Post by leojerushRespected Sirs,
Religions are from Beliefs; all the Religions teach about an 'after-
life' to man. If 'after-life' was given to a man, (1) "what in him"
gets the 'after-life'? If 'the soul of an individual' is the one that
gets 'the after-life', then (2) "on what basis" the soul was given to
an individual? And (3) "in what form" it was given to an individual?
Does anybody have any idea about these?
Yours,
T. Sekharan.
Interesting questions of which books have been written about, so
do pardon us if our replies are general.
Post by leojerushFrom the biblical perspective, man was created eternal. He will
never cease to exist. At physical death, his soul does not "sleep"
nor does it cease to exist, nor does it lose consciousness. The
distinction comes between the one who has been "born again
from above" and the one who has rejected the gospel of Jesus
Christ's vicarious atoning death.
Question #2 deals with propagation. There are two leading views
on this question. The first is known as "creationism" which holds
that at some moment God created all the souls of every human
that will ever exists. These souls are kept in some sort of holding
pen until such time a physical birth occurs and at that time a
union takes place.
The second opinion is known as "traducianism." It is founded
upon the statement in Gen 2:7 which reads:
The LORD God formed [the body of] man out of the dust of
the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man
became a living being [soul].
Now it is interesting to note that in the Hebrew, "breath of life" is
actually, "breath of lives," plural. Traducianism teaches that just
as it is in the man to not only procreate physically, but it is
equally
in him to procreate the immaterial aspect, i.e. the soul. This is
why the scriptures teach the federal nature of Adam, the first
created human being. It is from his loins that all humanity flows,
both immaterially as well as materially. This view best explains
why the Messiah had to be born of a virgin therefore not having a
direct link to Adam who could only procreate after "his own
likeness, according to his image" (Gen 5:3). Adam was warned
that in the day that he rebelled against the one commandment,
the sole tenet of testing, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, that in that "day you shall surely
die. Upon that act sole act of rebellion, Adam not only inaugurated
physically death, but even prior to that, died spiritually. Spiritual
death is nothing less than alienation from God, thus he was
subsequently ushered out of the Garden of Eden and no
longer did he enjoy walking with God "in the cool of the night."
And because humanity is a race, once Adam sinned, he entire
race that was residing in his loins, representively "fell" as
well.
This principle federal representation is clearly illustrated in
Gen 14 as taught in Hebrews 7 where it is taught that when
Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, so too did Aaron and
the priesthood which Aaron represented.
Heb. 7:10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek
met him.
As to Q #3, I'm not quite sure what you are expecting for
an answer. I suppose this is directly linked to what is
discussed in psychology in regards to the "mind." The
soul represents the conscious state of man regardless as
to whether or not he is corporeal or not. I can suggest
reading material that discusses this further if you wish to
review the biblical statements on the subject. Truthfully,
it is really a word study of sorts because the scriptures
use several terms to describe the immaterial nature of
man. Soul, spirit, heart, flesh (as a psychological term,
not a physical determination), mind, and loins, or
intestines or "gut".
Two reference sources for you to investigate, the
first being more general, the second more technical
in nature.
"Systematic Theology" by Lewis Sperry Chafer. It
was originally published as a 7 vol set though now you
can purchase it in 4 volumes. In the 7 vol set, he
begins his discussion on the immaterial makeup of
man in the 2nd vol, page160 and begins his discussion
on the terms mentioned above on p 182. He also
give an overview of the various schools of thought
on the creation of the souls of men and therein refers
to my second resouce...
"Dogmatic Theology" by Shedd. If you purchase
this book, make sure you get the 3rd ed. Just a
superior edition and a hallmark for all subsequent
translated theological works to follow. Shedd's
treatment is by far the most extensive analysis of
soul propagation you will find. His examination
of all the pro's and con's has him lead to a lengthy
discussion of the traducian position. A must read
if you are really interested in researching this aspect
of man.
hope this helps.