ARE THE DEAD CONSCIOUS?
By G. B. T.
MODERN theologians affirm that they are. The doctrine of inherent immortality is an important part of the creed of the present day. We are told that the soul is immortal, and that at death it continues an uninterrupted existence. Friends are comforted, on funeral occasions, with orations setting before them the idea that the one for whom they are mourning is enjoying the felicity of endless life. In our study of this question, however, a number of questions come to us. Among these are the following: 1. The Bible affirms that the “dead know not anything” (Eccl. 9:5), and that at death, “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” (Ps. 146:4). Do we not, then, plainly contradict the inspired statements when we say that the dead are conscious? And what process of reasoning is there which will sustain us in asserting that a man whom God has pronounced dead, is yet alive, and knows more than before his death? 2. If it is the immortal soul that feels and sees and hears, and exercises all the attributes of intelligence, why do not animals, which feel and see and hear, have immortal souls? 3. If the soul can see, independent and apart from the body, why does a man become blind when his eyes are removed? Why does not the soul continue to see? 4. The Lord says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezek. 18:4. Then is it not in direct contradiction of that which is noted in the Scriptures of truth, for us to say that the soul cannot die? 5. If the soul, and not the brain, is the thinking part of man, then why cannot a person think without brains? 6. If this body is simply a clog, a house in which the real man resides, why does God propose to restore life to this body, and place the soul in it again? And in what does the soul live between death and the resurrection? Does it live in a body? If so, what will become of that body when the Lord brings to life the first body? Will immortal souls in eternity have two bodies?652 7. If man has an immortal soul that enters upon its reward in heaven at death, then death is the gate to heaven; and did not Satan open this gate by causing sin to enter the world? See Rom. 5: 12. Would it, therefore, be proper to speak of death as an enemy, if it opens the gate to endless bliss, and lands us in heaven? 8. If the dead are immortal, and enter upon the reward immediately at death, as we are told, what is the need of a general resurrection? The Lord says: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes.” Hosea 13: 14. Why a resurrection for a man who has been in heaven thousands of years? 9. The Saviour, in order to comfort His sorrowing disciples when they learned that He was to leave them, said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 3. But how could He receive us to Himself at the resurrection, if the dead are conscious, and the righteous have been with Him from the time of their death until His second advent? Does not the doctrine of consciousness in death antagonize the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, and make it unnecessary? And can any doctrine which thus strikes at one of the great fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures, such as the second coming of Christ, be based upon the Scriptures? We think not. 10. The Lord declares that there will be a future Judgment. “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” Acts 17: 31. But if the dead go to their reward immediately at death, what is the need of a future Judgment? Why judge a man who has been in heaven or hell for centuries? 11. In this connection, the case of Lazarus, who had been dead four days, comes to our minds. Was Lazarus conscious in death, and enjoying the bliss of heaven, in the society of God and sinless angels, during that period when he lay in the tomb? If so, was it an act of mercy in the Saviour to recall him from his happy abode, and place him again in this world of sin, on probation? 12. The word of God declares that man is mortal (Job 4: 17), and that God only has immortality (1 Tim. 6: 16). In view of these statements, what right have we to say that man possesses inherent immortality, and that his soul survives the stroke of death, and maintains uninterrupted consciousness? 13. If the soul is immortal and immaterial, then it has neither body nor parts; it is without head, hands, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, brain, or any other organ of a body. How can it sing songs of praise and adoration before the throne of the eternal God, without a tongue? How can it see His glories, without eyes? How can it meditate upon the wonders of eternity, without a brain? How can it walk the golden streets of the New Jerusalem, without feet? 14. Notice this statement: “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Ps. 115: 17. Seeing that the all-wise God affirms that the dead do not praise the Lord, is it possible for any of the dead to praise Him around His throne, without being raised from the dead? 15. The words “soul” and “spirit” being found something like one thousand seven hundred times in the Scriptures, and never once qualified by “immortal” or “undying,” who has authority to say that there is an immortal or undying soul? A number of other questions could be asked along this line, but we think these are sufficient to show the fallacy and unscriptural sophistry of that system of theology which declares that man has a deathless soul. As surely as God’s word is true, the dead are asleep. They are unconscious of events taking place about them. They will so remain until the Archangel’s voice shall reverberate to the depths of the grave, and animate the dust of the silent sleepers. Man’s hope is in the resurrection. All in the grave shall live again. When Jesus shall come the second time, His voice will be heard, and the dead in Christ will come forth. The living righteous will be changed, and all will be caught up together, to meet Him in the air. This is indeed a glorious hope. May this glad day soon dawn! G. B. T.