Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: davidbu@loowit.wr.tek.com (David E. Buxton) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: After Death, What? Message-ID: Date: 10 May 91 07:05:32 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 37 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , NU169273@vm1.nodak.edu writes: > > AFTER DEATH, WHAT? > ------------------ > > Read On, And Know For Sure. > > How many time have you looked at the face of a dead > person, lying in their casket and heard the following > statements? 'He or she has suffered and is better off now.' > 'He or she is at peace, never to suffer anymore.' > > Dear friend, these are correct statements if, that dead > person had accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and been > born again. Paul said of a Christian in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 > . . . . . . It has become clear to me that the popular views of body, soul, spirit come from Plato who believed in re-incarnation. The pre humanity state of the soul has been dropped. To say that a soul in heaven returns later to a body has been dropped. But otherwise the popular views are really pagan Greek and not really Biblical - Ancient New Age, if you please. If you start with some research into the Hebrew and Greek and define Biblically sound definitions of soul and spirit, then the writings of Paul make very good sense and support the theology of the wholeness of man and that neither body, soul, nor spirit are immortal. That immortality is given at the 2nd Coming of Christ, and is promisary until then. Paul clearly states that we are mortal until then. If Paul was preaching from a perspective of Platonic views then there are several places where this would have come clear - he would have spoken of immortal souls, for example. But no, he speaks of man being very much mortal. Paul was eager to skip the state of death and welcome Jesus back before he (Paul) died. Read about Paul's confrontations with the Greeks and other philosophers with philosophies similar to Plato and it is clear that Paul was adamant against such thinking. Dave (David E. Buxton)