Jesus is the resurrection and the life
Judgment is now on the house of God
The old nature of a Christian dies
The theme of the sun being identified with the gospel occurs throughout the New Testament.
Luke 1:76-79
(New
International Version)
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.
Matthew
4:12-17
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed
into
Galilee;
And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the
sea
coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet,
saying,
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea,
beyond
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat
in the
region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the
kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
The gospel is the truth about death, and what happens after death.
Matthew 13:43
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
2
Corinthians
4:3-4
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God,
should shine unto them.
2 Peter 1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn,
and the
day star arise in your hearts:
The gospel is the sun which clothes the church, represented by the woman in heaven:
Revelation
12:1
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the
sun, and
the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
The gospel reveals the righteousness of God to man. Paul said, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ... For therein is the righteousness of God revealed ..." [Romans 1:16-17]
Christ has made known God's righteousness, by taking on himself the penalty of sin, that is required by the law, (which is death, not unending infernal torment!) John wrote, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not forours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. [1 John 2:2]
Paul wrote,
Romans
3:21-25
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed
by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by
faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no
difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the
forbearance of God;
Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
John 5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and
they are
they which testify of me.
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Ecclesiastes
3:19
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one
thing
befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have
all one
breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is
vanity.
Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul
of the
son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the
father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of
the
wicked shall be upon him.
Link to Baccioli's article: http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/printarticle.cfm?articleid=114147
Paul said Jesus, not Plato, brought immortality to light.
2 Timothy
1:10
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who hath
abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the
gospel:
Jesus is the only human who has been made immortal.
1 Timothy
6:16
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach
unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen.
Matthew
22:30-32
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,
but are
as the angels of God in heaven.
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that
which was
spoken unto you by God, saying,
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
God is not
the God of the dead, but of the living.
The above refers to those who are included in the first resurrection, as Luke's account makes clear.
Luke 20:34-36
And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry,
and are
given in marriage:
But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and
are the
children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Luke 14:12-14
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
neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence 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.
John 5:28-29
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are
in the
graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done
good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of judgment.
Matthew
13:47-48
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the
sea,
and gathered of every kind:
Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered
the
good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
Matthew 9:24
He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth.
And they
laughed him to scorn.
John 11:11
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend
Lazarus
sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
1
Corinthians
15:53-54
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on
immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that
is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
The angel announcing of the birth of Jesus said it was good news for all people!
Luke 2:8-14
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping
watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of
the Lord
shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you
good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is
Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in
swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host
praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men.
Matthew 4:24
And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all
sick
people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those
which were
possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that
had the
palsy; and he healed them.
Matthew
8:5-13
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a
centurion,
beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy,
grievously
tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou
shouldest come
under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to
this
man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my
servant,
Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed,
Verily I say
unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and
shall sit
down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness:
there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast
believed, so be
it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Matthew 8:16
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed
with
devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that
were
sick:
Matthew 12:15
But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great
multitudes
followed him, and he healed them all;
Matthew 12:22
Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb:
and he
healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
Matthew 14:14
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with
compassion
toward them, and he healed their sick.
Matthew 15:30
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were
lame,
blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus'
feet; and he
healed them:
Proverbs
12:10
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies
of the
wicked are cruel.
Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not
fall on the
ground without your Father.
Matthew 10:31
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Jesus talked about rescuing animals on the sabbath day:
Luke 13:15
The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one
of you
on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him
away to
watering?
Luke 14:5
And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox
fallen into
a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
The law has rules about caring for animals.
Deuteronomy
25:4
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
1
Corinthians
9:9
For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth
of the
ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
1 Timothy
5:18
For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out
the
corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
God commanded Noah to build an ark to save animals as well as humans. [Genesis 7:1-10]
John 3:17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that
the
world through him might be saved.
Jesus said the dead will be raised, his resurrection shows that there is a resurrection for us, too. And if the dead are not raised again, Jesus could not have been raised.
1
Corinthians
15:12-13
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
among you
that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
1
Thessalonians
4:16
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:
1
Corinthians
15:22-23
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they
that are
Christ's at his coming.
