THE PROPOSITION
"The proposition under discussion as stated is a clear admission that the dead are unconscious for the reason it assumes -- that there is to be an awakening. Mark the words thereof, 'that the dead are unconscious from the moment of death until the moment of awakening to the resurrection of the dead.' If the dead were already conscious it follows that they would already be awake and therefore there could be no awakening.
Jesus points out that all the dead are to be awakened to the resurrection. (John 5:28-29.)
Awakened from where we ask, from heaven? From Purgatory? From a Hell of fire and brimstone? From where were they awakened?
Let God's word answer, which says, "they that sleep in the dust OF THE EARTH shall awake.' (Dan 12:2)
WHAT EXACTLY IS TO BE AWAKENED
What, then, is to be awakened to the resurrection, the soul, body or what?
Those who believe the dead to be conscious will tell you that the soul is still alive, therefore awake; hence could not be awakened. To be consistent they will say that it is the body that is to be awakened.
Then we ask them, if the soul is alive without a body and is enjoying life, and the same old body that it once had is to be awakened, why cumber it with that body?
Such a contention is wholly unreasonable. How absurd the proposition that it is this old body that is to be awakened!
We are not surprised, then, that the Apostle Paul says, in 1 Cor 15:35-38,
“But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives IT a body as He pleases, and to each SEED (being or soul) its own body.”
The earthly seed a human body, the spiritual seed a spirit body even “as He pleases” to give.
Now it is self-evident that it is not the body that is to be resurrected, as is clearly shown by the words above quoted, ' God gives IT a body.'
What is the 'IT?'
The 'IT' is that which is to be resurrected.
If the ‘IT’ is the body it would make no sense, for it clearly states that God intends to give it a body.
So what now, God is going to give the body a body?
When we get a clear understanding of God's plan, this Scripture is entirely clarified. God formed man of the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils (the breath of life), and man became a living soul. The soul was the ‘IT’. In proof of that mark the words 'The SOUL that sins, IT shall die.' Therefore, God made the soul the ‘IT’. The soul, ‘IT’ dies, and it is this same ‘IT’ that is to be resurrected, NOT the body.
We submit, upon the whole, that the Scriptures clearly teach that man is a soul; that the soul is mortal ‘IT’ dies, subject to God's law; and that ‘IT’ would forever remain out of existence, except that God has made provision for redemption, awakening and resurrection, and the Scriptures with one accord conclusively prove that the soul is unconscious from the moment of death to the moment of awakening to the resurrection.
In our next post we should like to respond to a few comments made by one of our forum members on this subject, some of which we have already touched upon in this study.
"The proposition under discussion as stated is a clear admission that the dead are unconscious for the reason it assumes -- that there is to be an awakening. Mark the words thereof, 'that the dead are unconscious from the moment of death until the moment of awakening to the resurrection of the dead.' If the dead were already conscious it follows that they would already be awake and therefore there could be no awakening.
Jesus points out that all the dead are to be awakened to the resurrection. (John 5:28-29.)
Awakened from where we ask, from heaven? From Purgatory? From a Hell of fire and brimstone? From where were they awakened?
Let God's word answer, which says, "they that sleep in the dust OF THE EARTH shall awake.' (Dan 12:2)
WHAT EXACTLY IS TO BE AWAKENED
What, then, is to be awakened to the resurrection, the soul, body or what?
Those who believe the dead to be conscious will tell you that the soul is still alive, therefore awake; hence could not be awakened. To be consistent they will say that it is the body that is to be awakened.
Then we ask them, if the soul is alive without a body and is enjoying life, and the same old body that it once had is to be awakened, why cumber it with that body?
Such a contention is wholly unreasonable. How absurd the proposition that it is this old body that is to be awakened!
We are not surprised, then, that the Apostle Paul says, in 1 Cor 15:35-38,
“But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives IT a body as He pleases, and to each SEED (being or soul) its own body.”
The earthly seed a human body, the spiritual seed a spirit body even “as He pleases” to give.
Now it is self-evident that it is not the body that is to be resurrected, as is clearly shown by the words above quoted, ' God gives IT a body.'
What is the 'IT?'
The 'IT' is that which is to be resurrected.
If the ‘IT’ is the body it would make no sense, for it clearly states that God intends to give it a body.
So what now, God is going to give the body a body?
When we get a clear understanding of God's plan, this Scripture is entirely clarified. God formed man of the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils (the breath of life), and man became a living soul. The soul was the ‘IT’. In proof of that mark the words 'The SOUL that sins, IT shall die.' Therefore, God made the soul the ‘IT’. The soul, ‘IT’ dies, and it is this same ‘IT’ that is to be resurrected, NOT the body.
We submit, upon the whole, that the Scriptures clearly teach that man is a soul; that the soul is mortal ‘IT’ dies, subject to God's law; and that ‘IT’ would forever remain out of existence, except that God has made provision for redemption, awakening and resurrection, and the Scriptures with one accord conclusively prove that the soul is unconscious from the moment of death to the moment of awakening to the resurrection.
In our next post we should like to respond to a few comments made by one of our forum members on this subject, some of which we have already touched upon in this study.
