Key Scripture: “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:28-29).

The objective of The Justice for the Wicked Approach is to show Jehovah’s Witnesses that the Watchtower’s everlasting-nonexistence-of-the-wicked doctrine is neither just nor biblical.

Why it matters (pp. 249-250)

“What would you think of a parent who held his child’s hand over a fire to punish the child for wrongdoing? ‘God is love.’ (1 John 4:8). Would he do what no right-minded human parent would do? Certainly not!”

This emotional Watchtower challenge often flusters Christians. If you defend the doctrine of hell, you seem to be portraying God as a sadistic monster. On the other hand, if you accept the illustration and argument, you are conceding that the Watchtower is right and that Christian teaching is wrong.

The Watchtower calls the concept of conscious everlasting punishment of unrepentant human beings a “God-dishonoring doctrine” originated by Satan as a slander on God. It states, “Hellfire is not a Bible teaching. The very idea of eternal torment is repugnant to God. His maximum punishment for the wicked is to revoke the gift of life.”

It teaches that human beings do not have conscious souls or spirits which survive death. When people die, they simply go out of existence. That is the end of them unless God chooses to resurrect them. If God does resurrect someone but they later rebel, God will annihilate them.

The unexpected approach (p. 250)

This one-size-fits-all punishment raises moral and biblical issues Jehovah’s Witnesses never consider. Your approach will be to question the justice of the Watchtower’s everlasting-nonexistence-of-the-wicked doctrine in light of biblical revelation.

Begin this way: “The Watchtower teaching that the wicked will all receive the identical punishment of everlasting nonexistence troubles me. Doesn’t justice require different levels of punishment? Otherwise, wouldn’t an unrepentant petty thief receive the identical punishment for his sins as Hitler receives for his? That doesn’t seem right to me. What am I missing?”

Justice requires gradations of punishment (pp. 250-252)

Don’t let them put you on the defensive. If they ask you if you think everlasting fiery torment is justice, point out that all you have said so far is that it seems to you that justice requires gradations of punishment, not a one-punishment-fits-all system. Ask them to explain why that is wrong.

Most likely, this will surprise them because they have been taught to believe that the doctrine of hell is a one-size-fits-all torture of the wicked. However, that is not what the Bible teaches. Although it describes hell in terms of fire, it is clear from the Scriptures that the punishment of the unrepentant is individualized in accordance with the extent of their sins and the amount of spiritual light they had available to them.

Here are some scriptures you can show them. Have them read them aloud and ask for their feedback.

  • Matthew 11:20-24: Jesus says that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon that for Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.
  • Luke 12:47-48: Jesus says that punishment will be far greater for a servant who knows his master’s will and fails to do it than for a servant who didn’t know what the master wanted.
  • Hebrews 10:28-29: “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

What about Satan?

The Watchtower teaches that Satan himself will not undergo conscious everlasting punishment. Instead, God will annihilate him. Ask them to explain how that is justice. Surely, Satan deserves far worse punishment than Adolf Hitler and all the other tyrants of human history combined.

Have one of the Witnesses read aloud Revelation 19:20 where the beast and false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. In Revelation 20:2-3, Satan is then bound and sealed into the abyss for 1000 years. Revelation 20:10 indicates that at the end of the 1000 years, “… the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Ask:

  • If the beast and false prophet were annihilated in the lake of fire, how is it that they are still there 1000 years later and capable of being tormented?
  • When even the Watchtower translation says that “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever,” is it truly unreasonable and “God-dishonoring” for me to conclude that they will be tormented day and night forever and ever?

A footnote in the Watchtower Bible claims that “tormented” means being “restrained” or “imprisoned.” That is a unique definition of torment, but even assuming that it were accurate, if a person is completely gone, in what sense is he being restrained or imprisoned? How can even God restrain or imprison someone who no longer exists?

Study Questions

  1. How would you answer a Jehovah’s Witness who quotes you these arguments of the Watchtower: “What would you think of a parent who held his child’s hand over a fire to punish the child for wrongdoing? ‘God is love.’ (1 John 4:8). Would he do what no right-minded human parent would do? Certainly not!… Hellfire is not a Bible teaching—the very idea of eternal torment is repugnant to God. His maximum punishment for the wicked is to revoke the gift of life.” (pp. 249-250)
  1. Which form of punishment of unrepentant sinners seems more just to you—everlasting conscious torment in Hell or annihilation by God (permanent non-existence). Why? (pp. 249-252)
  1. Jehovah’s Witnesses think “hellfire” would be an unjust one-size-fits-all punishment. They don’t realize that their teaching—annihilationism of the wicked—would be subject to the same objection. Please read the following scriptures aloud. How might you use each of them to show Jehovah’s Witnesses that the Bible teaches gradations of punishment? (pp. 250-252)
  • Matthew 11:20-24
  • Luke 12:47-48
  • Hebrews 10:28-29
  1. Revelation 20:10 prophesies: “… the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Somehow, the Watchtower has convinced Jehovah’s Witnesses that this means they will be annihilated rather than subjected to conscious punishment. What questions might you ask to lead Witnesses to reconsider this interpretation? (pp. 253-254)