WHAT IS IT THAT RETURNS TO GOD WHEN MAN DIES?
By G.
“Then shall the dust return unto the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Eccl. 12:7. THIS text is frequently quoted to prove that man is naturally possessed of immortality. But it can not be so construed without directly contradicting other texts, even in the same book, the meaning of which is too obvious to be misunderstood. For instance, in chapter 9: 5, 6, we read: “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.” It is no argument to insist that it is only the love and hatred and envy and memory of the body that are perished; for these attributes are functions of the conscious man solely; the body without the spirit never could exercise these. And these attributes having perished is proof positive that the spirit can not exercise them when separated from the body. In order that a human being may exercise love, hatred, envy, or memory, there must be a union of body and spirit. This fact is emphasized by the psalmist: “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.” Then the question naturally arises, What is the spirit that returns to God at death? Or what is it that God gave to man that can return at death? The sacred Record says that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It is not said that a living soul was put into the man, but that he “became a living soul,” by the “breath of life.” Previous to this in-breathing he was a lifeless soul, or inanimate creature. This breath of life, acting upon the organs of the body, imparted the power of motion—of voluntary action—and of thought. Hence, there followed love, hatred, envy, memory, etc. All these functions were made possible by the union of life with the body. When God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, He did not impart that which was of itself a conscious entity, but that which acted upon the man—the body—in such a way as to make him a conscious entity. Therefore the withdrawal of the breath of life from the body means the cessation of the functions operated by a union of the two. According to the Word, the only thing given to man at his creation by the Lord was this breath of life; hence this is all that could return to God at the death of the man. The life principle belongs to God, to give or to withdraw at His pleasure. It is not claimed that the word “spirit” always means breath of life. It has a variety of meanings, which must be gathered from the connection, without doing violence to other scriptures. The original Hebrew word is translated in sixteen different ways, among which are breath, spirit, wind, mind, smell, blast, anger, courage, air, etc. But in no case can it be construed to mean an immortal part of man without contradicting or making nonsense of many plain texts of Scripture. G.