Is Hell eternal?
William Branham taught the doctrine of "annihilationism" or "conditional immortality". He believed that Hell was not a place of eternal torment.
We cannot be sure where he copied it from but it is clear that this was not a doctrine that he came up with himself.
We know the William Branham referred to the writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers and it is clear from their writings that the following did not believe in the immortality of the soul:
- Barnabas,
- Clement of Rome,
- Hermas,
- Ignatius,
- Polycarb,
- Justin Martyr,
- Theophilus of Antioch,
- Irenaeus, and
- Clement of Alexandria,
It is likely, therefore, that William Branham picked up the doctrine from reading the works of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.
Quotes of William Branham
But, Eternity, and there’s only one type of Eternal Life, we found. Is that right? God has that Eternal Life, alone. Is that right? Only one type of Eternal Life. There is no such a word as “Eternal punishment.” Cause, if you’re to be punished for Eternity, you’ve got to have Eternal Life to be punished Eternally. You’d have to have Eter-…And if you got Eternal Life, you can’t be punished, see, if you got Eternal. “He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting Life.” Is that right? Eternal Life, because you believe. Well, if you’ve got Eternal Life, you can’t be punished, because you got Eternal Life. So, then, if you’re going to suffer in hell forever and forever, you got to have Eternal Life.
But, now, I do believe that the Bible teaches of a literal burning hell. The Bible teaches that, that the sins and wickedness will be punished, forever and forever. That’s not Eternity, now. That’s maybe for ten billion years. It may be for a hundred billion years, but sometimes it has to have an end. For, everything that had a beginning, has an end. It’s those things which has not a beginning, it has no end.
You remember that lesson now? [Congregation says, “Amen.”—Ed.] How we went back and found out that everything that had a beginning was perverted, see, a perversion off of the main. And, finally, it winds back up to an Eternity. And then all hell, all suffering, and all memory of such, will be vanished for Eternity. Everything that begin, ends.[1]
I believe in an Eternal death, same as I believe in an Eternal Heaven, but not an Eternal hell. There’s no such a thing as Eternal hell. There is an Eternal death for the people that are… . Many of them, religious, in the world today, has always been dead.[2]
Well, then there might be those who say eternal life signifies the welfare of the children of God. It is their welfare and enjoyment that is at stake. On the other hand the sinner goes to his punishment, so that we can reduce the second death to a matter of punishment and place. Eternal life means heaven, and eternal punishment means hell. You would be surprised at the men who have been exalted as theologians that believed that. But do you know what that does? It makes eternal life a matter of geography instead of a Person. Eternal life is God — the Lord Jesus Christ. How anyone could believe such a thing, that eternal life is a matter of place, is more than I know. It makes me stagger to think of it. No sir. There is only one kind of eternal life. God has it. If we have God, we have eternal life in and through Him. So you see, that word eternal, or everlasting, can be applied in various ways, but when it applies to God, He being what He is, it has one meaning. It is the duration of God. You can’t apply it like that to any other thing. God alone is eternal, and because He lives, we live with Him. Now don’t let anyone say that I don’t believe in a lake of fire and in punishment. I do. I don’t know how long it will last, but it will eventually be removed. In Revelation 21:8, it says that those sinners mentioned will have their part in the lake of fire. But the true interpretation of the word is not “part” but it is “time.” See, there you have it.[3]
Footnotes