Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Sep 5, 1854
THE MORTALITY OF MAN:
By D. P. Hall
THE ONLY SHIELD AGAINST THE SEDUCTIONS OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM.
BY D. P. HALL.
(Continued.)
The next point to be considered is man's condition in death. Does the Bible represent death as being the event by which man passes into a higher state of life? a state of consciousness? the gate to endless joy, or endless woe? Do men pass to paradise or perdition, heaven or hell, by or through the event called death? These are all plain questions, and easily answered from the plain word of the Lord.
But allow me to say that at this particular point in the inquiry, we are very liable to have our reason and judgment too much under the influence of prejudice and sympathy, having been trained up from infancy in the belief of going immediately from this state of existence to another; and having a natural dread of death, we are apt to believe upon very slight evidence all that popular theology teaches upon this point.
It is an old adage that,
"A man convinced against his will,
Is of the same opinion still;"
and it is true evidently that it is a very hard matter to convince a person of the truth of any doctrine, which comes in contact with his early training, and all his established modes of thought; and it is equally true, that it is an easy matter indeed to convince a man of the truth of any thing when all these circumstances are favorable. But in order to carry on an investigation with profit, and to come to truthful conclusions, the mind must be entirely stripped of all such foreign influences, and left perfectly balanced. As the tradesman's scales would be very imperfect standards of weight, did one side preponderate, so the mind of man is ill prepared to judge of the real weight, or true merit of Bible truth, when it is bent to one side by prejudice, early training, or undue sympathy.
The questions propounded above are important, in more than one point of view, but especially so with reference to the Bible teachings concerning the Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection of the dead, and the Judgment. If these questions be answered in the affirmative (as they all are by popular theology) these three fundamental doctrines of holy writ are of no possible importance.
If answered in the negative (as I shall attempt to answer them) they are of infinite importance.
In order to enable us to see the contrast more strikingly between popular theology and the Bible upon the point now under consideration, viz., death, I will place the two views in juxtaposition. First, then, how is death spoken of in the Bible? What did the ancient worthies expect by such an event? Where did they expect to go when they died? See the record.
BIBLE.
Gen. v, 3. "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died."
Verse 11. "And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years; and he died."
Verse 17. "And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years; and he died."
Verse 24. "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not: for God took him." Mark in this case the contrast between Enoch and the others mentioned. When God takes a person to heaven, to himself, he mentions it, not in the language of "he died," remember, but he did not die, he "took him." Here in this case, and that of Elijah, God has shown us most clearly, his plan of taking men to heaven. It is not by halves, by killing them and taking their immortal souls, as popular theology teaches, but by translating them, by taking them up bodily.
Gen. xlix, 29. Jacob's charge. "And he charged them and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite. Verse 30. "In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a burying place."
Verse 31. "There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah."
Isa. xxxviii, 18, 19. "For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth."
Ps. lxxxviii, 10. "Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee?"
POPULAR THEOLOGY.
We will quote the language of Wilber Fisk, not however for the purpose of arraying him against the Bible, but to show the sentiments which popular theology teaches upon this subject.
Turning to his wife he said, "Think not when you see this poor feeble body stretched in death, that this is your husband. Oh no! your husband will have escaped free and liberated from every clog. He will have plumed his glad wings and soared away through the ethereal regions to that celestial city of light and love. What! talk of burying your husband? No, never. Your husband cannot be buried. He will be in heaven."
Socrates said, "I shall go to the felicities of the blessed: you will not bury Socrates. I shall go to the gods."
DR. WATTS.
"Why should we start and fear to die?
What timorous worms we mortals are
Death is the gate of endless joy
And yet we dread to enter there."
☞ Dread to enter endless joy!!
"But oh, the soul that never dies!
At once it leaves the clay!
Ye thoughts pursue it where it flies,
And track its wondrous way.
Up to the courts where angels dwell
It mounts, triumphing there;
Or devils plunge it down to hell,
In infinite despair."
☞ Goes to Heaven or Hell at Death!!
"I'll praise my Maker with my breath;
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers."
