thedirtysailor.com

http://bible.org/seriespage/shall-we-know-each-other-heaven

From time immemorial men have held to the doctrine of recognition in the future life. Like an unbroken thread in human history, there has been a deep conviction in man’s spirit that the purpose of being created could not be fulfilled in his short-lived visit in this life.

The ancient Athenian philosopher Socrates could say that since “death conveys us to those regions which are inhabited by the spirits of departed men, will it not be unspeakably happy to escape from the hands of mere nominal judges? Is it possible for you to look upon this as an unimportant journey? Is it nothing to converse with Orpheus, and Homer, and Hesiod? Believe me, I could cheerfully suffer many a death on condition of realizing such a privilege. With what pleasure could I leave the world, to hold communion with Palamedes, Ajax, and others!”

It’s kind of interesting that the author points to historical commonalities to pursue the idea of a shared after-death experience across cultures, but he doesn’t then make the point that all of these cultures, except for the Jewish one, are doomed to hell and will not in fact have this pleasant privilege of communing with their friends, relatives, ancestors, and luminaries in the afterlife.

Belaboring the point for a minute: I think that is one of the biggest objections to Christianity, as presented.

http://bible.org/seriespage/heaven-home-redeemed

The fellowship in Heaven will surpass anything that we have known on earth. Up there “God is with men; He will dwell with them, and God Himself shall be with them.” We shall enter into a fellowship with the triune God that is utterly unknown on earth. Men dwelling with “God Himself!” Could anything be higher and more glorious? Then we will know the blessed reality of the words of Christ, where He said: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). In addition to having fellowship with “God Himself,” Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we will commune with the “innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and church of the firstborn, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:22-24). What a fellowship! What a joy divine!

There is definitely something compelling about the idea of seeing God. I’ve heard the question, “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” I wonder if I would be able to ask a question at all, standing in the presence of God. Or even lying face-down. To dwell with God would be awesome and awe-full at the same time. I can’t even imagine what that would be like.

http://bible.org/seriespage/death

Adam knew that he was alive, but he was a stranger to the subject of death until he heard this word from the Lord. Now he is on his own. He has a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. He knows that to obey God will mean continuous and unending life and to disobey will bring the sentence of death. The power of choice and the right to decide is now left with man. However, Satan would not allow the situation to go unchallenged. Though he taunted and tempted Eve he could not force her to eat the fruit. Both she and her husband partook of it by their own choice, and in so doing they incurred the displeasure of the Lord. The warning He gave was plain: “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Being holy and righteous in all of His judgments, God could do nothing other than pass the sentence of death.

If Adam was a stranger to the subject of death, did he know and understand what the consequence was? God says, “if you eat you will surely die.” If there was no death in the garden of Eden, then what significance did that word have for Adam? Did he even know what that meant?

It’s kind of a pointless argument, isn’t it? Surely the subject here is the choice between obedience and disobedience, not between life and death.

http://bible.org/seriespage/man-trinity-spirit-soul-body

There is an idea also that prevails largely today that man consists of only two component parts: namely, body and spirit. In the thinking of the writer this view appears to be one that might create confusion in the minds of any Christians. While soul and spirit are so closely related that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish accurately between them, there seems to be only one logical conclusion: namely, that “soul” and “spirit” are not the same. The Bible does make a distinction.

In this writer’s analysis, the soul and the spirit are different.

The soul is the emotional center of a person. It is capable of love and hate. We talk about having a “soul mate”, that person to whom we are emotionally attracted to.

The spirit is the mental, analytical part. It is that part of us which learns, discovers, thinks. We apprehend the world through our senses. The spirit is the focus of all external stimuli, where we interpret the world.

The spirit is particularly used to understand the work and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

http://bible.org/seriespage/can-we-believe-immortality

Man must acknowledge the immortal Christ as his only hope for life after death. Without the Cross of Christ there could have been no redemption for the fallen race, and without that redemption there can be no hope for the life that is immortal. The Christian possesses a living hope that finds its root in the Person and Work of the now living Christ.

