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~bDeath,
Where
Is
Thy
Sting?"
For centuries thinkers have examined the evidence
of Jesus' empty tomb-and drawn one major
conclusion about the resurrection. Here is a new
look at that conclusion.
by
Lester Grabbe
P
HI LOSOPHERS,
sages and theo–
logians have speculated for
centuries about the question of
life after death. If you die, will you
live again? Or do you die to this life
only to continue in another state? Is
one's life span, however long or short,
all there is? Or is there hope beyond
the grave?
In the Words of Johannes Brahms
More than a century ago Johannes
Brahms described these questions in
the words of the Bible set to the
music of the German
Requiem:
"Be–
hold, all flesh is as the grass, and al!
the glory of man is as the flow'r of
the field. The grass is wither'd, and
the fiow'r thereof is fallen."
Whether in German or English,
the sober statement penetratesto the
very depths of the soul when accom–
panied by the haunting beauty of the
second chorus.
It makes no difference what your
status in life is. Great or small, rich
or poor. All come to the same end
and all go to a common grave.
The ancient wiseman Jobcried out in
bis sickness: '"Why did I not die at
birth ... then 1 should have been at
rest. ... There the prisoners are at ease
together; they hear not the voice of the
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taskmaster. The small and the great are
there, and the slave is free from bis
master" (Job 3:11, 12- 13, 18 -19,
RevisedStandard Version).
. Throughout history sorne have
seen this universal human experience
as denying any hope of existence
beyond this present life. For exam–
ple, the ancient Epicureans viewed
the world as purely materialistic- a
random conglomeration of atoms.
Death, they thought, comes about as
the gradual dissolution of these
atoms in the individual. An impor–
tant part of their philosophy was
devoted toward abolishing the fear of
death, yet they gained few adherents
during the centuries that the Epicur–
ean school !asted.
Others have thought it unimpor–
tant to look beyond the present life.
Perhaps at no time in history has
there been more interest
in this lije
alone
than in this latter part of the
20th century. Even among those who
profess sorne sort of religious faith.
This is not surprising in light of the
obsession with "other worldly" con–
ceros in times past.
Yet, by contrast, strong social cur–
rents in the l970s have demonstrated
the human need for religious and
eschatalogical security. Think, for a
moment, of the return to Muslim
fundamental ism in I ran and other
parts of the Arab world; the interest
in oriental religion in the Western
world; the stubborn persistence of
Christianity, Judaism and other reli–
gions in officially atheistic commu–
nist countries.
This longing for and hope in life
beyond tbe grave still rests within the
bosom of the majority of this world's
population. Little wonder that
among the different religious and
philosophical systems one special
idea has found an important place:
the resurrection of the dead.
Yet how many professing Chris–
tians know that belief in a universal
resurrection of the dead has been
held in common by a number of the
major religions of antiquity and the
present?
A Look at Islam
The prophet Mohammed empha–
sized a resurrection of all the dead, a
time in which all would rise from
their graves at one time to stand
before God. As in most religions, the
resurrection is viewed as a time of
judgment, with those who have done
well having nothing to fear. The
(Continued on page 37)
The
PLAIN TRUTH