The words of Jesus are the lens through which I read scripture and this is where we find eternal torment. I have not seen good reason to be dismissive of what Jesus says about this. But I don’t agree with calling this disagreement heresy. Eternal conscious torment is not in the creed of Nicea 325 AD, and you find other options in the thinking of the church fathers.
As a punishment I quite agree. The only rational meaning I see in punishment is for behavior modification and thus if it lasts forever then it is a complete failure. However as natural logical consequences of our choices is completely different matter. Life is full of very harsh permanent consequences. Step off a tall building and there is no taking that back – the consequences are extreme and permanent. Therefore natural logical consequences which are harsh and permanent is what life teaches us about reality and pretending otherwise is to indulge in delusion and fantasy.
It is a wise observation of many atheists that we are all mostly atheist, for the number of gods and religious teachings we don’t believe in greatly outnumber the number we do believe in. So there are many versions of God I would never believe in, including many to be found with the Christians spectrum of belief. Likewise there are many version of hell I would never believe in either. Though most of the things which bother me and have rejected are other things than the three words you have focused on, “eternal conscious torment.” But let’s take a look at these words… and their combination…
- eternal - This is a word which Jesus has used Himself (…or Aramaic equivalent to the Greek used by the gospel writers). The alternative to something being eternal is that nothing we do has any consequences which cannot be escaped. This sounds like something itching ears would seek to hear – wishful thinking. And it doesn’t agree with what I see of people and life. Sin is addictive and escaping it seems to be exception rather than the rule, for which the word miracle is apt.
- conscious - This is not a word which Jesus has used, but it does fit what He describes in parables He tells.
- torment - Various words are used including κόλασιν (translated as punishment or torment), weeping and gnashing of teeth, fire, darkness, and others.
- eternal torment - its in the words of Jesus, Matthew 25:46
- conscious torment - the parable where Jesus describes a conscious experience (Luke 16) is definitely about the torment which a person experiences. Its not proof but very suggestive.
- eternal conscious - the same parable is about not being able to escape, but since sin does seem to diminish consciousness perhaps conscious torment does not remain undiminished forever.
I would rate the possibilities as follows (percent of how much I can support)
Eternal diminishing conscious torment as something we do to ourselves 100%
Diminishing conscious torment which eventually results in nonexistence. 90%
Eternal conscious torment as something we do to ourselves 90%
Universalism - God will somehow manage to get through to everyone 80%
Atheism and no existence after death and thus no torment at all 70%
Eternal conscious torment as something God does to people 20%
annihilationism - God destroys the souls/spirits of some people 0%
Atheism is an option for me and I would go for that rather than the last two. I will never believe in a torturer God, but my difficulties with annihilationism are even more profound – yanking the rug out from the reasons I believe in any of this religious stuff. Even supposing there is a torturer God, the creature would not have my support but only my condemnation. I would rather be the victim of such a devil-god than be one of its craven servants. But annihilationism? If we could escape it all by simply ceasing to exist then atheism is by far the more rational way of doing that. It just seems a bit too easy for me. That is the basis for believing in any of this religious stuff - thinking that we cannot escape from ourselves and the choices we made. Why the heck would we need to invent a magic man in the sky to make it all go away? That is just way too twisted for me.
And Matthew 10:28? I don’t think that is talking about God as some soul destroying monster. The one to fear most is not God. God is not our greatest threat and enemy. We are our greatest enemy. We are the one who can destroy our own spirit in hell. The proper fear of God is not because He is like some gunman criminal threating us with a big gun using fear to make us do what He wants as if cowardice were some kind of virtue – that sounds more like the devil to me.