Are you a JW?
No, I’m not JW nor am I SDA.
This is not directed at you, but to ask that question because I believe in CI is a bit like asking a believer in ECT if he is a muslim.
i.e. many of our beliefs do agree with some of the beliefs of other religions, though we may differ from those religions vehemently on other issues.
I used to believe in ECT until I studied it. I find that is the case with a lot of people on a lot of issues. We tend to believe what a “mature” Christian teaches us because they’ve been one longer, or they taught it to us as a child. But often it turns out they learned the same way. And so the circle goes.
Thing is, once one really reads the actual words in the scriptures involving the fate of the lost, it becomes more and more clear. Further, as one reads scripture and prays, one gets more of an understanding of the personality of God. The more I’ve done that, the more the “death” scenario matches His personality in scripture and the less the “ECT” scenario fits.
You’ve heard people say that the bible says that money is the root of all evil, even though most of us know that it is the LOVE of money that is the problem rather than money itself. Well, a similar thing is going on with eternity. It talks of eternal fires, unquenchable fires, worms that don’t die, etc. That is discussing something other than the person affected by it. The method and place may be eternal and the fate of the person may be eternal, but the person is described as destroyed, death etc. over and over in the bible. What kills them may go on but they are, in fact, dead.
Even the scripture about weeping and gnashing of teeth is often twisted. First, gnashing of teeth is a common phrase in the bible. It always means anger. Second, people say that that condition is eternal, but the bible never places a time frame on it. It is purely inferred and, in my opinion, incorrectly so.
I could go on and on. Go to youtube and watch Ed Fudges video (over an hour long) about the fire that consumes or read the book. Check out Rethinkinghell.com. There are some excellent resources there.
The bottom line is that once one comes to the CI position, the whole motivation thing changes. You are Christ’s because you DESIRE to be, not because you are trying to get out of hell. The latter goes against His teaching about salvation.