Life and Death are Opposites.
By B. F. Snook
1. We will speak of life. The term "means in a general sense, that state of animals, and plants, or of an organized being, in which its natural functions and motions are performed; or in which its organs are capable of performing their functions. A tree is not destitute of life in winter, when the functions of its organs are suspended; nor man during a swoon or syncope; nor strictly birds, quadrupeds, or serpents, during their torpitude in winter. They are not strictly dead till the functions of their organs are incapable of being revived." Web. Life means the same in a literal sense, whether applied to animals or vegetables. 2. Death is negative to life, and invariably denotes an opposite state. Trees live, and die; but when they are dead they do not live. Animals of all classes live, and while living are not dead. They all die, and while they are dead they do not live. No being can be both dead and alive at the same time. That the terms life and death are used figuratively, we know; but that an idea is conveyed in their figurative use contradictory to their literal meaning, is contrary to common sense, and contradictory to the laws of all language. 3. The creeds teach that death is a separation of parts—a separation of soul, body, and spirit. If this is true, it must be as general as the term defined, and hence must apply to all vegetable and animal life. Hence when horses, cattle, dogs, insects, &c., die, it is only a separation of their souls, bodies, and spirits; for death is applicable to all these, and many more. But this proves that all these things are just as immortal70as man, and proves too much for them; and as that which proves too much proves nothing, this theory cannot be true. 4. The Bible is very clear on this subject, and teaches that death is the opposite of life, and a returning again to the dust of the ground. God gave the prophet Isaiah a testimony to bear to king Hezekiah. "Thus saith the Lord [not the creeds], Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." Isa. xxxviii, 1. This being true, to die is to cease to live, and so Hezekiah understood it. He believed it, and in the bitterness of his soul prayed to God to spare his life; and it was lengthened fifteen years. Verses 2-5. He did not believe that death would be a passport to heaven to him. He did not believe that it was the gate to endless joys. He said, "I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living. I shall behold men no more with the inhabitants of the world." Verse 11. "I have cut off like a weaver my life; he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night will thou make an end of me." Verse 12. "But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from [heaven? no,] the pit of corruption (the grave)." Verse 17. The word occurs in the following, where it is of universal application: "And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died." Gen. vii, 21, 22. The entire animal creation is here spoken of as having in common with man the breath of life, and in common with man they died. So the term death must mean the same when applied to man, that it does when applied to beasts. We will now give the strongest testimony in the Bible on the true meaning of the word, death, found in Isa. xliii, 17. "Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow." In this testimony death is represented as a perfect extinction of life. Nothing can be stronger. 5. We will now show that all that constitutes man, dies—ceases to live. Argument 1, is founded upon the death of Adam. And here we meet again with the mist and fog of the creeds. The question arises, What kind of a death did Adam die? They say a temporal, spiritual, and eternal death. They argue that such was the penalty of the law he violated, and that on account of his sin all men are condemned to the same death. To which we reply, 1. That the death threatened Adam cannot be eternal; for there is to be a resurrection from it. 1 Cor. xv, 21. 2. It cannot be spiritual death; for that is a consequence which follows, and not a punishment for, sin. Punishment for actual sins is in the future. 2 Pet. ii, 9. 3. We are therefore shut up to the conclusion that the death threatened was natural, or temporal death. But what say the Scriptures? "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. ii, 17. This is the law and penalty briefly stated, and plain enough for all to understand, save those whose minds have been distorted by the errors of the creeds. But God has made it still plainer. He tells the man just what death he meant. "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Chap. iii, 19. This clearly proves that the penalty of the law is natural death. This our opponents admit, so far as the body is concerned, but say that temporal death only refers to the body. We will now examine this assumption, and show that if Adam had an immortal soul, it was made of the dust and returned to it again. What is the immortal soul? They all say that it is the intelligent man—the man proper. Well, of what is the man proper made? "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." Gen. ii, 7. What became of this man? "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it." Chap. ii, 15. What did he command the man proper? for he never gave the mere body a command. "Of every tree of the garden thou [the man proper, the immortal soul] mayest freely eat." Chap. ii, 16. Immortal souls can eat, then. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it." Now to whom is he speaking here? No dodging here. Well, he is speaking to the same man proper. "For in the day thou [the same man proper—the immortal soul] eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Verse 17. Hence all must admit that the immortal soul dies. But further—"In the sweat of thy face [this immortal soul had a face] shalt thou eat bread [it eats bread, too,] till thou return unto the ground [not to heaven or hell]; for out of it was thou [the man proper, the immortal soul] taken; for dust thou [the immortal soul] art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Chap. iii, 19. This puts an end to all controversy on the death of Adam, and shows clear as a sunbeam that he died as a unit. Arg. 2, is founded upon Eccl. iii, 19. "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other: yea, they have all one breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." This testimony being true, if men die and go to heaven or hell, beasts do the same, for all go to one place. But all die alike—all are of the dust, and go to dust again. This gives no quarters to immortal-soulism. To this testimony also belongs Ps. lxxxix, 48. "Like sheep they are laid in the grave (hades, Sept.), death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of [heaven or hell?] the grave, for he shall receive me." Verses 14, 15. Arg. 3, is based upon Ps. civ, 29. "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their [immortal soul] No; breath, they die and return to their dust." "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth." Ps. cxlvi, 4. These scriptures accord with the above, and constitute a fortress behind which the saint may safely intrench himself in defiance of all opposing errors. Arg. 4. Our final argument on this part of the subject is based upon Gen. vii, 23. "And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground; both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." This testimony proves conclusively that all the animate creation was destroyed, save Noah and those who were with him in the ark. Upon the evidence of this scripture we will frame a syllogistical argument, to which we invite the particular attention of those who do not believe the teaching of the Bible on this subject. 1. Major premise. The immortal soul is a living substance. Orthodoxy. 2. Minor premise. Every living substance on the face of the earth of man and beast was destroyed, or died in the flood. Gen. vii, 23. 3. Conclusion. Therefore every immortal soul on the face of all the earth was destroyed, or died in the flood. From this argument there is no escape. Immortal-soulism here goes under the waters of the flood in spite of all the efforts of its advocates to save it. We now submit to the reader whether man can be dead and alive at the same time; whether the word death means one thing when applied to man, and something very different when applied to everything else; whether a part of man escapes death, or dies as a whole and returns to the dust of the ground, out of which he was taken.