Hi again, Stan,

I was intrigued to learn that you are an engineer... ;)

Let me take another moment to specifically address the two verses you've cited here, and especially the parts you've highlighted.

In Mark 9:43, Jesus' entire point is that hell's agents of destruction - i.e. the fire and the worm are (unlike their analogs in the town dump) utterly effective. They complete their work of destruction. When they are done, nothing is left.

Regarding Revelation 14:9 - Revelation is, by it's own testimony, a book of symbolism. I understand that there are some believers who insist on seeing it as literal, but that is an extremely hard case to make when the book itself says things like "A equals X" and "B equals Y", describing a significant number of its own symbols.

IMHO, the symbolism of "the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever" hails back to imagery from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The assertion that "there will be no rest" is an allusion to the fact that the condemned will never enter into God's eternal rest.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg... my review of all of scripture informs me that the preponderance of biblical evidence is that unregenerate man is in the end punished in just measure for his own sin and ultimately destroyed.