Life After Death?

by jejeval 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • jejeval
    jejeval

    Quoted from JW teaching Life After Death

    Does something inside us, like a soul or a spirit, survive the death of the body? Consider how the first man, Adam, came to have life. The Bible states: "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life." (Genesis 2:7) Though breathing sustained his life, putting "the breath of life" into his nostrils involved much more than simply blowing air into his lungs. It meant that God put into Adam's lifeless body the spark of life—"the force of life," which is active in all earthly creatures. (Genesis 6:17; 7:22) The Bible refers to this animating force as "spirit." (James 2:26) That spirit can be compared to the electric current that activates a machine or an appliance and enables it to perform its function. Just as the current never takes on the features of the equipment it activates, the life-force does not take on any of the characteristics of the creatures it animates. It has no personality and no thinking ability.

    That spirit can be compared to the electric current that activates a machine or an appliance and enables it to perform its function. Just as the current never takes on the features of the equipment it activates, the life-force does not take on any of the characteristics of the creatures it animates. It has no personality and no thinking ability. END QUOTE.

    Psalms 104:4 (NWT)
    Making his angels spirits,
    His ministers a devouring fire.

    Hebrews 1:14 (NWT)

    Are they not all spirits for public service, sent forth to minister for those who are going to inherit salvation?

    What does the Bible teach about the soul? Adam "came to be a living soul," says Genesis 2:7. He did not receive a soul; he was a soul—a whole
    person. The Scriptures speak of a soul's doing work, craving food, being kidnapped, experiencing sleeplessness, and so forth. (Leviticus 23:30;

    Deuteronomy 12:20; 24:7; Psalm 119:28) Yes, man himself is a soul. When a person dies, that soul dies.—Ezekiel 18:4.

    1 Kings 17:18-23 (NWT)

    18 At this she said to E·li´jah: “What do I have to do with you, O man of the [true] God? You have come to me to bring my error to mind and to put my son to death.” 19 But he said to her: “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the roof chamber, where he was dwelling, and laid him upon his own couch. 20 And he began calling to Jehovah and saying: “O Jehovah my God, is it also upon the widow with whom I am residing as an alien that you must bring injury by putting her son to death?” 21 And he proceeded to stretch himself upon the child three times and call to Jehovah and say: “O Jehovah my God, please, cause the soul of this child to come back within him.” 22 Finally Jehovah listened to E·li´jah’s voice, so that the soul of the child came back within him and he came to life. 23 E·li´jah now took the child and brought him down from the roof chamber into the house and gave him to his mother; and E·li´jah then said: “See, your son is alive.”

    again quote:

    When a person dies, that soul dies.—Ezekiel 18:4.

    Is the soul of a child died? If it were so, how come that a soul of a child which is dead and come again to child body which is dead also?

    Let's take a look of the complete sentence of Ezekiel 18:4

    Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.

    The soul that is sinning

    A soul that is sinning: means cut off from the presence of the Lord (because soul never die, only the flesh made from dust will be died or decayed but not the soul-1 Kings 17:17-22) and will be punished (the sinning soul) forever Revelation 20:10

    And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet [already were]; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

    Jejeval

  • designs
    designs

    I can categorically state all of your atoms will survive you

  • ProdigalSon
    ProdigalSon

    Ecclesiastes 12:6,7 has more "scriptural" proof (for whatever its worth) that there is a spirit that goes back to the "True God who gave it" after the "silver cord is loosed". This is a tether or lifeline that connects our physical and spiritual bodies while we are alive.

    The NDE and the Silver Cord -Kevin Williams Research Conclusions

    http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research12.html

    Scientific Evidence For Survival of Consciousness After Death

    http://www.near-death.com/evidence.html

  • designs
    designs

    Prodigal-

    What's the explanation when someone gets revived during a medical procedure and they saw nothing nor experienced anything. How do you get beyond the subjective non-evidential level. And why does a Hindu relate a Hindu religious experience while a 'Christian' sees what they have been taught.

  • ProdigalSon
    ProdigalSon

    I have wondered about that myself designs, and many people have asked me that question. I think it has to do with each individual's degree of "spirit" and what level of "awareness" they have reached. Buddha spoke of a state of "limbo" for some, while others move on more rapidly. I also think, because of what I have learned in metaphysics, that consciousness determines our reality, and on the higher planes where there are no physical boundaries, our reality can be anything we want it to be, like a very lucid dream. I have personally experienced astral projection so for me it is a very real truth. So a Christian's astral can be different from a Buddhist's and it doesn't make them any less true, because the truth is taught esoterically at the base of ALL the major religions. Even the Bible, as evil as it is, teaches the truth between the lines, that every reality is a thought before it becomes a reality.

    Personally, I've come to the conclusion that there are FAR too many people reporting past life memory and near-death experiences for it all to be the work of demons who have nothing better to do than play tricks with our minds so that Jehovah can destroy us at Armageddon as punishment for believing that we have immortal souls, something that I ALWAYS had a hard time swallowing as a JW.

  • designs
    designs

    My wife had out of body experiences in a class at college run by the wild and wacky prof. Carlos Castaneda, but peyote was also involved.

  • ProdigalSon
    ProdigalSon

    Yes, shamans use peyote....among other things. Not recommended, as the spirit realm is "bi-polar" and even some Masters can't tell the difference between the higher and the lower. It's better to be mentally coherent.

    There's no doubt in my mind that mind-altering drugs can exacerbate contact, , but I think its because our minds are so cluttered with chatter when we are "straight" that it totally cuts us off from our inner higher self, and the drugs help quiet that chatter. But I think it can leave people open to a bad experience.

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    There is a "progression" of understanding in the bible ( from the OT to the NT) in regards to what happens after you die.

    From thoughts of "nothing you just die" to thoughts of lefe after death to thoughts of life after life after death.

    Not all sects of Judiaism agreed with each other.

    SImply put, this part of biblical teaching is open for interpretation.

    For the majority of christians death means that our spirit ( and soul) got back to heaven awaiting the ressurection of the body, yet to come.

    For a minority the soul dies with the body but the spirit returns to Heaven and God, its source.

    In reality the issue is how CONSCIOUS is the spirit/soul after it dies?

    The spirit does NOT die, that is a constant, but the soul seems to die or at least it can be killed, of course one also needs to try to understand what "died/dead" meant to the writer using the term.

    Did it mean dead as in "sleep" or dead as in Sheol or dead as in destroyed or dead as in no longer amongst the living.

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