Click below to:
Go to previous article in this series.
Go to next article in this series.
Return to menu of Bible studies available here.
Return to menu of articles available here.
Return to The American Night Watch home page.
We do not live for eternity as disembodied spirits. Belief in the eternity of disembodied spirits is essentially the view of the ancient Greeks. It has passed into contemporary Christian thought due to the influence of "liberal" Christian ministers and theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries who, trying to accommodate secular science and scholarship, have tried to "soften" Christian teaching regarding anything supernatural; especially if it maintains that God has any real part in affecting the physical universe. However, the hope of bodily resurrection has always been central to Christian teaching about the afterlife. It is somewhat ironic, and an indication of how strong opposition is to Biblical Christianity in our time, that the beliefs of the ancient Greeks which predate the New Testament are considered more worthy of contemporary belief in our culture than traditional, orthodox Christian teaching. Christians who do not look forward to the bodily resurrection rob themselves of one of the great comforts of our faith (I Corinthians 15).
Life after death means more than strumming harps and singing praises. Evidently this concept entered Christian thought due to Revelation 15 where those "who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name" celebrate the victory of God over the evil of this age in the same manner that Moses and the Israelites celebrated their deliverance and the destruction of Pharoh's army after passing through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1ff.). To see this as characteristic of all of the afterlife is to misunderstand the significance of this Scripture. Certainly we will enjoy wonderful sessions of worship and praise. But if we consider the greatness of God, the physical nature of the resurrection body, and the varied wonders of the current (less glorious) creation, we find numerous reasons to believe that there will be many different and fulfilling activities in the "new heaven and earth" (Revelation 21:1, I Corinthians 2:9). Any inference that the afterlife will be boring or will be just singing and strumming harps makes an accusation against God that He is small and narrow-minded, whereas the truth is that God is wise and great beyond our comprehension (Romans 11:33-36, Ephesians 3:20-21, Isaiah 55:8-9). His character and nature ensure that eternity with Him will be worthwhile.
People do not become "angels" after death. This popular misconception has been encouraged by modern fiction, which perhaps does no harm when it remains a part of fantasy -- as in the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life" -- but undercuts Scripture when held as what truly happens after death. The word that we translate "angel" has the basic meaning "messenger" in both Hebrew (malak) and Greek (angelos), and may be applied as easily to human messengers as to supernatural ones. Our name for the last book of the Old Testament is "Malachi," which is taken from Malachi 1:1 and means "my messenger." On the basis of the earliest manuscripts, some Christians scholars believe that this may be a description of the author's ministry, not the author's proper name. In either case, the Greek Septuagint translates the Hebrew as aggelou autou, "His (God's) messenger," uniting (by translation) both the Hebrew and the Greek terms to identify a human servant of God. When used to identify a unique type of immortal creature, "angel" identifies a created, spiritual being. These angels are not human in any way. They are in some ways "lesser" beings in that, unlike mankind, they were not created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and are not the objects of grace (I Peter 1:12). On the other hand, they are awesome, powerful, intelligent beings which perform a variety of missions on God's behalf that no human being is capable of accomplishing. It is also important to know that, at times, the expression " the Angel of the Lord" is used in Scripture to refer to the Spirit of God Himself, which we must understand as entirely separate from the angelic beings that God created to serve Him. In neither case are supernatural angels the spirits of deceased human beings.
Human beings are not reincarnated as animals or other humans. We tend to associate reincarnation, technically referred to as "metempsychosis" or "transmigration of the soul," with Hinduism. However, many in the ancient world, following after the Greek philosophers Pythagoras (known for his "Pythagorean Theorem") and Plato, promoted belief in reincarnation; just as many people do today, even in Western cultures, especially with the influence of Theosophy and the New Age movement. Plutarch was a pagan, Greek priest and philosopher who wrote about the same time that The Revelation to John was written. In his discussion of "The Divine Vengeance," Plutarch tells of a vision in which souls are being "reshaped" by supernatural artisans so that they can be reincarnated as animals to punish them for their wickedness as human beings. Scripture knows nothing of punishing people by returning them to life as animals nor of refining people through successive lives nor of giving people "another chance" to live for God. In the story Jesus told about the rich man who was not rich towards God, the man died before he expected to and so was called a "fool" by God - he was not given a second chance. Scripture teaches that ". . . it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). "Behold," writes Paul, "now is 'the acceptable time,' behold, now is 'the day of salvation'" (II Corinthians 6:2). To fail to use the opportunities we have in this life to prepare for eternity is foolish indeed; especially considering the extent to which God has gone to provide eternal life and fellowship through Jesus Christ.
