By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
It just so happens that as I am finishing this blog, tragedy struck our apartment complex. Cops and CSI units have descended upon our little village. A young woman in her 30’s, with children (though taken away by the courts), was apparently dead for a week in her bathtub…the stench was so horrible it posed a biohazard. I’m speculating, but given her serious drug/heroin use, it may have been an OD…maybe a suicide, I don’t know. I just looked outside and her obviously bloated body is wrapped up on a gurney. So sad. From a human perspective, her death is marked by all the things I am discussing in this blog: unfinished business, premature death, highly emotional death…..and perhaps violence. So, I’m reminded in a visceral way that this issue is one that affects us all, in some fashion. Troublesome deaths happen all the time. My point is that this discussion is far from being merely academic. My heart aches for a woman I knew, who died a tragic death.
There is a monolithic consensus in the paranormal community (which is bleeding over into culture in general) that certain kinds of death may lead to entrapment here on earth. These alleged ‘death criteria”, as I refer to them, include: dying with unfinished business, a premature death, a highly emotionally charged death, a violent death, and a fear of hell. The last of these, the fear of hell, I have written about recently. We saw that nobody has the free will/ability after death to avoid the unavoidable summons to stand before the Judge of heaven and earth, immediately upon death. These kinds of death are assumed by the paranormal community to render one susceptible to becoming an earthbound spirit. However, I would like to humbly but firmly challenge this notion.
These criteria are repeated so often that they have almost become like a mantra. And when a group repeats a belief often enough it becomes so ensconced that it acquires a non-negotiable presuppositional status—a habit of the heart, which is not open to scrutiny. However, merely repeating over and over that certain kinds of death can cause entrapment, does not make it so…and neither does it explain HOW these kinds of death trap people. Stating a belief, does not explain that belief. And thus far, nobody has adequately explained the mechanism behind the ‘death criteria’….or how it squares with the bible.
In addition, the soul, death (including the consequences of how one dies), and the after-life are manifestly theological issues. Science can’t explain any of these three phenomena. Hence, the notion of the ‘death criteria’, since they touch on all these theological issues, requires a theological analysis. However, I have seen little theological reflection on HOW/WHY certain kinds of death would cause a person to be trapped here. Just speculation.Nowhere, I repeat, NOWHERE, in the bible are we told that certain kinds of death might cause people to become earthbound. In the book of Acts (or any historical book of God’s Word), we don’t see any examples of it either. Since the bible clearly speaks of spiritual warfare, as well as heaven and hell, then it SHOULD explain to us the reality of earthbound spirits due to how they died…if it was true. But it says nothing. The silence is deafening.
At the outset, let me give a very brief theology of death as presented in the bible. “Mot” is the Hebrew word for death, and we find it first used in Genesis 2. Adam and Eve were originally designed by God to not die. They were designed, body and soul, to live forever in Eden, IF they passed the test. But they failed miserably.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17, emphasis added)
Sadly, the couple made a beeline for the forbidden tree. However, instead of killing them instantly like God had threatened, and as they deserved, He graciously expanded their life spans by hundreds of years. Spiritually they died instantly, but physical death was also a consequence of the Fall. Death is not normal, as many assume. Rather, it is a monstrous abnormality introduced by the historical Fall of Adam and Eve. And as we’ll see more later, the violent ripping asunder of the soul from the body at death, was not God’s original intention.
As we approach the notion of the “death criteria” we need to be reminded of the biblical view of death…at least how it began. Since we have all sinned (Romans 3:23; 6:23), and the wages of sin is death, then we are all “bene mawet” (sons of death). The bible says that we all must die due to our having sinned. (Enoch and Elijah only exceptions) Even though forgiven in Christ, we still must die because of having sinned—in Adam and in our own lives. Most significantly is that the Living God is the Lord of death. The Lord of Life is also the Lord of Death…He is the All-powerful Lord over all things. God created death, and He is Lord over its process over every living soul—which He owns as well (Ezekiel 18:4) Specifically, for our purposes, it is important that we see from the outset, that death was created by God as a consequence/punishment for sin, and He is utterly sovereign over human death….and He owns our souls. And any notion that detracts from this crucial fact must be jettisoned because it diminishes God’s ‘absolute sovereignty. His unfolding drama of redemption includes victory over death; the death of death in the death of Christ. Until the Second Coming, God Himself is the One who separates our souls from our bodies at the moment of death. He owns us, body and soul, and back to Him we go after death….for judgment.
If you are a Christian, then I assume that you accept the full authority of the Bible over every area of our life. Please read Psalm 139 slowly and carefully, and ask this question: is the God presented in this Psalm compatible with the notion of ghosts in general, and the death criteria in particular?
1.O LORD, You have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,"
12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Please search us God, and show us any harmful beliefs.
Four great truths about God are revealed in the context of personal experience, in this magnificent psalm. The Bible is never speculative, and it never considers a truth “known” until it controls the life of the learner. God is omniscient/all-knowing (v. 1-6), omnipresent/everywhere (7-12), sovereign/all-powerful(13-16), and holy (17-24) The psalmist delights in the security (both in life and in death) that these traits of God ensure, and he happily recognizes the permanence of Divine companionship (v.16…whole psalm)
Security in God amidst all circumstances is the main theme of this psalm. At all times, in all places, and in all circumstances, God is in control and the psalmist is joyfully safe. This all-encompassing security includes God’s pre-planning of all his/our days and deaths…. (v.16)…which has obvious implications for our topic. And v 8 where God’’s loving presence follows us when we die (sheol). We shall return to this great psalm, but please note that the psalmist never considers the option of divine abandonment, which the notion of ghosts and the death criteria necessarily implies. Indeed, as we’ll see, all the alleged death criteria are contradictory to the central theme of this wonderful psalm.
All the laws of nature, which are God’s Laws, reveal something of His nature—wisdom, power, glory, ect. Likewise, any laws in the supernatural realm are equally God’s Laws, and should reveal something of His glorious nature. However, what do these death criteria “laws” reveal about God? Nothing good—they trivialize or deny all the attributes of God mentioned in this psalm….especially His absolute holiness and sovereignty. It seems to me that the psalmist would have been aghast at the notion that certain kinds of death would have left him stranded here on earth, until they either ‘found the light’ or accomplished their unfinished mission, That idea bespeaks more of a deistic god, who winds up the world and let it/us run our course, on our own. God forbid!
Back to the notion of unfinished business as being the cause of some people becoming trapped here. Let me ask this question: who does NOT die without some amount of unfinished business? The obvious answer is: nobody. Having experienced the death of both my parents, four siblings, and my 9 month old still born granddaughter, I know that all of them, to varying degrees, died with unfinished business. When I was 16, my brother died in a tragic accident at age 20, and I went through a ‘door’ which I wish I had never experienced…the devastation of losing a loved one at a young age. And without going into detail, some of their unfinished business was pretty significant. ALL of us will die with unfinished business. The same holds true for every person who has ever lived, except for Jesus Christ, who accomplished every jot and tittle of His Father’s will for His perfect life. Unless you, or a loved one, lived a perfect life, then you can be sure they died (or will die) with some amount of unfinished business. That raises several questions.
How can you then have peace that they are with God, if they died with unfinished business? If you are consistent, then you can’t, because there will always be the nagging doubt that they got trapped due to unfinished business.
Someone may reply: “Well, that may be so, but some people die with a lot of serious unfinished business.” True enough, but who/what decides when the ‘line’ is crossed and the unfinished business becomes serious enough to entrap them? The bible certainly doesn’t enlighten us. In fact, from Genesis to Revelation, we are never warned (as we are repeatedly about spiritual warfare here, and heaven and hell in hereafter) that we need to be prepared to possibly get stuck if we die in a certain way. If that were the case, would not God have warned us? That oversight would call into question the sufficiency of Scripture, and the Greatest Communicator would then be (and I say this reverently) a lousy communicator regarding what happens after death. The very thought is detestable and painful to write.
My point is that there is no mechanism in these death criteria. Who decides when the line has been crossed, and causes the soul (which belongs to God) to not cross over? What quantity or quality of unfinished business can derail a person from making a beeline to God’s Throne room after death? I can assure you that it is not God...not the Living God, as revealed in this psalm..The reasons I have heard paranormal investigators confidently assert why this/that person died with unfinished business, and thus was trapped, (like tension in the family or ‘premature death’), could easily be applied to many of all the people who have died since the dawn of time.
I’m 61 years old, and if I were to die today, then I can confidently assure you that I would die with significant unresolved issues. We all have skeletons in our closets. This notion of unfinished business is so ill-defined, and so subjective and capricious, that we could never have a certain hope that anybody we loved has gone to heaven. And in that sense, it is unintentionally cruel.
