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Immortality
In this book, Boettner discusses physical death, immortality, and the intermediate state. topics making preparation for death; what happens at death; immortality in the ancient religions; immortality necessary to vindicate the moral order....
- GenresTheology
161 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
14 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Loraine Boettner
62 books39 followersLoraine Boettner (1901-1990) was a Reformed Theologian, born on a farm in Linden, Missouri. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree from Tarkio College in 1925, he attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he studied Systematic Theology under Dr. Casper W. Hodge and received his Th.B. (1928) and Th.M. (1929). He taught Bible for eight years in Pikeville College, Kentucky. In 1933 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Tarkio College, and in 1957 the degree of Doctor of Literature. He was a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
From 1958 until his death in 1990, Dr. Boettner lived a quite life in Rock Port, Missouri. For the remaining 32 years of his life, he generously sold his books at cost to any who wrote to ask for them. In doing so, Boettner made good conservative theology readily available at a time when such material was often difficult to come by. Through his writings, he served to popularize the Reformed faith and influenced literally tens of thousands of men and women around the world.
From 1958 until his death in 1990, Dr. Boettner lived a quite life in Rock Port, Missouri. For the remaining 32 years of his life, he generously sold his books at cost to any who wrote to ask for them. In doing so, Boettner made good conservative theology readily available at a time when such material was often difficult to come by. Through his writings, he served to popularize the Reformed faith and influenced literally tens of thousands of men and women around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 6, 2013
I had very mixed reviews about this book. It was overall not particularly strong and had a lot of weaknesses in exegesis and reasoning, but a few strong portions do partially redeem it.
The beginning, which is largely reflections upon death, its meaning, and its significance is fine. I don't endorse everything 100% but it was largely harmless.
The last part of the book, mainly the second half of the final section (the book has but 3) was a scathing and common-sense look at spiritists and mediums. Long story short, it's all a crock, and the Bible warns against suing them. This was probably the strongest portion of the book.
The middle, however, was rife with problems. The middle section, called "Immortality," started out well enough. It gave philosophical reasons to believe in life after death, and they were reasonable. However, when it came to biblical exegesis, a lot the prooftexts used specifically to show the immortality of the soul were laden with assumptions. Many of them were specifically about the resurrection, making no mention of the soul, and some were specifically just about the saved, and yet they all somehow prove that the soul is immortal...Now, we know from later on, in the final section, that the soul cannot die or be unconscious, so I suppose the reader is left to put together that therefore the resurrection proves that the soul survives death. How do we know that the soul cannot die? Because Boettner says so, darn it! And as to how the fact that there is a resurrection proves everyone who is resurrected lives forever, well, shut up, it just does!
His section on annihilationism was especially atrocious. It was expected that the same normal prooftexts would pop up (Revelation 20:10, Matthew 25:46, etc.). But it is clear he had remarkably little exposure to the arguments made by the other side in regards to this topic and those prooftexts. Annihilation isn't punishment because Boettner says so. Destroy means to ruin because shut up, that's why! Given that the whole chapter starts by him saying that most who hold to annihilationism do so because they hate the idea of eternal torment, I suppose it should have been clear what we should have expected...To be fair, Boettner wrote this in the 50's when the view was less mainstream and good literature by annihilationists was hard to come by, but it still is a very weak section nonetheless.
The lack of understanding of the views he critiques carries over to his attempt to refute soul-sleep, a doctrine I am best undecided about. For example, according to the soul-sleep theory, the person is completely unconscious between death and the resurrection, so from there perspective, the moment they die they are at the resurrection and either condemned or in glory. That doesn't appear to be in Boettner's mind, given his complaints about the idea of the saved person having to wait so long in the grave (such as the thief on the cross from Luke 23:43). His prooftexts are no better than anyone else's. If you are to convince someone like me who is on the fence about it, you really need to do better. You need to understand the opposing view and have some good responses. Saying that all the Old Testament passages that are pointed to by soul-sleep advocates are simply speaking of what it looks like from an earthly perspective, and are never describing what it is actually like, just doesn't cut it. Just because you say it doesn't make it true!
Even in sections I agree with I found problems. I do not believe in universalism, but appealing to the consequences of a doctrine as proof of its falsity is logically fallacious. Would universalism quench missionary zeal? Maybe, maybe not, but whether or not it does doesn't tell us whether the doctrine is true! Telling people that they would get $1 million dollars the moment they tell a person about Jesus with no limit on prizes would sure increase missionary zeal, but that doesn't make it true! We don't choose what to believe based on what has the result we want, but on what we think the Bible teaches.
Seeing Boettner's poor treatment of views he disagree with made me question other areas where I do in fact agree with him. I view quite favorably scathing refutations of false doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church teaches. But after this, I wonder how fair his critique on purgatory really was. I wonder how much of it was accurate ad how much of it was misunderstanding, oversimplification, and hyperbole presented as truth.
In short, it was a generally weak read. A few strong sections manage to snatch it a second star.
The beginning, which is largely reflections upon death, its meaning, and its significance is fine. I don't endorse everything 100% but it was largely harmless.
The last part of the book, mainly the second half of the final section (the book has but 3) was a scathing and common-sense look at spiritists and mediums. Long story short, it's all a crock, and the Bible warns against suing them. This was probably the strongest portion of the book.