1
Corinthians
15:52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be
changed.
Revelation
20:5-6
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on
such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
This scripture says the first resurrection is reigning with Christ as priests of God in the earth. The saints who were behedded for their testimony are among those who reign with Christ. The thousand years years must be symbolic of the age of the church, when real Christians are persecuted, because Peter describes believers as a royal priesthood, and priests of God in the earth.
1 Peter 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of
darkness into his marvellous light;
Revelation
3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I
will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name
before
my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation
13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are
not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the
world.
Revelation
17:8
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth
shall
wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the
foundation of
the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
The name that is written in the book of life may be the new name that God gives believers:
Revelation
2:17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will
give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth
saving
he that receiveth it.
It was foretold in the prophets:
Isaiah 62:2
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory:
and thou
shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Revelation
21:27
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth,
neither
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are
written in
the Lamb's book of life.
Matthew
11:20-24
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works
were done,
because they repented not:
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty
works,
which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at
the day of
judgment, than for you.
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought
down to
hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been
done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of
Sodom in
the day of judgment, than for thee.
Matthew 12:42
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation, and
shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to
hear
the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Matthew
13:36-42
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his
disciples
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the
field.
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son
of
man;
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom;
but the
tares are the children of the wicked one;
The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the
world;
and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it
be in
the end of this world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out
of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing
of teeth.
Matthew
18:6-8
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it
were
better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he
were
drowned in the depth of the sea.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that
offences
come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast
them from
thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather
than
having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
[The Concordant Literal New Testament translates it as "to be cast into the fire eonian"]
Luke 11:32
The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation,
and shall
condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a
greater
than Jonas is here.
Isaiah 26:9
With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit
within me
will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Paul says the gospel reveals God's righteousness, Romans
1:16-17.
John 5:22
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son:
John 5:26-27
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to
have
life in himself;
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
the Son of
man.
John 12:48
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth
him:
the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Acts 10:42
And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it
is he
which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Acts 17:31
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world
in
righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given
assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Romans 2:16
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ
according to
my gospel.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both
will
bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest
the
counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
1 Corinthians 6:2
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world
shall be
judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
2 Timothy
4:1
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall judge
the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Hebrews
10:26-27
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which
shall devour the adversaries.
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers
and
adulterers God will judge.
1 Peter 4:5
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the
dead.
Jude 1:14-15
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying,
Behold, the
Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them
of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of
all their
hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
When the earth is filled with the knowledge of God, like waters cover the sea, how can there be a lake of fire where people are suffering endless torment? It is suggested that this phrase in Revelation is a metaphor, that represents the time of the judgment. It combines the ideas of Isaiah 11:9 and Jeremiah 23:29, the "sea" of the knowledge of God, and the "fire" of God's word.
Isaiah 11:9
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth
shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
LORD, as
the waters cover the sea.
Jeremiah
23:29
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that
breaketh
the rock in pieces?
Zephaniah
3:8-9
Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up
to the
prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may
assemble the
kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger:
for all
the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all
call upon
the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
Luke 12:49
I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already
kindled?
Jesus here identifies the nature of the fire in the "lake of fire." That "fire" is also the judgment that the church experiences today.
2 Peter 3:7
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept
in
store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly
men.
Revelation
20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to
their works.
Revelation
20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.
Revelation
20:15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake
of fire.
Revelation
21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second
death.
Psalms
103:8,9
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in
mercy. He
will not always chide; neither will He keep His anger forever.
Psalms 30:5
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping
may
last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth
to all
generations.
Lam 3:31
For the Lord will not cast off for ever
Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the
rebellious act
of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever,
because
He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He
will
tread our iniquities underfoot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all our sins into
the
depths of the sea.
Luke 15:4-7
What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them,
does
not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and go after the one
which is
lost, until he finds it? And when (not ‘if') he has found it, he lays
it
on his shoulders, rejoicing... I tell you that in the same way, there
will be
more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine
righteous
persons who need no repentance.
1 Peter 4:6
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead,
that
they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according
to God
in the spirit.
