Lesson 19
What Happens AFTER DEATH
AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGE‐ Dr. Keith Slough
INTRODUCTION
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HAT REALLY DOES HAPPEN after death? Ancient cultures have abounded with mystical explanations. The heathen Egyptians believed in the doctrine that the soul was "immortal" –not subject to death but continued on in a different world beyond. The Hindus believe in transmigration of souls, that after death they are reborn as animals. There is also the belief in reincarnation that they are reborn as human beings again to struggle through a future human existence. But none of these ancient pagan cultures had proof for their humanly devised and imaginative philosophies. And none of their ideas were based on revelation from the Creator God! However today, if we will accept it, we have the Holy Bible, and in its pages we find God's own revelation as to the nature of death. Today even among organized "Churchianity" we have differing beliefs. Some professing Christians themselves believe in the Hindu doctrine of reincarnation. Most believe that "good people" go immediately to their reward which they assume to be the third Heaven. The apostle Paul referred to the third Heaven, where God lives and the streets are paved with gold as "the paradise of God" (2 Corinthians 12:2+4). However some religious people have concocted a dif‐ ferent definition for "paradise" suggesting it is an intermediate "waiting place" for the immortal souls of Christians who have died ‐the Protestant counterpart to the Catholic "purgatory" where prayers and petitions are necessary from the living to free the departed souls from its confines. Some believe in a "limbo" where departed souls of children go, and a different "limbo" where the patriarchs reside, a depressed melancholy place where they await Judgment. However if they have been particularly sinful these hapless souls ostensibly bypass limbo and purgatory and go straight to Hell to suffer infinite torture! Still other Christians believe the unsaved must go to a waiting place called "Hades" or "sheol" (taken from the Greek and Hebrew words respectively, meaning, in each case, "the grave"). But the pagans embellished the words with added connotations to accommodate their notions of life after death, and substituted the idea of a sort of purgatory for the dammed. Others have conjured up a term called "soul sleep" which says that one's immortal soul is merely asleep but still alive perhaps in purgatory or limbo as the soul supposedly can never die. But these doctrines are not found anywhere in the Bible! Still others believe in the Hindu concept of Nirvana. And a surprising number of professed Christians believe in ghosts! ‐that is, that departed souls of loved ones come back to haunt cemeteries and creaky old houses. The Bible strictly forbids any attempted contact with the dead, as fallen angels (called demons or devils in Scripture) are only too happy to accommodate and enjoy playing mischievous tricks on the naive, the gullible, the ignorant and the unsus‐ pecting. These demons, masquerade as departed loved ones communicating séances or to mediums even on TV shows of late, where secret information that only the deceased and
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immediate family members could have known. The ignorant masses assume this proves the dead are now returned as "ghosts." However, ALL of these unfounded concepts are contrary to the Holy Word of God! Now in this Bible lesson see what Almighty God reveals about the true state of the dead. You never again need to be concerned about the state of your loved ones. Read here the real Bible Truth about what really happens after death!
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What Really Happens
After Death The Majority of people assume, without proof differing and contradictory ideas about what happens after to a person after they die. Only by divine revelation can we REALLY KNOW! And God has provided that Truth in His Holy Word. Read in your own Bible the real truth about what really happens after death!
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TANDING AT THE "PEARLY GATES" OF Heaven, a new inductee was given the grand tour of Heaven one day by Saint Peter (as the story goes). Various rooms in Heaven were occupied by people from different churches who were singing and generally having a wonderful time. Suddenly Saint Peter whispers to the man as they pass by a particular room. "Shhh! be very quiet when you go past this room," said Saint Peter. "Why?" asked the man. "Because," Saint Peter answered, "the people in that room belong to the denomination called ‘The Church of Christ’ and they think they are the only ones up here!" Of course this same story is told on any number of Protestant denominations in addition the one listed. Do converted Christian people go to Heaven the moment they die? Most church goers answer, “Yes!” But considering the fact that these same church goers also believe in the erroneous "Good Friday‐Easter Sunrise" doctrine, and that Christ was born in December and that reindeer can fly, should we not examine the popular (but differing) notions that we have always taken for granted, but without proof? The average churchgoer accepts the idea that Peter was the first pope and therefore had no wife, that Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life and had no other children, that baptism is really just sprinkling, that the Ten Commandments are done away, that Jesus was an effeminate, never smiling religious guru with long shoulder length hair who did in fact live in shame (1 Corinthians 11:14). These are the same church goers who hold a plethora of conflicting and unfounded "ideas" about what happens to them at death. But most of them believe when they die they go immediately to Heaven or to Hell (though some believe they go to "paradise," "purgatory," or "limbo" to await the Judgment). What is the truth? Jesus said God's Word is truth (John 17:17). Therefore we must go to the Bible for the true answer. Only by divine revelation can we actually know what really happens after death.
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Do You Have an Immortal Soul? First let's ask and get the answer to the question, are human beings born with an "immortal soul"? Is immortality (eternal life) unconditional or does it depend upon accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour? (Romans 6:23). What does the word "soul" actually mean in the inspired Word of God? Believe it or not the words "immortal soul" appears nowhere together in the entire Bible! The Old Testament Hebrew word for soul is "Nephesh." The New Testament Greek word for soul is "Psuche," Marvin Pope, a reputed Hebrew scholar wrote: "The term (nepes [a form of nephesh]) has a wide range of meaning including breath, life, appetite, emotion, and the whole person. The idea of the soul as a separate entity from the body is unbiblical." (Job, Anchor Bible, page 195 emphasis mine). If the "idea" that the soul is a separate entity is unbiblical and did not originate with the Bible, then how did we get it as a doctrine of the Christian church? Borrowed from Paganism The Jewish Encyclopedia states: "The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is ... SPECULATION ... nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture.... The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO, its principal exponent, who was led to it through Orphic and Eleusian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended" (article, "Immortality of the Soul," Volume VI, pages 564, 566). Notice what this well known authority admits! "The belief in the immortality of the soul" came to us chiefly from the philosophy of Plato, a non‐Christian and utterly HEATHEN (pagan) Greek philosopher who was a well‐known student of Socrates. History shows that Socrates borrowed these pagan myths from the ancient Egyptians ‐not from the Bible! Perhaps the most well known Greek historian of ancient times is Herodotus who lived 400 years before the birth of Christ. He wrote: "The Egyptians were also the first that asserted that the soul of man is immortal... This opinion some among the Greeks have at different periods of time adopted as their own" (Euterpe, chapter 123). Notice the pagan Greeks (such as Socrates and Plato) adopted these Egyptian ideas as their own and brought them into Greek culture. The Apostle Paul found that even true Christians of the early first century true Church of God were being bombarded by these pagan Greek philosophies. In the Greek city of Colossae, Paul had to warn these early believers against Greek philosophy. Notice:
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"Beware lest any man spoil you through PHILOSOPHY and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ"! (Colossians 2:8). The "rudiments of the world" were already creeping into the true church by this date, insomuch that Jude had to admonish Christians about this same time in his epistle that, "it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares"! (Jude 3‐4). Apostasy was already creeping into the church from the philosophies of men which contradict the teachings of Christ and the Bible. Plato in his famous work, The Phaedo, wrote: "The soul whose inseparable attitude is life will never admit of life's opposite, death. Thus the soul is shown [by this human reasoning] to be immortal, and since immortal, indestructible . Do we believe there is such a thing as death? To be sure. And is this anything but the separation of the soul and body? And being dead is the attainment of this separation, when the soul exists in herself and separate from the body, and the body is parted from the soul. That is death… Death is merely the separation of the soul and body." The DoubleDoctrine Taught Pythagoras who lived in the 500s B.C. and later Plato, Aristotle and other famous pagan philosophers always had two doctrines. They taught their own disciples (students) what they truly believed. But they taught the masses a different doctrine to instill fear in them so as to control them. Writing about Pythagorus, Origen, an early Catholic philosopher states: "He divided his disciples into two classes, the one he called esoteric [what he considered to be the genuine truth] the other, the exoteric. For to those [the esoteric] he trusted the more perfect and sublime doctrines, to these [the exoteric] the more popular and vulgar." Among these (the exo‐ teric) was the doctrine of the immortality of the soul (From On Philosophy). The famed philosopher Strabo wrote: "They INVENT fables also, after this manner of Plato, on the immortality the soul, and on the punishments in Hades and other things of this kind" (Book XV, chapter I, 57, Bohn translation). Plato was a Liar Apparently Plato did not believe in many gods as did the illiterate and uneducated. Notice his frank admission showing he knew there was only one true God: "As for the symbol on the private note, you desire to know my serious letters and which
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contain my real sentiments from those letters that do not, know and remember that (the word) God [in the singular for one God] begins a serious letter, and the word gods [in the plural] begins one that is otherwise" (Plato's epistle 13). Plato knew there was just one true God! From his own writing we see he did not seriously consider the existence of a multitude of gods, yet he taught whatever the masses wanted to hear, or whatever he considered to be politically expedient in order to gain control of them as followers. Plato was a hypocrite! But he was not the only one. Famed philosopher Synesius, a student of Plato, wrote: "Philosophy, when it has attained the truth, allows the use of lies and fictions" (Synesius, Epistle 15). The Roman Pontifex Maximus Scaevola stated: "Societies should be deceived in religion" (cited in Augustine's City of God, Book IV, chapter 10). But notice who is revealed as the great deceiver! The Bible states that Satan has deceived the whole world! (Revelation 12:9). He has done this principally through religion! Augustine claimed to be a Christian and was one of the early Catholic fathers with the apostasy that gravitate (around Rome. Augustine wrote: "Varro, speaking of religions, says plainly that there are many truths which it is not expedient the common people should know, and that [there are] many FALSEHOODS which yet it is useful for the people to receive as truths" (ibid). Notice: They had truths that they refused to share with the common people. Rather they "invented" myths, fables, and outright lies to deceive the common people. Among these myths was the pagan doctrine of the immortality of the soul! Dr. Warburton, who is a scholar in classical Greek philosophy especially in pagan religion, writes: "It is very true, that Plato in his writing inculcates the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments: but this, always in the gross sense of the populace: that the souls of ill men descended into asses and swine [that is, their supposed immortal souls did after they had died]; that the uninitiated lay in mire and filth; that there were three judges of hell and talks much of Styx, Cocytus, Acheron, etc. and all so seriously, as shows that he had a mind to be believed. But did he indeed believe these FABLES; we may be assured he did not"!! (Divine Legation, Vol. 1, page 452 italics added). These philosophers themselves did not actually believe their soul was "immortal" yet they taught it to the masses so as to create a belief in nightmarish eternal torments to those who would not submit to the state. This was a common practice in all ancient pre‐Christian cultures including the pagan Greek culture which greatly influenced the Christian church much later. Funk and Wagnall's New Encyclopedia states: "Belief in some kind of soul that can exist apart from the body is found in all known cultures. In many contemporary non‐literate societies, human beings are said to have several souls ‐ sometimes as many as seven localized in different parts of the body and having diverse functions. Disease is frequently explained as 'soul‐loss,' which can occur, example when witches
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steal the soul, or evil spirits capture it" (Volume 24, article "Soul"). Obviously these beliefs are not based on the Scripture. The "Ideas" of Men Another authority states: "We are influenced always more or less by the Greek, Platonic idea that the body dies, yet the soul is immortal. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness, and it is no where found in the [Old Testament Scriptures]" (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1960 edition, Volume n, page 812). No, the "Greek Platonic idea" of the immortality of the human soul is nowhere found in the Scriptures. The apostles as well as Jesus Himself had grown up in a religious Jewish culture which based their beliefs solidly on the Word of God (the Old Testament Scriptures up to that day. Remember, the New Testament had not as yet been written). And when the New Testament Scriptures were finally written, the apostles were true to their Jewish roots and never once introduced the pagan doctrine of the immortality of the soul. No where in the entirety of the New Testament do we read that the soul is immortal! Origen, who had not only embraced Romanism in his religion, but continued to maintain his pagan Greek and Egyptian philosophies, and still very much a disciple of Plato, wrote: "Souls are immortal." Origen was a disciple of the pagan Greek philosopher Plato (in violation of Colossians 2:8) and a self‐professed "Platonist, who believes in the immortality of the soul." (from The Ante‐ Nicene Fathers, Vol. IV, pages 314 and 402). Tertullian was also a well known leader at the close of the second century. He wrote: "For some things are known, even by nature: the immortality of the soul, for instance, is held by many... I may use, therefore, the opinion of Plato, when he declares: 'Every soul is immortal.'" (Volume 333, page 547). Notice that it was not an established fact. He quotes no Bible reference to support this pagan "opinion." And remember, Plato was not a Christian! He was a leader of pagan (heathen) Greek philosophy who lived before the birth of Christ by centuries, and was a leader of FALSE RELIGION in his day! The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology states: "Speculation about the soul in the sub‐ apostolic church was heavily influenced by Greek philosophy" (1992 edition, page 1037). "The Christian doctrine of the soul has been strongly influenced by the [pagan] philosophies of Plato and Aristotle... 13th century theologian Thomas Aquinas ... accepted Aristotle's analysis of the soul and body as two conceptually distinguishable elements of a single substance" (Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia, Volume 24, article "Soul" emphasis added).
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Early Christians Knew Better However even among some early Catholic theologians there were those who knew these pagan philosophies were FALSE and did not come from the Scripture. Notice this quotation from Arnobius who wrote that many had been deceived with these false and ridicules doctrines and were "carried away with an extravagant opinion of themselves that souls are immortal... Will you lay aside your habitual ignorance, O men, who claim God as your Father, and maintain that you are immortal just as He is?" (Volume VI, page 440). Yes, this early Christian leader thought it was ridiculous for human beings to claim inherent immortality! Does man have immortality from birth? Does the Bible teach the doctrine that human beings are themselves "immortal" ‐that is, their souls can never die? Or does the Bible teach that only God has immortality? Read the answer for yourself in I Timothy 6:16 in your own King James Bible. So what is the truth? The Bible plainly states that it is God, "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords who ONLY hath immortality"! (I Timothy 6:1516). There is the Bible's own answer! Will you believe the Bible, or the pagan superstitions of non‐Christian sinful, lying philosophers who lived before the birth of Christ and whose philosophies were CONDEMNED by the Bible? (See Colossians 2:8). Who will you believe? Apostasy Worsens But as the centuries passed less and less of the Bible was taught but more and more of the pagan philosophies and traditions of men were embraced. By the middle ages the Catholic Church actually condemned anyone who taught the truth of the Bible that the soul is mortal‐ subject to death. The original reformers of the Protestant Reformation knew the doctrine of the immortality of the soul was a PAGAN doctrine that was not found in the Holy Bible! Just after the Protestant Reformation began in 1517 Martin Luther wrote: "It is probable, in my opinion, that ... the dead SLEEP in UTTER INSENSIBILITY till the day of judgment… On what authority can it be said that the souls of the dead may not SLEEP ... in the same way that the living pass in profound slumber the interval between their down lying at night and their uprising in the morning?" (from Michelet's Life of Luther, Bohn’s translation, page 133). Even Roman Catholic writer Cardinal Du Perron acknowledged Martin Luther's correct understanding of the Bible concerning the state of the dead. Cardinal Du Perron wrote: "Luther held that THE SOUL DIED with the body and that God would hereafter raise both the
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one and the other" (Du Perron, Historical View, page 344). Notice: Martin Luther believed in the resurrection from the dead – not that the soul was immortal which went immediately to its reward either to Heaven or to Hell and therefore not needing a resurrection. But again as the centuries have passed even the Protestants have now wholly embraced the pagan philosophies of Plato (mistakenly assuming that these doctrines are found in the Bible). Today even the church bearing Luther's name has rejected the Biblical teachings of Luther preferring instead the more popular doctrines of Plato who taught the immortality of the soul. However even Plato did not actually believe it! ‐as we have seen. Famed Plymouth Brethren theologian John Nelson Darby whose name is recognized by all long time church goers also made a very honest admission. He wrote: "I cannot show from Scripture that man is naturally immortal. I can only deduce it. The idea of the immortality of the soul has no source in the gospel; it comes, on the contrary, from the PLATONISTS [the followers of Plato], and it is just when the second coming of Christ was denied in the [Catholic] church, or at least began to be lost sight of, that the doctrine of the im‐ mortality of the soul came in to replace that of the resurrection. This was about the time of Origen"! (from Lectures, Volume IV). And Origen is now seen as an apostate! Yet it was Origen who was responsible for bringing this heretical doctrine of the supposed immortality of the soul into the professing Christian church! "Immortal Soul" Unknown to the Bible! Lange's Commentary is also very candid about the truth concerning this doctrine of the supposed "immortality of the soul." Under First Corinthians 15:19‐20 we read: "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and the name [i.e., "The Immortality of the Soul"] are alike unknown to the entire Bible"!! (Olshausen's comment, italics added for emphasis, Lange's Com‐ mentary). The doctrine of "The Immortality of the Soul" cannot be found anywhere in "the entire Bible" says this authority! Then why do so many church goers believe it? Famous Protestant Reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale, who was responsible for translating the first Bible into English also, did not believe in the doctrine of the "immortality of the soul." Tyndale lived during the age when they spoke "Elizabethan English" the same language used in our Authorized King James Version of the Bible. Tyndale stated: "In putting departed souls in heaven, hell, or purgatory you destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection. The true faith putteth [forth] the resurrection; the heathen philosophers, denying that, did put [forth] that souls did ever live [that is, that souls were "immortal"]. And the Pope joineth the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshly doctrine of the philosophers together ‐
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things so contrary that they cannot agree. And because the fleshly minded Pope consenteth the Scripture to establish it. If the soul be in heaven tell me what cause is there for the resurrection? " How plain! I have asked that same question for years! Yes, if the soul of the Christian goes immediately to Heaven at death, what need is there for a resurrection? If the dead go immediately to their reward (to Heaven, or to Hell) then why does God need to resurrect anybody from the dead ‐ if they are not really "dead" but have already "gone to their reward"? William Tyndale knew this simply didn't make sense! He accused the pope of joining together the Scripture with the doctrines of "heathen philosophies" to come up with such a belief. What the BIBLE Teaches Now finally let's ask the question, what does the Bible, the Word of God actually teach? We have seen the words of men, the pagan philosophies and vain deceit of men ‐ the traditions of men which Paul condemned as the rudiments of the world contrary to the teachings of Christ (Colossians 2:8). But now what does the Bible teach? Remember we must never interpret the Scripture but allow the Holy Spirit to teach us (ll Peter 1:20 and I John 2:27). The Holy Spirit of God inspired the entirety of the Bible and therefore we must go to other Holy Spirit inspired Scriptures to interpret the verses that could be subject to being interpreted differently. Remember Peter was inspired to tell, that we are not allowed to interpret the Scriptures. Therefore we must take the individual passages of Scripture like pieces of a puzzle. The Bible says that God's truth is written "here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10). We must therefore get ALL the Scriptures on the subject of death dealing with an afterlife, to arrive at the Truth. Remember to first pray for understanding before reading the Scriptures. Since there are so many, space does not permit a full quotation of each one. However the references will be given so you can look them up when you can, in your leisure time. The Bible Teaching on the SOUL of Man The Old Testament was inspired to be written in a Semitic language that existed in ancient Canaan, known today as Hebrew. But the New Testament was written in the language of the first century, which was Greek. Hence there is a Hebrew word translated "soul" as well as a Greek word translated as "soul." Does either of these words mean "immortal"?
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No! They do not. The Hebrew word for "soul" is Nephesh while the Greek word for "soul" found in the New Testament is Psuche. If you care to look up either of these terms in a Hebrew or Greek lexicon you will see that they simply mean "life" or "living creature" without regard to immortality! Strong's Exhaustive Concordance states that this word "soul" (Nephesh in Hebrew) means "a breathing creature, i.e. animal." It also defines the Greek word for "soul," Psuche, as "the animal sentient principle only" meaning conscious animal life. Thayer's Greek Lexicon defines Psuche as "the breath of life" or “life” or "the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions" (Page 677). Therefore the Hebrew Nephesh and the Greek Psuche mean the same thing. Neither lexicon refers to the "soul" as immortal. Sometimes this word Nephesh is translated "soul" in the Bible and sometimes it is translated differently. Even without looking up its definition in a lexicon one can easily see its meaning as it is used in the Bible. In Genesis 1:21 the word Nephesh is translated "living creature" and here refers to animals!! Yes animals have "souls"! Would anyone however say that their "souls" (Nephesh) are im‐ mortal? Most of you would not! The Hebrew word "soul" (Nephesh) is again translated as Living creature in verse 24. In verse 30 the same word is used again and is simply translated as "life." The word Nephesh is actually translated "soul" in Genesis 2:7 where Adam became "a living soul." But again the word does not imply immortal essence as the animals have it also. It just denotes conscious life! In Genesis 2:19 the word Hebrew word for "soul" again is translated as "living creature" referring to mortal animals! In Genesis 9:5 the same word (soul) is again translated as "life." In Genesis 9:10, 12, and 15, it refers to the animal creatures again. In Exodus 1:5 this same Hebrew word (Nephesh) is again translated as "souls." In this case it refers to human creatures or souls but still has the same dictionary meaning in the Hebrew lex‐ icon ‐living, conscious life, either human or animal. But it does not in any way imply "immortality" of existence. Exodus 21:23 translates this same word again as "life." In Leviticus 11:46 it is again translated as "creature" in reference here only to mortal animals. Now read Leviticus 17:11+14. Notice how that God says "the life of the flesh is in the blood" using Nephesh again. The soul is not immortal but exists in our physical blood! Nephesh Even Refers to a Dead Body! The word usually translated "soul" in the Bible or "living creature" is on occasion translated in such a way to refer to a mortal creature that has actually already died! In Exodus 4:19 the word "soul" (Hebrew: Nephesh) is translated "dead"! Leviticus 21: 1 translates this Hebrew word for "soul" as "dead"! In verse 11 we read about approaching a dead "Nephesh"!! Here the word is translated "body" and refers to a dead body!
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It is used this way again in Numbers 5:2 and Numbers 6:6. At Numbers 6:6, The New Englishman's Hebrew/Aramaic Concordance adds a note that says that the literal translation is "dead soul"! (page 829). It is quite obvious then that a soul is mortal ‐ subject to death and that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is simply a myth in ancient Greek culture promulgated by pagan, heathen philosophers such as Plato! Other references referring to the soul's being dead or a dead body can be found in Numbers 6:11, Numbers 9:6‐7, 10, and Numbers 19:13. 2 Chronicles 1:11 translates it "life." But at no time is this Hebrew word "soul" ever translated "immortal soul" or "immortal life.” In Job 36:14 the word "soul" is actually translated as "they" and reads "They die"! The margin gives the literal translation as "Their soul dieth"! Souls in Hell? What about the enigmatic and metaphorical scripture found in Psalm 16:10 written by the prophet David, which reads, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell"? The margin shows the Hebrew word here translated as "hell" is Sheol referring to ''the place of the dead" and translated as "pit" and "grave" in various places in the Old Testament. Since the word "soul" is Nephesh again, it refers to a living creature (in this case a man) who has died Peter interprets this verse himself on the Day of Pentecost as referring to the body! Because he then applies it to the physical body of Jesus Christ and His subsequent resurrection! Notice acts 2:27‐29. We know that Peter applies this to Jesus' physical body because he contrasts it to David's body who is "both dead and buried, and his sepulcher [grave] is with us unto this day"! Notice that Peter explains that this verse in the book of Psalms is actually a prophecy concerning the Messiah that His soul was not left in hell (Greek: Hades, translated "the grave" elsewhere) and that His flesh should not see corruption, whereas David's body is still buried and did indeed see corruption! There is indeed a literal "Hell Fire" but the Greek term for Hell Fire is not Hades but Gehenna which refers to the eventual lake of fire described in the Book of Revelation. But the word Hades does not refer to the lake of fire but to the grave and is so translated in I Corinthians 15:55! Since the Old Testament Hebrew word Nephesh many times is translated as “dead” or "body" in reference to a corpse, it is now easy to see what David meant when he said "Thou wilt not leave my soul [Nephesh: body] in hell [Sheol, the grave] (Psalm 16: 10). Remember Jesus' body was raised from the grave before it saw corruption! Peter plainly preached that David was himself awaiting a resurrection from the dead and had NOT gone to Heaven! (See Acts 2:34) Obviously the Bible definition shows a soul can die! Psalm 22:20 is a prayer asking God to
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deliver the soul from the sword! A sword can kill a soul!! ‐a living creature! Hagai 2:13 translates the word Hebrew "soul" as dead "body"! Ezekiel 47:9 translates the word "soul" (Nephesh) as "thing" where we read "everything that lives" in this case, referring to sea life! Believe it or not the word "soul" is even translated "fish" in Isaiah 19:10! The margin reads "living things." We also see that "souls" contain BLOOD, believe it or not. Jeremiah 2:34 speaks of the "blood of the souls of the poor innocents"! The Soul can DIE! In Job 4: 17 the Bible refers to us as "mortal man." The word "mortal" means "subject to death.” It is the opposite of "immortal." Therefore we are mortal‐ not immortal. For as we have seen from Scripture, only God has immortality! (I Timothy 6:1516). Notice Ezekiel 22:27. Here we read the expression ''to shed blood, and to destroy souls"! Souls can be destroyed, according to the Bible! Therefore the soul is mortal ‐ not immortal. Haven't you always heard it preached in your denomination that the body can die but not the soul? But understand that the term "soul" in the Bible never refers to anything immortal! It refers to the mortal living creature (man or animal) which can certainly die, and is therefore MORTAL! God tells us if we follow Him we can live forever. But what will happen to the soul if we choose to continue in sin? ‐and do not repent? Let the Bible answer! Ezekiel 18:4 says, “the SOUL that sinneth IT shall DIE!” Notice! The soul itself shall die! Read verse 20 also: “The SOUL that sinneth, IT SHALL DIE"!! Will you believe your own Bible, the Word of God, or will you continue believing in the pagan superstitions we inherited from the Roman Catholic Church which came to them by way of Origen, who was an admitted "Platonist" ‐ a follower of the pagan philosopher, Plato? You must decide. What Happens After Death? The Bible does not teach that the soul continues to exist in a conscious state either in Heaven or Hell. Nor does the Bible mention purgatory or limbo. Nor does it intimate any possi‐ bility of reincarnation (coming back as another human being, being born as a child again) or transmigration (coming back, for example, as a cow in India or some such animal). Regardless as to the Greek superstitions that gradually found their way into the Roman Catholic church and tater passed down to her daughter churches (all churches claiming to be "Protestant"), the
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Bible does not teach this pagan concept! What does the Holy Bible, the Word of God then teach about the state of the dead? And is there an afterlife? Spirit, Soul, and Body First we need to distinguish among: "spirit," "soul," and "body" as Paul refers to them in First Thessalonians 5:23. We may all agree that the body is the physical ''tabernacle'' we live in as a human being ‐ the fleshly body. But what is the difference between the soul and the spirit? For Paul mentions both. Some people assume they are identical. But this cannot be for Hebrews 4:12 states that the spirit and the soul of man can be divided asunder, or split between two. Therefore they are two different things. Some years ago having earned my Th.D. in theology I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in the sciences, primarily in psychology and psychotherapy as an adjunct to my ministerial education. From the scientific viewpoint the "soul" of man is the conscious life (which agrees with Scripture) and therefore agrees with the concept of the conscious mind or conscious intelli‐ gence. The "spirit" in man (mentioned in Job 32:8) is also a part of our intellect and equates to the subconscious part of man's intellect. The conscious mind is primarily in the cranium whereas the subconscious mind is primarily in the solar plexus of the body and is connected to the brain by the vagus nerve. This is why Jesus said "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" which John says is a reference to the Holy Spirit (verse 38) which is in our human spirits (Romans 8:16). Jesus said out of our "belly" the Holy Spirit would flow out ‐ coming from the human spirit. Understand. When a person gets saved, the Holy Spirit is given to them (Romans 8:9c) but God's Spirit does not come into their hand or their foot or any particular fleshly organ of the body. The Holy Spirit of God joins with the human spirit. This is why the human spirit can truly be said to be "begotten of God" or what most people would refer to as a "born again" experi‐ ence. This is the conversion experience supernatural experience when God the Father begets us as a child of God, through His Holy Spirit. "Technically it is not your soul or mind that gets saved, "born again" or renewed. For the renewal experience of the soul or mind is something that is a lifelong process which continues after we are converted (Romans 12:2). What then gets "saved" or converted? It is our spirit! ‐the intrinsic human being that is "saved," "begotten of God," "converted" or "born again"! The real ''you'' is not the outward body (called a "tabernacle" in various places in the Bible, such as 2 Corinthians 5:1 and n Peter 1:13). Neither is the intrinsic ''you'' the soul, which is the biological, mortal life that makes you a
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"living creature." Rather the real ''you'' is the human spirit which has the "soul" ‐life and lives in a body. In one sense from a holistic perspective, all three elements make up "the whole man," however the intrinsic "self' is the human spirit. It is this spirit which houses our personality, our memories, and everything that makes us who we are. Scientists know that everything you have ever done is permanently recorded in your subconscious mind. On judgment day, God does not have to look into some huge "book" up in Heaven to see what was written about you. All you have ever done is permanently recorded in your spirit. All He has to do is "run the tape." And there is the full record of your entire life, all recorded in the human spirit. Like a Cassette Recorder Think of a cassette tape recorder. It consists of the "body" of the recorder, the "soul" or life force which comes when we plug its cord into the electrical outlet (the electricity therefore is the "soul" of the recorder) and then before we can truly get any sound from it, we must have the cassette tape! The cassette tape contains all the memories and words that were recorded and is thus analogous to the spirit" in man. The "heart of man" is the core of our being and is referred to as the human "spirit" (Romans 2:29). The physical heart does not cause us to sin for sin is a spiritual thing. Yet Jesus said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders" etc. (Mark 7:21). So the heart of man is his spirit where his deepest thoughts lie. If the cassette tape is playing and suddenly the electricity is cut off, the tape seemingly "dies." Yet when the life force (electricity) is restored, it will play again. If the body of the recorder is damaged or broken and can no longer play, we throw it into the trash, yet we save the cassette tape. Why? Because we can save that tape and buy a better, even more expensive (glorified) tape player and can then install the very same cassette tape into the new body and it will play perfectly as it did before in the old "body" of the old recorder. When a tape recorder is "unplugged" what happens to the "soul" ‐the electricity? It dissipates! It ceases to exist so far as the recorder is concerned. Yet we still have the tape itself with the memories that were put into it. We use the exact same tape that was used in the old "body." Do you understand? The Bible says in the resurrection we will have a glorified body! Yet your same human spirit will then be put into that new glorified body which will never die. What then happens to you after your body dies? Does the Bible teach that we continue in a conscious state after death?
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The Bible Teaching Space does not permit a full quotation from each of these scriptures but the reader is advised to look up each scripture and read it. Psalm 13 was written by King David, a righteous man who had the Holy Spirit (I Samuel 16: 13, Psalm 51:11). David was therefore converted and (as we use the term today) a Christian! (Romans 8:9c). Yet in Psalm 13:3 David writes referring to: "...the SLEEP of DEATH"! Second Samuel 7:4 says that this was the very Word of the Lord that came to Nathan the prophet. This is God speaking (through the prophet) to King David. What does God tell us happens after death? Notice God's own words to David in II Samuel 7:12: "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt SLEEP with thy fathers." Notice God told David that he would SLEEP with his ancestors, not go to be with Him in Heaven! First Kings 1:21 is also a reference to King David. It states: "...the king shall SLEEP with his fathers"! This refers to David, a man after God's own heart. Does this scripture say that he was going immediately to his reward or does it say he would "SLEEP"? Job said, "For now shall I SLEEP in the dust"! (Job 7:21). While the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible, yet he knew of a future resurrection! Notice! "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, shall not awake, nor be raised out of their SLEEP. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me! "If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I WAIT, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands"! (Job 14:12‐15). Job believed that he would "SLEEP" and "wait" in the grave till his change would come! He said God would call and he would answer. Job knew he would SLEEP until he was raised from the dead. (He believed that he would be resurrected from the dead when God called him to awake out of the SLEEP of death!). Isn't this exactly what Jesus taught? Jesus said, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are IN THE GRAVES shall hear His voice, and shall come forth"! (John 5:28‐ 29a). Notice that Jesus did not believe they would be in Heaven, or in Hell, or even in purgatory, limbo, paradise, or some other location in a conscious state. Rather Jesus taught that the dead are ASLEEP. Notice the accounts of Jesus' reference to both Jairus' daughter and Lazarus after they had DIED. He said they were ASLEEP! (Mark 5:39 and John 11:11). Will you believe Jesus?