We might carry this contrast of popular sentiment and Bible teaching, to almost any length; but let this suffice for the present upon this point. We invite especial attention however to one point, viz., That in every instance where the death of an individual is mentioned in the sacred writings, be he saint or sinner, (unless it be in a parable) it is simply said "he died," and was "buried." Now
if popular theology be true upon this point, how can this wonderful suppression of truth be accounted for? It certainly cannot without leaving guilt, deception and falsehood upon the pages of the sacred record; and are we driven to this fearful alternative? No: let God be true, though all men are found liars. There is not the slightest similarity, the faintest resemblance, between the current theology touching death, and the Bible account of the same. The one represents it as entering into higher life; the other, total deprivation of life: one, as the gate to endless joy and light; the other, as the gate to the grave and darkness: the one, as a state of conscious delights or shivering pains; the other, a place where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest: the small and the great are there, the servant is free from his master.
We now invite the attention of the reader to a consideration of those scriptures which speak directly to the point; viz., Man's condition in death. Is man, in the interim between death and the resurrection, in a state of consciousness? The first divine definition of death would certainly forbid such an idea. God said to Adam, Thou shalt surely die. Gen. ii, 17. God's own definition of this phrase is, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. iii, 19. Here we have God's own definition of death; and if it is possible for the Eternal Spirit to frame language completely forbidding the idea of conscious and intelligent existence in death, he has here done it. I should like to see a believer in the immortality of the soul undertake to describe the destruction of the intelligent and conscious man, in the same space, as completely as it is here done. I believe it to be absolutely impossible. God is addressing Adam. Now is Adam merely the body of Adam? Is God speaking to the unconscious clay? the shell in which conscious, intelligent and responsible Adam dwells? Will you contend that God is talking to that which cannot hear or understand, and saying to it, Because you have done so and so you shall die? What a strange procedure! What would you think of a man who should talk in this way to an unconscious stump or stone, accusing it of sin, and denouncing punishment! If this would look unreasonable in man, much more so in God.26
Is he talking then to the immortal soul? and saying to it, "Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return?" Either one of these positions involves nonsense and absurdity. What then can be done? There is yet another view which makes all plain: God made of the dust of the ground a being called man, he gave him life, which constituted him a conscious, intelligent and responsible being. Consciousness, intelligence and responsibility, then, inhere in the organized man, the living soul, and not in an immortal soul, put into the dust. Now if man has a conscious, intelligent existence, after the living organism is returned to its simple and original elements, then by the same parity of reasoning, he must have had before his creation or organization. It is the dust made into a man, made alive, conscious and intelligent, by the power and wisdom of God, which is by that same power and wisdom, returned to unconsciousness by depriving it of life, by which the man returns again to dust. We append here David's view of this same subject, as being perfectly plain. Ps. cxlvi, 3, 4. "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." Now I ask in the light of this inspired definition, how any one can misunderstand?
The process of creation, death and resurrection, is all made plain in the Bible, and is the building unbuilding and building again of man: explained in Gen. to be, first, the organizing of dust, and putting into it the breath of life: consciousness, and intelligence is the result or effect. Second, his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish; or, as given by Solomon, [Eccl. xii, 7,] "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit, [breath of life,] shall return unto God who gave it." Now for the third item; i. e., the Resurrection. See Eze. xxxvii. Read to verse 15. Note first the bones brought together; next, sinews laid upon them; then flesh; and all covered with skin; but no spirit put in yet. Compare verses 5, 6, 8, 9, with 14; and putting spirit into the man re-organized or resurrected, is explained: "Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live." Here, then, all is made plain.
See Job iii, 11. He asks this question: Why died I not from the womb? and in verses 13-20, his condition in case he had died is described: "For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept, then had I been at rest. With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver; or as an hidden untimely birth, I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and the great are there: and the servant is free from his master." Who can read this description given by the patriarch Job, and not see that death consigns all ranks and characters to the same place; and this place is not the Orthodox Heaven or Hell, but quite another locality.
Job vii, 21. "And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be." Can this language be true if Job is this day a conscious being, either in soul or body? It certainly cannot. See Job x, 21, 22, 23. Job here asks this question: "Are not my days few?" He then replies, "Cease then and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness." As Job was a righteous man, he did not expect to go to hell; so this must be descriptive of heaven, if Job went there at death. Heaven, then, is a dark, disorderly place! Will this suit modern Orthodoxy? I trow not.