Repeatedly, Jesus warns us to be prepared to die, because once we die, we immediately face judgment (Hebrews 9:27) Nowhere in the bible does it ever say, or imply that unfinished business, may cause one to avert this summons before the Judge of heaven and earth. We have one chance at this thing called living, and then we pass into eternity, and no amount of unfinished business can separate us from either the love of God, or His infinite wrath—depending on our relationship to Christ.
I repeat: nobody dies with no unfinished business, and it becomes a hopelessly subjective task for the paranormal investigator to determine when the line has been crossed. Assuming that a ‘haunting’ or an entity, which is allegedly connected with a person who died with unfinished business, is circular reasoning. Nobody has yet to show how/why unfinished business can cause a soul to get trapped. Just saying it doesn’t make it so! If we followed the logic of this criterion to its logical conclusion, then EVERYONE who dies is susceptible to becoming trapped...and this destroys the certain hope which God gives to believers in Christ. Worse, it smears dung into the infinitely precious blood of the Lamb, whose death assured our salvation from A-Z…justification, sanctification, and glorification. (Psalm 23, John 10, Romans 8)
Psalm 139:16 is comforting because all the attributes of God mentioned earlier ensure that the Creator’s work covers all of our life, including our deaths. The omnipresent, omniscient, all-powerful, and holy Creator holds our souls in His tender hands throughout every second of our lives and deaths. Our lives and our deaths are under His absolute sovereign control....meaning He has decreed every second of our lives and deaths…including how much unfinished business one dies with. How could unfinished business then take Him by surprise? In fact, this verse clearly implies that, in the ultimate sense, there is no such thing as unfinished business when it comes to our deaths. That does not mean that there isn’t unfinished business on a human level, but God has sovereignly taken that all that into consideration as to when He calls us home, or to hell.(see Ephesians 1:11) 11 “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”
This verse is both astonishing and pivotal because it implies that every molecule, and every event (no matter how evil or tragic), is under God’s sovereign control. If God is not sovereign, then He is not God. In a sense, God has decreed everything that happens. Every event, including our deaths, has been decreed by God, and He is absolutely sovereign over the moment of our deaths, and all that it entails (means, motive, and timing).
It is my belief that the reason the notion of ghosts has exploded, even among Christians, is primarily due to a deficient view of God’s attributes as outlined in Psalm 139….especially His holiness and absolute sovereignty. Eph. 1:11 is clear that EVERYTHING is decreed by God. Our God is too small.
Listen to Romans 8:38-39….
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Did you get that?!
After reading verses 38-39 in which our union with Christ entails that nothing in all creation (that would entail unfinished business), can keep us from God, in heaven? It even mentions ‘death’! Our union with Christ is like an indissoluble, unbreakable umbilical cord which stretches from our soul on earth to God’s heart in heaven. NOTHING can break that bond...certainly nothing as universal as unfinished business.
I spent so much time on this criterion because, in a sense, all the rest, fall under this criterion in some way.
For many in America, God is either deistic in nature, or God is equated with the Universe. Either view, seriously diminishes the omnipotent love of God that is absolutely sovereign over death. My calling is to summon God’s people to re-gain a view of God’s utter holiness, and to see the notion of ghosts through God’s eyes. In my book, I go into more detail regarding the alleged death criteria.
Let us now turn to premature death. I’ll be more concise here. First, Psalm 139:16 clearly implies that there is no such thing as a premature death in God’s eyes. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Please look at this verse carefully. God’s absolute control/sovereignty over the course of our lives/deaths, was decreed before we were even born, and extends to every second of our life, and subsequent death. “Every one of them..” emphasizes the particularity and specificity of God’s control over the full course of our lives—from conception to death, and everything in-between….and all the particulars of our deaths.
Yes, in our eyes, loved ones do die young...and I’ve experienced this anguish first hand. And I certainly don’t want to diminish the pain of losing a child or something similar. And God’s tender heart is touched by this anguish. We must remember that God’s is sovereign over a Fallen cosmos. However, in the ultimate sense,,. God tells us that He is in control of every second of our lives and ultimate death—whether young or old. To the psalmist, that was very comforting and moved him to worship. So, in the ultimate sense, there are no premature deaths, in God’s eyes…and His perspective is what controls the after-life. So, the very criterion of premature death is incompatible with the bible’s clear teaching. Hence, we have no business speculating that a seeming premature death could lead to entrapment.
I ask again, who/what determines at what age that the line has been crossed to cause a person to be entrapped due dying too young? Is it 2 years old? 12 years? 22 years old? When?? I’m not being sarcastic. I’m simply pointing out the hopeless conundrum people put themselves in once they affirm that people can get stuck due to premature death.
Without meaning to, this criterion is exceedingly cruel. Taken to its logical conclusion, then all infant deaths should lead to entrapment. In fact, not a few people do believe in ghost babies…and many more believe in child spirits. How horrible!! And how anti-biblical, which implies that all children go to heaven, through Jesus.
And what of all the young men who have died in battle while serving in the US military? Millions have died in our nation’s multiple wars, and most who died were in their late teens or early twenties. Most of these KIA’s actually fit ALL the death criteria mentioned above (unfinished business, premature death, violent and emotional death, etc.). If one takes the death criteria to its logical conclusion, then almost all the millions of men who have given their lives to save ours, are shoe-ins for entrapment. What a terrible way to ‘honor’ them.
How many times have I heard that the men who died at Gettysburg or some other battle are at unrest and trapped, because they have unfinished business due to dying so violently and so young?. This notion makes me sick to my stomach…..literally.
How horrible….how absolutely cruel. If one cannot live with the logical extension of their beliefs, then there is something wrong with that belief. That is why I keep saying that the death criteria are unwittingly cruel, and are internally self-destructive—you can’t live with them in any manner that approximates consistency.
Often we hear that someone is stuck because they want to either seek revenge or get across some truth, due to how they died. However, see the below text which makes clear that a comforting truth is that GOD is the One who will take revenge. What kind of mcgod would allow us to stay here indefinitely after we die, and sinfully seek revenge, which so many alleged human spirits seem bent on? As an aside, most anecdotal evidence, as Ed Warren stated, indicates that most spirits seem to be “self-absorbed loners.” The only entities that populate the spirit realm are angels and demons.
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him who said,"Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again,"The Lord will judge his people."
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31, emphasis added)
We have lost the fear of God….that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a God who is an all-consuming fire. Reading this text, we see that it is God who takes revenge…and do we think that the Living God would allow us to stay here and avenge ourselves?
The point being that either here, or at Judgment, God will repay those who have hated us. How many times have you heard that so and so stayed behind because he either wanted revenge or to get his story out? It is assumed that the person’s anger is so strong that we forget, that the Living God is a God of infinite wrath and anger. But will not the Last Judgment deal with both issues? We have truly lost a biblical view of the mighty majesty and holiness of God Almighty. Do we really think that God will let people stay on earth and sinfully avenge themselves for decades or even centuries…as is claimed in many haunts?
Background checks are needed, but they must be done with extreme caution. Because death attracts demons, since they hate us, then it makes much more sense that the paranormal activity is demonic in nature. How people discern the alleged difference between a demonic infestation and a human haunt is fraught with peril and human subjectivity. The bible never tells us that we are to discern whether a spirit is human or demonic. For example, 1 John 4:1ff is an either/or between teachers who are animated by the Holy Spirit or unclean spirits/demons. Human spirits are not in the picture. THAT is what discernment is needed for: whether the supernatural activity is from God or Satan. We are NEVER warned in the bible to look out for human spirits…never—including those who are allegedly here due to an abnormal death.
Can we die and continue to sin grievously for an indeterminate amount of time? The notion casts a long shadow over God’s awesome holiness .
What of emotional deaths? I ask again: what death is NOT emotional, to the one dying and/or the loved ones left behind? Yes, there are degrees of emotion connected with one’s death, but there are different kinds of emotion, as well as degree..And some do die without any loved ones to mourn them, but that is not the issue.
Once again, who/what decides when a death is emotional enough to cause entrapment?
We can deal with violent death quickly because all that I said above applies here. I have heard the most absurd theories advanced simply because a person was murdered or some other kind of violent death (like death by IED) Did not God say that our deaths were planned by Him? (Psalm 139:16) Did not God say that death could not, and would not, separate us from His love in Christ Jesus? Does not v 8 say that God’s perpetual companionship follows us to death (sheol)? And if a person is an unbeliever, then they are a child of wrath, dead in sin—enslaved to sin, Satan and death….and sadly are hell-bound sinners. Upon death, God has an infinite hatred toward unbelievers who have scorned His Son. See the hatred in this psalm for God’s enemies. (Psalm 139:19-22)Their umbilical cord to hell is as indissoluble as the believer’s umbilical cord is unbreakable by virtue of our union with Christ. Ephesians/Col. says that we are already in heaven reigning with Christ, in a provisional sense, so how could manner of death keep us from heaven when we already have ‘one foot in heaven’?
