ANNIHILATION, the act of reducing into nothing, what originally was brought into being by the exertion of infinite power.
As the production of such an effect requires omni potent agency, the comprehension of this term exceeds the capacity of any created understanding. We can attach no definite idea to the word, any more than we can to the word creation, which is so familiar to our ears, that it is often pronounced without exciting any reflection on its mysterious import. The two words are in the relation of opposites. The one implies non-ex istence, succeeded by being ; the other pre-supposes being, which is terminated.
Though it is universally admitted by all who believe in a Deity, that the origination of existence must be the effect of omnipotence, speculative men have not been so unanimous in their opinions concerning the mode in which annihilation may be conceived to take place. Some regard it as the consequence which must neces sarily ensue, if the Almighty were to withdraw, or sus pend, his preserving power. Others consider it as self evident, that the power requisite for annihilating must be equal to that which has been employed in creating the world ; and some venture to deny that it is possible, even for the Divine Being, to cause all things to cease to be. With respect to a certain class of objects, this rash assertion has been made (perhaps inadvertently) by some men of the most pious views, in their reason ings, to prove the immortality of the soul, from the as sumed facts, that mind is essentially distinct from mat ter. Matter, say they, is composed of numerous parti cles, and is liable to dissolution ; but what is not com pounded of parts cannot be dissolved, and therefore mind, being immaterial, is unsusceptible of corruption. From the same premises, they might, with equal jus tice, deduce the conclusion, that mind could not have been created ; but must be necessarily existent. All that should be attempted by such an argument is to spew, that, as the qualities of matter and the faculties of mind bear no resemblance to each other, it does not follow, from the corruption of the body, that the mind must also perish in the same ruin.
In consistency with our notions of infinite power, it is possible to conceive the preservation of the universe, either as a perpetual operation of the creative agency, or as the consequence of general laws, originally im pressed on matter. Whenever we contemplate the works of the Deity, we ought to divest our minds of the notion, that there can be any degrees of facility in his operations ; and, therefore, whether annihilation be represented as the result of a cessation of divine ener gy, or as a positive exertion of power, the idea of diffi culty, greater or less, is altogether inadmissible.
Among the majority of the Greek philosophers, no such state as annihilation was ever thought of,—and the idea of creation appears to have entered into the con ceptions of very few. They admitted nothing but a se ries of unions and decompositions, reproductions and transformations.
The Bramins are said to be of opinion, that, at cer tain long intervals, the whole mass of created things is annihilated. According to their creed, innumerable worlds have already subsisted, and have successively perished ; and to these periodical alterations of creative and destructive energy they seem to expect there will be no end.
Some writers have entertained the opinion, that the souls of the wicked, instead of being eternally torment ed, will be annihilated by the power of the Almighty Judge. By some, this extinction of being is supposed to take place immediately after final judgment ; and by others, -after a long period of torture.
The Siamese, and other eastern nations, are said to 'consider annihilation as the highest reward of virtue. This extraordinary opinion has even been adopted, to a certain extent, by some Christian divines.
Others represent annihilation as the greatest possi ble evil, a more dreadful punishment than the most ex quisite sufferings which a living being can undergo. This opinion is advanced by bishop King ; and Mil ton has put a similar sentiment in the mouth of one of his infernal spirits, without, however, giving us rea son to draw the inference that it was adopted by the poet himself.
But, to enumerate all the dreams of philosophers, on a topic so mysterious, would be only multiplying words, without communicating knowledge. We believe, on the firmest foundation, that all things have been crea ted by an infinitely powerful and wise Being ; but whe ther any of his works shall be annihilated, we are not decisively informed, and it cannot serve any useful pur pose to inquire. The dissolution of the present order of things, to which we are taught to look forward, may not be an abolition of its substance, but only a change of its mode of existence. According to the Christian system of belief, there appears to be an inconsistency, in expecting that this material world shall be absolutely annihilated. It is difficult, at least, to reconcile this supposition with the doctrine of the resurrection of the body ; for, if the earth, from which the elements of our corporeal frame are taken, is to be resolved into nothing, how can it be admitted, that any part of its substance, however minute, shall retain its being ? And, if all the material universe is to be no more, where shall the re vived bodies of the just find habitations fit for their re ception? We forbear, however, to speculate farther on a subject which no exertion of created ingenuity Mil elucidate.
This, however, we may assume as an axiom, that the Being, whose power was adequate to the creation of any substance, is equally capable of terminating its exist ence. On the other hand, it seems to be not less ob vious, that no creature can cease to be, until the power who made it shall take away the being which he gave. (A)