Job xiv, 1. "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." Is this descriptive of an immortal nature which is to continue as long as God continues? Verse 7. Here Job presents a beautiful analogy, and also a fair and plain contrast: "For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant." Note now the contrast: "But man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me." Then comes in the all-important question to dying men, verse 14: "If a man die, [shall his immortal soul go to glory? no I mistake] shall he live again? all the days of my ap-
pointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." This venerable patriarch says, "all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." Where is he to wait? in heaven? No: in hell? No: in his present dying mortal state, waiting for death? No: he is talking of death. If a man die shall he live again? See Chap. xvii, 13-16, and the question is fully and satisfactorily answered: "If I wait the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? as for my hope who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust."
Job in all the quotations above, is speaking of death and the grave, and represents man in the interim between death and resurrection as being asleep in the dust; as waiting in the grave. See this perfect and upright man's hope: Job xix, 23-28. "O that my words were now written! O that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! for I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Was a believer in the immortality of the soul, ever known to express himself thus, touching death and the resurrection?
We pass from the testimony of Job to notice that of David. Ps. vi, 45. "Return, O, Lord, deliver my soul: Oh save me for thy mercies' sake; for in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" Ps. xxx, 3, 9. "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" Compare with Ps. lxxxviii, 10, 11, 12. "Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?"
Death, then, sends all its victims into the land of forgetfulness. Is this conscious bliss or misery? Ps. cxv, 17. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. cxlvi, 3-5. "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." Can a man be a conscious and intelligent being without thoughts? Can an immortal, conscious, intelligent soul, exist without thoughts? This declaration from David is a nail in a sure place, and leaves the doctrine of the immortality of the soul no chance to escape; it is fenced in on all sides.
That the Psalmist was not mistaken in his views of death, and the condition of the dead, Peter abundantly testifies in the Acts ii, 29, and onward. "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens." Who more likely than David to go, if it was God's plan to take the righteous there at death? We will close with David's testimony by inviting attention to his hope. Ps. xvii, 15. "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Would to God that all who profess righteousness were satisfied with the same expectation.
We pass from David's testimony, to that of Solomon. Solomon, speaking of death, [Eccl. iii, 19,] says: "For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other." If death, then, be the separation of an immortal soul from a mortal body in the case of man, it is in the case of the beast; "for as the one dieth, so dieth the other."
Eccl. ix, 4, 5, 10. For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die; [just here I would ask, What part of man knows? Current theology answers, It is the immortal, conscious soul, that has knowledge. Then that same shall die. Is it the unconscious body, or shell, that knows? Then consciousness and knowledge are attributes of the living dust, and the immortal soul is entirely useless. Or is it the immortal soul which knows that the mortal body shall die? Yes, that is it, says the advocate for natural immortality, that is the meaning precisely. Yes, this is precisely the way to prove the immortality of the soul; not from what the Scriptures say, but from what they mean. It is no difficult task for a popular theologian to read his theory out of the Bible, provided you grant him one privilege first; and that is, to read it in. Like the man who was willing to bet that he could squeeze cider out of cotton. This looked like a hard task at first sight; but all was easy; he must put it in first; but the dead know not any thing. [That which was alive, and had knowledge, is dead, and know not any thing.] Neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. O yes, says the objector, all is plain; this all relates to the body; but the immortal soul with powers enlarged, flies out, to love God supremely in blissful abodes above, or sinks down to hell, there to increase in its hatred of everything good, and to envy only those who are more wicked than that? But hold! "Also their love and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun." Hence the conclusion he comes to in the tenth verse: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest." How very plain. It does seem that God has made this subject so plain that no one can possibly plead a reasonable excuse for misunderstanding. But some object to the testimony of Solomon, supposing him to have been an infidel. This is most plainly contradicted by the closing up of Ecclesiastes. Chap. xii, 13, 14. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." In concluding the testimony of David and Solomon, touching the state of the dead, we invite attention to the simple records of their death, and notice the contrast between those and popular obituaries. 1 Kings ii, 10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 1 Kings 11, 43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father.