The middle, however, was rife with problems. The middle section, called "Immortality," started out well enough. It gave philosophical reasons to believe in life after death, and they were reasonable. However, when it came to biblical exegesis, a lot the prooftexts used specifically to show the immortality of the soul were laden with assumptions. Many of them were specifically about the resurrection, making no mention of the soul, and some were specifically just about the saved, and yet they all somehow prove that the soul is immortal...Now, we know from later on, in the final section, that the soul cannot die or be unconscious, so I suppose the reader is left to put together that therefore the resurrection proves that the soul survives death. How do we know that the soul cannot die? Because Boettner says so, darn it! And as to how the fact that there is a resurrection proves everyone who is resurrected lives forever, well, shut up, it just does!
His section on annihilationism was especially atrocious. It was expected that the same normal prooftexts would pop up (Revelation 20:10, Matthew 25:46, etc.). But it is clear he had remarkably little exposure to the arguments made by the other side in regards to this topic and those prooftexts. Annihilation isn't punishment because Boettner says so. Destroy means to ruin because shut up, that's why! Given that the whole chapter starts by him saying that most who hold to annihilationism do so because they hate the idea of eternal torment, I suppose it should have been clear what we should have expected...To be fair, Boettner wrote this in the 50's when the view was less mainstream and good literature by annihilationists was hard to come by, but it still is a very weak section nonetheless.
The lack of understanding of the views he critiques carries over to his attempt to refute soul-sleep, a doctrine I am best undecided about. For example, according to the soul-sleep theory, the person is completely unconscious between death and the resurrection, so from there perspective, the moment they die they are at the resurrection and either condemned or in glory. That doesn't appear to be in Boettner's mind, given his complaints about the idea of the saved person having to wait so long in the grave (such as the thief on the cross from Luke 23:43). His prooftexts are no better than anyone else's. If you are to convince someone like me who is on the fence about it, you really need to do better. You need to understand the opposing view and have some good responses. Saying that all the Old Testament passages that are pointed to by soul-sleep advocates are simply speaking of what it looks like from an earthly perspective, and are never describing what it is actually like, just doesn't cut it. Just because you say it doesn't make it true!
Even in sections I agree with I found problems. I do not believe in universalism, but appealing to the consequences of a doctrine as proof of its falsity is logically fallacious. Would universalism quench missionary zeal? Maybe, maybe not, but whether or not it does doesn't tell us whether the doctrine is true! Telling people that they would get $1 million dollars the moment they tell a person about Jesus with no limit on prizes would sure increase missionary zeal, but that doesn't make it true! We don't choose what to believe based on what has the result we want, but on what we think the Bible teaches.
Seeing Boettner's poor treatment of views he disagree with made me question other areas where I do in fact agree with him. I view quite favorably scathing refutations of false doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church teaches. But after this, I wonder how fair his critique on purgatory really was. I wonder how much of it was accurate ad how much of it was misunderstanding, oversimplification, and hyperbole presented as truth.
In short, it was a generally weak read. A few strong sections manage to snatch it a second star.
February 5, 2022
An eye-opening, fear-shattering discourse on life beyond the grave!
When I started to read this book my goal is to qualm my fear about death. It doesn't just shatter my fear but the biblically grounded treatment gave me hope to live and to die in peace. The subjects discussed are more than I expected. They are thorough and to the point. Let every Bible believing Christian must read this book.
When I started to read this book my goal is to qualm my fear about death. It doesn't just shatter my fear but the biblically grounded treatment gave me hope to live and to die in peace. The subjects discussed are more than I expected. They are thorough and to the point. Let every Bible believing Christian must read this book.
July 28, 2017
A brief and easily readable overview of what Scripture says about death and the afterlife. Boettner gives a summary of the Christian perspective of what occurs after death and then compares and contrasts with false teachings from within and outside of the church. Particularly helpful was the brief overview of purgatory and why it is unbiblical. The section on Spiritualism is helpful but a bit long.
February 9, 2020
Boettner tackles the subject of death and the life that occurs thereafter. He analyzes the orthodox position as well as Roman Catholic positions and modernist positions. Relying on a lot of anecdotal evidence and impossibilities of the contrary instead of exegetical claims drove the argument in reverse for me personally, not to detract from his arguments which were on the plus side of good.
December 25, 2025
Informative !
Good read , author seems to comprehend and Answer the questions that the reader has beforehand. Of course they are questions that led us to read the book in the first place! Worth the read!
Good read , author seems to comprehend and Answer the questions that the reader has beforehand. Of course they are questions that led us to read the book in the first place! Worth the read!
June 7, 2023
Very good. My only knock would be the end. A good bit of time was spent on Spiritualism, unnecessarily in my opinion. It made a good book end on a whimper rather than a bang.
July 8, 2013
Very interesting perspectives on death. The last chapter on Houdini and those who try to channel his spirit is enlightening. Beottner's calling them all charlatans seems more visceral than academic; nonetheless, it's still good to hear it.
December 30, 2009
I read this shortly after our oldest son's best friend died in an automobile accident. Our son was eight at the time and his friend was seven.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews