Boy this guy needs a theological seminary lesson!
Isn't heaven in the narrowest sense being in the presence of God personally??? What about that verse in Hebrews 12:23 talking about "the spirits of just men made perfect."??? It's not talking about the saints turning into spirit beings. They ARE spirits in heaven, eternally in fellowship with the love of God. I showed this verse to a prominent evangelical Adventist minister who supported the doctrine of soul sleep but was circular (but polite) in his response. Yes, I don't have to believe any tradition nor what anybody says (and this includes the commentator from the United Church of God's Beyond Today program)---but voila, plain scripture has took root again. In saying this---I do not attack people who believe in soul sleep and conditional immortality. Edward Fudge, best noted for his book The Fire That Consumes (I have his other book called Two Views of Hell) is a geniune Christian and firmly believes in the essentials of historic Christian faith. I have e-mailed him various times and is very cordial and supportive in his approach. In my post-WCG theology, I am leaning to the fact that when we die, the spirit in man IS conscious unlike what Armstrongism and the Jehovah's Witness teach that it is just a "memory bank" for our ressurection. When believer's bodies die, their spirits live being eternally in the care and presence of God. What can be better than heaven? For those who argue that if you believe in the immortal soul (or spirit)---you don't believe in the ressurection, I say that is pure emotional nonsense. For starters, Armstrongism never did and never will believe in the physical ressurection: note they deny the physical ressurection of Christ (they say that Christ was a spirit creature manifesting himself in a physical body to the Apostles)---whereas orthodox Christianity has acknowledged that it was the same body that died on the cross that was ressurected but it assumed new and incredible amazing powers. Armstrongism believes that the saints will turn into "spirit beings" without ever noticing that human beings are also spirital beings too! The saints at their ressurection will return in their bodies (a physical body) but it will no longer be subject to disease, sin and death. Yes, they will reign with God forever and forever and no, they will not be playing harps all day. Actually, I don't know of any single Christian who believes in the immortality of the soul who actually believes in that nonsense. Again this another of Armstrongism's manipulative red herrings to deflect from real substiantial issues. While you're at it, you can do some homework. Go to this website at http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num10.htm and this website at http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/hellcomp.htm and even the Greek Orthodox view of the afterlife(which I am beginning to mostly subscribe to this view but by no means the complete entirty of it) at http://aggreen.net/beliefs/heaven_hell.html . Also I would recommend a Robert Morey's book Death and the Afterlife which can purchased on amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Death-Afterlife-Robert-Morey/dp/076422686X/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1069291-1671147?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182649006&sr=8-1 . Enjoy some real study instead of getting information from a pre-packaged marketing from a program that pretends to know everything but really demonstrates it's complete ignorance!
Labels: conditional immortality, eschatology, heaven and hell, Immortality of the soul, soul sleep, theology