We pass from this point to notice the testimony of Isaiah concerning Hezekiah king of Judah. It will be seen by reading Chap. xxxviii, that the Prophet notified the king that his house should be set in order, for he must die. The king prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord added unto his days fifteen years. Notice how the king speaks of death. Verse 10. "I shall go to the gates of the grave." Verse 17. "Behold for peace, I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Verse 18. "For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth." See Isa. xxv, 8. "He will swallow up death in victory: and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. xxvi, 19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." No place in Isaiah's view of death and resurrection for the immortal-soul man that never dies. How unreasonable for the pious king to feel so bad about dying, if death was to send him from the troubles of earth, to the society of the27
blessed in heaven. "Thy dead men shall live," "Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in the dust," are expressions of sentiment which illy comport with the current phraseology of natural immortality.
Next notice Daniel's testimony. Chap. xii, 2. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
Hosea xiii, 14. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will ransom them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes!"
We leave the Old Testament for the present, and notice the teachings of the New, upon this subject. Do the New Testament writers speak of death, in common with the prophets, as a state of sleep, of resting in the dust, of waiting in the grave, &c.? as a condition of utter unconsciousness, knowing not any thing, thoughts perishing, love, hatred, envy, and all the attributes of the mind, ceasing, &c.? or do they represent death as being the voice that Jesus sends to call them to his arms; the gate to endless joy or everlasting woe; an event by which the intelligent man leaves the body and flies away through the ethereal regions to this celestial city of light and love? Let them testify for themselves.
First, the testimony of Christ. John v, 28. "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves [not in heaven or hell] shall hear his voice [how can the dead body, if it is not susceptible of consciousness or intelligence, hear his voice?] and come forth."
John xi, 14. "Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." [Not in heaven or hell.] Verse 43. "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth; and he that was dead came forth." [Not came down from heaven or up from hell and got into his body, but came out of the grave where he had been since his burial.]
Luke vii, 14, 15. "And he came and touched the bier; and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak." What part of this young man, according to current theology, was susceptible of speaking? The immortal soul. Can it die? No. But in this case that part which was dead, sat up and spake. Now the supposition that all the intelligence manifested in these instances, all the life and consciousness apparent, resulted from putting the immortal soul man into an unconscious body is entirely unworthy of candid and serious consideration.
Second, the testimony of Paul. 1 Cor. xv, 18, "Then they also which are fallen asleep [not gone to heaven] in Christ." 1 Thess. iv, 13. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep." Verse 14. "Them also which sleep in Jesus." Heb. xi, 13. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off."
John, in Revelation. Chap. xiv, 13. "And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." Chap. xx, iv. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, . . . and they lived," &c.
Many other testimonies from the New Testament might be adduced, touching the dead, all bearing uniform testimony. They sleep, they rest, they are in the grave, they come forth from the grave, and the like. We will quote one more circumstance, and then close upon this particular thread of the subject. Matt. xxvii, 52. "And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept, arose and came out of the grave." In all the numerous instances of death, mentioned in the New Testament, there is not the slightest intimation of its being a separation of the immortal and intelligent man, from the unconscious clay or body, by which the man proper, or
soul, is sent to heaven, to enjoy bliss, or down to hell to writhe in indescribable anguish;—not, I say, one single instance of this kind. Now if it be true, how can this silence of the sacred writings be accounted for? Can it be possible that a matter of this importance, if true, would be left by infinite wisdom, to four or five doubtful inferences? We leave this branch of evidence to notice another growing out of the resurrection of the dead.
The notion of man's being in possession of an immortal, conscious and intelligent soul entity, which at death leaves the body and goes to its rewards, either in bliss or misery, is not only forbidden, by what the sacred writings say concerning the dead, but by what is said touching the resurrection of the dead. I am persuaded that any one who will investigate the subject, will not fail to see that the resurrection, as taught in the Scriptures of truth, is a matter of much greater importance than it is held to be, by those who believe in the natural immortality of the soul. As far as my own observation goes, I am satisfied that the resurrection of the dead, is, by a great majority of this class, something to be endured, rather than anxiously desired and longed for. And why, I ask, is this doctrine which is so very important in the Scriptures, so lightly esteemed, and even totally denied, by many of those who believe in the immortality of the soul? The answer is easy: they are furnished with another means of securing all that the resurrection promises; and as a consequence, the resurrection of the dead is counted a matter of no possible importance. I should like to have a thorough believer in this doctrine, undertake to show how the resurrection of the dead body would be of the slightest service to his system of theology. Just in the proportion that the resurrection becomes important, the immortal soul becomes unimportant; and vice versa.
We next invite attention to the resurrection of the dead, as being an event of infinite importance in the view of sacred writers: an event which they longed and hoped for; which they were willing to sacrifice every thing temporal to obtain: an event to which all the faithful have looked for the realization of their fondest hopes. We will notice it in the first place without making any discrimination or distinction in its order or character.
It was the patriarch Job's only hope. "If a man die shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou shalt call and I will answer. If I wait, the grave shall be my house. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Job xiv, 14, 15; xvii, 13; xix, 26.
It was David's hope. "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness."
It was the great theme of the apostle Paul's preaching, and his hope. "He preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection." "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked." "Of the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am called in question." "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope towards God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." Acts xvii, 18, 32; xxiii, 6; xxiv, 14, 15. "Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day." Verse 21.
It was the time and event pointed out by our Saviour, when the virtuous were to receive their reward. "Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors: lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke xiv, 12-14.
A host of worthies suffered the loss of every
thing that they might obtain it. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off." "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." "Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection. Heb. xi, 13, 35, 39.
It was the apostle Paul's Mark, Prize, The high calling of God in Christ Jesus. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. iii, 9-14.
It was acknowledged by our Saviour himself that without it, those given him by his Father must be lost. "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day; and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Notice the infinite importance attached to it by the apostle Paul in
1 CORINTHIANS XV.
12. "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
13. "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen."
14. "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain."
15. "Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not."
16. "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised."
17. "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins."
18. "Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
19. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
20. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that sleep."
21. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead."
22. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
29. "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?"
30. "And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?"
31. "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
32. "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage it is me if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die."
We invite especial attention to several points clearly set forth in Paul's argument in this place, touching the resurrection. He notices several calamities which must necessarily follow the non-resurrection of the dead: a notion which some in the Corinthian church had fallen into.
"For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
How can it be said of those whose immortal souls had been in glory, in the presence of God where is fullness of joy, and pleasures forevermore, for hundreds of years, that they are perished unless the dead body was to be raised up? What would the resurrection of the dead, unconscious clay, have to do with the endless felicity, the seraphic joys of the emancipated soul? It could enjoy bliss and glory, honor and life, quite as well without a resurrection as with it. Was a believer in the immortality of the soul ever heard to put forth such a sentiment as this? The immortal soul dogma, instead of leading its advocates to speak after this fashion concerning the resurrection, leads in quite another and contrary direction: even to the total denial of the resurrection28
of the body altogether; which is proving to be its legitimate result, its practical tendency.
Note another result in case of non-resurrection: "If after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink: for to-morrow we die." If the dead rise not, all the Apostle's labors and self denial, and all his sacrifices, would prove of no advantage: the virtuous and vicious would all meet the same fate, provided the dead rise not. Let us eat and drink, let us make the very best of a bad case; for to-morrow we die, and that is the end of all our hopes and fears. Is this the style of immortal soulism? is this the way current theology looks upon the resurrection of the dead? The answer is obvious: it would soon expire under such reasoning as this: the supposed vast and important benefits accruing to man from this source would soon be lost sight of, and swallowed up in the more scriptural hope of a part in the first resurrection.
We invite attention again to the use Paul makes of the resurrection, as being entirely incompatible with the idea, of his believing in an intermediate state of happiness.
1 THESSALONIANS IV.
13. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."
14. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
15. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain, unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."
16. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
17. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
18. "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
The circumstances under which the Apostle gave vent to the strain of sentiment penned above, were those, which would have called forth the doctrine of the soul's immortality, and an intermediate state of bliss for the faithful, if it had been true. The Thessalonian brethren were liable, like all others who have the common sympathies of human nature, to grieve at the loss of their kindred and brethren; and the Apostle would not leave them without comfort under such circumstances. Would an expounding of modern theology under similar circumstances neglect to make known to the circle of sad and tearful mourners, the fact that the immortal soul free from every clog, was now in the enjoyment of bliss and glory at the right hand of God? This would be the very occasion for him to expatiate upon the enlarged capacities, and the perfect happiness of the emancipated spirit; but the Apostle comforted the brethren at Thessalonica with far different words. He concludes this interesting exhortation by saying, "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." What were those words? Christ will come, and your dead friends shall live again.