Also, according to the bible, ALL deaths are, in a sense, violent. As we saw, physical death is abnormal and is a result of the historical Fall of Adam and Eve. PHYSICAL DEATH IS THE VIOLENT DISRUPTION OF THE VIBRANT FLOW OF LIFE. Please read that again. As originally created, humans are a body/soul composite. So, there is something profoundly disturbing, violent, and unnatural about the ripping asunder of the soul from the body at the moment of death. But that is one of the consequences of sin. My point is that, again, all deaths are violent in a very real sense. One could argue that God’s ripping asunder of soul from body, is at least as violent as any of the violent ‘means’ by which a person may die—like murder, suicide, ect. This is not to diminish the reality of a violent means of death, but to show that everyone’s death is exceedingly violent already. And God is the One who is the Lord over this ripping asunder process…and as Psalm 139 states, there is no place that we can escape God’s perpetual companionship…including a violent death.
Once again, (sigh), who/what decides when a death is violent enough to cause entrapment? There is no mechanism.The most violent death in history was the death of the Lord Jesus because the sinless God/man was crucified. He died so that death would be conquered…He took the sting out of it. However, the death criteria inadvertently put the sting back into death..That should raise huge red flags.
What disturbs me is that there is very little self-reflection in the paranormal community regarding their most basic tenets about how people get trapped. I get upset when I hear folks speak so confidently to a client that they don’t have to worry about the entity in their home because it is simply a trapped little child, or a benign adult….or residual energy (please see my 4 blogs on this unscientific notion).
Why is it that the vast majority of deaths with significant unfinished business, very violent deaths, extremely emotional deaths, and premature deaths do not result in a haunting or evidence of earthbound spirits? If one cannot find a discernible pattern that applies to the majority of problem deaths, then there is something wrong with the hypothesis. If this small percentage were applied to a scientific hypothesis, then it would be rejected quickly. At the very least, the paranormal community should show some willingness to subject its basic tenets to serious scrutiny.
Demonic activity is the best and most comprehensive answer which explains all the data. There is a profound irrationality at the heart of evil, especially demonic activity, that would explain the non-ability to predict results from problem deaths.
No doubt every day, there are technological advances in the paranormal community—empowering them to do that which is condemned by God (communicating with the dead), BUT there is very little desire or attempts to examine the mechanism behind the alleged death criteria. That doesn’t make sense. Folks should be looking at this relentlessly.I hope and pray that at least one person will have the courage and integrity to think for yourself regarding the death criteria...and see if it really stands up to honest scrutiny.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,
18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Revelation 1:17-18, emphasis added)
In close, it seems that all the death criteria can be subsumed under the notion of unfinished business. Be that as it may, all of the death criteria are flatly contradictory to the bible. No mechanism has been suggested as to how certain people get stuck and not others. Worse, they belittle the awesome nature of the Living God, as expressed in Psalm 139. Worst of all, it dishonors the infinitely precious and efficacious blood of the Lamb which ensures that believers will go home immediately upon death..and unbelievers to hell, for spurning the blood of the Lamb.
One last comment: the soul and the after-life are manifestly theological issues, which do not lend themselves to scientific analysis. Theological concepts/issues need theological answers, or we’ll be spinning our wheels.
Heaven and earth and all that is in it was created by God and belongs to Him. (Col. 1:16)…and in Genesis 3 God created death. Death is owned and controlled by God, and every human death (manner, means, and timing) was decreed by God Almighty. Hence, the death criteria are a blatant negation of that fact.
Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.
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Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Alleged Reasons Why Some Are Likely to Become Ghosts: Fear of Hell.
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
I recently read an article in which eight reasons were given as to why some are likely to become ghosts upon death: violent death, dying with addictions, money owed to them, died suddenly, have young children, unresolved emotions, betrayal, and seeking revenge. However, even the author stated that most of these fell under the general principle of unfinished business.
While the paranormal community has no consensus as to who or what makes the final decision as to who stays behind, there is a somewhat of a consensus as to WHY people stay behind. There are four criteria: traumatic death, emotional death, untimely death, and unfinished business.
I shall look at those next time, but there is another reason stated as to why some folks refuse to move on: the fear of hell.
Before we examine this notion, we have to deal with first things first. That is, from where do we derive our ideas about the fate of the dead? There are ultimately only two alternatives, though they may be semantically streamed in different ways. We either lean on revelation or speculation. Those are the only two possible alternatives.That is, we either look to what God has revealed to us in His Word, or we autonomously seek to use our God-given faculties to determine this issue by reason, feelings, observation, etc…placing them above God’s Word.
Since the soul, the after-life (including hell) are manifestly theological issues, then whether people can refuse to pass on due to a fear of hell is clearly a theological issue as well. Hence, we NEED God’s Word to answer this question. Natural reason cannot answer that question.
Some assert that the bible is not clear regarding the Intermediate State (when we die, and before Jesus’ Second Coming). Hence, this is the time when folks may avoid going to the Light. First, there are only a very few theologians who think the bible is unclear about the Intermediate State. I have shown elsewhere that the bible is exceedingly clear as to what befalls all people immediately after death…our judgment. Second, the “Light” is not a celestial bright spot. Rather, the Light before whom we all must come for judgment (either to be pronounced “not guilty’ or condemned) is the High King of Heaven, the Lord Jesus…the refulgence of His awesome holiness is the Light we see. The Light is a Person, and not a destination or a thing, which can be avoided or resisted.
Again, it is stated that some spirits/souls stay behind out of fear of what awaits them IF they walk into the Light. Either because of fear of what they believed, or how they lived their lives, the possibility of going to Hell dissuades them from crossing over.
According to this theory, humans retain free will after they die, which includes the free will to (at least temporarily…some say eternally) to insist on staying on earth, in order to avoid hell.
This belief places man in the position of final determiner of his eternal fate (at least temporarily). This casts a long shadow over both God’s holiness and His absolute sovereignty. It is a denial of the reigning Kingship of God as Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25)If a person can run away from God’s judgment as long as he wishes (eternally according to many), then man is placed in the seat of ultimate authority. God could only judge us IF we let Him! The most cruel and wicked men who ever lived could laugh at the King of Glory and tell Him to basically “get lost.” The very thought should be odious to all God’s saints.
As many have pointed out, Jesus spoke much more about hell—its reality and horror—than He spoke of the glories of heaven. He did this because He loves us, and wants us to think long and hard about something we would rather ignore, or explain away.
Jesus warned many people to flee from the wrath to come…He warned them of the eternal consequences upon death if they put anything before Him. Nowhere do we get a hint of possible snubbing of the Holy One of Israel. To state that man may choose to flee from hell is to strip the gospel of its utter urgency. Why? Because we can just say to ourselves: “I’ll just resist going into the Light.”When you read the gospels and epistles, the gospel is a message of fleeing from a clear and present danger…a message which is of eternally urgent importance.The gospel is good news, but it is urgently good news…for sinners who are hell-bound.
Jesus pled with people to not waste their lives on trivialities, only to be thrown into the pit where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is clear in its implications regarding the inalterability of God’s Judicial summons and holy decree after death. It cannot be averted.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Please read v. 28 carefully. Is there any hint of human free will to avoid hell? If you look closely, in the succeeding verses, Jesus is asserting His utter control over seemingly insignificant events. How much more the lives and deaths of His image bearers—whether to heaven or hell. Again, there is no hint of avoiding God’s judgment in v. 28, 32-33.
If a person misses an important court date, then a summons is given for their arrest. Do we really think that the Holy Lawgiver and Judge will let us avoid being prosecuted for cosmic treason?
What disturbs me about the notion of ghosts avoiding hell is the trivializing effect it has on the holiness and utter sovereignty of God, as well as the reality of Hell. The bible is clear that our free will ceases upon our deaths. Upon death, it is too late to believe in Christ, and we cannot flee from the personal judgment. This is an appointment that no man can cancel or flee from. Death ushers us into God’s holy throne-room, and we are either sent to heaven or hell, depending on whether we have clung to finished work of Christ on the Cross.
We need to remember, that by virtue of creation, God owns us—body and soul. He determines when we shall die (Psalm 139: 16 ) Hence, there is no such thing as a untimely death. (more of that next time)
Hebrews 9:27 states it very clearly. In a context of the once-for-all nature of the atonement…it says: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” Notice, that our deaths are appointed by God. He is utterly in control, and any human effort or free will, melts away. What does it say comes after (meta, Greek) our appointed deaths—which implies there are no untimely deaths? Our appointed judgment comes immediately after our appointed deaths.The notion of a person choosing to avoid their appointment with the Ancient of Days is repugnant to both reason and Scripture. God’s sovereignty, and the beauty of the atonement is everywhere in this context, and resisting the Irresistible summons is impossible.
