Basic HTML Version
WHATISMAN?
(Continued from page 27)
of God into practice in our daily
livcs. One builds the righteous
character of God as he comes to
discern, through God's revelation '
in the Holy Bible, right from
wrong- the true values from the
false - truth from error, then
chooses the right and rejects the
wrong and, with the help of God's
Holy Spirit,
resists
the wrong and
DOES
the right!
Actually, in many this divine
charactcr may form so slowly that
it seems hardly in evidence at first,
except that in sorne there may
radiate a "first !ove" of spiritual
conversion. But, so far as growing
in spiritual knowledge and spiritual
character goes, that is a gradual
process that continues the rest of
onc's life.
In addition to Bible study, ear–
ncst prayer is absolutely necessary.
IMMORTAL SOUL
(Continued from page 30)
This spirit in ma n, however, has
no consciousness apart from the
physical human brain. lt is not to
be confuscd in any way with thc
fictional concept of a conscious
"immortal sou l. " "The dead know
not any thing," the Bible declares
(Eccl.
9:5, 10).
In the day of a
man's death, "his t houghts perish"
(Ps. 146:4). The Bible clearly pic–
turcs death as a
sleep- a
state of
unconsciousness
(Dan. 12:2).
At death, this spirit in man
"shall return unto God who gave
it" (Eccl. 12:7).
lt
is then ''filed
away," so to speak, like a tape
recording for God's future use at a
resurrection.
On it is indelibly rccorded one's
character and the many experiences
accumulated during one's lifetime.
(See the accompanying article
"What ls Man'?" in this issue for a
further explanation.)
lt is also this "spirit in man"- as
often explained in the pages of this
magazine- that sets man apart
from the animals.
lt
is what makes
man
unique.
lt
imparts to the living
human brain the power of intellcct
to comprehend materialistic knowl-
44
We also absorb spiritual nourish–
ment through personal, daily con–
tact with God. When you study the
Bible, God is talking to you. When
you pray, you are talking to him.
You get to really know God in this
manner, just as you become better
acquainted with people by conver–
sation.
God's Church is the spiritual
"mother" of all who have been
begotten by God's Holy Spirit. God
has set his called and chosen minis–
ters in his Church to "feed the
flock" so the individual members
may
grow spiritually
(Acts
20:28).
Christ has given his ministers the
responsibility to instruct, teach and
counsel the members of the Church
(Eph. 4: 11-15). So just as a human
mother feeds her begotten child
within her womb through the pla–
centa and umbilical cord, God's
children are nourished with spiri–
tual food
within the true Church.
And as the human mother car–
ries her unborn baby in that part of
edge.
lt
is the source of human
intelligence.
lt
is
not
prescnt in ani–
mal brain. (For a further examina–
tion of the spirit in man concept,
write for editor- in-chief Herbert
W. Armstrong's book
The lncredi–
ble Human Potentia/.
lt is free
upon request.)
Who le Wor ld Deceived
There is no scriptural basis what–
ever for belief in an "immortal
soul" survíving consciously after
death.
Throughout the ccnturies of pro–
fessing Christianity, innumerable
sermons have been preached and
countless pamphlets written sup–
posedly "proving" the soul's im–
mortality. Upon careful and open–
minded examination , they are all
found riddled with gross error and
misrepresentation!
The doctrine of the immortal
soul is built on a foundation of bib–
lical mistranslations, false premises,
sloppy scholarship and even out–
right dishonesty. Few ministers and
laymen have had the spiritual cour–
age to take a fresh , unprejudiced
look at the question and accept the
true
Bible teaching.
For when the false doctrine of
the immortal soul is toppled, along
with it falls the equally pagan and
her body where she can best pro–
tect it from physical harm, the
function of God 's Church is to also
protect the begotten children of
God from spiritual harm- the false
doctrines of false ministers who
appear as Christ's representatives,
but who actually represent Satan
and his way
( JI
Cor. 11: 13- 15).
Finally, when resurrected from
the dead or changed from mortal
ftesh to immortal spirit at Christ 's
return, the i ncredible human
potential will have blossomed into
reality. We will have been
BORN
into the divine family of God pos–
sessing the
fullness
of the very
character of God!
Now we see clearly the great
purpose the Creator God had in
making man
UNIQUE
among all his
physical creations. Mortal man has
within his reach the glorious reality
of attaining to the resurrection of
the dead, and receiving immortali–
ty- forever being a part of the uni–
verse-ruling family of God.
o
falsc concept of Heaven and Hell–
one of the cornerstones of trad i–
tional Christianity!
Satan the devil has succeeded–
for the time being- in deceiving
the whole world (Rev. 12:9). l t was
he who first introduced the idea
that man does not really die, but is
inherently immortal. ' 'Ye shall not
surely die;" Satan lied to Eve in the
garden of Eden (Gen.
3:4).
God's futurc for mankind is far
more transcendent than the com–
mon picture of immortal souls
ftoating on clouds and strumming
harps for eternity . For those who
choose it and qualify, there
is
life
after death by a resurrection. But
that lifé will come through a
new
birth
as an immortal spirit being
into the very family of God- by
rneans of a future
resurrection
from the dead!
Writc for our booklets
What Wi/1
You Be Doing in the Next Lije?.
What is che Reward of the Saved?
and
The Wonderful World Tomor–
row- What lt Wi/1 Be Like?
lt
is time to cast off the fables
and traditions of men and under–
stand the great meaning and pur–
pose of human life as revealed
tn
the Bible!
Will
you
have the courage to
look into it for yourself?
o
The PLAIN TRUTH