizes utter ruin and desolation...When God rained 'brimstone and fire' upon Sodom, He literally turned the city 'into ashes.'" Ron Halbrook, "Sodom and Gomorrah..." Page 594, Guardian of Truth, October 3, 1991.
"AS AN EXAMPLE" Jude 7: If they are an example, what do they teach if is not that those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire will no longer exist.
• "They were overthrown in the wilderness" - They died in the wilderness [1 Corinthians 10:5].
• "Fell in one day three and twenty thousand" - Twenty-three thousand died in one day [1 Corinthians 10:8]. Not “Twenty-three thousand were eternally tormented in one day.”
• "Some of them made trial, and PERISHED by the serpents" - Those bit by the serpents died, they were not eternally tormented by the serpents [1 Corinthians 10:9].
• "Some of them murmured, and PERISHED by the destroyer" - They were killed [1 Corinthians 10:10].
• "Unto the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and DESTROYED them all" [Luke 17:27]. They died in the flood, not still being tormented by it.
o "Perished" and "destroyed" means death, not torment.
Some seem to think there will there be a resurrection and judgment of cities? If so, will the individuals of these cities be judged as individuals or as a part of the cities or both? If cities will be judged at the judgment day at the coming of Christ, then God would be condemning people for where they live, not for what they did or did not do themselves. BUT, EITHER WAY (1) If this is God's judgment day on their cities when they were destroyed (2) or even if God did judge cities in the judgment day at the coming of Christ, there is nothing said about an immortal soul or about God tormenting anyone in Hell. Hell is read into it. If the judgment is "in the Day of Judgment," it could not be in Hell after the Day of Judgment is over.
ANOTHER PASSAGE THAT IS SOMETIMES USED TO TEACH THERE BE DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL. When will the many or few stripes be? The master "will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces" [Luke 12:46]. THIS WILL BE WHEN THE MASTER COMES, whether this is speaking of His coming in judgment on Israel or His coming in judgment on the world. Nothing is said about the stripes being in Hell, but Hell is read into it. If the stripes will be given forever, the few would last as long as the many, therefore, they would be the same. A few would not be a few if they were given forever; both would be a countless and forever growing number of stripes. There would be no difference in the few and the many for both would last forever and have no end. Many and few are not specific as to how many, but both are a limited number of stripes, therefore could not last forever. Neither Hell nor forever are in this passage but both are read into it.
Anyone must reject many plain statements of the Bible to believe man has an immortal soul that will forever be tormented in Hell. The Bible does not support today's Hell fire preaching. It flatly opposes it.

THE NOTHING CAN BE DESTROYED ARGUMENT
In his reply to my article "From Where Came Hell" Csonka says, "They [bottles, gold, and sheep...spirits] would be in a state of detriment and not annihilation" [Truth Magazine, 1995, Page 17]. He makes broken bottles, and our spirits after death have the same "state." Will the bottles be "annihilation" after the earth is destroyed, or will they still be in the same "state" as our spirit? Does he think earthly bottles will be in Heaven? All the elements [atoms] in a tree come from the soil, and were created when God made the earth; and when a tree is burnt, the elements go back to the earth. They existed before the tree did, and will exist after the tree unto the end of the earth [Peter 3:12]. Does he think that a tree was a tree before the seed came up? But worst of all, does he think the all wise and all knowing God could not have used symbols that taught what He wanted to teach? He is saying matter cannot be destroyed, not even when it is burnt up, it just changes back to the base elements from which the bottle was made, therefore, the soul can never be destroyed. WHAT BASE ELEMENTS DOES HE THINK THE SOUL [the "immaterial, invisible part of man"] IS MADE OF THAT IT WILL GO BACK TO AT THE DEATH OF THE BODY? WHEN SOMETHING BURNS UP, ARE THE ASHES THAT REMAIN CONSCIOUS AND IN TORMENT? When a bottle changes back to the base elements, it is no longer a bottle; what does he think the soul is if it has changed from a soul back to its base elements, and what does he think are the base elements of a soul that he believes has no substance? Is he saying only the materials of which souls are made are in existence? A bottle has substance, but according to today's theology the soul has no substance. He is making a comparison of something he says has no substance with the substance of a bottle that was destroyed. Is he saying only the base element of a soul that has no base element, no substance, is in Abraham's bosom? He has made death be nothing but "a loss of well-being," or "a loss of all the quality of life." Therefore, life can be nothing but "well-being." The elements of tree and the elements that a person are made of existed before the tree or the person and will exist after their death, but they were not a person before his or her birth and are not after his or her death. The elements that make up my body existed from the time God made the earth, but I did not exist before my birth. If a dead body is burned, the smoke and ashes remain but are they still the person? The base elements of all things were made out of nothing and will go back to nothing at the end of the world, therefore, his argument, that nothing can be destroyed is not true for all things will be destroyed. When anyone tries to prove an error, they have to fall back on human wisdom and misusing or changing God's word. With all love and respect, this is one of the most far out arguments I have ever heard. He must have needed something very badly with which to prove his teaching. THE IMPACT OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST IN THESE PARABLES IS SO STRONG THAT SOME WOULD MAKE THE WORDS OF CHRIST BE SAYING NOTHING JUST TO GET AWAY FROM IT. If a tree cannot be destroyed, then Christ the master teacher is saying nothing. They make Christ to be just a "vain babbler," speaking things that cannot be; for if they do not, then their Hell could not be.
The same science that tells us nothing can be