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D. QUINT: "1 be–
lieve my inner
being will be trans–
mitted to diHerent
planes of existence
as 1 approach per–
fection ."
MRS. C. ESPANA:
D. ZIMMER: "1 be–
lieve in a spiritual
afterlife, that you
have a soul and
that the soul goes
to a hereafter. But
as to where the
hereafter is, l'm
not sure .
..."
B. SHEPHERD: "1
don't think there
is any ' life after
death' because you
don' t really die
-
your body dies, but
your soul lives on."
"Of course there's
an afterlife. lt's in
heaven - other–
wise what's the
sense in living."
forever. Rather, the Word of God
talks of a raising back to life, a re–
creatioo, a resurrecting of human
beings.
Large sections, even wbole cbap–
ters ofbooks such as Ezekiel, picture
a resurrection from the dead, not
only of individuals, but also of en–
tire nations.
Jesus Cbrist, the central figure of
tbe Bible, said:
"1
am the resurrec–
tion, and the life" (John 11 :25). He
spoke of a resurrection of the j ust
and the unjust.
Indeed, the resurrection of the
dead was the focal point of the mes–
sage of the New Testament church.
The hope of the Christian and bis
basis for belief in Jesus Christ re–
volves around the fact of the resur–
rection from the dead. 1 Corinthians
15: 17 describes the Christian faith:
"lf
Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain; ye are yet in your sins." Ac–
tually, the entirety of Christian be–
lief stands or faUs on tbe truth of the
resurrection.
The apostle Paul firmly believed
in a resurrection from the dead.
Once he found himself caught in the
middle of an absolutely tumultuous
PLAIN TRUTH May 1973
controversy between the religious
organizations of tbat day because of
his belief in the resurrection (Acts
23:6-1 0). In other historical ac–
counts of the Bible are examples of
the resurrection of human beings to
physical life. The most famous oc–
curred wben Jesus resurrected Laz–
arus in the sight of many Jews. Tbe
entire plan of God is, in fact, cen–
tered around the fact that every
man, woman, and child who has
ever lived will ultimately be raised
from the dead.
The First Resurrection
The Bible speaks not only of a
resurrection, but also of resurrec–
tions. Notice Revelation 20:5, last
part: " ... This is the
jirst
resurrec–
tion."
The Bible reveals that the "first
resurrection" is to occur
a~
Christ's
second coming. Note Paul's descrip–
tion of the event: "The Lord hirnself
shaU descend from heaven with a
shout, with tbe voice of the arcb–
angel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise
first" (1 Thessalonians 4: 16). Paul
said to the <::orinthiaos: "We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twin–
kling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible
[immortal] ... " (1 Corinthians
15:51-52).
But what about those who died,
never having an opportunity to be
converted - those millions who
never had a chance to learn and
know God's truth? What about the
hundreds of millions alive today in
Asia and Africa and on other conti–
nents who have never even heard
the name of Christ - the only name
whereby men can be saved (Acts
4: 12) - much less done what he
says?
Will these multitudes fry, sizzle
and blister in an ever-burning hell,
writhing and screaming in a seeth–
ing, burning pool of lava, leaping
from one hot brick to another,
shrieking out their agony for all
eternity, just because they were
guilty of being born into the wrong
place or time?
ls there such an everlasting heU?
(If you want the answer, write for
our free article
Js There a Real Hell
35