CIM Briefing Papers

C.I.M. Outline #34 
 
              The Problem of Death and Resurrection 
 
I.  Introduction 
 
    A.  Death, man's greatest enemy 
 
        To a large extent how we view death determines our view 
        of life. 
 
        "The fundamental thing behind all motivation and 
        activity is the constant struggle against annihilation 
        and against death.  It is absolutely stupefying in its 
        terror, and it renders anyone's accomplishments 
        meaningless."  Woody Allen 
 
        "...it's not only that he dies, or man dies, but that 
        you struggle to do a work of art that will last and then 
        realize that the universe itself is not going to exist 
        after a period of time."  Albert Camus 
 
        "That Man is the product of causes which had no 
        prevision of the end they were achieving; that his 
        origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and 
        his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental 
        collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no 
        intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an 
        individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours 
        of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all 
        the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to 
        extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and 
        that the whole temple of Man's achievement must 
        inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in 
        ruins--all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, 
        are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which 
        rejects them can hope to stand.  Only within the 
        scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation 
        of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation be 
        safely built."   Bertrand Russell 
 
        (One would love to ask Russell, if he were alive today, 
        why he saw fit to capitalize "man" in this quotation!  
        And why does he refer to truth, ie. "these truths" ?). 
 
    B.  Why?  The meaning of life is tied to our view of death.  
        Death can make life seem absurd.  Death reminds us of 
        our finitude. 
 
    C.  Job's  ancient question:  "If a man die shall he live 
        again?"  Job 14:14. 
 
    D.  Examples in Literature, Art, and Music 
 
        1.  Perhaps the most haunting treatment of death in 
            American literature is the poem  "The Raven" by 
            Edgar Allen Poe. 
 
        2.  In music, see the compositions of the 20th century 
            composer Gustav Mahler.  Heavy stuff! 
 
        3.  In painting there are many examples.  The one by 
            Gauguin entitled "What? Whence? Wither?" is 
            interesting. 
 
        4.  The most important contemporary writers on the 
            subject of death are the existentialists.  See:  
            Sartre, Camus and others.  The existentialists 
            thought the most important philosophical issue was 
            suicide.  If life is meaningless and absurd, why not 
            commit suicide!  See THE MYTH OF SYSYPHUS by A. 
            Camus. 
 
  
II.  Definitions 
 
     In general, when we think of death we think of cessation, or 
     the end of life.  In the Bible, often the meaning of death 
     has to do with broken relationships or the idea of 
     separation. 
 
     A.  Physical death:  When bodily and physical function 
         ceases.  We become a non-being except in memories of 
         survivors. 
 
     B.  Spiritual death:  Separation from God.  Gen. 2:17; I 
         Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:12;6:23. 
 
     C.  Eternal Death:  It makes spiritual death final.  Heb. 
         9:27; Rev. 2:11; 20:11-15. 
 
     D.  Medical death:  When does physical life end?  No vital 
         signs; brain death, i.e., flat E.E.G. 
 
III.  Causes of Death 
 
     A.  Theological:  mortality is due to sin of Adam.  Rom. 
         5:12. 
 
     B.  Physical:  cellular, accidents, immune system failure, 
         suicide, etc. 
 
IV.  Solutions to Man's Mortality 
 
     A.  Humanist:  There are no solutions.  Life extension 
         perhaps, but no Eternal life.  To the humanist, Life is 
         like a feast.  You come to the table of life, you eat, 
         you leave.  You live as though life has meaning.  This 
         is humanism's great charade. 
 
     B.  Eastern:  Re-incarnation,  ultimately oneness with the 
         Universal consciousness.  How is this different from 
         nothingness? 
 
     C.  Survival:  Found in many religions.   "You" survive, 
         that is your consciousness and memory bank survives the 
         death of the brain (the instrument of the mind or 
         soul). 
 
