Kingdom Ready Blog

Finally, after way too long of a delay since posting the first third (about Jesus) of my lengthy paper entitled “A Common Sense Approach to the Biblical Presentation of Jesus, Death, & THE Devil”, here is the 2nd main topic – DEATH.

Like the first section on Jesus (started on KR here: Biblical Common Sense – Intro – What & Why), this has several sub-sections that are best published in smaller, easier to read sections here on KR.  So for my next several posts, I’ll add the sections that follow one another.  I’ll also try to provide all the links at the end of each post to the entire series just for reference.

© 2011 Matthew Elton
matt@faithfirstmedia.com

Two Views: Eternal Torture vs. Soul Sleep

According to a popularized Christian belief, when a person dies his or her soul departs from the body and either floats up to a place of eternal paradise (heaven) or down to a place of eternal torture (hell). This belief has become so widely accepted among Christians that it is often assumed that it must have originated in the Bible.

What is the most well known Bible verse in all of Christianity?

People who grew up through the Seventies and Eighties might reply with John 3:16 – especially if you went to or watched any televised football games during that time period. I fondly recall seeing signs and banners like the photo above being displayed by people in the end zone sections of games for years and years.  Plus it was always a staple verse of instruction/memorization in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and summer church camp classes everywhere. I imagine if you took a poll of mainstream Christianity and asked about John 3:16, a great many people could quote it back to you verbatim.

This is something that has popped into my head here and there for some time now.  And I’ve read other answers to this kind of question out on the web (see links below).  But I wanted to ask it in more of a theological setting to see what others here could add to the subject. Please note that I’m not trying to be callous regarding death and the intense emotions it brings.  As an only child who lost both parents at a young age, that vile enemy death has had a far-reaching and deeply emotional effect on my own life.

Every Halloween when I see all the faux tombstones in stores and yard scenes that have “R.I.P.” on them, it causes me to ponder the irony of them.

The dominant religion of the U.S. is Christianity.  And Christianity as we all know has the dominant belief that man is inherently immortal and goes off to either the good place (i.e. Heaven), or the bad place (i.e. Hell).

Those who believe in a literal burning hell as a place of torment (where the bad folk get sent at death), often use the NT references to God not leaving Jesus’ “soul” in hell and Jesus descending to “the lower parts of the earth” to support such beliefs.  But is there validity to that?  Did Jesus really go down and get tormented for the three days and three nights he was in “the belly of the earth”?

And at long last (sorry for the delay), here’s the conclusion of Homer D. Baxter’s – The Two Adams.

FYI – Here’s direct links to the other three:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

While the first Adam died and returned to dust because of his disobedience (Gen 3:19), the second Adam sits on the right hand of God fulfilling his official capacity as High Priest and Mediator.  He is the link between a righteous God and sinful mankind; mediating in man’s behalf; settling the differences between man and his Creator. When this priestly reign ends, which is better know as the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus will deliver it up to God (1 Cor. 15:24) and will assume his right to become King of Kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).

In the Old Testament, tucked away in first Samuel, lies the incident in which Saul (the first king of Israel) asked a witch to bring up the prophet Samuel from the dead in order to get advice on what to do. This account is sometimes used to teach that dead people are really conscious in the grave. What follows is Dr. John Roller’s response to this objection. Dr. Roller is an expert on the doctrine of Conditional Immortality (also called “the sleep of the dead” or “soul sleep”). His impassioned defense of the importance of this doctrine can be watched or listened to on our Death is Sleep resource site. More information about Dr. John Roller, including some articles, may be found on his website.

I don’t know if any of you receive the emails that Dr. John Roller sends out, but I really enjoyed this last one. Dr. Roller is an expert on the doctrine of Conditional Immortality (also called “the sleep of the dead” or “soul sleep”). His impassioned defense of the importance of this doctrine can be watched or listened to on our Death is Sleep resource site. More information about Dr. John Roller, including some articles, may be found on his website. What follows is his explanation of the meaning of Mark 9.48. Before quoting his exposition, it may be helpful to remind you of what the verse says in its context.