The History of Conditional Immortality: Historical Arguments from the Early Church

Conditional Immortality (CI), also known as annihilationism or conditionalism, is the biblical teaching that immortality is not inherent to human nature but is a gift from God given only to those who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. This doctrine stands in contrast to the traditional view of eternal conscious torment and the universalist view of ultimate salvation for all.

The historical evidence demonstrates that conditional immortality was the predominant view in the early church for the first five centuries, before Augustine popularized the doctrine of eternal torment. As church historian Philip Schaff noted:

“In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six known theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa or Nisibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked.”
– Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church

The Apostolic Fathers (AD 70-150)

The Apostolic Fathers were Christian writers who lived in the generation immediately following the apostles. Their testimony is particularly valuable because they were taught either by the apostles themselves or by those whom the apostles had taught. Their writings consistently present immortality as God’s gift through Christ, while the fate of the wicked is described as death, destruction, and perishing.

The Didache (AD 70-100)

The Didache, also known as “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” is one of the earliest Christian documents outside the New Testament. It presents the doctrine of the “Two Ways”:

“There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.”
– Didache 1:1

The document emphasizes that life is found only in following Christ’s way, while the alternative leads to death and destruction, not eternal torment.

Clement of Rome (AD 96)

Clement, bishop of Rome, wrote his first epistle around AD 96. Anglican Prebendary Henry Constable’s extensive study revealed that Clement “never speaks of the immortality of the soul” nor of eternal punishing. Instead, Clement consistently uses biblical language:

“The wicked shall be destroyed from off the face of the earth… evildoers are to be cut off, along with the remembrance of them from the earth… God will destroy them, literally they are to be wiped out, and God will blot out even their name from under heaven.”
– 1 Clement (various passages)

Ignatius of Antioch (AD 35-107)

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, suffered martyrdom around AD 107. He viewed immortality as “the medicine of immortality” (pharmikon athanasias) available only through Christ:

“Breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but which causes that we should live forever in Jesus Christ.”
– Epistle to the Ephesians 20

“For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be.”
– Epistle to the Magnesians 10

Polycarp (AD 69-155)

Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and disciple of the apostle John, was martyred around AD 155. At his martyrdom, he contrasted human fire with God’s eternal fire:

“You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour and after a little while is quenched. For you are ignorant of that fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, kept for the wicked.”
– Martyrdom of Polycarp 11:2

The Epistle of Barnabas (AD 130-140)

This epistle, written in the early second century, clearly teaches the final destruction of the wicked:

“The way of eternal death with punishment… For he who keepeth these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; but he who chooseth other things shall be destroyed with his works.”
– Epistle of Barnabas 20-21

The Early Apologists (AD 100-200)

Justin Martyr (AD 100-165)

Justin Martyr, one of the most important early Christian apologists, explicitly taught that the wicked would cease to exist:

“God delays causing the confusion and destruction of the whole world, by which the wicked angels and demons and men shall cease to exist.”
– Second Apology 7

“For those things which exist after God, or shall at any time exist, these have the nature of decay, and are such as may be blotted out and cease to exist… For this reason souls both die and are punished.”
– Dialogue with Trypho 5

Irenaeus (AD 130-202)

Irenaeus, bishop of Gaul and student of Polycarp, was one of the most explicit conditionalists of the early church:

“And [God] laid down for [Adam] certain conditions: so that, if he kept the command of God, then he would always remain as he was, that is, immortal; but if he did not, he would become mortal, melting into the earth, whence his frame had been taken.”
– Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 15

“[God] imparts continuance for ever and ever on those who are saved… [But] they shall wish that they had been burned with fire [is said of] those who believe not on Him… there is a vengeance without pardon in the judgment.”
– Against Heresies 2.34.3

Theophilus of Antioch (AD 190)

Theophilus clearly taught that man was created neither mortal nor immortal by nature:

“Man was neither mortal nor immortal by nature… but was able to receive both. If he kept… the command of God, he would receive immortality as a reward from Him and would become like God, but if he… disobeyed God, he would be responsible for his own death.”
– Ad Autolycum 2.27

Later Ante-Nicene Fathers

Arnobius of Africa (AD 297-310)

Arnobius provided one of the clearest definitions of the conditionalist position:

“This is man’s real death, this which leaves nothing behind. For that which is seen by the eyes is only a separation of soul from body, not the last end—annihilation: this, I say, is man’s real death, when souls which know not God shall be consumed in long-protracted torment with raging fire.”
– Against the Heathen 2.14

Athanasius (AD 296-373)

Athanasius, the great defender of orthodox Christology, taught that immortality comes only through Christ:

“For the transgression of the commandment was making [men] turn back again according to their nature; and as they had at the beginning come into being out of non-existence, so were they now on the way to returning, through corruption, to non-existence again.”
– On the Incarnation 4-5

Postmortem Opportunity in Early Church Teaching

Many early church fathers also taught that Christ’s descent to Hades provided a postmortem opportunity for salvation, particularly for Old Testament saints and possibly others who had not heard the gospel:

Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215)

“If then, He preached the Gospel to those in the flesh that they might not be condemned unjustly, how is it conceivable that He did not for the same cause preach the Gospel to those who had departed this life before His advent?… All who believe shall be saved, although they may be of the Gentiles, on making their profession there.”
– Stromata 6.6

Hippolytus (AD 170-235)

“He showed all power given by the Father to the Son… of things under the earth, because He was also reckoned among the dead, preaching the Gospel to the souls of the saints, and by death overcoming death.”
– Treatise on Christ and Anti-Christ 26

Historical Summary Table of Early Church Teachers

Date	Quote from Early Church Father	CI Explanation & Postmortem Teaching
AD 70-100	The Didache: “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.”	CI Teaching: Life and death are presented as the only two destinies. The righteous receive life; the wicked face death, not eternal torment. Postmortem: No explicit teaching on postmortem opportunity in this document.
AD 96	Clement of Rome: “Through Jesus Christ… we look steadfastly to the heights of heaven… we see as in a mirror His spotless and transcendent visage… to us salvation and life eternal.”	CI Teaching: Eternal life is given only through Christ. The wicked are destroyed completely – “wiped out” with even their names blotted out. Postmortem: No explicit postmortem teaching recorded.
AD 107	Ignatius of Antioch: “Why do we foolishly perish, not recognizing the gift which the Lord has of a truth sent to us?” “For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be.”	CI Teaching: Immortality is Christ’s gift, not inherent. The wicked will “cease to be” – complete cessation of existence. Death means non-existence. Postmortem: No explicit teaching on postmortem opportunity.
AD 130-140	Epistle of Barnabas: “Eternal death with punishment… he who chooseth other things shall be destroyed with his works. On this account there will be a resurrection, on this account a retribution.”	CI Teaching: “Eternal death” is the second death. The wicked are destroyed along with their works – complete annihilation after judgment. Postmortem: No explicit postmortem teaching.
AD 155	Polycarp: “You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour… For you are ignorant of that fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment.”	CI Teaching: The eternal fire is unquenchable and irresistible, consuming the wicked completely. Eternal in quality and effect, not duration of torment. Postmortem: No explicit teaching recorded.
AD 100-165	Justin Martyr: “The wicked angels and demons and men shall cease to exist.” “Souls both die and are punished.”	CI Teaching: Explicitly states the wicked will cease to exist. The soul is mortal and can die. Only God is inherently immortal. Postmortem: Taught that Christ preached to souls in Hades.
AD 130-202	Irenaeus: “How, again, can he be immortal, who in his mortal nature did not obey his Maker?” “[Souls] endure as long as God wills that they should have an existence.”	CI Teaching: Man becomes mortal through sin. God alone determines duration of existence. The wicked face complete cessation of being. Postmortem: “The Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent there also, and the remission of sins received by those who believe in Him.”
AD 150-215	Clement of Alexandria: “The Lord saves all universally; but some as converted by punishments, others by voluntary submission.” “If in this life there are so many ways for purification and repentance, how much more should there be after death!”	CI Teaching: Some held universalist views, others conditionalist. Punishment has a remedial purpose. Postmortem: Strongly taught postmortem evangelism: “Did not the same dispensation obtain in Hades, so that even there, all the souls, on hearing the proclamation, might either exhibit repentance, or confess?”
AD 185-254	Origen: “He dwelt among those souls which were without bodily covering, converting such of them as were willing to Himself.”	CI Teaching: Origen taught universal restoration (apokatastasis) – all would eventually be saved through purification. Postmortem: Extensive teaching on Christ preaching in Hades to all souls, not just Old Testament saints.
AD 190	Theophilus of Antioch: “Man was neither mortal nor immortal by nature… If he kept the command of God, he would receive immortality as a reward.”	CI Teaching: Man created with potential for either mortality or immortality. Immortality is conditional upon obedience to God. Postmortem: No explicit teaching recorded.
AD 170-235	Hippolytus: “It behooved Him to go and preach also to those who were in Hell, namely those who have once been disobedient.”	CI Teaching: Accepted conditional immortality. The wicked face destruction. Postmortem: Extended Christ’s preaching beyond Old Testament saints to include the disobedient, referencing 1 Peter 3:19-20.
AD 297-310	Arnobius: “This is man’s real death, this which leaves nothing behind… annihilation: this is man’s real death, when souls which know not God shall be consumed.”	CI Teaching: Clearest definition of annihilation – “nothing left behind.” Distinguished first death (separation) from final death (annihilation). Postmortem: No explicit teaching recorded.
AD 296-373	Athanasius: “As they had at the beginning come into being out of non-existence, so were they now on the way to returning, through corruption, to non-existence again.”	CI Teaching: The wicked return to non-existence. Man is mortal by nature, gaining immortality only through Christ. Postmortem: “Descended to them to make known to them His salvation, that they might be saved.”

The Shift to Eternal Torment

The doctrine of eternal conscious torment gradually gained prominence through the influence of Greek philosophy, particularly Platonism, which taught the inherent immortality of the soul. This shift accelerated with Augustine (AD 354-430), who had been a Neoplatonist before his conversion:

“There are very many in our day who, though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments.”
– Augustine, acknowledging the prevalence of conditionalist views in his time

Augustine’s influence, combined with his lack of Greek language skills (he relied on Jerome’s Latin translation), helped establish eternal torment as the dominant view in the Western church. However, the Eastern Greek-speaking churches continued to lean toward universal restoration or conditional immortality for centuries.

Key Historical Observations

Conclusion

The historical evidence demonstrates that conditional immortality was not a fringe belief but rather the dominant understanding in the early church. The testimony of the Apostolic Fathers – those closest to the apostles themselves – uniformly presents immortality as God’s gift through Christ, while the fate of the wicked is consistently described as death, destruction, and complete cessation of existence.

This historical foundation, combined with careful biblical exegesis, provides strong support for the conditionalist position. The early church’s understanding, expressed by those who spoke the original languages and lived closest to the apostolic era, deserves serious consideration in our ongoing theological reflection.

As LeRoy Froom concluded after his exhaustive historical study:

“Immortality is by them asserted to be peculiar to the redeemed. The punishment of the wicked is by them emphatically declared to be everlasting. Not one stray expression of theirs can be interpreted as giving any countenance to the theory of restoration after purgatorial suffering. The fire of hell is with them, as with us, an unquenchable one; but its issue is, with them as with Scripture, ‘destruction,’ ‘death,’ ‘loss of life.'”
– LeRoy E. Froom, The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers