Is Man Immortal? by E. Hilliard

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 23, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 17.

Is Man Immortal?

By E. Hilliard

The doctrine that man is naturally immortal is almost universally believed. Thousands who hold this doctrine never have searched the Scriptures for themselves, but believe it because it is taught from the popular pulpit of the day. It would seem that he who will take the Bible for his guide, and humbly seek for truth, need not be perplexed. Indeed, the very first chapters of the sacred word clearly set forth the nature of man. Let us carefully examine them.

God gave our first parents the privilege of eating of all of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge. He told them if they partook of this tree that death would be the result. "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2:17. Satan entered the garden in the form of the serpent and conversed with the woman. After finding out that she fully understood God's command and the penalty attached thereto, he squarely contradicted God's words. He said to her, "Ye shall not surely die." Gen. 3:4. As soon as he had succeeded in causing her to believe that she was in possession of an undying nature, she did not fear the penalty of death, and ate of the forbidden fruit, and gave to her husband and he did eat. Satan has succeeded most wonderfully in causing their posterity to accept his words as truth, and to believe that we do not really die, but that what we call death is merely a change of abode.

After Adam and Eve had transgressed, God drove them out of the garden. But how carefully he guarded the tree of life. "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. . . . So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Gen. 3:22-24. God in his mercy protected this tree so that man could not partake of its fruit and perpetuate a life in sin. He had told them if they disobeyed his command they must die. He addressed the thinking, intelligent part of the man; consequently it was the responsible part of the man that must suffer the penalty. They were excluded from the tree of life that they might receive the wages of their transgression—death. If they were created immortal, there would have been no propriety in guarding this tree.

The beloved apostle John does not convey the idea that man is naturally immortal. He says, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." 1 John 3:15. If man has inherent immortality, the murderer has it as well as any other man, for all are descendants of Adam. This apostle plainly declares that it is not in our nature.

Many claim that the soul is an intelligent, self-existing entity, and that when the body dies it wings its way to another sphere. The Bible, however, does not support this doctrine. Ezekiel says in clear and unmistakable terms, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Eze. 18:4, 20. The Scriptures teach us that mind is dependent upon living organism. Hear what the wise man says: "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. 9:5, 6. Love, hatred, and envy are attributes of the mind, and he distinctly states that these perish. The psalmist corroborates this statement when he says, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:3, 4. This scripture plainly shows that thought is dependent upon matter, and that when the breath leaves the body the mind ceases to act and the dissolution of the body begins.

Not one of the Bible writers has penned a word in proof that man was created immortal. The belief that he was, originated with Satan, the great deceiver, in Eden, and like other theories of his invention, it has been generally received as truth. Paul, all through his writings, teaches that immortality is yet to be received. He admonishes us to seek for it. Rom. 2:7. He says that God is the only being that has inherent immortality, and that we are to receive it, as a gift, through Christ. 2 Tim. 6:15, 16; Rom. 6:23. He tells us plainly when this gift is to be given. It is at the coming of Christ, when the dead are raised. See 1 Cor. 15:51-54.

With such clear, emphatic declarations of Scripture respecting the nature of man, how can any one avoid the conclusion that man is mortal, and that the dead are unconsciously resting in the grave?

Reader, there is more importance attached to this subject than you, perhaps, are aware of. The belief that man is immortal, and that the dead are conscious, is the very foundation upon which the superstructure of spiritualism is built. Those who hold to this theory are in great danger of becoming victims to this Satanic delusion. E. Hilliard.