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Notes to the Poem
1
No one, that is, in the area of the foothills where Brother Bird lived. Brother Bird’sposition may also be unique in that his argument rests solely on the wording of the EnglishBible (though the underlying Hebrew and Greek text bears the same eloquent testimony)
2
Matthew 3:10-12 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: thereforeevery tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeedbaptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat intothe garner; but he will BURN UP the chaff with unquenchable fire.3
Paul’s primary hermeneutic (method of interpretation) was simply “What
saith
it?”(Rom. 10:8), “What
saith
the scripture?” (Rom. 4:3; 11:2, 4; Gal. 4:30), and “It is
written
”(Rom. 1:17; 2:24; 3:4, 10; etc). For the Christian, the first appeal and final authority is thevery
words
of God in the very
Word 
of God, the certain and sufficient answer to the question“
What is written? 
” (Luke 10:26; 20:17).
4
Malachi 4:1 For, behold,
the day cometh, that shall burn as an ove
n; and all theproud, yea, and
all that do wickedly, shall be stubble
: and
the day that cometh shallBURN THEM UP
, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.(And verse 3 speaks of the wicked being “
ashes
under the soles of your feet.”)
5
Malachi speaks of “that day” in similar fashion to many Old and New Testament writers:“in
that day 
when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own sonthat serveth him” (3:17). “The great and dreadful day of the LORD” (4:5) is consistent withmany New Testament passages referring to the final judgment at the coming of Christ (Acts2:20; 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10). The contrast between the reward for therighteous and the punishment of the wicked is dramatically clear (Cf. Mal. 3:18; 4:2,3). Theelement of fire is prominent as in many other passages of final judgment (see chart on insideback cover). Does Malachi give any indication of conscious, eternal torment? To thecontrary, he states in lucid language that “the day that cometh shall
burn them up
.”
1
 
6
The duration of the
result 
is everlasting, but the nature and extent of the punishmentitself is a final consumption that is equal to utter destruction, not endless torment. If Malachi’s prophecy has already been fulfilled in past history in a temporal overthrow of Israel’s enemies, it nevertheless has eschatological intimations (“the coming of the great andterrible day of the L
ORD
”) that anticipates and illustrates the final judgment.
7
2 Peter 2:6 And turning the cities of 
Sodom and Gomorrha
into
ASHES
condemnedthem with an over-throw, making them
AN ENSAMPLE
unto those that after should liveungodly.Jude 1:7 Even as
Sodom and Gomorrha
, and the cities about them in like manner, givingthemselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for 
AN EXAMPLE,suffering the vengeance of ETERNAL FIRE.8
As in the statement of John the Baptist, we see that though the nature of the fire is of an unending quality, i.e. “eternal” (
unquenchable
- Matt. 3:12), the result of the fire isnevertheless final: “ashes.” (
will burn up
- Matt. 3:12). Because of the assumed errors of our traditional interpretation we have persistently read
endless conscious torment 
into thesepassages because of the adjective
eternal 
modifying the noun
fire
, and have remarkablyfailed to see that the result is clearly pronounced
final 
by the end product of the consumptivefire, which is ASHES. The wording is not “eternal
torment 
” but “eternal
fire
”- it is not“everlasting
suffering 
,” but “everlasting
destruction
”- it is not “unquenchable
chaff 
,” but“unquenchable
fire
.” John tells us what we readily should understand – that if a fire cannotbe put out, then what’s in it would certainly burn up, especially
chaff! 
Eternal fire turnedSodom and Gomorrah to
ashes
, and Christ will “BURN UP the chaff with UNQUENCHABLEFIRE.”
9
Let it be reiterated that the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrha that destroyed “all theinhabitants” (Genesis 19:24, 25), though temporal and earthly in scope, is asserted to be “an
ensample
unto those that after should live ungodly” and “set forth for an
example
, sufferingthe vengeance of eternal fire.” There is no inference here of eternal torment. The fire iseternal, but ashes are the everlasting result of a complete consumption and totaldestruction. This does not preclude torment (“suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”), nor demand instantaneous extinction, but it does exclude retribution that endlessly torments.
10
Please do not attach some worn-out yet sticky label of an aberrant doctrine or peculiar cult to this view. What is presented here is not the conclusion of a modern sect that has itsown sacred book, special revelation, or exclusive Bible translation. The reasons proposedare not the formulation of a liberal exegete who undermines the inerrancy and authority of Scripture, nor the rumination of a sentimental philosopher who questions the supernatural onthe basis of humanistic rationale. Most of my Christian friends would classify my personalbeliefs as conservative, orthodox, and evangelical (on the new birth, deity of Christ, andinspiration of Scripture, for example). See"About Us."
11
Someone asked, “If people were to think they will
 just 
burn up, then why would theycare about being a Christian?” The response: “If you were to convince professing Christiansthat they would only burn up anyway, and then they would respond
Just forget about it then
-Do you think they were really Christians to begin with?”
12
John 3:15,16 15 That whosoever believeth in him
should not PERISH, but haveETERNAL LIFE
. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, thatwhosoever believeth in him
should not PERISH, but have EVERLASTING LIFE.
2
 
