Q2.
Do we really live after we die?
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A
Human Soul
Many in reading the account of creation in Genesis have noted
the fact stated that when God had formed man of the dust of
the ground, and had communicated to him the breath (spirit)
of life, the record is, "Man became a living soul."
This statement to the average reader taken in connection with
his general misconception of the meaning of the word "soul,"
as misrepresented to him by those who should have instructed
him properly, and should have understood the subject themselves,
is sufficient to bewilder him and leads him to think that somehow
there is some basis for the prevalent error which he does not
comprehend, but which he supposes his chosen theological teachers
have investigated and proven beyond peradventure.
Not comprehending the meaning of the word soul, many feel at
liberty to use it in a reckless manner, and hence they reverse
the Scriptural statement and instead of speaking of man as being
a soul, they speak of man as having a soul, which is a very
different thought. It is necessary, therefore, that each truth-seeker
should, so far as possible, divest his mind of prejudice on
the subject, and especially with respect to things and features
which he admits he does not understand; because it is the natural
tendency to give attributes and powers to that which is mysterious
and not comprehended. Thus the general idea of a soul is that
it is wonderfully intelligent, possessed of wonderful powers,
that it is indestructible, intangible, and incomprehensible.
A Methodist bishop is credited with having given the following
definition of a soul, which certainly accords well with so-called
"orthodox" theories, even if it is absurd when closely
analyzed--"It is without interior or exterior, without
body, shape, or parts, and you could put a million of them in
a nutshell." These various things are predicated of a soul,
to help fill out a theory which is wholly erroneous. The theory
is that the soul is the real being, a spark of divinity, possessed
of divine quality and intelligent life, etc., separate and apart
from the body; and that it inhabits the human body for a time,
and uses it for a house, and when the body is worn out or disabled
abandons it. Inasmuch as no one ever saw a soul enter a body,
and inasmuch as a soul cannot be found while it is in the body,
by the most critical examination, and with all the improved
appliances of the microscope, photograph and "X" rays,
therefore it is supposed that it is "without a body, without
shape, and without parts"; and since it is supposed to
be so small that it cannot be distinguished by a microscope,
it might as well be said that you could put fifty millions of
them in a nutshell. Really, the bishop gave an excellent definition
of nothing; and all will agree that a hundred millions of nothings
could be put into the smallest kind of a nutshell and have room
to spare.
But what foundation is there for such wild speculation? We answer,
It is wholly unwarranted. It is the result of man's taking his
own theory of a future life, and rejecting the divine theory
and plan. Human theory says, There must be something which never
dies, else there can be no future life. The divine theory says,
The same God who created in the beginning is able to resurrect
the dead. This is the conflict between the Word of God and all
the human theories of earth amongst the civilized as well as
amongst the barbarians: all human theories teach that man does
not die, and hence has no need of a Life-giver and a resurrection.
The Bible theory is that man does die, and that without the
Life-giver, and without a resurrection, death would indeed end
all, and there would be no future life.
It is to support its theory that the world, and all its religious
books (including, we are sorry to say, the majority of works
on eschatology written by professed Christians), teach the doctrine
of the immortality of the soul--that there is a soul in man,
possessed of a separate life from his body, and that it is immortal,
indestructible, and therefore destined to an eternity of pain
or pleasure. We come then to the inquiry:
What
Is a Soul?
Examining this question from the Bible standpoint we will find
that man has a body and has a spirit, but is a soul. Science
concurs with the Scriptures in this. Indeed, one of the sciences,
Phrenology, undertakes to treat the skulls of men and the lower
animals as indexes and to read therefrom the natural traits
and characteristics of the owners: and do not all men find themselves
possessed of some ability in judging character physiologically?
All can discern between the intellectual and the idiotic, between
the kindly benevolent and the viciously brutal. Those who have
not learned that organism (bodily form) is indissolubly connected
with nature, character and disposition have made poor use of
life's lessons and are unprepared to pass judgment on our topic
or any other.
The word "soul," as found in the Scriptures, signifies
sentient being; that is, a being possessed of powers of sense,
sense-perception. With minds freed from prejudice, let us go
with this definition to the Genesis account of man's creation,
and note that (1) the organism or body was formed; (2) the spirit
of life, called "breath of life," was communicated;
(3) living soul, or sentient being, resulted. This is very simple,
and easily understood. It shows that the body is not the soul,
nor is the spirit or breath of life the soul; but that when
these two were united by the Lord, the resultant quality or
condition was living man, living being--a living soul, possessed
of perceptive powers. There is nothing mysterious about this--no
intimation that a spark of divinity was infused into humanity,
any more than into the lower animals. Indeed, while the creation
of the lower animals is passed over and not particularly described,
we may know that with them, as well, the process must have been
somewhat similar. We know that there could be no dog without
a dog organism or body, nor without spirit or breath of life
in that body. The body of the dog that had never been animated
would not be a dog; it requires first the infusion of the spark
of life, the breath of life, then doghood begins. The same would
apply to all animals.
In full accord with this, we now call attention to a fact which
will surprise many; viz., that according to the Scriptural account
every dog is a soul, every horse is a soul, every cow is a soul,
every bird and every fish are souls. That is to say, these are
all sentient creatures, possessed of powers of sense-perception.
True, some of them are on a higher and some on a lower plane
than others; but the word soul properly and Scripturally applies
to creatures on the lower planes as well as to man, the highest
and noblest--to fish, reptiles, birds, beasts, man. They are
all souls. Mark, we do not say that they have souls, in the
ordinary and mistaken sense of that term, yet they all do have
souls, in the sense of having life, being, existence--they are
living souls. Let us prove this:
In the first, second and ninth chapters of Genesis the words
"living soul" are applied in the Hebrew language to
the lower animals nine times, but the translators (as though
careful to protect the false but common vagary respecting a
soul, derived from Platonic philosophy) sedulously guarded their
work, so that, so far as possible, the English reader is kept
in ignorance of this fact--that the word soul is common to the
lower creatures, and as applicable to them as to man in inspired
Scripture usage. How else could it happen that in all of these
cases, and in many other instances throughout the Scriptures,
they have carefully covered the thought, by using another English
word to translate the Hebrew word, which, in the case of man,
is rendered "soul"? So carefully have they guarded
this point that only in one place in the Bible is this word
translated "soul," in connection with the lower creatures,
viz., in Num. 31:28, and there, very evidently, they were compelled
to show the matter, by reason of the peculiar construction of
the sentence--no other translation being reasonably possible.
The passage reads:
"Levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went
out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons
and of the beeves and of the asses and of the sheep." Here
it will be noticed that the word "soul" is used respecting
the lower creatures as well as in reference to man; and so it
would appear elsewhere in the Scriptures, had the translators
been free from the warp and twist of their false theories on
this subject.
Let us now notice the nine texts in Genesis in which the Hebrew
original of the word soul (neh-phesh) occurs in connection with
the lower animals:
"God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving
[creeping] creature that hath life [Heb., neh-phesh-- soul]."
(Gen. 1:20) Note that the marginal reading is soul; and that
this was on the fifth creative day or period, long before man's
creation.
"God created great whales, and every living creature [Heb.,
neh-phesh--living soul] that moveth, which the waters brought
forth abundantly." (Gen. 1:21) This also was in the fifth
"day," before man's creation. These were fish-souls.
"God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature
[Heb., neh-phesh--living soul] after his kind--cattle and creeping
thing and beast." (Gen. 1:24) These were dry-land souls,
higher than the fishes--but man, human soul or being, had not
yet been created.
"And God said...To every beast of the earth and to every
fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth,
wherein there is life [living soul--neh-phesh] I have given
every green herb for meat." (Gen. 1:30) Here the lower
animals are specified, and it is distinctly declared that they
are all living souls--in exactly the same terms that refer to
man.
"Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air;...and whatever Adam called
every living creature [Heb., living soul--neh-phesh], that was
the name thereof." (Gen. 2:19) Comment here is unnecessary:
there can be no question that soul is not exclusively a human
part or quality, but rightly understood is applicable to all
sentient creatures from the lowest to the highest-- all creatures
possessed of sensibilities.
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you...
but flesh with the life thereof [Heb., flesh, soul--neh-phesh]
which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Gen. 9:3,4)
Here the animals which man may eat are not only declared to
possess soul or being, but their blood is said to represent
their existence, being or soul, and hence man is forbidden to
use blood as food--forbidden to cultivate blood-thirstiness.
"Behold I establish my covenant with you [Noah] and with
your seed after you; and with every living creature [Heb., living
soul--neh-phesh] that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle,
and of every beast of the earth." (Gen. 9:9,10) A very
plain statement that all living creatures are souls as well
as man--though inferior to him in nature, organism, etc.
"This is the token of the covenant which I make between
me and you and every living creature [Heb., living soul--neh-phesh]."
(Gen. 9:12) What could be more explicit than this?
"I will remember my covenant which is between me and you
and every living creature [Heb., every living soul--neh-phesh]
of all flesh." Gen. 9:15
The same expression exactly is repeated in verse 16. And there
is no room for cavil as to the meaning when the veil of mistranslation
is lifted and we catch the thought God wished us to receive
from his Word.
We might similarly proceed through other books of the Bible,
but we have quoted sufficient to establish our contention before
any reasonable mind--that soul in Scriptural usage as properly
applies to the lower animals as to man; and hence that all claims
or theories built upon the idea that man's hopes of a future
life and his present superiority over lower animals result from
his being a soul and they not, is a false theory and needs radical
reconstruction if we would see matters from the true standpoint
of divine revelation.
But let no one misunderstand us to teach that because all living,
moving creatures, from a mite to an elephant and from a tadpole
to a whale are living souls, therefore all these must have a
future life, either by a transfer to spirit conditions or by
a resurrection future. Such a thought would be arrant nonsense--insanity--without
a shadow of reason. Billions of living souls on these lowest
planes of animal nature are born every minute, while other billions
die every minute.
Our argument is that man is a soul or being of the highest order--the
king and lord over the lower orders of souls or sentient beings,
yet one of them--an earthly, human animal soul; and yet so grandly
constituted originally (Adam) that he was properly described
as in the likeness of God--the image of him that created him.
Man as a soul is differentiated from the lower animals or souls
by reason of his higher organism: not merely is his superiority
indicated by his upright form; it is witnessed to by his superior
mental endowments, which are Godlike and are reflected in his
countenance. It is in his mental and moral endowments rather
than in physical form that man was created in divine likeness.
While many of the lower orders of animal soul or being possess
reasoning powers and demonstrate them in thousands of ways,
yet each has a level beyond which no progress can be made; but
man's reasoning powers are almost unlimited, because he was
created an "image of God," "the likeness of him
that created him." And notwithstanding man's fall into
sin and his thousands of years of gross darkness and degradation
we can still see Godlikeness--especially in those who have accepted
Christ's ministry of reconciliation to God, and have again become
"sons of God," and who are seeking to be conformed
to the image of God's dear Son.
To illustrate: horses, dogs and birds may be taught the meaning
of many words so as to be able to understand many things pertaining
to life's affairs. They often demonstrate their reasoning powers,
and some are able to count-- as high as twenty: but who would
attempt to teach a horse or a dog or a bird algebra or geometry
or astronomy? The highest of the lower animals can be taught
a certain degree of moral honesty and obligation to their masters--not
to kill sheep, not to bite, kick, etc., but who would attempt
to teach his dumb brutes the Decalogue? They may be taught a
certain kind of love for their master and his friends, but who
would think of teaching them to love or worship God, or more
than mere endurance of enemies who had despitefully used them.
The point to be noticed is that all these differences are not
by reason of the lower animals having a different kind of breath
or spirit of life, for as we have seen, "they have all
one breath" (Eccl. 3:19); nor because man is a soul and
the brute beast is not, for as we have seen they are all souls.
But as we have found, and as all men are witnesses, each has
a different bodily organism which gives to each his different
characteristics, and which alone constitutes one higher and
the other lower in the scale of intelligence. Notice, too, that
not size and weight give excellence and superiority, else the
elephant and whale would be the lords of earth; the excellence
is in the "organic quality" represented chiefly in
brain-structure and functions.
Man, therefore, is the highest type of earthly creature-- "of
the earth, earthy"--and his excellence consists in the
superiority of his mental endowment--not a development, but
a gift from his Creator.
"The
Soul That Sinneth, It Shall Die"
It is quite in harmony with the foregoing, but quite out of
harmony with the usual thought on the subject, that we find
the Scriptures declaring repeatedly the death of the soul, which
human philosophy and hymn-book theology most emphatically declare
to be indestructible. We read, for instance, that our Lord,
when he became our ransom-price, "poured out his soul [being]
unto death." "He made his soul an offering for sin."
(Isa. 53:10,12) This was necessary, because it was Adam's soul
that was sentenced to death, and the promise to mankind is a
redemption of soul or being from the power of death. "God
will redeem my soul from the grave [sheol--the condition of
death]." (Psa. 49:15) And, as we have seen, it is because
all souls are thus redeemed in the one redemption that all our
friends--all mankind--are said to "sleep in Jesus."
1 Thess. 4:14
We remark here that the Apostle could not, in this expression,
refer merely to the saints, as when he speaks of those who are
"in Christ"; for those referred to as "new creatures"
are those only who are begotten of God through the Spirit, to
joint-heirship with Christ, as his Church, the members of his
body. But "those who sleep in Jesus" include the entire
race, for our Lord Jesus was a propitiation for our sins, and
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,
and he is by virtue of that sacrifice our Life-giver, and not
only ours, but also the Life-giver for the whole world--the
testimony and the opportunity for acceptance being, with the
majority, still future. 1 John 2:2; 1 Tim. 2:4-6
That the Apostle has this thought in mind is manifest from this
context: he is here exhorting believers to sorrow not as others
who have no hope; and gives as the reason of the hope this fact,
that Jesus died for man's sin, and rose again to be man's justifier,
and hence that all "sleep in Jesus," or are legally
freed from the death sentence, and amenable to Jesus, to be
brought from the dead by the divine power. Had the Apostle said
or been understood to mean that merely the saints would be thus
blessed through Jesus, we can readily see that believers then
and since would have very little consolation in his words, because
the vast majority of the friends of believers, then and since,
cannot be termed saints: and if the awakening from the sleep
of death is a blessing intended only for the saints, the thought,
instead of being a consolation, would be the reverse, an anguish,
a distress. But the Apostle refers to the whole world as being
thus asleep in Jesus, although none knows it from this standpoint
except the heavenly Father and his consecrated people, whom
he has instructed respecting his future gracious plans, through
the Word of truth, that they may rejoice in the lengths and
breadths and heights and depths of divine goodness, and "sorrow
not, even as others that have no [such substantial] hope."
As the natural sleep, if sound, implies total unconsciousness,
so with death, the figurative sleep--it is a period of absolute
unconsciousness--more than that, it is a period of absolute
non-existence, except as preserved in the Father's purpose and
power. Hence the awakening from death, to those restored, will
mean a revival of consciousness from the exact moment and standpoint
where consciousness was lost in death. There will be no appreciation
of time, as respects the interim. The moment of awakening will
be the next moment after the moment of death, so far as conscious
appreciation is concerned.
This same condition has been noted in connection with persons
who have sustained injuries which have caused pressure upon
the brain, and thus temporarily suspended consciousness, without
extinguishing life. In cases of this kind, when the pressure
upon the brain has been removed by trepanning, the subject suddenly
coming to consciousness has in numerous instances been known
to complete a sentence which had been interrupted by the concussion
which interrupted thought: for divine power will thoroughly
duplicate every convolution of every brain and vivify them.
Thus in the awakening-time the world of mankind in general will
revive with the same words and thoughts with which they expired.
But let it not be forgotten that we here refer to the world
in general, not to the elect and special class selected out
of the world, namely, the Church, the body of Christ, which
will have part in the first resurrection, and in many respects
know a different experience.
But while, as the Adamic death has been turned, by reason of
the divine plan and the ransom, from being a destruction to
a suspension of existence, called sleep, nevertheless we find
that the Scriptures very distinctly assert that after the revival
or awakening from the death-sleep, it will depend upon each
individual whether he shall go on unto perfection and life,
under the guidance, government and tutelage of the glorious
Christ, or whether he will wilfully, deliberately and stubbornly
choose the way of sin. If he choose the latter he will get the
punishment originally designated for father Adam, viz., death,
but no longer Adamic death, the penalty of Adam's sin: this
is styled Second Death. This Second Death is nowhere spoken
of as a sleep, nor is there the slightest intimation anywhere
given that there will be any awakening from it. On the contrary,
it is designated "everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord." 2 Thess. 1:9
Of this redeemed and awakened class, which in general shall
have its trial during the Millennial age, the Scriptures declare,
"The soul that sinneth it shall die." (Ezek. 18:20)
That this scripture is not generally applicable at the present
time is evident from three considerations:
(1) It would be meaningless, at the present time, when all die--saints
and sinners.
(2) It is expressed in the form of a second sentence, and based
upon the individual action, and this could not be applicable
in the present time, because now we all die because of "one
man's disobedience," and the sentence of death which came
upon him, and indirectly affects all his race. Rom. 5:12
(3) The context shows that this passage refers particularly
to those who have gotten free from Adamic sin which prevails
in general today. Its special applicability, therefore, must
belong to the next age, the Millennial age. Note the connections,
not forgetting that the law covenant of the Jewish age was analogous
to the covenant of the Millennial age, except that the latter
will have a better Mediator, able and willing to succor and
to help all who shall seek to walk righteously, not imputing
unintentional short-comings.
The context declares: This shall no more be a proverb in Israel,
The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth
are set on edge. But, on the contrary, each soul shall be responsible
to God for itself, and "the soul that sinneth it shall
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness
of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him." (Ezek. 18:2,4,20) It is evident
that this time has not yet come. The children still have their
"teeth set on edge," by reason of the sour grapes
of sin which their fathers have eaten; we are still under the
law of heredity; all still die for Adam's sin, and not for individual
sin. In proof of this note the indisputable fact that nearly
one-half of the human family die in infancy, without having
reached years of discretion or responsibility on their own account.
Who cannot see that the agonizing and dying infant of a few
days or a few months old is not dying for its own sins, but
that it is dying because it is a member of the Adamic race,
which is still under the curse pronounced against our father
Adam, "Dying thou shalt die"? It has inherited a share
of the curse, and will also inherit a share of God's blessing
through Christ in the coming awakening, secured through the
merit of the great Atonement finished at Calvary.
If we turn to Jeremiah 31:29-34, we find another reference to
exactly the same conditions mentioned by Ezekiel, only that
in Jeremiah we are furnished with more explicit details, which
show that this condition belongs not to the present age, but
to a future age. Jeremiah declares:
"In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have
eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
But every one [who dies] shall die for his own iniquity: every
man that eateth the sour grape his teeth shall be set on edge."
The words "In those days" clearly refer to the future
times of restitution, under the reign of Christ, and not to
the present time of the reign of sin and death. Notice that
the Prophet proceeds to describe other features of the Millennial
age, telling about the New Covenant which is to be confirmed
to Israel and Judah, the everlasting covenant, under which they
shall obtain their long-looked-for portion of the Abrahamic
blessings and promises. Compare Rom. 11:26-31
This same thought, that death will again be the penalty for
sin, to all redeemed from the Adamic death, if after they come
to a knowledge of the grace of God, they receive that grace
in vain, is shown by our Lord's own words, "Fear not them
which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul [fear
not them which take away the present life, which is already
under sentence of death, anyway; but remember that you have
been redeemed, and that a future life is a possibility to you,
and that no man can rob you of that which God has provided for
you through the redemption in Christ Jesus], but fear him that
can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matt. 10:28)
Here the power of God to destroy the soul is positively asserted,
and that by an unquestionable authority. We are aware that a
crooked theology has sought to wrest the Scriptures, and therefore
asserts that this signifies that God is able to destroy the
happiness of the soul in Gehenna, but that he is unable to destroy
the soul itself. We reply, that this is a wresting of the Scriptures,
and their perversion in a manner which cannot fail to bring
evil consequences upon those who "handle the word of God
deceitfully." We elsewhere show20 that the word "Gehenna"
here used signifies "the Second Death"--utter destruction--
to all souls which will not hear God's great Prophet, when,
in due time, he shall speak plainly unto all the people, as
he now is speaking under parables and dark sayings, expounded
only to the Church. Acts 3:23; Matt. 13:11
We claim, therefore, that the Scriptures unquestionably declare
that man is a soul or being; that his right to existence under
divine arrangement was forfeited by sin, and that he is now
under the curse or penalty of the divine sentence, death; that
man's privileges and rights were all purchased by the man Christ
Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all; that as a consequence
death is not to be accounted as death, utter destruction, but
merely as a temporary "sleep," from which the world
of mankind will be awakened by their Redeemer in the resurrection
morning of the Millennial age.
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