"Does the Soul Live in Death?"
ONE of the arguments used to prove that the "soul lives in death," is taken from the Messiah's words in John xii, 23-26. Jesus said, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." The argument from the above passage is stated thus: "The life of the corn leaves the body in death, and the body is dead; but the life is more alive than before; that is, it is more active. If the life dies, the corn of wheat never produces fruit. The soul lives, then, when the body dies." What relation has this argument to the words of Christ? Plainly, none. He speaks in reference to his own death and resurrection. "Our Lord compares himself to a grain of wheat; his death to a grain sown, and decomposed in the ground; his resurrection to the blade which springs up from the dead grain; which grain thus dying brings forth abundance of fruit. I must die to be glorified; and unless I am glorified I cannot establish a glorious church of Jews and Gentiles upon the earth." Clarke. Paul, using this illustration in reference to man, 1 Cor. xv, 36-44, says, "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body which shall be, but bare grain; it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain; but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed its own body. So, also, is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul [or person], the last Adam was made a quickening [or life-giving] spirit. The first man was of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from Heaven. As is the earthy [or mortal], such are they, also, that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they, also, that are heavenly [or immortal.] As we have borne the image of the earthy [or mortal], we shall, also, bear the image of the heavenly" [or immortal.] In all this argument, thus far, man is not once spoken of as a compound being; but simply as man; mortal man, whose only hope in death is the resurrection, by the Lifegiver, the Lord from Heaven. He does not speak of the germ of the grain as being in one place, and the body in another, as separated; but the illustration by the inspired apostle, when applied to man in death, is that whatever is raised was dead; "sleeping in Jesus;" the "life hid with Christ in God." He does not speak of the spirit of man coming at the moment of the resurrection to be united to the body from which it has been long separated: this idea is not even hinted at. Paul gives no place to this doctrine. Hear him: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [die], 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, since neither Christ nor Paul speak of "the life of the corn leaving the body in death, and the body dead; and the life more alive than before; that is, it is more active" between death and the resurrection, than when living in the flesh, we conclude that it was no part of the doctrine of Christ, or of Paul. For, surely, if this were the true doctrine, the Master and Head of the church would have spoken plainly upon it; and Paul, the "wise master-builder" in the apostolic church, would have at least hinted at it, in his great argument with the Corinthian fool, who denied the resurrection. 1 Cor. xv, 36. Another argument for the existence and life of the soul in death, is founded on the fact that "man is called a soul because he has a soul, as a vessel is called a sail, because it has a sail. Hence the term, when expressive of the person, is used as a syneclectic, not literally. 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Here it means the person, not the life element. Adopt this principle and all is plain." Let us look at this. "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul." God said to him, in the day of his transgression, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." This convicted and doomed sinner is declared to be a living soul, having the "life element," and yet he is doomed to death, and to return to the dust from whence he was taken. Thus, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." The "person," the "life-element," dies and goes to the dust. But "the man is called a soul because he has a soul, as a vessel is called a sail, because it has a sail." The man. What is the man that has the soul? God says when he created man and breathed into him the breath of life, man became a living soul. Orthodox expositors usually define man as composed of three elements: body, soul, and spirit. Now if man has a soul, does it mean that the two elements which help make up the perfect man, possess the third, and call it his soul? and in a change of circumstances, do the body and soul say, my spirit? and still in another view, do the soul and spirit say, my body? Which of these is the man? Is there more than one man? When one speaks of his soul, or his spirit, of his mind, or heart, does he mean to speak of more than one being, under different forms of expression? When one says, my soul, me, I, does he not simply mean himself, as a simple living soul, or person? It is said if we will adopt the principle that soul, when applied to persons, is figurative, and refers only to the body, and not to the life element, then all will be plain. But would this, if it were true, be honest? Does God make this distinction? When he said to Adam, the living soul, "Thou shalt surely die," he told him what he meant by death; it was to return unto the ground; "for out of it thou wast taken: dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. iii, 19. Did not God give the whole truth on this matter? Here, then, we have man's destiny in death from the mouth of Jehovah. He not only says man shall die, but tells us what that death is: it is going back to dust. And he does not tell us of any part of man that survives the death. He does not speak of a life element in dead men; or of a soul going to the New Jerusalem. But if these things had been true, would God have omitted them when speaking to his fallen creatures? Assuredly not. In this connection it may be remarked that the Scriptures speak of God's having a soul, no less than fourteen times. We give one example: "Your new moons and appointed feasts my soul hateth." Isa. i, 14. Does any person believe that God has a soul in the popular sense of that word? Did he not mean to say, simply, that HE hated the hypocritical worship of the Jews at that time?—Voice of the West.