| FLOYD HAYES |
| RELIGION |
| WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? Page 4 Luke 23:43 -- "And Jesus said unto him [thief on the cross], Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Most modern versions place the comma before the word "today," implying that Jesus would go with the thief to paradise that day. This is gramatically possible, but commas were added to the biblical text in the 15th century A.D., so we are uncertain where the comma belongs. The comma may well belong after "today"; similar expressions occur in Deuteronomy 30:16 ("I command thee this day") and Deuteronomy 30:18 ("I denounce unto you this day"). Did Jesus go to "paradise" with the thief that day? John 20:17 states that when Mary Magdalene saw Jesus two days later, "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Apparently Jesus did not go to heaven on Friday. Where is this paradise? The noun "paradise" is mentioned only two other times in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 12:2, Paul speaks of a man who, apparently in a vision, was caught up to the third heaven, and in verse 4 was "caught up into paradise." In Revelation 2:7, overcomers will be given "to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." These texts seemingly refer to heaven. Luke 24:37-39 -- "But they [the disciples] were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he [Jesus] said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Can the spirit exist apart from the body?) John 3:13 -- "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." (Does the soul ascend directly to heaven after the body dies?) John 5:25 -- "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." (Do the dead "hear the voice" of Jesus immediately after they die or when Jesus returns to take the saints to heaven?) 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 damnation." (Do the dead "hear the voice" of Jesus immediately after they die or when Jesus returns to take the saints to heaven? Do they hear his voice individually at different times or "all" at once?) John 6:44 -- "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:54 -- "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (Are the dead resurrected "at the last day" of their lives or "at the last day" of the world?) John 11:11-13 -- "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. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." (If the Bible describes death as "sleep," does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) John 11:17 -- "Then when Jesus came he found that he [Lazarus] had lain in the grave four days already." (Lazarus was really dead; he wasn't just sleeping. After he was resurrected by Jesus [John 11:43, 44], so many Jews believed in Jesus that the chief priests considered killing Lazarus [John 12:10-11]. If Lazarus's soul had survived after his body died, why didn't he comment on the blisses of heaven or the terrors of hell? Actually the Bible mentions about a dozen resurrections, but why is it silent in each case about the after-death experiences of the resurrected?) John 11:24 -- "Martha saith unto him [Jesus], I know that he [Lazarus, who had died] shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." (Did Martha believe she would see Lazarus again before the resurrection?) Acts 2:29 -- "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." Acts 2:34 -- "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand." (Did David's soul go to heaven after his body died?) Acts 7:5 -- "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (Does the spirit go to heaven after the body dies?) 1 Corinthians 2:11 -- "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (Is a spirit conscious apart from the body?) 1 Corinthians 5:5 -- "To deliver such an one [committing fornication] unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." (Can the spirit live after the body dies? When is "the day of the Lord Jesus"?) 1 Corinthians 6:20 -- "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (Are the body and spirit separate entities? Can one exist without the other?) 1 Corinthians 15:18 -- "Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." (If the Bible describes death as "sleep," does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 -- "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 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." (When is the resurrection of the dead, immediately after death or "at his coming"? If it is immediately after death, how could Christ be the "firstfruits of them that slept"?) 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 -- "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. 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 swallowd up in victory." (If the Bible describes death as "sleep," does a conscious soul exist after the body dies? When are the dead raised and given immortality, immediately after death or when Jesus returns?) |
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