So I asked you a question and you deflected by asking me a series of questions in return. I'll assume that this was a perfectly understandable response.
However, it did nothing to address my curiosity. Will the sinner's soul be destroyed in hell... implying that their punishment isn't eternal... or was Luke's statement somehow in error, either because it's been mistranslated over the years, or it wasn't meant to be taken literally in the first place. I mean we all do this from time to time... say things that aren't quite correct if taken literally.
Or maybe there's something other than the body and soul that survives hellfire, and eternal punishment applies to that. I just don't know.
So personally, I don't know why scripture seems to contradict itself on this topic, but it certainly seems to, so I'm simply curious as to how you as a Baptist reconcile eternal punishment with the soul being destroyed in Gehenna. It's just me being curious about something that I can't personally explain, and hoping that you could help clarify it for me.
Firstly, Mat. 10:28 uses the phrase "destroy both body and soul in hell," whereas Luke 12:5 uses the phrase "cast into hell." Therefore, the term "destroy" is associated with Matthew. Here is Jamieson, Fausset & Brown's commentary: "
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell--A decisive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternal world; in other words, that the torment that awaits the lost will have elements of suffering adapted to the
material as well as the spiritual part of our nature, both of which, we are assured, will exist for ever."
Strong's lexicon indicates the word does not have to mean total annihilation (out of existence), with definitions such as: put out of the way entirely, render useless, (metaphorically) to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell, to perish, to be lost, ruined, to lose.
The point of the statement is that God is the one to respect above man.
John Gill's commentary: "to torment and punish both body and soul "in hell", in everlasting burnings; for neither soul nor body will be annihilated; though this he is able to do. As the former clause expresses the immortality of the soul, this supposes the resurrection of the body; for how otherwise should it be destroyed, or punished with the soul in hell?"
Dr. Constable's interpretation: "Destroy here does not mean annihilation, but ruination. The same Greek verb appears in 9:17, and describes ruined wineskins. Note that the body can die, but the soul cannot."
Bengel commentary: "ἀπολέσαι, to destroy, to ruin. It is not said to kill: the soul is immortal."
People's NT Commentary: "Fear God, who can condemn the soul to banishment. The command is to fear not the displeasure of man, but that of God."
Most commentaries I have access to don't say one way or another. My point in the previous post was that we should examine all scripture on the subject in order to make a proper assessment. Other scriptures are clear that the punishment of evildoers is eternal.
I hope this answers your question.