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 Bro.
Turner:
I
have talked with a man who says that the soul is nothing more
than the breath of life; and that there is no consciousness
apart from the flesh Will you comment on this?
A.B.
Reply:
There
is little profit in speculative arguments about the state of the
dead. I believe I would move on to scriptures concerning the
living, and how we can live acceptably before the Lord. Of
course you may be talking to someone whose concepts regarding
the dead are vitally related to other cardinal matters, so I
will suggest a few points.
2
Cor. 5:8 Paul says he willing to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord. “Wherefore we labour, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.” Now what) apart
from Paul’s body, would “be present” and “acceptable”
to the Lord? Did he speak of his “breath”? See Phil.
1:22-24, where he desired to be with Christ, apart from the
flesh.
In
2 Cor. 12:2-4 Paul tells of being “caught up to the third
heaven” and he didn’t know if he was “in the body, or out
of the body.” He allows the assumption that he was “out”
of the body, yet he could hear. Does the “breath”
hear?
In
Matt. 17: 1-5 Jesus was transfigured before three Apostles, and
there appeared with Him Moses and Elias. In Lu. 9:30 they were
called “men,” and they were identifiable. What did the
Apostles see?
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Luke says these “men” “talked”
with Christ. It seems they must have had some sort of conscious
existence, for they knew that Christ was going to die in
Jerusalem.
In
Matt. 10:28 Jesus told His disciples, “Fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
This passage treats the soul as something, distinct from the
body, that can be lost. (Note, “destroy” does not mean “annihilate.”
The same Greek word used in Matt. 10:28 is also used in Lu.
15:4, and 8, concerning the lost sheep and coin, neither of
which were annihilated.)
In
Matt. 22:32 Jesus makes an argument to a group of Sadducees.
These people denied the resurrection as well as the conscious
existence of spirits (such as angels). Jesus reminded them of a
passage of scripture they were unwilling to deny — how God
said, “I am the God of Abraham —” long after Abraham’s
spirit had departed from his body. Jesus then asserts that God
is not the God of the dead, “but of the living.” Abraham yet
lived, then — and now.
If
you are having discussions with a Jehovah’s Witness (?) and
want good up-to-date material, I suggest you write Maurice
Barnett, 1606 W. Indian School Rd., Phoenix, Ariz., and ask for
a copy of his latest book on this subject. You will find that
the J.W.s concept of the soul is tied in with their denial of
the deity of Jesus Christ, and other blasphemous errors of this
sect. Even here, however, there is little to be gained by
speculation about things unrevealed.
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