To state that we can avoid facing God’s judgment also minimizes the beauty and efficacy of Christ’s atonement, in which He became a curse for us….so that we would be blessed and not eternally cursed. Jesus shed His infinitely precious blood to ransom us…to pay the price to release us from sin, Satan and death. To assert that we can avoid hell is to deny the urgency and centrality of the atonement.
If our deaths are appointed by God, then how much more so are our judgments appointed by God. And after we die, we face judgment. The notion of retaining a free will which averts this judgment flies in the face of this clear text, and countless others.
There are two judgments: our personal judgment the moment we die, and then the general/universal judgment (or Great White Throne…Revelation 20:11-15) The two are often conflated, because the general judgment is simply the public announcement of God’s holy judicial decree at the moment of our deaths.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Upon reading this text, does the notion of avoiding God’s judgment seem possible to you? The same God who will stand as Judge at the end times, is the Judge whom we all face immediately upon death. Again, I ask: does this God/Judge seem like One whom we can avoid simply because we fear hell?
Stephen saw the Lord Jesus stand up in anticipation of his arrival, but unbelievers have nothing but the fearful prospect/certainty of the Lord Jesus pronouncing an eternal guilty verdict upon them and sentencing them to an eternity in Hell. In Hell, Satan won’t rule, but God Almighty will be present, and causing the excruciating eternal agony of all those there. This is where we must bow our heads and weep for those who are lost. It is ugly, very ugly, for a person to speak glibly of hell. On the other hand, it is monstrous to think that we can cancel/postpone our judgment before our Holy Creator. To think that a reason for some people remaining as ghosts due to fear of hell, is to deny every attribute revealed about God in the Bible.
When we die, we are drawn by an omnipotent, irresistible summons before the holy Judge of heaven and earth. Let us expunge any notion that minimizes the incomparable glory of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Let the Word of God control all of our thoughts and beliefs.
Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.
I recently read an article in which eight reasons were given as to why some are likely to become ghosts upon death: violent death, dying with addictions, money owed to them, died suddenly, have young children, unresolved emotions, betrayal, and seeking revenge. However, even the author stated that most of these fell under the general principle of unfinished business.
While the paranormal community has no consensus as to who or what makes the final decision as to who stays behind, there is a somewhat of a consensus as to WHY people stay behind. There are four criteria: traumatic death, emotional death, untimely death, and unfinished business.
I shall look at those next time, but there is another reason stated as to why some folks refuse to move on: the fear of hell.
Before we examine this notion, we have to deal with first things first. That is, from where do we derive our ideas about the fate of the dead? There are ultimately only two alternatives, though they may be semantically streamed in different ways. We either lean on revelation or speculation. Those are the only two possible alternatives.That is, we either look to what God has revealed to us in His Word, or we autonomously seek to use our God-given faculties to determine this issue by reason, feelings, observation, etc…placing them above God’s Word.
Since the soul, the after-life (including hell) are manifestly theological issues, then whether people can refuse to pass on due to a fear of hell is clearly a theological issue as well. Hence, we NEED God’s Word to answer this question. Natural reason cannot answer that question.
Some assert that the bible is not clear regarding the Intermediate State (when we die, and before Jesus’ Second Coming). Hence, this is the time when folks may avoid going to the Light. First, there are only a very few theologians who think the bible is unclear about the Intermediate State. I have shown elsewhere that the bible is exceedingly clear as to what befalls all people immediately after death…our judgment. Second, the “Light” is not a celestial bright spot. Rather, the Light before whom we all must come for judgment (either to be pronounced “not guilty’ or condemned) is the High King of Heaven, the Lord Jesus…the refulgence of His awesome holiness is the Light we see. The Light is a Person, and not a destination or a thing, which can be avoided or resisted.
Again, it is stated that some spirits/souls stay behind out of fear of what awaits them IF they walk into the Light. Either because of fear of what they believed, or how they lived their lives, the possibility of going to Hell dissuades them from crossing over.
According to this theory, humans retain free will after they die, which includes the free will to (at least temporarily…some say eternally) to insist on staying on earth, in order to avoid hell.
This belief places man in the position of final determiner of his eternal fate (at least temporarily). This casts a long shadow over both God’s holiness and His absolute sovereignty. It is a denial of the reigning Kingship of God as Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25)If a person can run away from God’s judgment as long as he wishes (eternally according to many), then man is placed in the seat of ultimate authority. God could only judge us IF we let Him! The most cruel and wicked men who ever lived could laugh at the King of Glory and tell Him to basically “get lost.” The very thought should be odious to all God’s saints.
As many have pointed out, Jesus spoke much more about hell—its reality and horror—than He spoke of the glories of heaven. He did this because He loves us, and wants us to think long and hard about something we would rather ignore, or explain away.
Jesus warned many people to flee from the wrath to come…He warned them of the eternal consequences upon death if they put anything before Him. Nowhere do we get a hint of possible snubbing of the Holy One of Israel. To state that man may choose to flee from hell is to strip the gospel of its utter urgency. Why? Because we can just say to ourselves: “I’ll just resist going into the Light.”When you read the gospels and epistles, the gospel is a message of fleeing from a clear and present danger…a message which is of eternally urgent importance.The gospel is good news, but it is urgently good news…for sinners who are hell-bound.
Jesus pled with people to not waste their lives on trivialities, only to be thrown into the pit where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is clear in its implications regarding the inalterability of God’s Judicial summons and holy decree after death. It cannot be averted.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Please read v. 28 carefully. Is there any hint of human free will to avoid hell? If you look closely, in the succeeding verses, Jesus is asserting His utter control over seemingly insignificant events. How much more the lives and deaths of His image bearers—whether to heaven or hell. Again, there is no hint of avoiding God’s judgment in v. 28, 32-33.
If a person misses an important court date, then a summons is given for their arrest. Do we really think that the Holy Lawgiver and Judge will let us avoid being prosecuted for cosmic treason?
What disturbs me about the notion of ghosts avoiding hell is the trivializing effect it has on the holiness and utter sovereignty of God, as well as the reality of Hell. The bible is clear that our free will ceases upon our deaths. Upon death, it is too late to believe in Christ, and we cannot flee from the personal judgment. This is an appointment that no man can cancel or flee from. Death ushers us into God’s holy throne-room, and we are either sent to heaven or hell, depending on whether we have clung to finished work of Christ on the Cross.
We need to remember, that by virtue of creation, God owns us—body and soul. He determines when we shall die (Psalm 139: 16 ) Hence, there is no such thing as a untimely death. (more of that next time)
Hebrews 9:27 states it very clearly. In a context of the once-for-all nature of the atonement…it says: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” Notice, that our deaths are appointed by God. He is utterly in control, and any human effort or free will, melts away. What does it say comes after (meta, Greek) our appointed deaths—which implies there are no untimely deaths? Our appointed judgment comes immediately after our appointed deaths.The notion of a person choosing to avoid their appointment with the Ancient of Days is repugnant to both reason and Scripture. God’s sovereignty, and the beauty of the atonement is everywhere in this context, and resisting the Irresistible summons is impossible.
To state that we can avoid facing God’s judgment also minimizes the beauty and efficacy of Christ’s atonement, in which He became a curse for us….so that we would be blessed and not eternally cursed. Jesus shed His infinitely precious blood to ransom us…to pay the price to release us from sin, Satan and death. To assert that we can avoid hell is to deny the urgency and centrality of the atonement.
If our deaths are appointed by God, then how much more so are our judgments appointed by God. And after we die, we face judgment. The notion of retaining a free will which averts this judgment flies in the face of this clear text, and countless others.
There are two judgments: our personal judgment the moment we die, and then the general/universal judgment (or Great White Throne…Revelation 20:11-15) The two are often conflated, because the general judgment is simply the public announcement of God’s holy judicial decree at the moment of our deaths.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Upon reading this text, does the notion of avoiding God’s judgment seem possible to you? The same God who will stand as Judge at the end times, is the Judge whom we all face immediately upon death. Again, I ask: does this God/Judge seem like One whom we can avoid simply because we fear hell?
Stephen saw the Lord Jesus stand up in anticipation of his arrival, but unbelievers have nothing but the fearful prospect/certainty of the Lord Jesus pronouncing an eternal guilty verdict upon them and sentencing them to an eternity in Hell. In Hell, Satan won’t rule, but God Almighty will be present, and causing the excruciating eternal agony of all those there. This is where we must bow our heads and weep for those who are lost. It is ugly, very ugly, for a person to speak glibly of hell. On the other hand, it is monstrous to think that we can cancel/postpone our judgment before our Holy Creator. To think that a reason for some people remaining as ghosts due to fear of hell, is to deny every attribute revealed about God in the Bible.
