”I too have problems with people suffering forever in hell. Infinite punishment seems out of proportion to finite sin.”
”Fortunately, the Bible no where reveals people will suffer forever in hell. I have studied it carefully and it seems quite clear that the wicked will be destroyed to nothing.”
Fascinating! I must confess to having similar thoughts: eternal damnation, sans eternal punishment. Appropriate it would be . . . that those who deny the existence of God and believe they are destined to live their allotted three score and ten (or perhaps even just the least little bit more) and are then to be consigned to eternal oblivion, should indeed suffer that precise fate. Merciful, too . . . that they should be granted their exact expectation . . . no mental anguish at separation, no physical suffering . . . just the total cessation of all sentience. Nothing but nothing, as it were.
Have you a citation of passages you would care to pass on? I would be most grateful.
Here's a suggestion made in all seriousness. Read through the entire Bible yourself looking specifically just for all the verses on that topic. Can be done in a month or two.
Of course, if you're not already a Bible reader, then probably you wouldn't really be "most" grateful if someone else did the work for you, since you don't value it enough to do it yourself.
By the way, I know someone who reads through the entire Bible twice a year topically in this way, picking a different topic each time as the Holy Spirit leads. I'm not quite that ambitious myself, reading at more like half his pace, but with the same purpose.