Over the years, I have heard many Christians say “it’s all going to burn” in discussions about activity in and involving this world. For example, I have heard this phrase used in discussions of creation care, saying that we shouldn’t care much about the physical world because it will eventually burn up and be destroyed anyway. I have also heard it used in discussions about art and other cultural activity, noting that such work isn’t that important or valuable because it will not last into eternity.
Such use of this phrase is built upon the assumption that the physical world that we know is going to be destroyed and that we will then live forever in a spiritual realm. While this is a common belief among people, is this what the Bible really teaches? A closer examination of a passage that is often cited for this idea – 2 Peter 3 – actually points to a different way both of understanding and applying the imagery of the world burning up.
What Peter Says and Means in 2 Peter 3
Peter wrote the second of his two letters we have in the Bible to confront false ideas that were spreading and remind his audience of the truths that Peter, along with the prophets and Jesus himself, had taught. One topic that this false teaching discussed was Jesus’s return, claiming that since the promise of Jesus’s return had not yet happened, it would not and the world would continue as it always has (see 2 Peter 3:3-4). Peter then points out that such thinking forgets the fact that God created the world (so it had a beginning!) and also brought a flood to the world (see 2 Peter 3:5-6). After talking about the flood, Peter then says “By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (3:7).
Peter then goes on to explain the reason for the delay in Christ’s return – that people may come to repentance (see 2 Peter 3:8-10) – before turning to talk more about the day of Christ’s return, noting that it will come like a thief (quoting Jesus himself!) and that “the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed” (3:10 CSB). This is where it gets a little tricky. The CSB and most other modern English translations have a footnote here, noting that some manuscripts (ancient copies of the Bible) read “will be burned up.” This phrase is how it was translated in the King James Version and thus became pretty well-known to English speakers over the years and may have led to the saying that “it’s all going to burn.”
The translation in the King James Version was based on the manuscripts that were known at the time of the translation (1611). However, many manuscripts have been found over the past 400 years that are older than the ones used by the translators of the King James Bible that do not have the word for “burned” here but a word that more or less means “found.” This word has been rendered in various ways in modern translations, with the CSB saying “disclosed” while the ESV says “exposed” and the NIV saying “laid bare.”
I concur with the editors of those Bibles that the original reading does not seem to be pointing to the destruction of the earth but rather that all things will be made clear and exposed; there will be nothing to hide behind and the truth of all things will be on display. I think this makes the most sense both based on the manuscript evidence but also on the overarching point that Peter is making. He has discussed the flood right before this as a parallel to the coming judgment; the flood did not destroy or wipe out the world but rather was a way of judgment of sin and stood as a “new creation” in that it provides a new start. To then say that the world will be destroyed and burned up would not make sense of this comparison.
In addition, Peter goes on to make some exhortations in light of this idea that the world will be “dissolved.” This call is not to care about the world or things in this world but rather that they are to live in “holy conduct and godliness” (3:11). He notes that the heavens will be “dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat,” but that wording need not to mean that something is destroyed and consumed. Rather, it can actually refer to testing – and Peter in 1 Peter 1:6 talks about gold being refined in a fire as a way to bring purification (Malachi 3:2-3 and 4:1 also use imagery of fire to talk about both purifying and judgment). Therefore, rather than seeing the new heaven and the new earth as a complete replacement of the current order, it should be seen as the purification and refinement of it, removing sin and impurity through judgment so that only what is true and pure and right remains. This is why Peter says that “We wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (3:13); the only thing that remains in the new earth is righteousness because unrighteousness has been judged and burned away.
What We Read in Other Passages
Another reason I think that Peter is not talking about the complete destruction of this present world is based on what we see in other parts of the Bible. A few verses after discussing this, Peter refers back to the letters of the Apostle Paul, labeling them as “Scripture” (2 Peter 3:15-16), meaning they are authoritative. In Romans 8:18-24, Paul talks about creation being set free from the present bondage to decay that came about because of sin and compares this to the hope of our resurrection, which he calls “the redemption of our bodies.” The Christian hope is not that our bodies are destroyed but renewed, which is what we see happen to Jesus when he rises. Jesus’s resurrection points to continuity between what we see now and what we will see in the new age and new earth; it will be similar but perfected. This is the vision we see in Revelation 21-22 as well, as there is a new earth in which there is no sin or death; it has been purified. An interesting detail in this vision of the new earth is that it says the “kings of the earth will bring their glory to it….they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it” (Revelation 21:24, 26). Over the years, some theologians have wondered if this comment points to the fact that the works done on this earth will have some value in the eternal age, those things that are pure and right.
A potential objection to this idea could be Jesus’s words about not storing up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy (Matthew 6:19). These words, however, need not to mean that this world will be destroyed but simply that the things of this earth have a way of wearing out and decaying (similar to Romans 8). The goal is to think about the eternal things and invest the things of this world into the eternal things that will last. We store up treasures in heaven by using the things of the earth for heavenly purposes and in light of eternity.
I think it is also helpful to note that the idea of “new” does not necessarily mean something that was not previously in existence but rather something that is new in its own way; we might say “renewed” or “refreshed” or “refurbished.” Therefore, when we read about “new creation,” we do not need to think of it as being something completely different from what was before but rather something that has been renewed.
What This Means For Us Today
I don’t believe this discussion is just a technical one about translations, manuscripts, and theological ideas. Rather, I think it has an important impact on our lives. Instead of the idea that “everything is going to burn” as indicating that we don’t need to care about or invest energy into this world, it is rather a call for us to recognize that everything we do will be tested by fire. Will it be seen as being pure and valuable or impure and consumable? This applies not simply to what we do, but also how we do it. I think of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 about building on the true foundation of Jesus and our works being tested through fire; that what is built with hay and straw will be burned away but with silver and gold will remain.
Jesus will come and there will be a fire that consumes and burns away what is displeasing to him. This gives us hope as we see evil in the world, knowing it will be eliminated, and should cause us to be mindful of our lives and conduct so that our works and labors will be found to be what lasts rather than what is swept away. We await a new earth in which righteousness dwells; let us walk in righteousness as we wait for it.
Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts.
