Under the influence of materialism many have been inclined to doubt and even to deny the future life of man. Though evolutionists cannot admit that faith in the immortality of the soul is an original endowment of man, yet it cannot be denied that this faith is all but universal, and is found even in the lowest forms of religion. The answer to this question has practically always been an affirmative one. And with it the question constantly recurs, whether the dead still live. The question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14) is one of perennial interest. TESTIMONY OF GENERAL REVELATION TO THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. This immortality would have resulted if Adam had complied with the condition of the covenant of works, but can now only result from the work of redemption as it is completed in the consummation. Man was not immortal in this highest sense of the word in virtue of his creation, even though he was created in the image of God. Finally, the word “immortality” designates, especially in eschatological language, that state of man in which he is impervious to death and cannot possibly become its prey. It was entirely possible that through sin he would become subject to the law of death and as a matter of fact he did fall a victim to it.Ĥ. Though man in the state of rectitude was not subject to death, yet he was liable to it. This state clearly did not exclude the possibility of man’s becoming subject to death. In this sense of the word man was immortal before the fall. Again, the term “immortality” is used in theological language to designate that state of man in which he is entirely free from the seeds of decay and death. This idea of the immortality of the soul is in perfect harmony with what the Bible teaches about man, but the Bible, religion, and theology, are not primarily interested in this purely quantitative and colourless immortality, - the bare continued existence of the soul.ģ. It is one of the doctrines of natural religion or philosophy that, when the body is dissolved, the soul does not share in its dissolution, but retains its identity as an individual being. Immortality in the sense of continuous or endless existence is also ascribed to all spirits, including the human soul. God, on the other hand, is necessarily free from all temporal limitations.Ģ. The evident meaning of his statement is that God is the only being who possesses immortality “as an original, eternal, and necessary endowment.” Whatever immortality may be ascribed to some of His creatures, is contingent on the divine will, is conferred upon them, and therefore had a beginning. Understood in that unrestricted sense, this word of Paul would also teach that the angels are not immortal, and this is certainly not the intention of the apostle. 6:15,16 as “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality.” This does not mean that none of His creatures are immortal in any sense of the word. In the most absolute sense of the word immortality is ascribed only to God. There are certain distinctions that are quite essential, in order to prevent confusion.ġ. In a discussion of the doctrine of immortality it should be borne in mind that the term “immortality” is not always used in the same sense. DIFFERENT CONNOTATIONS OF THE TERM “IMMORTALITY.” This doctrine of the immortality of the soul calls for brief consideration at this point. It marks the end of our present life and the end of the “natural body.” But now the question arises, What becomes of the soul: does physical death bring its life to a close, or does it continue to exist and live on after death? It has always been the firm conviction of the Church of Jesus Christ that the soul continues to live even after its separation from the body. It necessarily involves and results in the decomposition of the body. In the preceding it was pointed out that physical death is the separation of body and soul and marks the end of our present physical existence.
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