> "Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." (Matthew 13:30)

Verses like this one, which refer to a destiny of fire, are often called upon in support of annihilationism, for it is reasoned that fire annihilates what it consumes.

But this is not true: Fire does not destroy matter, but converts it to another form. It is presupposed that the substance of what is in the fire is such that it is indeed annihilated, which begs the question of what actually happens. In this particular case, if it is argued that the analogy should be taken to the furthest extent possible, then the righteous will be ground up and made into bread. It is a metaphor that expresses that the Christian will fulfill the purpose for which God has always intended it. Burning renders something impotent and keeps it from spreading seed, as it were (it may be noted that the burning of tares was more "hygienic" than it was destructive) and this matches exactly the idea of hell as a place of shame within which the wicked will be rendered ineffective and impotent -- but not annihilated.

It should be pointed out again as well that in terms of earthly parallels, there is no perpetual fire on earth that contains objects that are never consumed by the fire. Our writers are constrained by what images they had available.