Basic HTML Version
by
John R. Schroeder
o living being natu–
rally wants to die.
~.rMA.-s•l
But the stark fact of
death is with us
whether we like it or
not. No human
being has yet avoided death. And
all living things begin to die as soon
as they are born. There is no appar–
ent escape.
The Vanity of Human Pursuíts
Throughout history man has been
painfully aware of his own mortal–
ity. He has sought to escape it in a
variety of ways. Ponce de León
sea rched for the fabled fountain of
youth. The Greeks perpetuated the
philosophical concept of the immor–
tality of the soul- that man's righ–
teous soul would finally divest itself
of its evil body at the moment of
death.
More practical minds sought to
preserve themselves through "im–
mortal" works of art, magnificently
constructed edifices bearing their
names, or classic books which they
authored. The ancient psalmist well
expressed this proclivity of man:
"Their inner thought is, that their
houses are forever, and their dwell–
ing places to all generations; they
have called their lands after their
own names' ' (Ps.
49: 11,
New Ameri–
can Standard Bible).
But none of the trappings of
human cívilization are truly ímmor–
tal. The Alexandrian library of an–
cient Egypt burned to the ground.
Palestine is the graveyard of severa!
civilizations. The hu lks of Crusader
fortresses dot the Mediterranean
coast in modern Is rael. The ruins of
severa! Roman
tíattas
(theaters)
have been unearthed by archae–
ologists in the Holy Land.
So even the most enduríng ele-
30
ments of c ivilization must even–
tually perish - even if it takes
millions of years. The best of build–
ings will ultimately decay into noth–
ingness.
Everything that the eye can see–
whether organic or inorga¡lic-is ag–
ing or decaying to oñe degree or
another. There is no arguing with
that fact.
lt
is a basic Jaw of the
physical universe. Thinking peoplc
recognize there is no apparent prac–
tical solution to the cycle of birth,
babyhood, youth. míddle age, old
age and death . So they seek to pre–
serve themselves through future
generatíons- their sons, daughters,
grandsons and granddaughters. But
this has no practica! value in pre–
serving their personal beings. More–
over, there is no guarantee that thc
earth will always sustain the condi–
tions necessary for organic life. The
dominating fact of the Jast half of
the twentieth century is humanity's
newfound ability to totally destroy
a ll life by a hos t ofterri ble means.
All aven ues of escape seem effec–
tively sealed. Averting our own per–
sonal mortality seems impossible.
The physical universe offers no
hope for survival. All seems hope–
less in the ultimate sense. We seem
doomed to oblivion.
f:ven modern man has dimly rec–
ognized that no natural force offers
any practica! solution to his prob–
lem. Explanations born of faith and
fantasy are far more appealing than
the certainties of science.
But is each generation born on ly
to die
in
a never-ceasing st ream of
time? Are a ll but a lucky few limited
to the bíblica! threescore and ten–
and the lucky only to that plus a few
more years? One thing is certain:
Physical knowledge has not pro–
vided the answer to these questions.
uest
An ever-increasing amount of un–
derstanding about the physical
world in which we live has not sig–
nificantly dented the mysteries of
immorta lity. We, on the average,
may live a few years longer than our
progenitors, but we are no closer to
preventing death than they were.
Any particular individual's final de–
mise cannot be long delayed.
Nothing seen by the human eye
can solve our problem. Nothing
coniined within the limits of space
and time can help us in the long
run.
The Bible itself affirms these
truths. The apostle Paul spoke of
spiritual survival
made possible only
from a spiritual source. He was not
discouraged by the prospect of pcr–
ishing physically because he pos–
sessed a so urce of knowled ge
unobtainable by the natural mind.
Notice an excerpt from one of his
Ietters to the Church of God in
Corinth: "So we do not lose heart.
Though
our outer nature is wasting
away,
our inner nature is being re–
newed every day. For this slight mo–
mentary affiiction is preparing for
usan eterna! weight of glory beyond
all comparison, because we Jook not
to the things that are seen but to the
things that are unseen; for
the things
that are seen are transient,
but the
things that are unseen are eternal"
(II
Cor.
4: 16-18,
RSY).
Jesus on lmmortality
Jesus did not disagree with Paul. He
told sorne who trusted in human tra–
dition and their vaunted national
heroes for salvation: "Your fathers
ate the manna [bread from heaven]
in the wilderness,
and they died"
(John
6:49,
RSY). Jesus had to ex–
plain to them:
"It
is the spirit that
gives Iife, the flesh is of no avail; the
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1978