What is the official position of the Jehovah's Witnesses in regards to hell, specifically the doctrine of annihilation which says that people will not go on existing, that eventually God will just extinguish some/all souls rather than leaving them in a state of eternal punishment.
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2 Answers
Short answer: Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in Hell.
Longer answer: Technically, Jehovah's Witnesses do believe in Hell, but (a) their beliefs about Hell are quite unusual, and (b) they generally don't use the name "Hell". (So it's simpler to say they don't believe in Hell.)
Even longer answer: The Biblical words usually translated as "Hell" are the Hebrew She'ol and the Greek Hades. Witnesses use these words (more often She'ol, in my experience, but the two can be used interchangeably), but they can occasionally use the English word Hell to describe the same concept. She'ol is not a place, physical or otherwise, but a condition: it is the state of non-existence. And everyone, when they die, simply ceases to exist (see next paragraph for an exception). This applies even to Jesus: when he died, he died. And then was raised after three days. So too the other resurrections in scripture: they were brought back from nothingness.
This applied also to the 144,000 anointed ones. They died. And then they were resurrected to Heaven in 1914. Any anointed who have died since 1914 are resurrected straight to heaven, in a "twinkling of an eye". So that's the exception.
In the new world order, many people from She'ol (Hell) will be resurrected. Those who rebel will, at the end, be thrown into the lake of fire. This indicates complete annihilation: the same sort of non-existence as in She'ol, but without any chance of future resurrection.
Another term sometimes confused with Hell is Tartarus, which I believe is used only once in the Bible. The Witnesses believe that's a completely different thing: it's the condition of the Devil and his demons cast out of Heaven.
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1This might be another question, but what happened in 1914 to make it such a pivotal year for JWs? Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 16:13
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@AffableGeek. It was the end of the Gentile Times. Long story, the details of which I forget. It would indeed make a good question.– TRiGCommented Oct 1, 2012 at 16:37
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The 7th Day Adventists are very similar to JW's on this topic. I would point out that the reason they "cease to exist" is because they deny any existence of an immortal soul that departs the body upon death. Adventists do often say hell, though, but sometimes say hellfire, implying that it is an event of sorts that destroys.– user3961Commented Jun 30, 2014 at 21:59
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2@AffableGeek - JWs had a habit of announcing definitive dates based on what they would consider to be educated calculations. The Watchtower Society has (since something like 1930 or so) moved to uncertain dates since their physically provable prediction rate had basically a 100% failure rate. 1914 is a physically unprovable event, so there's no harm in maintaining the stance that this is indeed the year when Jesus took his place. Nowadays, they just say we are clearly in the last days.– BubblesCommented Oct 2, 2014 at 0:18
Q. "Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe in annihilation?"
A. Yes.
We whole heartedly believe in what is stated under divine inspiration of God's holy spirit found at 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 and 2 Peter 3:7... and I quote:
"This takes into account that it is righteous on God’s part to repay tribulation to those who make tribulation for YOU, 7 but, to YOU who suffer tribulation, relief along with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels 8 in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. 9 These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 at the time he comes to be glorified in connection with his holy ones and to be regarded in that day with wonder in connection with all those who exercised faith, because the witness we gave met with faith among YOU." ~ 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
"But by the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment AND OF DESTRUCTION OF THE UNGODLY MEN." ~2 Peter 3:7
Consequently, contrary to popular but highly erroneous belief, we who are members of the unified worldwide Christian congregation of Jehovah's most certainly DO in fact firmly believe in Hell / Sheol / Hades / The Grave as it's stated numerous times within God's Word the Bible. However, we DON'T believe that Hell / Sheol / Hades / The Grave is a place of everlasting literal fiery torment that God Almighty sends the wicked to roast forever. In short, we believe that the Bibles teaching on what Hell / Sheol / Hades / The Grave truly is, is VERY different from what the overwhelming vast majority of the Churches of Christendom are and have been teaching people.
For example, by the use of God given reasoning skills and God's Word the Holy Bible, we find that both Adam & Eve were created PERFECT when God made them (Gen 1:31; Deuteronomy 32:4), they were flawless as far as Jehovah God was concerned regarding His standards for humans. When Adam & Eve of their own God given free-will chose to defy God and take of the forbidden fruit, they became IMPERFECT (no longer met up to God's perfect standard in human beings) and through Adam ALL of us humans inherit sin, sickness and death (Romans 3:23, 5:12).
Here's the point... Where in scripture did Jehovah God eternally send Adam to as his punishment for DELEBERATELY sinning against God?
Keep in mind also that what Adam did was not a mistake *because he knew exactly what he was doing*, he wasn't deceived / fooled into eating the forbidden fruit as his wife Eve had been (1 Timothy 2:14).
It is from and through our ancient forefather Adam that sin and death entered the world and is passed on to we who are of the human race and therefore by reason of necessity and JUSTICE, whatever Adam received as his punishment, we who are from Adam receive the exact same punishment passed on to us and our children as the inheritance of Sin:
"And Jehovah God proceeded to take the man and settle him in the garden of E′den to cultivate it and to take care of it. 16 And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it YOU WILL POSITIVELY DIE.”" ~ Genesis 2:15-17
"And to Adam he said: “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and took to eating from the tree concerning which I gave you this command, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground on your account. In pain you will eat its produce all the days of your life. 18 And thorns and thistles it will grow for you, and you must eat the vegetation of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.”" ~ Genesis 3:17-19
Rather than a fiery place of torture / torment, Adam was sentenced back to the dust from whence he was created from, he returned back to being non-existent. That's what the Bible also shows happens to we who are his sinful descendants.
Thanks to Almighty Jehovah God through Christ there has been made a glorious way out of this otherwise hopeless condition! Again though... That's for another topic. ;-)
NOTE: I am a dedicated and baptized member of the worldwide unified Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
