I used to be quite jw with the thought of life after death, but now I wonder of the possibilities.
Although the jury is still out me me these thoughts give me much to think about.
According to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, a person who dies simply ceases to exist. He lays unconscious
in the grave until a future resurrection. The Watchtower teaches that a person does not possess an immaterial soul
and/or spirit that survives the death of the body. Using Ecclesiastes 9:5 as their ultimate proof text, “....but as
for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all....”, they fail to understand two things.
Solomon, throughout Ecclesiastes, is contrasting two points of view regarding man‘s dilemma in this world. One
comes from a secular, limited, humanistic view while the other comes from a godly, spiritual outlook. For example,
to accept Ecclesiastes 9:5 as a literal face-value proof text, in order to be consistent, one must also conclude
that all our days on earth are meaningless (9:9) and that "money is the answer for everything" (10:19 NIV).
Obviously, both of these verses, accepted as literal, oppose the overall teaching of God's Word.
Matt 10:28 “And do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be in fear of
him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” - Jesus makes it crystal clear that it is possible for the
physical body to be killed while the soul continues to live on. Therefore, the soul must not be another name for our
body, but an immaterial part of man that survives after death.
Rev 6:9 “And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of
the word of God and because of the witness work that they used to have” - This one is real apparent. The souls of
those whose bodies have already died are in heaven. It’s obvious that these people are very much alive. Not only are
they in heaven, but they speak. The next verse says that “they cried with a loud voice, saying: ‘Until when,
Sovereign Lord holy and true, are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on the
earth?”
John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he
dies, will come to life; and everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.”
Acts 7:59 “And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Luke 23:42-43....”Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.” And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today,
You will be with me in Paradise.” - Let’s see what happens when we move that comma up one word. “....Truly I tell
you, today You will be with me in Paradise”. Wow! What a difference a little comma can make.
This introductory phrase, Truly I tell you, occurs over 70 times in the Gospels. In other sections where this phrase
appears, the New World Translation always places the comma after the word you. This is the only instance where the
Watchtower places the comma in a different location.
I find in comforting to know that there are 2 different ideas of the soul here. One a humanistic view and the other
a godly spiritualistic view. There are many things to ponder here.