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary notes re 1 Peter 4:6, "Dead" must be taken in the same literal sense as in 1Pe 4:5, ... Moreover, the absence of the Greek article does not necessarily restrict the sense of "dead" to particular dead persons, for there is no Greek article in 1Pe 4:5 also, where "the dead" is universal in meaning. ... "judged" cannot have a different meaning in this verse from what "judge" bears in 1Pe 4:5. "Live according to God" means, live a life with God, such as God lives, divine; as contrasted with "according to men in the flesh," that is, a life such as men live in the flesh."
I suggest that in this scripture, the Apostle Peter shows that the dead will have the gospel preached to them in the future, when they are raised up from their graves in the judgment, as Jesus said, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." [John 5:28-29]
The purpose of the judgment is explained by Peter, who shows us that it is intended for the salvation of men, "that they may be judged, as all mankind will be judged, in the body, but may be living a godly life in the spirit."
This is from Weymouth's translation; the complete verse is: "For it is with this end in view that the Good News was proclaimed even to some who were dead, that they may be judged, as all mankind will be judged, in the body, but may be living a godly life in the spirit."
Every translation of this verse that I examined put the preaching of the gospel in the past, except one, the Concordant Literal New Testament, which has: "For for this an evangel is brought to the dead also, that they may be judged, indeed, according to men in flesh, yet should be living according to God, in spirit."
Most translators had no concept of the judgment being a time when people have the gospel preached to them, so they too could receive the gift of salvation, and so they interpreted the passage as if that preaching of the gospel had already occurred. The Concordant Literal version suggests that it is not past tense. I suggest the true meaning is that the preaching of the gospel to them will occur in the future judgment, when the dead are raised up. This is confirmed by Jude 1:14-15.
Those who have to go through the judgement are described in Revelation 7:9-17. Here the judgement is referred to as "great tribulation".
Revelation
7:9
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Revelation
7:13-14
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which
are
arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which
came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made
them white
in the blood of the Lamb.
Zechariah
13:9
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them
as
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call
on my
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall
say,
The LORD is my God.
Luke 12:49
I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already
kindled?
Luke 16:16
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom
of God is
preached, and every man presseth into it.
Luke 21:36
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son
of
man.
Acts 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue
in the
faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom
of
God.
Romans 2:7
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and
honour and
immortality, eternal life:
1 Corinthians 4:4
For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he
that
judgeth me is the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should
not be
condemned with the world.
Philippians
3:11-12
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but
I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ
Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The
Lord
knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of
Christ
depart from iniquity.
Hebrews 11:35
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were
tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
1 Peter 1:7
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold
that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 4:17
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and
if it
first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel of
God?
2 Peter
1:4-9
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that
by these
ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that
is in the world through lust.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtue
knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to
patience
godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall
neither
be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and
hath
forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
James 2:12
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of
liberty.
Revelation
20:6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on
such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
Romans 8:13
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Colossians
3:5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which
is idolatry:
Ephesians
2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
2 Timothy
3:17
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good
works.
Titus 2:6-8
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine
shewing
uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary
part
may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
Titus 3:8-9
This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm
constantly,
that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good
works.
These things are good and profitable unto men.
Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
James 3:13
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out
of a
good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
1 Peter 2:12
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they
speak
against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall
behold,
glorify God in the day of visitation.
Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of
his.
2
Corinthians
5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed
away; behold, all things are become new.
Galatians
6:15
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Ephesians
4:24
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and
true holiness.
Colossians
3:10
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of
him that created him:
2 Timothy
1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of
a sound mind.
Philippians
2:5
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Colossians
1:13
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the
kingdom
of the Son of His love.
1
Corinthians
15:25-26
For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last
enemy
that will be destroyed is death.
Matthew 28:18
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 2:1,
4-7
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ... But
God, who
is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when
we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you
have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together
in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show
the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Daniel 2:35
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,
broken to
pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshingfloors; and
the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the
stone
that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole
earth.
Isaiah 11:9
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth
shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Genesis 26:4
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will
give unto
thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the
earth be blessed;
Psalm 22:27
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and
all the
kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Psalm 66:4
All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall
sing to
thy name. Selah.
Psalm 72:11
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
Psalm 72:17
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as
the sun:
and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
Psalm 82:8
Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
Psalm 86:9
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O
Lord; and
shall glorify thy name.
Isaiah 2:2
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the
LORD's
house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be
exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isaiah 11:10
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign
of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be
glorious.
Isaiah
45:22-25
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God,
and
there is none else.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in
righteousness, and
shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear.
Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength:
even to
him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be
ashamed.
In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
Isaiah 52:10
The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all
the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 61:11
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the
things
that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause
righteousness
and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Isaiah 66:18
For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will
gather
all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
Isaiah 66:23
And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from
one
sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith
the
LORD.
Haggai 2:7
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come:
and I
will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zephaniah 2:11
The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of
the
earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all
the isles
of the heathen.
Colossians
1:19-20
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all
things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or
things
in heaven.
2
Corinthians
5:18-19
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the
word of
reconciliation.
1 Timothy
1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus
came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
1
Timothy
2:4-6
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of
the
truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ
Jesus
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy
4:10
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in
the
living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that
believe.
Colossians
1:20
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all
things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or
things
in heaven.
Romans 5:18
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men
unto
justification of life.
Romans 11:32
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy
upon
all.
Ephesians
1:10
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in
one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth;
even in him:
1
Corinthians
15:22
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Isaiah
45:22-24
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God,
and
there is none else.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in
righteousness, and
shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear.
Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength:
even to
him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be
ashamed.
Romans 14:11
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to
me, and
every tongue shall confess to God.
Philippians
2:8-11
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above
every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and
things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of
God the Father.
Luke 3:6
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
John 1:9
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world.
John 1:29
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John 5:28-29
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are
in the
graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done
good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of judgment.
John 6:45
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.
Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto
me.
John 12:32
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Acts 15:17
That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the
Gentiles, upon
whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but
also for
the sins of the whole world.
1 John 4:14
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the
Saviour
of the world.
Revelation 15:4
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only
art holy:
for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments
are made
manifest.
If some are suffering in hell, won't they be enemies of God? But God will have a last enemy, that is to be finally destroyed. It is death! So after that one is destroyed, how can any of his enemies remain?
Galatians
1:8-9
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than
that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other
gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
The law of Moses says everyone who was in bondage was to be set free, and repossess his own land in the jubilee year, so how could God be unforgiving forever?
Leviticus
25:8-13
And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times
seven
years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee
forty
and nine years.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth
day of
the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet
sound
throughout all your land.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout
all the
land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you;
and ye
shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every
man unto
his family.
A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow,
neither reap
that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy
vine
undressed.
For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the
increase
thereof out of the field.
In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his
possession.
Leviticus
27:24
In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it
was
bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.
Genesis 15:12
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo,
an
horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the
great and terrible day of the LORD come.
The sun turning to darkness represents the truth of the gospel being
obscured by false teaching.
In the dream of Joseph in Genesis 37:10,
the
moon is Rachel, and she represents the Jews in Matthew 2:18,
"In Rama
was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel
weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are
not."
The moon turning to blood in Joel's prophecy may picture the
destruction of the
Jewish nation by the Romans in the first century, and frequent
tribulations of
the Jews since then, culminating in the holocaust.
Acts 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the
great and notable day of the Lord come:
Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Revelation
8:12
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was
smitten, and
the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the
third
part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of
it, and
the night likewise.
Below is an account of numerous attempts to define what the "soul"
actually is, from Mans mortalitie, Richard Overton, 1644. Chap. III, p.
8-9.
