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Immortality: All of us will be somewhere forever
Book by Warren, Thomas B
269 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1992
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May 30, 2024
A BIBLICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOUL AND IMMORTALITY
Thomas Bratton Warren (1920-2000) was a professor of philosophy of religion and apologetics at the Harding School of Theology (Church of Christ), and also wrote books such as 'Have Atheists Proved there is no God?,' and 'Logic and the Bible.' He also participated in 'The Warren-Flew Debate on the Existence of God,' 'The Warren-Matson Debate on the Existence of God,' 'The Warren-Barnhart Debate on Christian Ethics Versus Utilitarian,' and 'The Warren-Ballard Debate on the Plan of Salvation]].
He wrote in the Preface to this 1992 book, “the basic… concern of this present book is to deal with this question: ‘Will every human being who has ever lived on earth live on---after physical death---as a unique center of conscious (human) personality?’… I have undertaken to answer the question, ‘Does the Bible … teach that each human being will continue to exist, after physical death as a unique center of consciousness?... will the souls (spirits) of human beings survive physical death---if so, will those souls survive eternally?” (Pg. vii-viii)
Later, he adds, “Is it true that whenever the Old Testament touches on the question of immortality, the teaching is in harmony with the fuller (more detailed) revelation of the New Testament? The main emphasis of this book will be directed toward answering that question.” (Pg. 23)
Of Matthew 10:28 [‘…able to destroy both soul and body in hell’] he comments, “Jesus is emphasizing that… only GOD can ‘destroy’ (by eternal punishment) the soul. The word ‘destroy’… does not mean ‘annihilate’ (put out of existence). The Greek word ‘apolesai’ … is translated ‘lost’ in reference to a sheep which has strayed away from the flock. There the word clearly means ‘separated from’---not obliterated… the passage … means that persons who are cast into hell will be SEPARATED from God but not annihilated. They will NOT cease to exist.” (Pg. 32)
He argues, “Matthew 25:31-46 teaches that when Christ comes in His glory, all persons who have ever lived on earth will be there are the Judgment… This conclusion is true in spite of the fact that at times the expression ‘ta ethne’ does refer exclusively to the Gentiles. The conclusion is not only a POSSIBLE, but a NECESSARY, one… [If] ALL men will be brought into the judgment… they it follows logically that all men will participate in the results of that judgment. If the results of that judgment involve conscious existence, then it will follow that all men will continue in a state of consciousness after that Judgment.” (Pg. 43)
Of Mark 9:43-48, he comments, “Jesus has here taught that the wicked are to suffer acutely. This implies that they will be conscious for one cannot be described truly as suffering while he is not even conscious. From this implication, it follows that man is to be conscious after death… Not only is the punishment to be acute, but it is also to be unending.” (Pg. 48)
He asserts, “the fact that scholars discuss the problem t such length shows that have understood Paul to teach the persistence of personality after physical death. But---it must be noted---the fact that a number of well-known and highly respected scholars may be in substantial agreement that the Bible DOES teach a certain doctrine, this face must NOT be regarded as constituting proof that the doctrine is really taught in the Bible.” (Pg. 82)
He cautions, “it is quite obviously not necessary that every passage which is pertinent to the post-resurrection total situation would have to deal with post-physical death situations of both the righteous and the wicked. Some passages deal only with the fate of the righteous, some passages deal only with the fate of the wicked, and still other passages deal with the fates of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Pg. 97-98)
He explains, “it may be said correctly that man is a soul and that he has a soul. At times the word ‘soul’ is used in a figurative sense to refer, simply, to a human being… The CONTEXT in which the word is used must determine its meaning in any given instance… The word ‘soul’ is used in at least the following sense: to describe the whole person, and thus to be synonymous with ‘person’ or ‘man’ … Even in the book of Genesis there is an instance [46:26-27] of the use of the word ‘soul’ to mean ‘person.’” (Pg. 113)
He says of Gen 25:8, 47:30, and 49:33: “There is no EXPLICIT statement in either one of the two passages that man’s personality persists after physical death , but the three passages DO contain the IMPLICATION that at death some constituent element of the man would depart from his body and live on in some place or state other than the burial place of the body. No description is given of the state or place in which the departed constituent element will be… [But] there is nothing in either of the … passages which is out of harmony with the New Testament treatment of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.” (Pg. 142)