When we die, we are drawn by an omnipotent, irresistible summons before the holy Judge of heaven and earth. Let us expunge any notion that minimizes the incomparable glory of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Let the Word of God control all of our thoughts and beliefs.
Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
REFLECTIONS ON THE CROSS OF CHRIST: Why Did Jesus Die?
Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die (an overview of the atonement)
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
1.to absorb the wrath of God
2.to please His Heavenly Father
3.to learn obedience and be ‘perfected’
4.to achieve His own resurrection from the dead
5.to show the wealth of God’s love and grace for sinners
6. to show His own love for us
7.to cancel the legal demands of the Law against us
8.to become a ransom for many
9.for the forgiveness of our sins
10.to provide the basis of our justification
11.to complete the obedience that becomes our righteousness
12.to take away our condemnation
13.to bring us to faith and keep us faithful
14.to make us holy, blameless, and perfect
15.to give us a clear conscience
16.to obtain for us all things that are good for us.
17.to heal us from moral and physical sickness
18.to give eternal life to all who believe in Him
19.to deliver us from the present evil age.
20.to reconcile us to God
21.TO BRING US TO GOD
22.so that we might belong to Him
23.to give us confident access to the holiest place
24.to become for us the place where we meet God
25.the Eternal High Priest brings the Old testament Priesthood to an end.
26.to become a sympathetic and helpful High Priest
27.to free us from the futility of our ancestry
28.to free us from slavery to sin
29.that we may die to sin and live to righteousness
30.that we would die bear fruit for God
31.to enable us to live for Christ and not ourselves
32.to make the Cross the ground of all our boasting
33.to enable us to live by faith in Him
34.to give marriage its deepest meaning
35.to create a people passionate for good works
36.to call us to follow His example of costly love and humility
37.to create a band of crucified followers
38.to free us from bondage to fear of death
39.that we should be with Him immediately after death
40.to secure our resurrection from the dead.
41. to disarm the rulers and authorities (Satan/demons)
42.to unleash the power of God in the gospel
43.to destroy hostility between races
44.to ransom people from every tribe, language, people, and nations
45.to gather His sheep from around the world
46.to show that we are not saved by rituals or good works
47.to rescue us from final judgment
48.to gain His joy and ours
49.so that we would be crowned with glory and honor
50.to show that the worst evil is meant by God for good. (see John Piper, Fifty Reasons Jesus came to Die).
Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Can Our Emotions Really Attract Demonic Activity?
Happy 2017 ladies and gentlemen! I pray everybody had a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. Hoping everyone had lots of good food and you were with the people that you love. Here in Florida it was not very cold so it didn't seem like Christmas but the weather is starting to drop. For Florida 43° is cold! But during the day it's been in the high 50s which to me is still freezing. Lol. I'm definitely a southern girl. I was born and raised here.
I'd like to take a moment of silence for the people who were injured and died from the shooting in the Fort Lauderdale airport.......................
I'm heart broken to hear of this. We don't want to start the new year like that, it really ticks me off. Once again so many innocent lives and people severely injured. It never ceases to amaze me what I hear anymore. The whole pizza gate issue that's going on has just got me sick to my stomach doing research on that I had to stop after I put out a blog about it. I can only take so much disgusting images and deep web stories that may not be true but still there is something going on with that! There's something not right when Podesto refers to three children under the age of nine as "entertainment." I just want to know why he is not made to answer that one question and there so many others that are just so disgusting. I don't know why he's not being made to answer what these three young kids were doing for them. But that's another whole subject. I won't go on my rant.
Anyway, It's like this state has a curse on it or something but I know God is in charge nothing is going to happen that he doesn't want to happen. No matter who is president. People don't want to accept our new president but the World is not for me to worry because again the Lord is in charge nothings going to happen that is not supposed to. I know where I'm going when I pass on so death is not such a scary thought for me. The Bible says we are to rejoice in one's death because they are now reunited with family and most of all they are no longer hurting and they are with the Lord Jesus Christ. I look forward to getting away from this awful world we are in.
The reason I chose this topic is because I'm randomly asked "is it true anger really attracts negativity when we don't keep our emotions in check not allowing sadness or anger to overtake us?" I say yes. And this is from my own personal experiences. Bitterness or holding a grudge things like that can put you on the Demonic radar. These are completely normal feelings. I'm just simply stating that when someone goes so far with it that they just won't let it go it feeds these vile entities. Same with vicious gossip against someone. They love chaos in the home within the family for example and couples in general. Friends, co workers etc...There is no limits when it comes to these creatures. They stop at nothing.
In the Bible it states what we speak, we speak into existence there is also another verse that tells us about the tongue being a double edged sword. It can make you or break us. Constantly speak negatively about ourselves like "oh it's not going to get better things always go bad it's always going to be that way etc.. and this goes with anything in any situation when you're speaking against yourself. And it's something that even I can admit that I have a problem with. And it has caused some problems. But every day I remind myself to take any negativity in stride and speak positive about the situation. It's better to do it in a positive manner. It's one less door the enemy can slip through.
Once an entity has attached itself to a living person it will not flee on it's own. The Bible makes that pretty clear. It will only flee when said living person passes on. Or some feel when a black magician or someone practicing dark magic puts a curse on a person for the duration of generations by sending a dark entity to that person. That entity goes from one generation to another until it has been dealt with properly. Once you open the door it is very hard to close it. Even if someone inadvertently gave a demon legal rights even though they didn't mean to it's still very difficult to close Pandora's box for lack of better words.
Please think twice when presented with anything like Ouija boards and things to that nature. It's best to just be curious and leave it at that. It's not worth going further. It can and does destroy lives. Demons prey on people through those mimicking another like a aunt who passed or parent. It's only to gain your trust to draw you in. Demons are so very tricky and want to remain out of hell because even for them they are suffering its horrible and of course this is an opinion and it too is subjective but demons don't want to go away they hang on for dear life because they don't want to go back to hell because of all the torment they are scared of Satan. And again this is all subjective but they don't want to go back and be punished by Satan for losing a soul. Even demons don't want to be there. Doesn't that just speak volumes?
So if we try to focus on the positive side of things even if there is no positive side continue to think "well it'll get better" instead of speaking death (metaphor for negative) into it. I always thought my father was doing that just to scare my sister and I. But for our particular religion I can honestly say that I've had my own struggles with this. I've had things backfire on me so I really need to watch what comes out of my mouth because... look what I do those vile things can't be very happy with me.
I wish everyone a blessed week.
Written by Jennifer L Auld
I'd like to take a moment of silence for the people who were injured and died from the shooting in the Fort Lauderdale airport.......................
I'm heart broken to hear of this. We don't want to start the new year like that, it really ticks me off. Once again so many innocent lives and people severely injured. It never ceases to amaze me what I hear anymore. The whole pizza gate issue that's going on has just got me sick to my stomach doing research on that I had to stop after I put out a blog about it. I can only take so much disgusting images and deep web stories that may not be true but still there is something going on with that! There's something not right when Podesto refers to three children under the age of nine as "entertainment." I just want to know why he is not made to answer that one question and there so many others that are just so disgusting. I don't know why he's not being made to answer what these three young kids were doing for them. But that's another whole subject. I won't go on my rant.
Anyway, It's like this state has a curse on it or something but I know God is in charge nothing is going to happen that he doesn't want to happen. No matter who is president. People don't want to accept our new president but the World is not for me to worry because again the Lord is in charge nothings going to happen that is not supposed to. I know where I'm going when I pass on so death is not such a scary thought for me. The Bible says we are to rejoice in one's death because they are now reunited with family and most of all they are no longer hurting and they are with the Lord Jesus Christ. I look forward to getting away from this awful world we are in.
The reason I chose this topic is because I'm randomly asked "is it true anger really attracts negativity when we don't keep our emotions in check not allowing sadness or anger to overtake us?" I say yes. And this is from my own personal experiences. Bitterness or holding a grudge things like that can put you on the Demonic radar. These are completely normal feelings. I'm just simply stating that when someone goes so far with it that they just won't let it go it feeds these vile entities. Same with vicious gossip against someone. They love chaos in the home within the family for example and couples in general. Friends, co workers etc...There is no limits when it comes to these creatures. They stop at nothing.
In the Bible it states what we speak, we speak into existence there is also another verse that tells us about the tongue being a double edged sword. It can make you or break us. Constantly speak negatively about ourselves like "oh it's not going to get better things always go bad it's always going to be that way etc.. and this goes with anything in any situation when you're speaking against yourself. And it's something that even I can admit that I have a problem with. And it has caused some problems. But every day I remind myself to take any negativity in stride and speak positive about the situation. It's better to do it in a positive manner. It's one less door the enemy can slip through.
Once an entity has attached itself to a living person it will not flee on it's own. The Bible makes that pretty clear. It will only flee when said living person passes on. Or some feel when a black magician or someone practicing dark magic puts a curse on a person for the duration of generations by sending a dark entity to that person. That entity goes from one generation to another until it has been dealt with properly. Once you open the door it is very hard to close it. Even if someone inadvertently gave a demon legal rights even though they didn't mean to it's still very difficult to close Pandora's box for lack of better words.
Please think twice when presented with anything like Ouija boards and things to that nature. It's best to just be curious and leave it at that. It's not worth going further. It can and does destroy lives. Demons prey on people through those mimicking another like a aunt who passed or parent. It's only to gain your trust to draw you in. Demons are so very tricky and want to remain out of hell because even for them they are suffering its horrible and of course this is an opinion and it too is subjective but demons don't want to go away they hang on for dear life because they don't want to go back to hell because of all the torment they are scared of Satan. And again this is all subjective but they don't want to go back and be punished by Satan for losing a soul. Even demons don't want to be there. Doesn't that just speak volumes?
So if we try to focus on the positive side of things even if there is no positive side continue to think "well it'll get better" instead of speaking death (metaphor for negative) into it. I always thought my father was doing that just to scare my sister and I. But for our particular religion I can honestly say that I've had my own struggles with this. I've had things backfire on me so I really need to watch what comes out of my mouth because... look what I do those vile things can't be very happy with me.
I wish everyone a blessed week.
Written by Jennifer L Auld
Sunday, May 15, 2016
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Hello my para beauties! I trust you had a great day and are in good health. This is a subject I've been asked to explain to the best of my knowledge. This is from the book of Revelations. The book of Revelations can be very intimidating. But we know who wins in the end.
The first Horseman is the rider of a white horse, carries a bow, and wears a crown. He is described as a conqueror. For this reason, he is sometimes interpreted as the Antichrist or as a false world leader. This Horseman is also sometimes called Pestilence.
The second Horseman is astride a red horse and carries a sword. He is associated with war and slaughter, and the Bible attributes to him the power to take away peace and to make men kill each other.
The third Horseman rides a black horse and carries scales. This Horseman, popularly called Famine, is thought to represent not only scarcity of food, but also the strict rationing or unfair allocation of goods and the exploitation of the poor.
The last of the Four Horsemen, Death, rides a "pale horse" of a sickly hue and is followed by Hades, or Hell.
The nature of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is hotly debated by theologians and Christians, but they are almost universally fascinating, regardless or perhaps because of their mystery. They were popular subjects for art during the medieval period and the Renaissance, and references to them continue to crop up in popular culture in our own day and age. Whether or not Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death are the correct interpretations of the Biblical Four Horsemen -- which will likely remain in debate for the foreseeable future -- it is safe to assume that that is what they represent in a cultural or literary context.
In many opinions The book of Revelation in the Bible is real and does not need one to read the hidden truths. When it says Jesus Christ is coming back again it means Jesus Christ is coming back again. When it says the Horsemen it means exactly that.
Since Christ is the One opening these seals and revealing what will happen in this world prior to His return, is there anywhere else in the Bible that He discloses these events? In fact, He did so shortly before His death in a section known as the Olivet Prophecy (given on the Mount of Olives), recorded in the Gospels of Matthew (chapter 24), Mark (chapter 13) and Luke (chapter 21) Seeing what Christ said in this prophecy helps us identify what each of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse represents.
In Matthew 24:3 Christ’s disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” In the comparison chart below, notice how Christ’s answer lines up exactly with what He gave years later in the book of Revelation through the apostle John.
Notice the enormous effect of these first four seals (horsemen) in Revelation 6:8: “And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” This indicates that the first four seals will ultimately result in a death toll of one-fourth the earth’s population. This summary statement also adds something else that will contribute to the death toll—beasts of the earth, which kill as carriers of pestilence and as ravenous predators.
The first four seals are clearly already open in our day now, and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse have been riding through the years, taking their toll on populations. But many other prophecies in the Bible show that their destruction will multiply greatly as the next seal—the fifth seal or Great Tribulation—is about to open. Christ reveals that this world is about to undergo great devastation due to the rebellion of humanity against our Creator.
May God Help us All.
Written By Jennifer L. Auld
NOTE: This blog was originally posted in May 2014.
The first Horseman is the rider of a white horse, carries a bow, and wears a crown. He is described as a conqueror. For this reason, he is sometimes interpreted as the Antichrist or as a false world leader. This Horseman is also sometimes called Pestilence.
The second Horseman is astride a red horse and carries a sword. He is associated with war and slaughter, and the Bible attributes to him the power to take away peace and to make men kill each other.
The third Horseman rides a black horse and carries scales. This Horseman, popularly called Famine, is thought to represent not only scarcity of food, but also the strict rationing or unfair allocation of goods and the exploitation of the poor.
The last of the Four Horsemen, Death, rides a "pale horse" of a sickly hue and is followed by Hades, or Hell.
The nature of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is hotly debated by theologians and Christians, but they are almost universally fascinating, regardless or perhaps because of their mystery. They were popular subjects for art during the medieval period and the Renaissance, and references to them continue to crop up in popular culture in our own day and age. Whether or not Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death are the correct interpretations of the Biblical Four Horsemen -- which will likely remain in debate for the foreseeable future -- it is safe to assume that that is what they represent in a cultural or literary context.
In many opinions The book of Revelation in the Bible is real and does not need one to read the hidden truths. When it says Jesus Christ is coming back again it means Jesus Christ is coming back again. When it says the Horsemen it means exactly that.
Since Christ is the One opening these seals and revealing what will happen in this world prior to His return, is there anywhere else in the Bible that He discloses these events? In fact, He did so shortly before His death in a section known as the Olivet Prophecy (given on the Mount of Olives), recorded in the Gospels of Matthew (chapter 24), Mark (chapter 13) and Luke (chapter 21) Seeing what Christ said in this prophecy helps us identify what each of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse represents.
In Matthew 24:3 Christ’s disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” In the comparison chart below, notice how Christ’s answer lines up exactly with what He gave years later in the book of Revelation through the apostle John.
Notice the enormous effect of these first four seals (horsemen) in Revelation 6:8: “And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” This indicates that the first four seals will ultimately result in a death toll of one-fourth the earth’s population. This summary statement also adds something else that will contribute to the death toll—beasts of the earth, which kill as carriers of pestilence and as ravenous predators.
The first four seals are clearly already open in our day now, and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse have been riding through the years, taking their toll on populations. But many other prophecies in the Bible show that their destruction will multiply greatly as the next seal—the fifth seal or Great Tribulation—is about to open. Christ reveals that this world is about to undergo great devastation due to the rebellion of humanity against our Creator.
May God Help us All.
Written By Jennifer L. Auld
NOTE: This blog was originally posted in May 2014.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
100 Years of Reformed Creeds Regarding the State of the Dead
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
Intellectual honesty. One sign of it is the humility to look ‘back’ to the past, when in God’s providence, the Lord raised up godly and brilliant men who literally re-discovered the gospel, which had been largely lost for 1,000 years.
The time of the Reformation ( 1500’s) through Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, and their successors, was a time of unprecedented theological clarity. In the crucible of intense debate, controversy and persecution, unprecedented theological precision was attained. The Reformed (teaching of the Reformation) Creeds, Confessions, and catechisms that came from the 16th and 17th centuries, yielded the finest summaries of the Christian Faith that exist up til this day.
Some folks dislike creeds but EVERYONE has a pre-supposed set of beliefs regarding the bible that act as a de facto creed. “Only Jesus” is my creed is a reply. Okay, which Jesus? There is a New Age Jesus…a ‘Jesus’ for every heretical group.
The question I asked was this: was there a consensus amongst these theologians—spanning 100 years or so-- regarding what happens to our souls when we die? You will note the unyielding certainty and agreement amongst ALL of these various documents.
It would be arrogant to overlook these documents as if we were the first generation of Christians on the planet…we stand on these giants shoulders.
Creativity is a great thing, EXCEPT in theology. Creativity in the realm of theology, which seems to drive many today, invariably leads to heresy. The bible sets the contours from which our beliefs must adhere. And the Confessions that come from this period are passionately committed to the principle of Sola scriptura…and yield precise and uncompromising summaries of bible doctrine.
I have noticed that some will look high and low to find those few exceptions who agree with their unbiblical views regarding ghosts—that is NOT intellectual honesty. It is eisogesis of historical theology. Intellectual honesty requires that we not neglect the consensus beliefs from brothers, both past and present. The burden of proof lies on the shoulders of those who would deviate from the historical Reformed Confessions regarding the state of the dead.
Below is a brief defense of the importance of Creeds. Please take the time to read this brief article, as it has fresh insights that I’m sure many of you will find refreshing and exhilarating.
Why Creeds and Confessions?
by David Hall
Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ. Jesus responded that His church in all ages would be built upon that realization. The paramount thing confessed was Christ, who is the unique Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), the cornerstone of the church. However, the means to that end—confessing—is also a very important activity confessing is:
The way to forgiveness of our sins (James 5:16);
How the saved are identified (Rom. 10:10);
The signature that the Spirit is already working in a person (1 Cor. 12:3);
The advertisement of our hope (Heb. 10:23);
Accompanied by obedience (2 Cor. 9:13); and
What Christ Himself did (1 Tim. 6:13).
As Christians, we must embrace a mature biblical norm of confessing our faith. Let me offer briefly five reasons why a written confession is helpful:
First, written confessions represent maturity. A confessional communion is more than fly-by-night. It is relatively easy to produce a personal statement of faith or a position paper on a narrow subject. However, only those confessions that are tested by many generations endure. Just as yesterday’s pop music hardly inspires anymore, so a transient confession is slightly embarrassing. But classic creeds, produced by seasoned Christians, stand the test of time. a confession is a mature, proven set of beliefs. Wouldn’t you rather be guided by such a statement than by an ill-defined set of beliefs or an immature statement of faith?
Second, written confessions keep believers from having to reinvent the wheel. Creeds and confessions can put the student at the head of the class in a hurry. If one need not formulate every bit of doctrine himself, that is, if he is humble enough to listen quickly to other saints (James 1:19), he can spare himself considerable time and countless dead ends. He will avoid paths that are “useless to further reconnoiter,” as theologian Abraham Kuyper recognized.
Third, written confessions are a non-prejudicial way of telling outsiders what we believe. In an age that craves authenticity and transparency, many people get fed up with vague “trust me” statements or calls to give money blindly. A confession is an unashamedly public act; it means that what we believe is neither secret nor windblown for individual taste. It enables any visitors to find out what we believe.
Fourth, it protects against idiosyncrasy and “movementism.” Sadly, there are more christians who follow celebrity leaders than ever before, and those movements based on unbiblical, idiosyncratic leaders seldom end well. Pining for “movementism” or following a hero often yields chaos, will-worship, self-promoting cults, confusion, or continual flux. A confession is ready-made for all those who want to participate in Christian discipleship that is bigger than their own time.
Fifth, it requires us to repent and give up some of our own wrong notions. One of the reasons that confessions are distasteful to some is their unbending quality. Yet a faith that is twisted to each of my preferences is vacuous. The nonnegotiable ethos of a confession may actually force a slacker generation to return to Scripture and steer through some difficult issues. Such may actually help us mature.
As long as a confession is thoroughly biblical (thus timeless) and not provincial, it can aid; a confession in the hands of pastoral and spiritual leaders can vitally serve unity and clarity.
A confession, if a faithful echo of what God already says, can guide us and shelter us from the disabilities of an age or locale. Confessions that parrot and lightly amplify the soundings of scripture endure, while also equipping God’s family with strength and perspective to avoid the ditches of every fad or heresy. Confessions that stand on the shoulders of previous saintly exegetes are the advanced courses that settle certain matters and yield a head start.
A confession is also simultaneously shorthand and proven wisdom; it is orthodoxy and orthopraxy at once. unless one’s life span is infinite, when we pray for God to “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12), confessions will often help us in the stewardship of time as well as protect us from crippling idiosyncratism.
The purpose of a confession is to bolster both unity and clarity. Many of us learn the hard way that the most damning standards are the unwritten ones. Pharisees, ancient and modern, are masters of using unwritten standards to club the uninitiated into a coma. A biblical confession, however, frees the believing community from these secret laws. It liberates us from self-imposed standards and also makes the church open to all under the same standards.
Kuyper was right to counsel against diverging from fixed confessions until compelled to do so by the Bible. Far from being forbidden, holding to sound confessions is little more than following the New Testament pattern. Rather than contradicting sola Scriptura, a confession is actually a sound guide to it.
Now we come to six creedal statements, from roughly 1,550-1,650 AD. They come from various countries, and as you shall see, they are simply marvelous in their content. And they ALL agree regarding the state of the dead—both righteous and unrighteous.
Westminster Confession 1646 (this confession is still held in high regard by many churches, and I personally think it is the best ever written…i.e. most biblical) We use it regularly in my church to publicly confess what we believe during worship. I will not comment…just enjoy reading these marvelous summaries…..regarding one key issue.
Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
I. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption:[1] but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them: [2] the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.[3] And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day.[4] Beside these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none.
II. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed:[5] and all the dead shall be raised up, with the selfsame bodies, and none other (although with different qualities), which shall be united again to their souls forever.[6]
III. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor: the bodies of the just, by His Spirit, unto honor; and be made conformable to His own glorious body
Second Helvetic Confession-1566
THE STATE OF THE SOUL DEPARTED FROM THE BODY. For we believe that the faithful, after bodily death, go directly to Christ, and, therefore, do not need the eulogies and prayers of the living for the dead and their services. Likewise we believe that unbelievers are immediately cast into hell from which no exit is opened for the wicked by any services of the living.
PURGATORY. But what some teach concerning the fire of purgatory is opposed to the Christian faith, namely, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins, and the life everlasting," and to the perfect purgation through Christ, and to these words of Christ our Lord: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). Again: "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over, and you are clean" (John 13:10).
APPARITION OF SPIRITS. Now what is related of the spirits or souls of the dead sometimes appearing to those who are alive, and begging certain duties of them whereby they may be set free, we count those apparitions among the laughingstocks, crafts, and deceptions of the devil, who, as he can transform himself into an angel of light, so he strives either to overthrow the true faith or to call it into doubt. In the Old Testament the Lord forbade the seeking of the truth from the dead, and any sort of commerce with spirits Deut. 18:11). Indeed, as evangelical truth declares, the glutton, being in torment, is denied a return to his brethren, as the divine oracle declared in the words: "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead" (Luke 16:29 ff.).
Irish Articles of Religion-1615
OF THE STATE OF THE SOULS OF MEN AFTER THEY BE DEPARTED OUT OF THIS LIFE, TOGETHER WITH THE GENERAL RESURRECTION AND THE LAST JUDGMENT.
101. After this life is ended the souls of God's children be presently received into heaven, there to enjoy unspeakable comforts; the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, there to endure endless torments.
102. The doctrine o£ the Church of Rome concerning Limbus Patrum, Limbus Puerorum, Purgatory, Prayer for the Dead, Pardons, Adoration of Images and Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is vainly invented without all warrant of holy Scripture, yea, and is contrary unto the same.
103. At the end of this world the Lord Jesus shall come in the clouds with the glory of his Father; at which time, by the almighty power of God, the living shall be changed and the dead shall be raised; and all shall appear both in body and soul before his judgment-seat, to receive according to that which they have done in their bodies, whether good or evil.
104. When the last judgment is finished, Christ shall deliver up the kingdom to his Father, and God shall be all in all.
Baptist Confession of Faith-1689
OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
Paragraph 1. The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption;1 but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.2 The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies;3 and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell; where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day;4 besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.
1 Gen. 3:19; Acts 13:36
2 Eccles. 12:7
3 Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:1,6,8; Phil. 1:23; Heb. 12:23
4 Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 16:23,24
Paragraph 2. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive, shall not sleep, but be changed;5 and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other;6 although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.7
5 1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:17
6 Job 19:26,27
7 1 Cor. 15:42,43
Paragraph 3. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.8
8 Acts 24:15; John 5:28,29; Phil. 3:21
Scottish Confession of Faith—1560 (John Knox)
Chapter 17
The Immortality of the Souls
The elect departed are in peace and rest from their labours:[1] not that they sleep and come to a certain oblivion (as some fantastics do affirm), but that they are delivered from all fear, all torment, and all temptation, to which we and all God's elect are subject in this life,[2] and therefore do bear the name of the kirk militant: as contrariwise, the reprobate and unfaithful departed, have anguish, torment, and pain, that cannot be expressed.[3] So that neither are the one nor the other in such sleep that they feel not joy or torment, as the parable of Christ Jesus in the sixteenth [chapter] of Luke,[4] his words to the thief,[5] and these words of the souls crying under the altar,[6] O Lord, thou that art righteous and just, how long shalt thou not revenge our blood upon them that dwell upon the earth! doth plainly testify.
1. Rev. 14:13.
2. Isa. 25:8; Rev. 7:14-17; 21:4.
3. Rev. 16:10-11; Isa. 66:24; Mark 9:44, 46, 48.
4. Luke 16:23-26.
5. Luke 23:43.
6. Rev. 6:9-10.
Heidelberg Catechism—1563
Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?
Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.
Question 57. What comfort does the "resurrection of the body" afford thee?
Answer: That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its head; (a) but also, that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ. (b)
(a) Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Philip.1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philip.1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (b) 1 Cor.15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Cor.15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Philip.3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
There are numerous avenues to pursue which lead to a proper understanding of what happens to ALL souls upon death. One such avenue is to ask what the leading theologians of the past and their confessions taught. Ours is a day in which historical theology is frowned upon, but surely such hubris is fraught with peril.
Is it not instructive that all of the Reformed Confessions quoted above come to the same conclusion regarding the status of the souls of the deceased? Did you note that the Second Helvetic Confession even mentions the demonic nature of apparitions? This is the teaching of historic Christianity from the 16th and 17th centuries regarding the notion of ghosts, and they present a united mind. Before you deviate from this consensus, it is incumbent upon you to provide the burden of proof that they were wrong. Thus far, nobody has come close to showing that the classical view of life after death is mistaken…though some have tried…and failed miserably.
Of course these confessions are not the bible. However, their purpose was/is to summarize accurately and systematically the teaching of the bible. These confessions in particular are the most consistent summaries of biblical teaching, in my opinion….especially the Westminster Confession…Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
It saddens me how many adopt a dismissive attitude toward the herculean efforts of the saints from centuries past. Church history is an extension of the book of Acts, and there are so many lessons we can learn. One lesson is that our Reformation heroes (and successors) are united in their view of life after death. Surely that should have some impact on you if you are a Christian.
Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.
Intellectual honesty. One sign of it is the humility to look ‘back’ to the past, when in God’s providence, the Lord raised up godly and brilliant men who literally re-discovered the gospel, which had been largely lost for 1,000 years.
The time of the Reformation ( 1500’s) through Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, and their successors, was a time of unprecedented theological clarity. In the crucible of intense debate, controversy and persecution, unprecedented theological precision was attained. The Reformed (teaching of the Reformation) Creeds, Confessions, and catechisms that came from the 16th and 17th centuries, yielded the finest summaries of the Christian Faith that exist up til this day.
Some folks dislike creeds but EVERYONE has a pre-supposed set of beliefs regarding the bible that act as a de facto creed. “Only Jesus” is my creed is a reply. Okay, which Jesus? There is a New Age Jesus…a ‘Jesus’ for every heretical group.
The question I asked was this: was there a consensus amongst these theologians—spanning 100 years or so-- regarding what happens to our souls when we die? You will note the unyielding certainty and agreement amongst ALL of these various documents.
It would be arrogant to overlook these documents as if we were the first generation of Christians on the planet…we stand on these giants shoulders.
Creativity is a great thing, EXCEPT in theology. Creativity in the realm of theology, which seems to drive many today, invariably leads to heresy. The bible sets the contours from which our beliefs must adhere. And the Confessions that come from this period are passionately committed to the principle of Sola scriptura…and yield precise and uncompromising summaries of bible doctrine.
I have noticed that some will look high and low to find those few exceptions who agree with their unbiblical views regarding ghosts—that is NOT intellectual honesty. It is eisogesis of historical theology. Intellectual honesty requires that we not neglect the consensus beliefs from brothers, both past and present. The burden of proof lies on the shoulders of those who would deviate from the historical Reformed Confessions regarding the state of the dead.
Below is a brief defense of the importance of Creeds. Please take the time to read this brief article, as it has fresh insights that I’m sure many of you will find refreshing and exhilarating.
Why Creeds and Confessions?
by David Hall
Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ. Jesus responded that His church in all ages would be built upon that realization. The paramount thing confessed was Christ, who is the unique Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), the cornerstone of the church. However, the means to that end—confessing—is also a very important activity confessing is:
The way to forgiveness of our sins (James 5:16);
How the saved are identified (Rom. 10:10);
The signature that the Spirit is already working in a person (1 Cor. 12:3);
The advertisement of our hope (Heb. 10:23);
Accompanied by obedience (2 Cor. 9:13); and
What Christ Himself did (1 Tim. 6:13).
As Christians, we must embrace a mature biblical norm of confessing our faith. Let me offer briefly five reasons why a written confession is helpful:
First, written confessions represent maturity. A confessional communion is more than fly-by-night. It is relatively easy to produce a personal statement of faith or a position paper on a narrow subject. However, only those confessions that are tested by many generations endure. Just as yesterday’s pop music hardly inspires anymore, so a transient confession is slightly embarrassing. But classic creeds, produced by seasoned Christians, stand the test of time. a confession is a mature, proven set of beliefs. Wouldn’t you rather be guided by such a statement than by an ill-defined set of beliefs or an immature statement of faith?
Second, written confessions keep believers from having to reinvent the wheel. Creeds and confessions can put the student at the head of the class in a hurry. If one need not formulate every bit of doctrine himself, that is, if he is humble enough to listen quickly to other saints (James 1:19), he can spare himself considerable time and countless dead ends. He will avoid paths that are “useless to further reconnoiter,” as theologian Abraham Kuyper recognized.
Third, written confessions are a non-prejudicial way of telling outsiders what we believe. In an age that craves authenticity and transparency, many people get fed up with vague “trust me” statements or calls to give money blindly. A confession is an unashamedly public act; it means that what we believe is neither secret nor windblown for individual taste. It enables any visitors to find out what we believe.
Fourth, it protects against idiosyncrasy and “movementism.” Sadly, there are more christians who follow celebrity leaders than ever before, and those movements based on unbiblical, idiosyncratic leaders seldom end well. Pining for “movementism” or following a hero often yields chaos, will-worship, self-promoting cults, confusion, or continual flux. A confession is ready-made for all those who want to participate in Christian discipleship that is bigger than their own time.
Fifth, it requires us to repent and give up some of our own wrong notions. One of the reasons that confessions are distasteful to some is their unbending quality. Yet a faith that is twisted to each of my preferences is vacuous. The nonnegotiable ethos of a confession may actually force a slacker generation to return to Scripture and steer through some difficult issues. Such may actually help us mature.
As long as a confession is thoroughly biblical (thus timeless) and not provincial, it can aid; a confession in the hands of pastoral and spiritual leaders can vitally serve unity and clarity.
A confession, if a faithful echo of what God already says, can guide us and shelter us from the disabilities of an age or locale. Confessions that parrot and lightly amplify the soundings of scripture endure, while also equipping God’s family with strength and perspective to avoid the ditches of every fad or heresy. Confessions that stand on the shoulders of previous saintly exegetes are the advanced courses that settle certain matters and yield a head start.
A confession is also simultaneously shorthand and proven wisdom; it is orthodoxy and orthopraxy at once. unless one’s life span is infinite, when we pray for God to “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12), confessions will often help us in the stewardship of time as well as protect us from crippling idiosyncratism.
The purpose of a confession is to bolster both unity and clarity. Many of us learn the hard way that the most damning standards are the unwritten ones. Pharisees, ancient and modern, are masters of using unwritten standards to club the uninitiated into a coma. A biblical confession, however, frees the believing community from these secret laws. It liberates us from self-imposed standards and also makes the church open to all under the same standards.
Kuyper was right to counsel against diverging from fixed confessions until compelled to do so by the Bible. Far from being forbidden, holding to sound confessions is little more than following the New Testament pattern. Rather than contradicting sola Scriptura, a confession is actually a sound guide to it.
Now we come to six creedal statements, from roughly 1,550-1,650 AD. They come from various countries, and as you shall see, they are simply marvelous in their content. And they ALL agree regarding the state of the dead—both righteous and unrighteous.
Westminster Confession 1646 (this confession is still held in high regard by many churches, and I personally think it is the best ever written…i.e. most biblical) We use it regularly in my church to publicly confess what we believe during worship. I will not comment…just enjoy reading these marvelous summaries…..regarding one key issue.
Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
I. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption:[1] but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them: [2] the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.[3] And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day.[4] Beside these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none.
II. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed:[5] and all the dead shall be raised up, with the selfsame bodies, and none other (although with different qualities), which shall be united again to their souls forever.[6]
III. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor: the bodies of the just, by His Spirit, unto honor; and be made conformable to His own glorious body
Second Helvetic Confession-1566
THE STATE OF THE SOUL DEPARTED FROM THE BODY. For we believe that the faithful, after bodily death, go directly to Christ, and, therefore, do not need the eulogies and prayers of the living for the dead and their services. Likewise we believe that unbelievers are immediately cast into hell from which no exit is opened for the wicked by any services of the living.
PURGATORY. But what some teach concerning the fire of purgatory is opposed to the Christian faith, namely, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins, and the life everlasting," and to the perfect purgation through Christ, and to these words of Christ our Lord: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). Again: "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over, and you are clean" (John 13:10).
APPARITION OF SPIRITS. