p. 101 | Man in Death by B. F. Snook

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Aug 25, 1863

Man in Death.

By B. F. Snook

Is man conscious or unconscious in death? On this question we affirm that in death man is unconscious. We have proved that man is a unit and as such he dies. Our proposition relates to him as a unit, in the state of death.

Argument first, is founded upon man's condition before he received the breath of life. (1.) He was man as much before, as he was afterward. (2.) He was unconscious. (3.) He could not praise the Lord. (4.) He had no thoughts. But when he received the breath of life he became a living soul, a living creature. What made him a living creature? The breath of life. Gen. ii, 7. And as a living creature he was conscious, could think, and praise the Lord. His life was dependent upon that breath of life, not upon an immortal soul. Therefore, as on receiving the breath of life, he became a living, conscious, and active man, capable of exercising the power of thought, and praising the Lord. When the breath departed or left him, his condition was just the same that it was before he received it. He became unconscious, and could neither think, nor praise the Lord.

Arg. 2. The building, unbuilding, and rebuilding of man. (1.) His building, or formation. "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. Gen. ii, 7. This gives us all needed information relative to the building of man. No such material as an immaterial soul entered into the construction of that building. (2.) His unbuilding. How is man unbuilt? The Lord says by David, "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their (never dying immortal soul? No,) breath; they die, and return to their dust. Ps. civ. 29. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth." cxlvi. 4. It is apparent from the foregoing, that no immortal soul, nor deathless spirit, either entered into man in his building, or departed from him in his unbuilding, or death. (3.) His rebuilding. This is effected in the resurrection, and if we do not, upon examination, find that an immortal soul or never-dying spirit enters into man at that time; we with all safety may conclude that there is no such thing in all that constitutes man, and that all arguments in favor of the consciousness of the dead based upon this assumption, are weighed in the balance and found wanting. The rebuilding of man is beautifully presented in Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. Chap. xxxvii.

"Again he said unto me, Oh ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold I will cause (an immortal soul? Yes, says orthodoxy, but, says the Bible) breath to enter into you, and ye shall live." Verses 3, 4. "And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin and put breath in you, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied there was a noise and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone; and when I beheld, lo, the sinews and flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me Prophesy unto the wind, Prophesy son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the" (heavens, O ye immortal souls and be united with your bodies? No; that is the voice of the creed worshipers; but the Bible says, Come from the) "four winds, O breath and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army." Verse 10. In all this very minute prophetic description of the resurrection, not one word is said of immortal souls or spirits.

Arg. 3. Man in death has no remembrance. "For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks? Ps. vi, 5. "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a broken vessel." xxxi, 12. According to these Scriptures the dead have no remembrance of anything. Not even the righteous who love God and rejoice in his mercies, blessings and goodness, have any remembrance in death. How different is this plain truth from the fables of the religionists of these times. By the self-styled orthodox, all classes who die, except the most flagrant sinners, are preached immediately to heaven, where they are represented as being in the most perfect bliss, thanking, and blessing God at the remembrance of his mercies.

Arg. 4. Is founded upon Ps. cxv, 17. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." This testimony accords with our reasoning upon the constitution of man before he received the breath of life. He could not then praise the Lord. Death reduces him to that same state again, in which he cannot praise his Maker. And so it is with all who die and go down into silence. The dead go down not up; and they rest in silence, until their silent slumbers are broken by the mighty peals of the Archangel's trump. The whole system of popular theology is directly opposed to this Bible truth, and must of necessity be of him who said "ye shall not surely die."

Arg. 5. The very thoughts of the dead have perished. They cannot think. Ps. cxlvi, 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. This testimony is based upon the very fact in the nature of man, that before he received the breath of life he could not think, and as death remands him back to the same condition, in death he of necessity cannot think. But why cannot man think after death, as well as during life? The reason is obvious. He thinks with the brain. This point is easily proved. When the brain is pressed upon by the skull, all things, feeling, and intellect, are as really suspended, as they are in death. Dr. Richmond mentions the case of a woman whose brain was exposed, in consequence of the removal of a considerable of its bony covering by disease. He says, "I repeatedly made pressure on the brain, and each time suspended all feeling and all intellect, which were immediately restored when the pressure was withdrawn." Prof. Chapman, in one of his lectures says, "I saw an individual with his skull perforated and the brain exposed, who was accustomed to submit to be experimented upon by pressure and who was exhibited by the late Prof. Weston to his class. His intellect and moral faculties disappeared on the application of pressure to the brain. They were held under the thumb as it were, and restored at pleasure to their full activity by discontinuing the pressure. These are facts that no man can gainsay, and they demonstrate completely our position. Additional evidence is found in the fact that idiots cannot think or reason; because they have no brain in the front part of the skull where the reasoning faculties are located.

They are on a level with the brutes. They can eat and speak. They are supplied with all the animal organs but destitute of the rational. Another fact, adding strength to the above conclusion is, that as is the size of the brain, so are the reasoning faculties. All the great men of both church and state, have been and are men of large and well developed brains. But the immortal-soul theory says that it is with the soul that we think and reason and hence this conclusion that man can think as well after death as during life. If this be true, we are not dependent upon brain for memory thoughts or reason. And therefore we can think and reason as well without brains, as with: and if so why cannot the idiot think and reason with his immortal soul? The conclusion appears evident, that if the idiot during life cannot think with an immortal soul being destitute of brains, in death, when the same are as though they had no brains, they can no more reason and think than the idiot. Death chills, benumbs and stupefies the brain so that it cannot act, and thus the testimony of David is proved true: In that very day his thoughts perish, die, cease. But when man wakes, his mind will act from his last thoughts. His last thoughts in life will be his first in the resurrection. This is evinced by facts. Many examples might be given in which persons have been entirely unconscious for months and years, from injuries of the brain. But when the injuries were removed which obstructed the action of the brain, they were restored to consciousness, and began to think and act just where they left off, as if nothing had happened to them, and no time had passed away.

Arg. 6. The dead know not anything. Job in speaking of the dead, says, "His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not: they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." xiv, 21. "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us." Isa. lxiii, 16. Why is it that the father knows not the destiny of his sons upon the earth? And why was Abraham ignorant of Israel? Because they slept in unconsciousness. "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." Eccl. ix, 5. This is so plain that comment is needless. The dead know not anything, neither have they yet a reward. The time of their reward is placed in other scriptures under the seventh trumpet. Rev. xi, 15.