The author makes a point in passing that there’s a difference between “eternal life” and “immortality”. Every soul is immortal – which is to say, it will exist forever. But eternal life or life after death is different, with the emphasis on “life”. The only way to have “life” after death is to accept the redeeming grace of Jesus. What happens after death for those who do not accept Jesus’ salvation? They continue to exist, but are separated from God.

http://bible.org/seriespage/two-resurrections

The resurrection and re-formation of believers’ bodies is discussed here. All people will have a remade body, a physical body made of atoms. This body will be changed; somehow different – incorruptible. Those who are raised from the grave will have new bodies formed for them. Those who are still alive will be caught up in the clouds but with a new body as well. From dust we are made.

http://bible.org/seriespage/resurrection-body

Biologically speaking, the change of a caterpillar into a butterfly is spoken of as a “metamorphosis.” The ugly, repulsive caterpillar is confined to a tomb which it spins for itself. While in the cocoon there is an apparently dead and formless substance. But after the warm sun of spring has beaten its golden rays upon that cocoon, there comes forth a beautiful butterfly. Though the butterfly is different in appearance from the caterpillar, we recognize the beautiful winged insect as being the same as the caterpillar. It is the same living creature, yet different. So also is the resurrection of the body. Now we have a vile body (or a body of humiliation). The Apostle James calls it a “low” body, “because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away” (James 1:10). The body of Adam, in its original state, was provided with a covering of glory, but when sin entered the covering of glory was replaced with a covering of humiliation. In our present bodies of humiliation we are unfit for the glories of Heaven and God’s presence, but hopefully we look for our Lord’s return when He shall fashion our bodies of humiliation like unto His own body of glory. It will be the same body in that it will be recognizable, but wonderfully changed.

The idea that caught my attention in this paragraph is the “covering of glory” which Adam had in his original state. I don’t know if this is particularly scriptural, as it isn’t cited, and whether that covering was a physical or a mental state. I tend towards the mental. Adam and Eve, such as they were, had perfect bodies, naturally glorious. Then one of the effects of their sin was that they were no longer covered by glory, but were instead covered by humiliation. That’s an interesting concept to swirl around.

http://bible.org/seriespage/future-judgment-believer

This judgment cannot be confused with either of the other judgments because the Holy Spirit used a Greek word to describe the Judgment Seat of Christ that is peculiar and different from the Greek words used in connection with other judgments. Here the word used is bema. It appears in classical Greek to identify the judge’s seat in the arena of the Olympic games. The bema was the seat whereon the judge sat, not to punish contestants, but to present awards to the victors. When Christians stand before the bema of Christ, it will be for the express purpose of being rewarded according to their works. There is no idea of inflicting punishment.

The author lists five separate incidents of “judgment” which occur in the last days timetable. The Judgment Seat of Christ is the judgment for believers, where they receive rewards for their actions while alive. It’s good to think about this is the Reward Seat instead of the Judgment Seat. I like the idea of the reward being given to the victors. At that point we will all be victors.

http://bible.org/seriespage/eternal-punishment-lost

A challenging article about eternal damnation.

I think one of the most serious questions that I have about the Faith and the Text is what to do with those people who have died without hearing the message of the gospel. It’s pretty clear that those who do hear have the choice to either accept Jesus or not, and that choice is freely made and each person is responsible for their choice. But what of those who do not have the opportunity to choose? What do you do with them?

http://bible.org/seriespage/consciousness-soul-after-death

Browsing this evening, I came across this discussion of what happens to the soul after death. The claim of the author is that the soul is immediately transported to Heaven to be in God’s presence, and that the body is that which sleeps. An interesting claim is made toward the end of the page, where Paul’s description of being caught up into the “Third Heaven” is traced back to his stoning outside of Lystra, 14 years prior. Paul apparently had a near-death experience where he encountered a vision of Heaven (or was actually transported to Heaven for a brief time).