Purgatory does not exist and will never exist. In Plutarch's "The Divine Vengeance," Plutarch writes of souls that are tortured after death for their wicked deeds; many, including his father, being punished in ways other than by reincarnation. The implication is that after an appropriate amount of suffering the wicked deed has been "paid for." The Roman Catholic doctrine of "purgatory" involves much the same concept. Purgatory is where Christians are believed to suffer in order to work out anything that prevents them from being perfect before God.
Perhaps nothing highlights that Roman Catholicism is a system more than the concept of purgatory. While it may seem that Roman Catholicism can be changed by the acceptance of certain specific Protestant doctrines, such as the doctrine of "salvation by grace through faith alone," unless the entire system changes, Roman Catholicism remains pretty much the same. According to Roman Catholic teaching, a person is only justified (forgiven for their sins) to the extent that they are sanctified (made like Christ in moral and spiritual purity). Therefore, if a person dies in a state of imperfection, it is necessary to spend time in purgatory to complete the process of sanctification - and thus justification. How long this process continues no one knows; but it is thought to be unpleasant. No one except "saints" are exempt from the possibility of having to spend time in purgatory. The Greek word translated "saints" in the King James Version (hagioi) means "holy ones" or "sanctified ones" and applies to all Christians. In Roman Catholicism, however, "saints" refers to a comparatively small number of Christians who have achieved "the beatific vision" and so pass immediately into the presence of God at death. All others, by far the majority of those Roman Catholicism teaches are saved and will spend eternity with God -- even Popes -- must spend time in purgatory. In addition, those who "fudge" their Christian walk in some ways may find salvation by spending longer in purgatory.
All of this does not square with the teachings of the New Testament, where only Christ is able to atone for sin, and His atonement is efficacious for all those who truly honor Christ as Lord and place their faith in Him as Savior. Sanctification is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, who may use suffering in this age to build character -- as both Paul (Romans 5:3-5) and Peter (I Peter 1:6-9, 2:19-20, 3:8-17, 4:12-19, 5:6-10, II Peter 1:4-11) taught -- but not beyond the grave. For those who are the Lord's, suffering is seen to be an inevitable part of this age - not a part of the coming age or of the intermediate state. Further, there is no indication in the New Testament that those who die in the Lord experience anything other than the blessedness of the fellowship of Christ.
The spirits of the dead do not linger near the earth if they died tragically. This is, perhaps, one of the more dangerous false teachings because it is so much a part of contemporary fiction and because it leads to belief in spiritism and the occult. These kinds of stories lead almost inevitably to attempts to learn more about the "ghost" or to contact the spirit. The first danger is, then, an enticement to communicate with these spirits. Often there is nothing to such "ghost" stories. When there is, however, there is the danger of communication with a demon posing as the spirit of the deceased. This contact may come directly or through a medium - a "channeler" in New Age parlance. While it is always true that "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (I John 4:4), it is also true that Scripture clearly warns us to stay away from the occult, including mediums and ghosts. It is not good to dwell on such stories but to fill our minds with the Word of God so that we maintain both a pure walk with God and confidence in His sovereignty in a world where there is also spiritual darkness. There is, perhaps, a more common danger, however. Spiritism teaches that it is possible to attain righteousness and eternal blessedness without Jesus Christ as Savior. Isaiah challenged, "When they say to you 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn" (Isaiah 8:19-20). There is only One Who is "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25) - Jesus Christ (John 5:24-29).
First printed in The American Night Watch Newsletter, Volume VII, Part 9, September 1999.
Copyright 1999 Sterling M. Durgy. All Rights Reserved.
The American Night Watch is a trademark of the Christian ministry of Sterling M. Durgy.
Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Permission is granted to reprint this article as long as the copyright is included, this statement is included, and the article is not sold to the recipients.
Go to previous article in this series.
Go to next article in this series.
Return to menu of Bible studies available here.
Return to menu of articles available here.
Return to The American Night Watch home page.
This page was last updated October 22, 1999.