The evangelical assumption that every human will live forever in one way or another is so deeply ingrained in both Christian and secular minds that even non-Christians might scoff at the claim that the Bible teaches that the human soul is mortal. If very few Christians wield correct exegesis, then there is a much larger number of non-Christians that misunderstands basic Biblical teachings. It might surprise many to discover just how blatant and intrinsically rational conditional immortality is within the Christian worldview. Immortality of the human soul and body is not natural, but it is a gift extended to all humans that will accept it.
Pro ECT (eternal conscious torment) theologians scarcely look to the Old Testament for information about the ultimate destinations of the saved and unsaved, and with good reason. The Old Testament betrays very few, scattered details about the afterlife. However, the New Testament only affirms that humans are inherently mortal in a post-fall world, so the New Testament does not rescue the myth that human consciousness is immortal or indestructible. Depending on their degree of lunacy, pro ECT theologians might even argue that it is both immortal and indestructible!
Consider 1 Timothy 6:16, which is not a verse which is dificult to understand: God is the only conscious being that is immortal and everlasting because of his metaphysical nature, meaning that humans cannot be either of these things on their own. Immortality of mind and body are gifts bestowed upon those who commit themselves to Christ (John 3:16); they are not characteristics inherent in humanity. If immortality was an innate component of human nature, then humans could not seek after or obtain it (Romans 2:7).
How can Jesus give eternal life to those who will already live forever even if they pay no regard to him? How can God give to humans what they already possess? The Biblical doctrine on the matter is clear, though distorted by centuries of fallacies and heresies--humans do not live forever apart from the eternal life that can only be obtained by a voluntary reconciliation with God.
God never created the human soul to be deathless irrespective of whether it is fallen or in its original state. In fact, no verse even implies that the human soul lives forever by nature of being the human soul. Divorced from eternal life, which only God can impart, the human mind, like the human body, will be brought to the point of nonexistence in hell (Matthew 10:28). This extinction of consciousness is the just penalty for evil, for the Bible calls death the wages of sin, not endless torture for every sinful being.
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