The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

V. Problem Text (Mark 9:43-48): “Their Worm Dieth Not”

Much stress is placed by some upon the triple use by Christ Himself, in six short verses (Mark 9:43-48), of the expression “their worm dieth not.” But “their worm” is not a soul, only a maggot (skolex), feeding upon a dead body—and not inhabiting a living one. Here is pictured the revolting end of a corpse flung out on the refuse heap. It is an awesome warning to all beholders—standing for dissolution, disintegration, with final disappearance. But it is not the process or duration but the result that is here emphasized. CFF1 300.8

The “worm” that “dieth not” is, like the “unquenchable fire,” a symbol of death. So long as the corpse or carcass (cf. Isaiah 66:24), which is completely insensible, is gnawed by the worm, it cannot live again. If the worm never dies, there will be no possibility of life revitalizing the corpse. It thus excludes all hope of restoration. There is nothing here about the “sting of an accusing conscience,” as often claimed. There are no “perpetual torments” or “endless sufferings” here, or elsewhere in the Sacred Text—any more than there are “immortal souls.” CFF1 301.1

The worm causes no suffering to the carcass, which is insensible. It simply hastens the disappearance of what has ceased to live, and partially “replaces the gravedigger,” as someone has phrased it. And the cremation in the fire that follows pulverizes the bones gnawed by the worm. The worm is essentially a gnawer, a carrion-eating destroyer. So the worm and the fire together actually indicate the utter impossibility of an eternal life in torment. The symbolism may be said to portray the eternal continuance of a state of death and utter extinction for the wicked. Beyond question, these agents of destruction are a figure of the utter impossibility of a return to life after death. In the passage there is not a scintilla of support for the contention of “eternal torment of the damned.” CFF1 301.2