"One of
the questions that has confused and divided Christians over the years is,
“Where does the soul go after death? Does the soul sleep and remain with the
body until the final resurrection on the Last Day? Or does the soul leave the
body at death, to be with the Lord in Paradise (if Christian), or to a place of
punishment (non-Christian)? The Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
and some evangelical Christians hold to the soul sleep view. Lutherans,
Catholics, and most Protestants hold to the soul leaving the body
view." Extracted from the above
link.
This essay
is an argument for believing in soul sleep, which Dr. Bucher thinks is in
error. To follow the argument you must
open the link to his essay and read it, keep the page open so you can refer
back to it as I progress in my rebuttals.
In my opinion, if you understand it one way or the other is not a
damning condition.
In 2 Peter,
Chapter 2 Peter is talking about the believer’s being led astray, verse 1 set
the stage, “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.”
So when Peter
gets down to verse 4-9 he is still talking about giving the pearls to those who
would lead the faithful astray, then in 4-11 “For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah
the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly; And turning the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow,
making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked: (For that
righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out
of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be
punished: But chiefly them that walk
after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.
Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of
dignities. Whereas angels, which are
greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before
the Lord.”
I ask what
Noah was saved from other than the destruction of his life of which the other
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha had to suffer. Noah was not whisked away to Paradise, rather
he walked away from the destruction, giving his wife the opportunity to look back
and be turned into a pillar of salt. Bucher
takes verses 8 and 9 to mean that the believer will, at death, will go to Paradise
instead of the grave, “(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing
and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful
deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to
reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” I take it to mean that God will give His
elect the power to not be led astray by the false prophets.
Then he uses
this parable that Jesus told in Luke 16:22-31, “The poor man died and was
carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far
off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy
on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my
tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child,
remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in
like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in
order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may
cross from there to us.' 27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him
to my father's house- 28 for I have five brothers- so that he may warn them,
lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham said, 'They
have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father
Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He
said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be
convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"
The parable
of Lazarus and the rich man has been the foundation for many of the erroneous
beliefs about "hell" within traditional Christianity. Some have
viewed it not as a parable, but as a true story Christ told to give details
about the punishment of sinners in hell. Yet a thorough, unbiased examination
of this story will show that the generally accepted interpretations of this
passage of Scripture are fallacious and misleading. In this article, we will go
through the parable verse by verse to determine what Christ was truly teaching.
Those who
insist that this is not a parable, but a true, literal story Christ told to
describe the condition of the lost in hell must overlook several facts to
arrive at that conclusion. First, Yeshua the Messiah never accuses the rich man
of any sin. He is simply portrayed as a wealthy man who lived the good life.
Furthermore, Lazarus is never proclaimed to be a righteous man. He is just one
who had the misfortune to be poor and unable to care for himself. If this story
is literal, then the logical implication is that all the rich are destined to
burn in hell, while all the homeless and destitute will be saved. Does anyone
believe this to be the case?
If hell is
truly as it is pictured in this story, then the saved will be able to view the
lost who are burning there. Could anyone enjoy eternal existence if they were
able to see lost friends, family, and acquaintances being incinerated in hell,
yet never burning up? Additionally, if hell (as it is traditionally taught) is
an abyss of fire and brimstone where sinners are tormented forever, does anyone
really believe that one drop of water would relieve the pain and anguish of
someone suffering in its flames?
These are
just some of the difficulties we encounter when we try to make the account of
Lazarus and the rich man literal, instead of realizing that it is a parable. If
it is a true story, then all of the things Christ said must be factual. If all
the points of the story are not literal, then we must view this tale as an
analogy Jesus used to teach larger spiritual truth.
Then he
brings up 2 Corinthians, Ch 5: 6-8, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing
that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to
be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” But if we look up in verse 1, “For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.” We see
that it is Heaven that Paul is talking about, not Paradise.
Then Dr.
Bucher goes to Philippians 1:23–24, “For I am in a strait
betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far
better: Nevertheless to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you.” as proof.
Biblia.com puts it this way, “Conclusion: Those who desire that Christ
may be magnified in their bodies have a holy indifference whether it be by life
or death and may rejoice in all their tribulations as Christ’s witnesses,
knowing that the Word of God cannot be Imprisoned and that though things do not
turn to their comfort in this world, by God’s grace, they will be made to turn
to the salvation of others.” In other
words, Paul is not struggling with whether to die and go to Paradise to be with
Jesus, rather he is unconcerned if he lives or dies as long it is in service to
our Lord.
He goes on to say, “But in Philippians 1, Paul is describing
“departing and being with Christ” before the resurrection, for there is no
mention of the Last Day or the final resurrection in the immediate context.”
But Paul does not say how long after
his departure before he would be with Christ:
"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; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we
ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. See 1 Cor. 15:51-54; 2 Tim.4:7,
8. If no-one goes to be with Christ till
after the resurrection, how would it have been better for Paul, so far as he
was concerned, to depart then, rather than live on? As no cognizance is taken of the lapse of
time, after a person becomes unconscious in death (Eccl. 9:5; Ps. 146:4),
though 2,000 years should elapse before Paul's resurrection, it would seem to
him but the twinkling of an eye.
I will respond to his interpretation of Luke 23:43 and then
terminate my discussion, bty I am not a Seventh Day Adventists. Jesus said to the thief on the cross next to
him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” This I have no bone to pick with, I believe that
Jesus took him to Paradise with him. But
some don’t, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou
be with Me in Paradise.” See the
difference in understanding the placements of the comas make?
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ...'Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the scriptures.' ... So, according to this verse, Christ didn't
rise from the dead until the THIRD day after His death on the cross. Do you now
see the problem with the statement: "TODAY you will be with Me in
paradise"? Well, maybe Christ went to heaven when He died? The answer to
that question is found in the verse in John 20:17 ...”Jesus saith unto her,
Touch Me not; for I am NOT YET ascended to My Father.” So Jesus had risen from
the dead on the third day after His death, and meets Mary and says to her,
"I have NOT YET ascended to My Father". So do we have a contradiction
with what Jesus said to the thief and what actually happened? We know we cannot
question the truthfulness of Christ, because He is without sin and perfect. So
we must look for harmony between His statements. Did theThief on the Cross go to Heaven?
With this I bid you adieu, you will have to make up your own
mind.
Rexx
No comments:
Post a Comment