We still further remark upon this circumstance, that, their belief in the resurrection of Jesus, was to be the basis of their hope touching the resurrection of their friends. "If ye believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Now I would like to know what logical connection there is between the resurrection of Jesus, and the flight of the immortal soul at death? how could the one aid in the belief of the other? It should rather be, If you believe that Jesus died, and his immortal soul, or deathless spirit fled to heaven, even so the immortal spirits of those who die, will God take there with his. This text is sometimes explained after this manner: If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him; that is, when Jesus comes down from heaven God will bring along with him from heaven the immortal
souls of those whose bodies are sleeping in Jesus. This difficulty, if it be one, grows out of the expression of God's bringing the sleeping ones with him from some place. What place is this? heaven, or the grave? Ans. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead, [not heaven,] our Lord Jesus Christ." Heb. xiii, 20. Also, "Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus" 2 Cor. iv, 14.
The language of the Saviour, in comforting the sorrowing Martha, was similar to Paul's in the case just cited. Jesus saith unto her, "Thy brother shall rise again." [Not thy brother is in heaven.] Martha replied in harmony with this sentiment, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." John xi, 23, 24.
In concluding upon this branch of the subject, let me ask if any man can believe, that Christ, prophets and apostles, would speak of death and resurrection, under every conceivable variety of circumstances, and if it were true, never once intimate the existence and attributes of such a soul or spirit as lies at the very foundation of popular orthodoxy? There are other declarations touching the resurrection which we will notice in another place; some from which objections are urged against the Bible doctrine of man's mortality, but which are found to be when closely examined most decidedly in its favor.
We have examined the scriptures thus far, as they stand related to man in three conditions: first, in his creation; second, in his death; third, in his resurrection; and in all these aspects, the plain and obvious meaning of the sacred text, has been clearly and unquestionably in favor of the view of man's being wholly composed of material—simply a living soul. And whatever has been said up to this point, to or of man, as a saint or sinner, as innocent or guilty, as the subject of rewards or punishments, touching life, death, resurrection, mortality or immortality, relates, (not, be it remembered, to an immortal soul put into man,) but, to a being made of the dust of the ground, and made alive, conscious, intelligent and responsible, by the power and wisdom of God. Any objection, therefore, urged against this view of the subject, must be drawn from the supposed teachings of some obscure text, a parable, or doubtful inference; neither of which are admissible as independently proving any doctrine; much less a doctrine of the importance of the one under contemplation; for, let it be borne in mind, parables, inferences, and all obscure sayings, are to be explained, so as to harmonize with the oft repeated and plain teachings of the inspired penmen. This method of investigation not having been sufficiently adhered to, has been the occasion of a great amount of darkness and fog, which now hangs like a dense cloud over the religious world.
We purpose at this point in the investigation, introducing the Bible view of the soul, spirit, and immortality; and we will notice this branch of the subject under the head of objections. I have found by experience that you may collate any amount of testimony of the plainest and most obvious import, bearing upon man's condition in creation, death and resurrection, and still an objection will arise in the minds of many from the supposed signification of soul, spirit and immortality, as it is revealed in the Bible. Any objection to man's unity, mortality and materiality, originating from this source, must I think have its foundation, more in the sound which a repetition of these terms conveys to the ear, than in the sense conveyed to the understanding, by a faithful and critical investigation of them.
I would invite attention to a fact in the onset which would be profitable to note and remember; namely, that those advocating the immortality of the soul, in offering objections to the view I am endeavoring to present, almost invariably make a false issue. They represent us as no-soulists; as denying man a soul; and they not unfrequently fancy themselves completely triumphant, on finding the words soul, spirit and immortality, used in the scriptures in connection with man. In this case they rejoice by far too soon; for when they have made this important discovery, they are not one whit in advance of
their neighbors: they too have learned these same things. Up to this point, then, all parties are agreed: there is no issue here. I am very sorry to say that a great many of those, who represent us as denying man a soul or spirit, simply because we reject their version of the matter, are just as guilty as we should be, were we to deny them a belief in the soul and spirit, simply because they do not choose to accept our version of the same. Denying their affirmation, that the soul or spirit, is an entity separate from the body, and capable of existing in or out of it, as an intelligent creature, clothed with immortality, consciousness, intelligence, responsibility, &c., is one thing; and denying that man has a soul or spirit at all, is quite another, and a different thing.