If we will rationally argue concerning the Soul, it is necessary to define what it is, to which it is ascribed: But since it is defined by some one way, by some another way, I shall produce some Opinions about it; and then bring the most rationall to tryall, omitting the more frivolous: viz,
The Stoicks held it A certaine blast hot and fierie: or the vitall spirit of the blood: The Cretians, Blood: Gallen, a certaine exhalation of the purest blood: Zeno, Cleanthes, Antipater, and Possiadonius, a hot complexion, or corporeall quality diffused throughout the whole body: Democritus, Fire, and his opinion was, the round Attomes being incorporated by aire and fire doe make up the Soule: Pythagorus opinionated it a Number moving of it selfe: Plato, a substance to be conceived in the mind, that received motion from it self, according to number and Harmonie: Aristotle, the first continual motion of a body naturall, having in it those instrumentall parts, wherein was possibility of life: Dinarchus, an Harmonie of the four Elements: Nemesius divides it into Phantasie, Judgment, Memorie: Aristotle in his Physicks, into vegetative, sensitive, motive, appetitive, intellective: And Ambrose Pare pag. 895: faith, the soule is the inward Entelechia, or the primative cause of all motions and functions both naturall and animall, and the true Forme of a man: It seeth, heareth, smelleth, toucheth, tasteth, imagineth, judgeth, &c. And more exactly pag. 83 lib. 3 cap. 1. he saith, the soule is commonly distinguished into three Faculties: Animall, Vitall, Naturall: The Animall, into Principall, Sensetive, Motive: The Principall, into Imaginative (seated in the upper part of the braine) Reasonable, (the middle part of the braine,) Memorative, (Cerebellum) or after-braine. The Sensetive, into Seeing, (the eyes) Hearing, (the eares) Smelling, (the nose) Tasting, (the tongue, pallat) Touching, (the body) The Motive, into Progressive (legs) Apprehensive, (hands.)
The Vitall, into Dilative, or parts for respiration (weason, lungs) Concoctive, or parts for vitall motion, (heart and arteries, understood by the Pulsificke Facultie.
The Naturall, into Nutrative, Active, Generative: which three are performed by the help of the Attractive, (the gullet) Retentive, (lower passage or the stomack) Concoctive, (body of the ventricle) Assimulative, (three small guts) Expulsive, (three great guts.)
Augustine and Athanasius say, it is a substance created, a spirit intelligent, invisible, immortall, incorporeall like the Angells.
And there be several Opinions of its Body: Lucippus and Hipparchus say, it hath a fairie Body: Critius and Anaxemines, Woolner and others an Aeriall body: Hesiod, and earthly: Epicurius, fierie and airie: Zenophon, watry and earthly: Drone, a middle betwixt the spirit and the body: Didimus and Origen, a third substance.
Divers other conceptions and fancies there be, to uphold this ridiculous invention of the Soule traducted from the Heathens, who by the Book of Nature understood an immortality after Death; but through their ignorance how, or which way; this invention (reported to be Platoes) was occasioned, and begat a generall beliefe: and so they, and after them the Christians have thus strained their wits to such miserable shifts, to define what it is, but neither conclude any certainty, or give satisfaction therein.
Polybius [Histories VI,56].
But among all the useful institutions, that demonstrate the superior
excellence
of the Roman government, the most considerable perhaps is the opinion
which the
people are taught to hold concerning the gods: and that, which other
men regard
as an object of disgrace, appears in my judgment to be the very thing
by which
this republic chiefly is sustained. I mean, superstition: which is
impressed
with all it terrors; and influences both the private actions of the
citizens,
and the public administration also of the state, in a degree that can
scarcely
be exceeded. This may appear astonishing to many. To me it is evident,
that
this contrivance was at first adopted for the sake of the multitude.
For if it
were possible that a state could be composed of wise men only, there
would be
no need, perhaps, of any such invention. But as the people universally
are
fickle and inconstant, filled with irregular desires, too precipitate
in their
passions, and prone to violence; there is no way left to restrain them,
but by
the dread of things unseen, and by the pageantry of terrifying fiction.
The
ancients, therefore, acted not absurdedly, nor without good reason,
when they
inculcated the notions concerning the gods, and the belief of infernal
punishments; but much more those of the present age are to be charged
with
rashness and absurdity, in endeavoring to extirpate these opinions.
For, not to
mention effects that flow from such an institution, if, among the
Greeks, for
example, a single talent only be entrusted to those who have the
management of
any of the public money; though they give ten written sureties, with as
many
seals and twice as many witnesses, they are unable to discharge the
trusts
reposed in them with integrity. But the Romans, on the other hand, who
in the
course of their magistracies, and in embassies, disperse the greatest
sums, are
prevailed on by the single obligation of an oath to perform their
duties with
inviolable honesty. And as, in other states, a man is rarely found
whose hands
are pure from public robbery; so, among the Romans, it is no less rare
to
discover one that is tainted with this crime. But all things are
subject to
decay and change. This is a truth so evident, and so demonstrated by
the
perpetual and the necessary force of nature, that it needs no other
proof.
The historian Livy says Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, invented the fear of the gods:
Rome was now at peace; there was no immediate prospect
of
attack from outside and the tight rein of constant military discipline
was
relaxed. In these novel circumstances there was an obvious danger of a
general
relaxation of the nation's moral fibre, so to prevent its occurrence
Numa
decided upon a step which he felt would prove more effective than
anything else
with a mob as rough and ignorant as the Romans were in those days. This
was to
inspire them with the fear of the gods...and he was in the habit of
meeting the
goddess Egeria at night, and that it was her authority that guided him
in the
establishment of such rites.
Livy, History of Rome 1:19.
The second chapter of 2 Peter contains a fiery prophecy about false
teachers
who would come in to the church and lead many astray. Peter wrote:
2 Peter
2:1-2
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
shall be
false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift
destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way
of truth
shall be evil spoken of.
In the early centuries of the Chritian era many strange teachings were prevalent, and during that period, as Peter had foretold, some of the church fathers introduced concepts that had their origin in pagan philosophy into the church. One of these was Plato's speculation about man having an immortal soul. Another was the superstition of endless infernal torment of the souls of unbelievers, that was taught in ancient Rome. False teachers Peter had warned about in his 2nd epistle introduced these ideas which eventually became dogmas of the church. It is no surprise that those theologians make no mention of Peter's 2nd epistle in their writings. They probably ignored it, hoping it would disappear!
Modern scholars who apparently failed to consider this very
plausible reason
for the silence of early church fathers about Peter's 2nd epistle, have
claimed
that it was not written by Peter at all, citing the lack of references
to it in
the early period. But 2 Peter 3:8
is quoted
in the
Epistle of Barnabas 15:4, "for
the day with Him signifyeth a
thousand years;" and "the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years."
Origen of Alexandria (ca. 185 - ca. 254), was a Neo-Pythagorean and a Neo-Platonist early Christian Scholar, and Church Father, who taught at Caesarea Maritima. He adopted Plato's idea of the immortality of the soul, and taught that the soul passes through successive stages of incarnation before eventually reaching God. It was through his teachings that Greek philosophy and belief in the immortality of the soul became established in the church.
Werner Jaeger wrote:
The Hebrew Bible does not know immortality ... [of the soul] at all, and the idea of resurrection in the New Testament is quite different. If nevertheless Plato's ideas of the soul and its destiny seem so familiar to us and have kept their direct appeal, that is because they have been adopted, with inevitable modifications, by the fathers of the church. If they dogmatized this part of Plato's philosophy of the soul, whereas in Plato himself everything remains in suspense, they have this in common with the Neoplatonists, who brought it all into the form of a theological system. The Christian fathers rejected the story of the transmigration of the soul, but they accepted the immortality of the individual soul, since they found it reconcilable with Paul's notion of the resurrection and with Jewish-Christian angelology, i.e., the existence of a world of immaterial beings. The most important fact in the history of Christian doctrine was that the father of Christian theology, Origen, was a Platonic philosopher at the school of Alexandria. He built into Christian doctrine the whole cosmic drama of the soul, which he took from Plato, and although later Christian fathers decided that he took over too much, that which they kept was still the essence of Plato's philosophy of the soul. It was for them as it was for Plato the significant expression of their basic spiritualism and immaterialism.
Werner Jaeger, The Greek Ideas of Immortality: The Ingersoll Lecture for 1958. The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 52, No. 3. (Jul., 1959), pp. 135-147. [See p. 146]
In De Principiis Origen wrote:
"... The soul, having a substance and life of its own,
shall
after its departure from the world, be rewarded according to its
deserts, being
destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and
blessedness, if
its actions shall have procured this for it, or to be delivered up to
eternal
fire and punishments, if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it
down to
this ..."
(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, 1995, p. 240).
A post on Plato and the early church fathers: http://tinyurl.com/2farvm
Augustine of Hippo brought in the doctrine of unending infernal
torment of
unbelievers after death, an idea probably imported from his Manichean
past. See
Book XXI of "The City of God":
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120121.htm
Influenced by Augustine, the Fifth General Council in 553 A.D. approved the following:
Whoever says or thinks that the torments of the demons and of impious men are temporal, so that they will, at length, come to an end, or whoever holds a restoration either of the demons or of the impious, let him be anathema.
In the following discourse, Paul calls the philosophers fools.
Romans
1:18-25
For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
truth
in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are
made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and
fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their
own
bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie,
and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed
for ever. Amen.
Colossians
2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after
the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after
Christ.
William Tyndale (1484-1536),
English Bible translator and Martyr
[from:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/8936/SOULREFM.HTM]
In 1530 responding to Sir Thomas More's objection to his belief that "all souls lie and sleep till doomsday" he vigorously replyed.
"And ye, in putting them [the departed souls] in heaven, hell and purgatory, destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurection...And again, if the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good a case as the angels be ? And then what cause is there of the resurrection ?" - William Tyndale, An Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue (Parker's 1850 reprint), bk.4, ch.4, pp.180,181
Tyndale went to the heart of the issue in pointing out the papacy's draft upon the teachings of "heathen philosophers" in seeking to establish its contention of innante immortality. Thus
"The true faith puteth forth the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers, denying that, did put that the souls did ever live. And the pope joineth the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshy doctrine of philosophers together; things so contrary that they cannot agree, no more than the Spirit and the flesh do in a Christian man. And becuase the fleshy-minded pope consenteth unto heathen doctrine, therefore he corrupteth the Scripture to stablish it. If the soul be in heaven, tell me what cause is there for the resurrection?" - ibid., p.180
In yet another section of the same treatise, dealing with the "invocation of saints," Tyndale uses the same reasoning, pointing out that the doctrine of departed saints being in heaven had not yet been introduced in Christ's day:
"And when he [More] proveth that the saints be in heaven in glory with Christ already, saying, 'If God be their God, they be in heaven, for he is not the God of the dead;' there he stealeth away Christ's argument wherewith he proveth the resurrection: that Abraham and all saints would rise again, and not that their souls were in heaven; which doctrine was not yet in the world. And with that doctrine he taketh away the resurrection quite, and maketh Christ's argument of none effect." - ibid., p.118
Tyndale presses his contention still further by showing the conflict of papal teaching with St. Paul, as he says is slightly sarcastic vein:
"'Nay Paul, thou art unlearned; go to Master More, and learn a new way. We be not most miserable, though we rise not again; for our souls go to heaven as soon as we be dead, and are there in as great joy as Christ that is risen again.' And I marvel that Paul had not conforted the Thessalonians with that doctrine, if he had wist it, that the souls of their dead had been in joy; as he did with the resurrection, that their dead should rise again. If the souls be in heaven, in as great glory as the angels, after your doctrine, shew me what should be of the resurrection?" - ibid. p.118
This prophecy reveals one of the
doctrines that turns the sun to darkness. The locusts described
in
Revelation
9:1-11
are the ones who promote the doctrine of unending infernal torment
of
unbelievers. (My interpretations are enclosed
in parentheses.)
Revelation 9:1-11
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit (the truth of the gospel is obscured).
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: (they resemble the locusts of the great army described in Joel 2) and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power (they afflict people with an agonizing pain).
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads (they teach a doctrine that affects only unbelievers).
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, (they teach the immortality of the soul) but that they should be tormented five months: (The life span of the desert locust is 3 to 5 months, but is extremely variable, depending on environmental conditions. Five months or 150 days was also the duration of the flood waters that covered the earth, and destroyed all those not saved in the ark of Noah, and the unsaved are those who are affected by their torment. Perhaps the 5 months of torment represents a "locust life-span") and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man (terribly painful).
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them (the doctrine of infernal torment of the souls of unbelievers, which are said to be immortal).
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; (they are ridden by their dogmas, and fight to defend them) and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, (some are called saints, and are shown with halos in old paintings; they appear as a kingdom of priests, churchmen; 1 Peter 2:9) and their faces were as the faces of men (they are humans).
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, (like Narazites, they are devoutly religious, and they are confident in their own safety, and their own salvation: 2 Samuel 14:11, Luke 21:18) and their teeth were as the teeth of lions (they appear as fierce predators; Satan is compared to a lion in 1 Peter 5:8).
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; (they tout their own righteousness, Ephesians 6:14) and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle (there are great numbers of them, and they are agressive).
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, (Isaiah said, "the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail" Isaiah 9:15) and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months (the doctrine of infernal torment of unvelievers).
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, (destroyer, Job 26:6) but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon (Apollo Parnopius, god of plagues. Apollo is also a god of prophecy).
Sheol: The Hebrew word sheol means "the unseen" and is equivalent to the Greek Hades.
The translators of the KJV translate "sheol" as "hell" 31 times, and "grave" 31 times, and "pit" 3 times.
It is often synonymous with the grave. It simply means "the state of death". In scripture, it is never connected with concepts of hell, or infernal torment. Both the righteous and wicked went to sheol.
The Jewish Bible of the JPS does not contain the word "hell".
Jonah 2:2
Out of the belly of hell [sheol] cried I, and thou heardest my
voice.
Ps 139: 7,8
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy
presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell,
behold,
thou art there.
Job 14:10-13
Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest conceal me
until thy
wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember
me!
Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from
death.
O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave (or Hell, Sheol), I will be thy
destruction.
Hades occurs 11 times in the NT, and its meaning is similar to that of sheol. In 1 Corinthians 15:55 it is translated "grave" in the KJV.
Tartaros is used only once, in 2 Peter 2:4, and refers to the abode of fallen angels.
The greek word aión
--
aiónios...
by Rev. John Wesley Hanson, A.M.
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html
Jesus' Teaching on Hell, by Samuel G.
Dawson
http://hellbusters.8m.com/prophecy/hell.htm
Eternal Torment vs Reconciliation,
by David R. Baughman
http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/davbaug1.html
A Challenge to the doctrine of eternal
torment
http://www.harvestherald.com/challenge.htm
Eternal torment in hell - a scriptural
teaching?
http://www.harvestherald.com/pdf/eternal_torment_not_scriptural.pdf
Why The Traditional View of Hell Is
Not Biblical
http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/printarticle.cfm?articleid=114147
Ancient Beliefs - Plato Comes to Church (Usenet post)
Bible Translations That Do Not Teach
Eternal Torment
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/GatesOfHell.html
Is "EVERLASTING" Scriptural?
http://bible-truths.com/aeonion.htm
Eternal Hope, by Frederick William
Farrar (1878)
http://www.cimmay.us/pdf/farrar.pdf
Richard Bauckham, "Universalism: a historical survey," Themelios 4.2 (September 1978): 47-54. http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_universalism_bauckham.html
Stephen H. Travis, "The Problem of
Judgment," Themelios 11.2 (January
1986):
52-57.
http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/judgment_travis.pdf
Leon Morris, The Biblical Doctrine of
Judgment. London: The Tyndale Press, 1960.
Pbk. ISBN: 0851110185. pp.72.
http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/judgment_morris.pdf
Millard J. Erickson, "Is Hell Forever?"
Bibliotheca Sacra 152: 607 (1995):
259-272.
http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_hell_erickson.html
Tony Gray, "Destroyed For Ever: An
Examination of the Debates Concerning Annihilation and Conditional
Immortality," Themelios 21.2 (1996):
14-18.
http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_destroyed_gray.html
Trumbower, Jeffrey A. Rescue for the
Dead. The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Early
Christianity. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN:0195140990.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=SenHfdzXsHAC
Peterson, Robert A. Undying Worm,
Unquenchable Fire. What is hell--eternal torment or annihilation? A
look at the
Evangelical Alliance's The Nature of Hell. Christianity Today, October 23, 2000
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/october23/1.30.html
Copyright © 2007 by Douglas E. Cox
All Rights Reserved.