the term "Hell" (Hades or lake of fire) to refer to the process of destruction, not a permanently existing process. Some annihilationists understand there will be suffering in the death process, but ultimately the wages of sin is death, not eternal existence. Some affirm that Jesus taught limited conscious physical sufferings upon the guilty: Other annihilationists, who understand that a loving God would not gratuitously cause the dead to suffer, believe this verse refers to those living through the tribulation(). The adjectives "many" and "few" in Luke 12 could not be used if eternal conscious torment was what Jesus was teaching. He would have used "heavier" and "lighter" if the duration of conscious sufferings were eternal because when the "few" stripes were over there could be no more suffering. By very definition "few" and "many" declare not unlimited (or eternal) sufferings. Annihilationists declare eternal existence and life is a gift gotten only from believing the gospel; (John 3:16) Paul calls this gift (immortality) an integral part of the gospel message: "who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and 'immortality' to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10). If all souls are born immortal, then why is humanity encouraged to seek it by Paul? "To them who by patient continuance in well doing 'seek' for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:" (Romans 2:7) And also, why would Jesus offer humanity an opportunity to "live forever", if all live forever? "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever:" (John 6:51). Annihilationism is based on passages that speak of the unsaved as perishing (John 3:16) or being destroyed (Matthew 10:28). Annihilationists believe that verses speaking of the second death refer to ceasing to exist. Opponents of annihilationism argue that the second death is the spiritual death (separation from God) that occurs after physical death (separation of soul and body). Annihilationists are quick to point out that spiritual death happens the moment one sins and that it is illogical to believe further separation from God can take place. In addition, annihilationists claim that complete separation from God conflicts the doctrine of omnipresence in which God is present everywhere, including Hell. Some annihilationists accept the position that Hell is a separation from God by taking the position that God sustains the life of his creations: when separated from God, one simply ceases to exist. Cited texts James 4:12 "God alone,