We will continue to call proponents of universalism, universalists . While everlasting torment is very harsh, universalism suggests that our thoughts and actions do not matter. Throughout the Bible God gives us the choice between life and death. A third view is Conditional Immortality , which says immortality is conditional upon putting our faith in Christ. Most conditionalists believe in soul sleep between death and resurrection because the soul is not eternal.
Nonbelievers rise to face judgment, suffer, and then cease to exist.
No matter how reasonable or unreasonable a doctrine appears to our limited human mind, we must believe what the Bible says. The true test of any doctrine is Scripture. The writings in the Old and New Testaments should be our primary source of information. Although Bible scholars claim God inspired the Old Testament, many go to great lengths trying to justify dodging it. Almost four times as big as the New Testament, the Old Testament is filled with crucial evidence that cannot be rejected or ignored.