V.  Problems Related to the Survival of Death 
 
    A.  Personal Identity.  What is the real you?  If personal 
        identities Depend on memories which must be stored in 
        the brain then survival ends with the death of the 
        brain. 
 
    B.  Mind-Body Problem.  How can that which is physical (the 
        brain) Interact with that which is non-physical (the 
        mind or soul)? 
 
    C.  Evidence for survival.  What would constitute evidence? 
 
VI.  Evidence for Life After Death 
 
     A.  Near death experiences, are they valid evidence?  It 
         sounds too much Like occult or demonic manifestations. 
 
     B.  Physic phenomena.  The evidence sounds tempting but is 
         not conclusive.  It could definitely be evidence for a 
         spiritual dimension (Satan and his demons) but not 
         survival. 
 
     C.  People returning from the dead, i.e. resuscitations.  
         Six are mentioned in the Bible:   
 
         1.  Woman's son, II Kings 4:18-37.  
         2.  Man, II Kings 13:20-21. 
         3.  Jarius' daughter, Mark 5:21-24, 35-43. 
         4.  Widow's son, Lk. 7:11-15 
         5.  Lazarus, Jn. 11. 
         6.  Many holy people when the curtain was torn, Matt. 
             27:51-53. 
       
         They all died again.  Interestingly enough, there is 
         nothing recorded about their experience after death! 
 
    D.  The Resurrection of Jesus 
 
        What was the nature of His resurrection body? 
 
        It was the same Jesus, but the body had differences. 
 
        1.  The tomb was empty.  The old body was transformed 
            into an Immortal body.  
        2.  It however, still had the wounds.  Jn. 20:19ff. 
        3.  It passed through walls, and disappeared. Lk. 
            24:30,36ff.  Jn.20: 26. 
        4.  It passed through time and distance. 
        5.  He ate.  Lk. 24:42-43. Jn. 21.  Acts 1:4. 
        6.  In appearance. Mk. 16:12?  Jn. 20:13ff.  Shone  
            Matt. 28:3.  Was    not always recognized. 
 
            His body is a prototype of our resurrection.  I Cor. 
            15: 20; Phil. 3:21. 
 
VII.  What happens after Death According to the Bible 
 
      The questions: 
      
      A.  Is there immediate consciousness?  Yes,  "To be absent 
          in the body Is to be present with Christ" IICor. 5:6. 
 
      B.  Where do the righteous go?  Into the presence of 
          Christ. IICor. 5:6 
 
      C.  Where do the unrighteous go?  After the last 
          judgement--the Lake of Fire.  Rev. 20:14,15.  Where do 
          the unrighteous dead go in the interim?  No clear 
          revelation.  If they exist in a spiritual sense, then 
          to use a spatial designation is contradictory.  Not? 
 
      D.  Is there an intermediate state?  Body?  Some have 
          purposed this but Scriptural proof is lacking.  Those 
          who propose an intermediate state find difficulty with 
          a mind existing without a brain.  True, but there is 
          much we do not know about the spiritual dimension. 
 
      E.  What about infants who die, or the Pre-born from 
          abortions, natural or caused?  And those who have never 
          heard?  A Scriptural principle that comes to bear here 
          is that you are judged according to light received.  We 
          must fall back on the justice of God.  God will do what 
          is just. 
 
      
VIII.  Death is the Last Enemy 
 
       A.  Christ will return when the last enemy is put under 
           His feet.  The last enemy is death.  See I Cor. 
           15:24-26.  This great event is foreseen in Rev. 20. 
 
       B.  The Apostle Paul, anticipating the removal of the 
           last enemy breaks Out in song:  "Where O death, is 
           your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?"  I 
           Cor. 15:55. 
 
IX.  For Further Study: 
 
     Beottner, Loraine.  IMMORTALITY. 
     Cotterell, Peter.  WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT DEATH. 
     Helm, Paul.  THE LAST THINGS. 
     Hick, John H.  DEATH AND ETERNAL LIFE.
 
 
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