Eternal Punishment vs. Universalism and Annihilationism

Christians throughout the world profess to serve a merciful and loving God. And indeed, many Christians have experience this love and mercy first-hand throughout their lives. Those outside the religion, however, have leveled several criticisms against it, one of which is the idea of eternal punishment and how Christians could possibly promote the idea of a loving God on the same level as a deity who would eternally and painfully punish those who committed a crime no greater than not believing in him in a very specific way. My personal view is, however, of a God who is indeed merciful and just. Those who would see souls cast into eternal punishment, in my experience, have all been human who claimed to understand the mind of God. On the other hand, critics who would criticize God for such a harsh punishment are equally in ignorance of a mind of the divine. Eternal punishment is the most traditional view held by most Christians. It dictates that all who die not believing in God (or Chri st as Savior) will be cast, with the Antichrist, into an eternal lake of fire. This is the main point of contention usually raised by non-Christians such as Pinnock against the religion. The Universalist view is, however, is that all people who died, even those who died not believing, will ultimately be brought back to eternal life. A third group are the an nihilists, who believe that those who die without Christ will be completely annihilated in soul and body, which refers to the eternal