13
 
The most familiar verse in the Bible teachesboth the conditional immortality of believers,and the ultimate end of unbelievers.
14
 The Scriptures use of the word
 perish
 makes a persuasive case for conditionalimmortality (eternal life as a gift to believers) and the complete everlasting destruction of thelost. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “For the preaching of the cross is to THEM THATPERISH foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).“Them that PERISH” are in contrast to “us which are SAVED,” as it is in 2 Corinthians 2:15,16: “them that are SAVED, and… them that PERISH.” To them that perish, Paul says “weare the savour of DEATH unto DEATH,” but unto them that are saved, “the savour of “LIFEunto LIFE,” reinforcing the connection of 
 perish
and
death
, and the contrast of 
 perish
and
life
. A similar distinction is made of 
 perish
and
life
in John 3:15, 16: “not PERISH but haveETERNAL LIFE… not PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE;” John 6:27: “meat whichPERISHETH… meat which endureth unto EVERLASTING LIFE;” and John 10:28: “I giveunto them ETERNAL LIFE; and they shall never PERISH.” Perish is contrasted withremaining in Hebrews 1:10, 11: “They shall PERISH; but thou REMAINEST.” All of the abovetexts emphasize the fact that the saved are distinct from “them that perish” in at least thisobvious difference: they do not perish.
15
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such
the second DEATH
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shallreign with him a thousand years.Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the secondDEATH.
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, andwhoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lakewhich burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second DEATH.16
Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment
: but therighteous into life eternal. 
WHAT IS THE PUNISHMENT?
The traditional view only asks and answers one questionhere: “
How long 
is the punishment?” They should also ask “
What is
the punishment?” Toillustrate what I mean, I will ask you to fill in the blank: EVERLASTING ___________? Yousay, “Punishment.” But, again, what IS the
 punishment? 
You say, “Torment.” And truly thatis how most people fill in the blank. They make of it punish-
ing 
, which in their mind includestorment and pain. BUT LET’S ALLOW SCRIPTURE TO FILL IN THE BLANK. The Biblepersistently says that the punishment is
destruction
(“who shall be
PUNISHED withEVERLASTING DESTRUCTION
” – 2 Thessalonians 1:9; “whose
end 
is DESTRUCTION” –Philippians 3:19; “broad is the way that leadeth to DESTRUCTION” – Matthew 7:13; “thewicked is reserved to the day of DESTRUCTION” – Job 21:30; “vessels of wrath fitted toDESTRUCTION” – Romans 9:22; “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will nothear that prophet (Christ) shall be DESTROYED” – Acts 3:23; “fear him which is able toDESTROY both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). Scripture consistently fills in theblank with destruction, not torment!
THE PROCESS OR THE RESULT?
Many have thought that endless torment is implicit interms that are describing as “everlasting” the
result 
, not the
 process
, of punishment anddestruction. The
result 
of the punishment
is
everlasting; therefore it is
everlasting 
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