- He was apparently much less influenced by Enochic ideas than Matthew or Revelation, whose references to eschatological fire show familiarity with ideas of eternal torment. As David Sim notes,
- “There are three possible references to eschatological fire in the Pauline (and deutero-Pauline) literature, yet none of these clearly adverts to eternal punishment by fire…. Romans 12:20 cannot be understood as a reference to the fiery torment of the wicked. The second Pauline text is 1 Corinthians 3:13-15. Like Romans 12:20, this pericope does not speak of eternal punishment by fire, though it does advert to an eschatological fire…The final reference to eschatological fire in the Pauline corpus appears in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8… While it is true that this reference might presume motif in the same sense as Hebrews 10:27 and 2 Peter 3:7; the wicked will be utterly destroyed by eschatological fire, but they will not be punished forever by it. We must conclude, therefore, that there is no suggestion in 2 Thessalonians of eternal torture by fire” (Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew, pp. 133-134; Cambridge, 1996).
- So in Sim’s review of the evidence, Paul was possibly an annihilationist. At least it cannot be said that he held a belief in eternal torment. The same cannot be said for the author of Matthew. He was receptive of the intellectual development in Enochic Judaism of the concept of eternal punishment, ultimately influenced from Greek ideas of Tartarus. He does not stand in isolation from these ideas but draws on them and builds ethical teachings on them. Another author heavily influenced by 1 Enoch was the author of the epistle of Jude. This brief letter is filled with quotations and allusions to 1 Enoch (specifically in v. 6, 12-13, 14-16), and so in v. 6 we read in an allusion to 1 Enoch 10:11-13 that the rebellious angels are kept in “eternal bonds” (δεσμοῖς ἀϊδίοις τετήρηκεν) under dense darkness (ὑπὸ ζόφον), the latter borrowing phraseology from Hesiod’s myth of Tartarus. This fate is shared with the false teachers in v. 13 (οἷς ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους εἰς αἰῶνα τετήρηται). The next verse (v. 7) refers to Sodom and Gomorrah serving as an example for the evildoers who suffer the penalty of eternal fire (πυρὸς αἰωνίου δίκην). Compare with the evildoers also bound forever (ἐκεῖ δήσει αὐτοὺς μέχρις αἰῶνος) in a fiery abyss with torments and scourges forever (τῶν βασάνων τῶν κατηραμένων μέχρι αἰῶνος) in 1 Enoch 22:11. Note also the usage of δίκη and πῦρ αἰώνιος in 4 Maccabees 9:9, 12:12 as quoted below: καρτερήσεις ὑπὸ τῆς θείας δίκης αἰώνιον βάσανον διὰ πυρός….ἀνθ’ ὧν ταμιεύσεταί σε ἡ δίκη πυκνοτέρῳ καὶ αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ καὶ βασάνοις, αἳ εἰς ὅλον τὸν αἰῶνα οὐκ ἀνήσουσίν σε (you will endure under divine justice eternal torture by fire … Because of this justice has laid up for you intense and eternal fire and tortures, and these throughout all time will never let you go). Still despite his dependence on Enochic works describing eternal torment, the author of Jude wasn’t explicit on torture per se.