Annihilatioinism vs. Eternal Suffering

As before, I shall begin with rebuttals and then transition to my own argument. My opponent mentions the term in Revelation 20:9 "forever and ever" as support for eternal torment. However, what my opponent does not realize is that the Bible uses the term "forever and ever" multiple times in reference to events that are not eternal. Jonah 2:6 "To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. " But we all know that Jonah was not in the belly of the whale forever. Isaiah 34:9-10 "Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again. " The description of Edom is almost identical to the description of Hell! But Edom is not still burning today, is it? No. Edom is rather a representation of what will happen to unbelievers. My opponent then tries to claim that one cannot be punished if they are dead. But what he fails to realize is that in Matthew 25:46, the word used is "punishment" which is a NOUN. The punishment (separation from God) lasts eternal. There is no way back into Heaven after judgement day. After all, what is the opposite of life? Death. John 3:16 also compares eternal life and eternal punishment. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believesin him shall not perish but have eternal life. " This comparison can be paralleled to Matthew 25:46, as it indicates that "eternal punishment" means to "perish". My opponents claim from 2 Peter 2 is misguided, as he assumes that evil angels are in Hell, which is not the case. One only has to read the context of the verse to understand it's true meaning.2 Peter 4 and 9 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment. .. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. " This excerpt is meant to show the grace of God, saying that if he did not cast the evil angels into Hell immediately, he will surely rescue the Holy from their trials. Also, notice the blatant proof that the unrighteous are NOT currently in hell. Thus my opponent's claim of evil angels in Hell right now is baseless. My opponent mentions Revelation 14:11 about the "smoke rising forever and ever" and "there will be no rest day or night". The "smoke rising forever and ever" is shown to be figurative, as my comparison earlier with the term "forever and ever" being used in figurative terms elsewhere in the Bible (Jonah 2, Isaiah 34). What my opponent fails to realize is the CONTEXT of the verse. Lets read the whole passage:Revelation 14:9-13 "A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name. ” This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them. ” This whole passage occurs before Judgement Day! After all, Godly people can still "die in the Lord" (Rev. 14:13). If this passage refers to torment in hell, then wouldn't all of the righteous be in Heaven already? How can the righteous keep on dying if Judgement day has already occurred? Thus, taken into context, Revelation 14 is not valid proof for eternal torment. My opponent says, and I quote: "Psalm 1:6, Psalm 92:7, Philippians 3:19, Malachi 4:3 and Psalm 37:20 all refer to the destruction of physical bodies. This doesn"t show their souls or spirits won"t continue to exist. "Please notice his lack of proof. Psalm 92:7 "that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. " My opponent uses the term "forever" as proof for eternal torment, yet when I use verses with the term "forever," he simply deems them as only applicable to the physical body. My opponent is using a double standard, ladies and gentlemen. Malachi 4:3 "Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty. " Clearly insinuates Judgement day, but con does not think so. My opponent also say, and I quote "Matthew 10:28 says that God CAN destroy the soul, not that he WILL. The same is true of James 4:12. " Matthew 10:28 "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. "James 4:12 "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. "Those verses also say that God "can" save. So con only is able to accept one half of the verse? Con is claiming that God will only fulfill one half of these verses? Why would God threaten to destroy, but instead torment eternally, which is much more cruel? The pattern here is that Con is simply interpreting every passage I present. However I would like to point out that someone who has never read the Bible before would read Matthew 10:28 and James 4:12 and automatically assume that God destroys the soul in Hell. Why would God try to complicate the Bible by including so many verses that must be interpreted to fit the notion of eternal Hell? I believe that I have provided significant Biblical evidence proving the termination of existence for unbelievers. Now let us dive deeper into the character of God, and what torturing Billions and Billions of people would mean. Con believes that this man should be tormented eternally, and I do not. If this man is tormented eternally, then what makes God better than Hitler? Hitler captured and imprisoned Jews, gypsies, and outcasts who were not of the ethnic Aryan blood. He tortured them, ripped families apart, and killed millions of innocent people. Eternal torment means that God would torture, forever and ever, every single human who does not believe in him. Is it really someone's fault that they have never heard about God? No. Thus, God would be torturing Billions of people who never had a choice. Then what would make God better than Hitler? We know that God is omniscient (Psalm 147:5, 1 John 3:19-20). So this insinuates that God purposefully creates people who he knows will never get the chance to hear about him. And then they die, and he tortures them forever. That is not a God that I want to serve, and I am comforted by the fact that I serve a loving, merciful God (Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 4:7-8, Psalm 86:15)I leave you with this quote from Clark Pinnock: "Everlasting torture is intolerable from a moral point of view because it pictures God acting like a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for his enemies whom he does not even allow to die. .. I suppose one might be afraid of [a God like that], but could we love and respect him? .. . Antony Flew [an influential atheistic philosopher] was right to object that if Christians really believe that God created people with the full intention of torturing some of them in hell forever, they might as well give up the effort to defend Christianity. "We serve a Loving God. God Bless!