He notes, “The word ‘Sheol’ occurs some sixty-five times in the Hebrew Bible. It is used in at least three senses: (1) to refer to a place of conscious existence for all which is entered by the spirit at death; (2) in a ‘bad’ sense, to indicate the place where the wicked go at death… and (3) … to refer to a temporal, and not an eternal place. The Septuagint translator’s rendering of ‘Sheol’ is a valuable one… Some sixty-five times they met with the word. Not once did they render it by the Greek word Gehenna, the lake of fire… Sixty-one times … they translated it by the Greek word hades. It follows, therefore, that the Old Testament sheol is the equivalent of the Greek hades---the realm of the unseen.” (Pg. 145-146)
He argues, “It must be noted that whether a particular doctrine is taught by the Bible does not at all depend upon the BELIEFS of the people who were alive at the time of the writing. The men who wrote the Bible were men of God… Thus, even if one were to grant that the people of that day did not believe in the persistence of personality beyond physical death… such would not constitute evidence which is contradictory of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul…” (Pg. 183)
He asserts, “[since] the two Testaments (Old and New) will be in harmony as to what they teach, it will follow that Psalm 49 is in harmony with what is taught in such passages as Luke 16:19-31. On other words, just as Luke 16:19-31 clearly teaches the persistence of personality for BOTH the righteous and the wicked, it is clear that … even if Psalm 49 does not set forth all of the details which are set forth in Luke 16:19-31---the two passages will at least NOT CONTRADICT one another. This present book submits that it is IMPOSSIBLE for any man to prove that they (or any other passages in the Bible) contradict one another.” (Pg. 198)
He points out, “The language of Ecclesiastes 9:5 does not demand the conclusion that the dead are non-existent, or unconscious, or completely ignorant. A number of passages already studies show that the dead are CONSCIOUS and have MEMORY of things which happened to them while they were yet alive on earth. However, the dead do not KNOW of the events on earth AFTER their deaths… The writer of Ecclesiastes has affirmed that the dead do not know anything ‘under the sun.’” (Pg. 211) He adds, “There is no explicit statement in the book which contradicts the proposition which affirms that the SOULS of all men… will survive physical death.” (Pg. 214)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the biblical teachings about life after death.
Thomas Bratton Warren (1920-2000) was a professor of philosophy of religion and apologetics at the Harding School of Theology (Church of Christ), and also wrote books such as 'Have Atheists Proved there is no God?,' and 'Logic and the Bible.' He also participated in 'The Warren-Flew Debate on the Existence of God,' 'The Warren-Matson Debate on the Existence of God,' 'The Warren-Barnhart Debate on Christian Ethics Versus Utilitarian,' and 'The Warren-Ballard Debate on the Plan of Salvation]].
He wrote in the Preface to this 1992 book, “the basic… concern of this present book is to deal with this question: ‘Will every human being who has ever lived on earth live on---after physical death---as a unique center of conscious (human) personality?’… I have undertaken to answer the question, ‘Does the Bible … teach that each human being will continue to exist, after physical death as a unique center of consciousness?... will the souls (spirits) of human beings survive physical death---if so, will those souls survive eternally?” (Pg. vii-viii)
Later, he adds, “Is it true that whenever the Old Testament touches on the question of immortality, the teaching is in harmony with the fuller (more detailed) revelation of the New Testament? The main emphasis of this book will be directed toward answering that question.” (Pg. 23)
Of Matthew 10:28 [‘…able to destroy both soul and body in hell’] he comments, “Jesus is emphasizing that… only GOD can ‘destroy’ (by eternal punishment) the soul. The word ‘destroy’… does not mean ‘annihilate’ (put out of existence). The Greek word ‘apolesai’ … is translated ‘lost’ in reference to a sheep which has strayed away from the flock. There the word clearly means ‘separated from’---not obliterated… the passage … means that persons who are cast into hell will be SEPARATED from God but not annihilated. They will NOT cease to exist.” (Pg. 32)
He argues, “Matthew 25:31-46 teaches that when Christ comes in His glory, all persons who have ever lived on earth will be there are the Judgment… This conclusion is true in spite of the fact that at times the expression ‘ta ethne’ does refer exclusively to the Gentiles. The conclusion is not only a POSSIBLE, but a NECESSARY, one… [If] ALL men will be brought into the judgment… they it follows logically that all men will participate in the results of that judgment. If the results of that judgment involve conscious existence, then it will follow that all men will continue in a state of consciousness after that Judgment.” (Pg. 43)
Of Mark 9:43-48, he comments, “Jesus has here taught that the wicked are to suffer acutely. This implies that they will be conscious for one cannot be described truly as suffering while he is not even conscious. From this implication, it follows that man is to be conscious after death… Not only is the punishment to be acute, but it is also to be unending.” (Pg. 48)
He asserts, “the fact that scholars discuss the problem t such length shows that have understood Paul to teach the persistence of personality after physical death. But---it must be noted---the fact that a number of well-known and highly respected scholars may be in substantial agreement that the Bible DOES teach a certain doctrine, this face must NOT be regarded as constituting proof that the doctrine is really taught in the Bible.” (Pg. 82)
He cautions, “it is quite obviously not necessary that every passage which is pertinent to the post-resurrection total situation would have to deal with post-physical death situations of both the righteous and the wicked. Some passages deal only with the fate of the righteous, some passages deal only with the fate of the wicked, and still other passages deal with the fates of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Pg. 97-98)
He explains, “it may be said correctly that man is a soul and that he has a soul. At times the word ‘soul’ is used in a figurative sense to refer, simply, to a human being… The CONTEXT in which the word is used must determine its meaning in any given instance… The word ‘soul’ is used in at least the following sense: to describe the whole person, and thus to be synonymous with ‘person’ or ‘man’ … Even in the book of Genesis there is an instance [46:26-27] of the use of the word ‘soul’ to mean ‘person.’” (Pg. 113)
He says of Gen 25:8, 47:30, and 49:33: “There is no EXPLICIT statement in either one of the two passages that man’s personality persists after physical death , but the three passages DO contain the IMPLICATION that at death some constituent element of the man would depart from his body and live on in some place or state other than the burial place of the body. No description is given of the state or place in which the departed constituent element will be… [But] there is nothing in either of the … passages which is out of harmony with the New Testament treatment of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.” (Pg. 142)
He notes, “The word ‘Sheol’ occurs some sixty-five times in the Hebrew Bible. It is used in at least three senses: (1) to refer to a place of conscious existence for all which is entered by the spirit at death; (2) in a ‘bad’ sense, to indicate the place where the wicked go at death… and (3) … to refer to a temporal, and not an eternal place. The Septuagint translator’s rendering of ‘Sheol’ is a valuable one… Some sixty-five times they met with the word. Not once did they render it by the Greek word Gehenna, the lake of fire… Sixty-one times … they translated it by the Greek word hades. It follows, therefore, that the Old Testament sheol is the equivalent of the Greek hades---the realm of the unseen.” (Pg. 145-146)
He argues, “It must be noted that whether a particular doctrine is taught by the Bible does not at all depend upon the BELIEFS of the people who were alive at the time of the writing. The men who wrote the Bible were men of God… Thus, even if one were to grant that the people of that day did not believe in the persistence of personality beyond physical death… such would not constitute evidence which is contradictory of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul…” (Pg. 183)
He asserts, “[since] the two Testaments (Old and New) will be in harmony as to what they teach, it will follow that Psalm 49 is in harmony with what is taught in such passages as Luke 16:19-31. On other words, just as Luke 16:19-31 clearly teaches the persistence of personality for BOTH the righteous and the wicked, it is clear that … even if Psalm 49 does not set forth all of the details which are set forth in Luke 16:19-31---the two passages will at least NOT CONTRADICT one another. This present book submits that it is IMPOSSIBLE for any man to prove that they (or any other passages in the Bible) contradict one another.” (Pg. 198)
He points out, “The language of Ecclesiastes 9:5 does not demand the conclusion that the dead are non-existent, or unconscious, or completely ignorant. A number of passages already studies show that the dead are CONSCIOUS and have MEMORY of things which happened to them while they were yet alive on earth. However, the dead do not KNOW of the events on earth AFTER their deaths… The writer of Ecclesiastes has affirmed that the dead do not know anything ‘under the sun.’” (Pg. 211) He adds, “There is no explicit statement in the book which contradicts the proposition which affirms that the SOULS of all men… will survive physical death.” (Pg. 214)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the biblical teachings about life after death.
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