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Daniel also prophesied of a resurrection from the dead. Notice: "And many of them that SLEEP in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). The reason the dead must be raised is that they are not now conscious in Heaven. No. They are unconscious in a state of SLEEP as it were and have no conscious thoughts whatsoever. In the day they die their very thoughts perish! Two Different Resurrections Notice Daniel mentions two categories of people. Do they both rise at the same time or do they come up in two different resurrections? Daniel does not reveal that here, but John does in his book of "Revelation" which is a book that reveals things the prophets neglected to tell us. Notice Revelation 20:4‐6. Here we read of the first resurrection for the just (or, the Righteous) which occurs at the beginning of the 1000 year Reign of Christ on the Earth (Revelation 5:10) and also of a second resurrection for the unjust which occurs at the end of the 1000 years. The Apostles' Doctrine Did the apostles teach that believers in Christ immediately go to their Reward in Heaven, or did he also believe what the prophets taught, that we SLEEP until the resurrection? Notice how Paul described death. Some believers who did not under stand the doctrine of healing (not discerning the Lord's Body ‐see 1 Peter 2:24) had DIED, not receiving their healing. Notice how Paul described death. He wrote, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many SLEEP"! (I Corinthians 11:30). They had not properly discerned or understood the Lord's body (verse 29), that by His stripes which He received at the crucifixion, we are healed. The weak and sickly were still alive. Those who had died were now ASLEEP ‐awaiting the resurrection! Notice Paul said nothing about their having "gone on to be with the Lord." In First Corinthians 15, Paul speaks of the coming of Christ to resurrect the dead! Paul explains that those of us who alive will simply be changed into our glorified eternal body. But those who have died will be raised. Notice: "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all SLEEP, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the DEAD shall be raised [from their SLEEP] incorruptible, and we [who remain alive] shall be changed"! (I Corinthians 15:51‐52). Could anything be plainer? Notice in referring to Jesus' own resurrection he explained in verse 6 than over 500 "brethren" ‐ saints of God‐ saw Jesus after His resurrection "of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen ASLEEP"! Some had already died!
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Notice what the apostle Paul did not say. He did not say, as many do in our modern day, that "some are gone on to be with the Lord" or "some are already gone to Heaven" or even that "some are already with the Lord." While these terms are widely used today due to the doctrine of the "immortality of the soul" such statements are nowhere found in all of Holy Scripture! Rather Paul said some had already died and were "ASLEEP"! Paul knew that some were questioning the resurrection from the dead. Indeed in that day one whole sect of the Jews called the Sadducees openly denied any belief in a resurrection. Apparently some of these false doctrines were creeping into the Church of God. Some apparently therefore could not even believe in the resurrection of Christ! A Resurrection is Necessary Paul taught that Jesus was raised from the dead and explains that there has to be a resurrection also for the saints of God or else all the believers who have died are perished. Notice verses 17‐18: "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen ASLEEP in Christ ARE PERISHED"!! Those who had fallen ASLEEP those who had died "in Christ" were NOT now IN HEA VEN! No, rather they were ASLEEP awaiting the resurrection! This is the plain teaching of the Holy Bible but is rejected by most denominations of our modern day. The apostle Peter also referred to death as "SLEEP" when he referred to the fathers as having fallen "ASLEEP" (ll Peter 3:4). He did not say they had "gone to their reward." The apostle Matthew wrote that certain ones who had died actually rose from the dead after Christ had risen. Notice Matthew 27:52‐53. "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which SLEPT arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Luke wrote in Acts 7:58‐60 that when they stoned Stephen that "he fell ASLEEP"! Paul speaks of the living saints being caught up to meet the Lord (at what is called "the rapture" of the church). This occurs when the "dead in Christ" are resurrected. Are they in Heaven or are they asleep? Notice: "But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are ASLEEP ... them also which SLEEP in Jesus will God bring with Him [after they have been raised from their graves]..." (I Thess. 4:13‐14). Verse 15 again says those who "SLEEP" will be caught up just before the living are to meet the Lord in the clouds. He says those who SLEEP are "the dead in Christ" (verse 16). So the "dead in Christ" are not in Heaven, but are ASLEEP, awaiting the first resurrection! First Thessalonians 5:10 says Christ died for us so that "whether we wake or SLEEP, we
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should live together with Him." Paul spoke about the Day of the Lord when Christ would appear to judge the "quick" (the living) and the dead. This would occur "at His appearing and His kingdom" (II Timothy 4:1). He said he knew he was about to die and that he had kept the faith (verses 6‐7). Did Paul expect to receive his reward ‐ his crown ‐ when he died? Obviously not, after having read all his state‐ ments about being raised from the dead at Christ's coming. Rather Paul wrote: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me AT THAT DAY: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His APPEARING"! (II Timothy 4:8). Paul knew he would receive his reward "at that day" ‐the day of Christ's appearing ‐at His second coming, and not before! The Bible teaches that as far as man's soul is concerned he has "no preeminence above a beast" or animal (Read Ecclesiastes 3:19‐20). Therefore he is like the beasts (or animals) that perish! (Psalm 49: 12). When a human being dies, "his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth: in that very day HIS THOUGHTS PERISH"!!! (Psalm 146:4). There is no consciousness after death. The dead are "ASLEEP" as we have seen from many, many scriptures. "For the living know that they shall die: BUT THE DEAD KNOW NOT ANYTHING! (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Remember the analogy of the cassette tape recorder? Ecclesiastes 12:6‐7 refers to the cord being "loosed" and the body will return to dust and "the spirit shall return to God who gave it." God will keep our unconscious spirits with Him until the day of the resurrection then He will awake us out of our SLEEP! Will you believe your Bible and put away the fables you learned from organized Religion Gust like you had to do with Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny)? Yes, But What About... ...Lazarus and the rich man. Yes it was a parable because the Bible said He never addressed the public without a parable (Matthew 13:34). Scholars have written that this parable is teach‐ ing the ultimate reward of the righteous and the wicked ‐not the current state of the dead! For Abraham is dead! (See John 8:52‐53). Lazarus will be raised in the first resurrection and will be in God's family, in a close family relationship with Abraham (symbolically referred to as "Abraham's bosom"). Here it should be noted that some churches teach that "Abraham's bosom" refers to some compartment of hell or paradise or some other location. The Bible interprets its own symbols. The Bible uses the term "bosom" simply to mean a close relationship (See Numbers 11:12, Isaiah 40:11, and John 1:18). The rich man (who in this parable died lost ‐not because he was rich but because he
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ultimately rejected Christ) is also raised from the grave (see verse 23 where "hell" is again NOT the word Gehenna (meaning Hell fire) referring to the ultimate fate of the wicked, but rather the word hades meaning the Grave!). He will rise in the second resurrection! And a very real and literal Hell fire (Gehenna) DOES indeed await the rich man and all others who have had a chance to hear the Gospel and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and yet commit the unpardonable sin, fully and finally rejecting Christ without repentance! But this parable does not teach the current state of the dead. All the many, many scriptures we have read that are not in parables, however do. And they are plain. Many assume that II Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:21‐24 teach that we go immediately to our reward at death. These scriptures merely show that when a Christian dies he experiences no consciousness in death. Two thousand years could go by (as it will approximately with the early first century Christians) and yet to their consciousness it will be like the twinkling of an eye. Paul closed his eyes in death. And in a blink of time, he will awake 2,000 years later in the first resurrection! These scriptures do not prove people "go on to their reward" now, but just the opposite ‐that there is no consciousness at death. Therefore the resurrection is INSTANTANEOUS to the believer!! Some have wondered about Revelation 6:9‐11. The "souls" of the martyred saints in the Tribulation are crying out. The Book of Revelation is written in prophetic symbolism. God said that Abel's blood (his life or soul) cried out to God from the ground. Blood cannot literally "cry out" but it does metaphorically, for vengeance! Paul said that the blood of Jesus also communicated a message but "speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24). His blood cries out FORGNENESS! Remember we must allow the Bible to interpret itself and not try to interpret it privately (II Peter 1:20). The symbolism in Revelation 6 is quite clear. Their blood is crying out for vengeance just as the blood of Abel did. And God will avenge their martyred souls! Others have believed that Christ descended to some place called the "lower parts of the Earth" (which they assume to be Hell) to get the conscious immortal souls of the dammed to take them to Heaven, from reading Ephesians 4:8‐9. What are "the lower parts of the Earth"? Be careful not to privately interpret this. The Bible interprets itself. God uses this expression to refer to the surface of the Earth itself where living people are ‐not the dead! (See Isaiah 44:23). This poetic expression can refer even to the womb (Psalm 139: 15). Or the expression can simply mean the grave. For those who go there "fall by the sword" (Psalm 63:9‐10). Therefore Ephesians 4:8‐9 does not teach consciousness in death and most especially in the light of the abundance of Scriptural references to the contrary. And remember, the Bible does not contradict itself. Some have actually used the statement that Jesus made in Matthew 22:32 concerning the patriarchs, to suggest consciousness in death ‐that they are somehow not really dead but are truly alive. Jesus said God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and was not the God of the dead but of the living. But read the context! Jesus was not saying they are still alive but rather He was proving a future RESURRECTION! (verse 31).
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Mark's account of Jesus' statement is, "And as touching the dead that they RISE... "!! etc. (Mark 12:26). The context regarded a future resurrection from the dead! (Matthew 22:31‐32, Mark 12:25‐27, Luke 20:37‐38). Others believe that the thief on the cross went to Paradise that very day and has been consciously alive in Heaven all these many centuries, contrary to the plain teachings of the Bible that we have already studied (such as Psalm 146:4!). What is the answer to Luke 23:43? It is actually rather simple. The punctuation in our English Bibles was added. The capital "T" and the commas were not found in the Greek text. What Jesus actually said was, "Verily [or in modern English, "Truly"] I say to you today, you WILL be with me in paradise"! The word "today" was emphatic on the time He was speaking to him. But Jesus did not say when the thief would enter paradise. It could not have been that very day because three days later, after He said this to the thief, Jesus told Mary not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to Heaven!! (John 20:17) Surely the thief did not go without Him because Christ said the thief would be with Him! No, Jesus was not talking about that very day, but about a future resurrection! Finally, we read in John 3:13 written approximately A.D. 90 to 95, many, many years after thousands of God's saints had died, some from old age, some from martyrdom that, "no man hath ascended up to Heaven" (and John added that the only exception was now Jesus who is, even as He was writing his Gospel, "IN Heaven"). Unfortunately, red letter Bibles, mistakenly have the entire verse in red. But Jesus obviously was not "in Heaven" when He spoke these words, but on the Earth! I!) I have shown you the Scriptural proof that the dead are ASLEEP until Christ raises them from the dead. Neither the righteous nor the wicked are conscious but both are ASLEEP until the time of their judgment. It is time to put away the fables of our childhood and believe only the inspired Word of God. Are you ready ‐and willing ‐to do that?
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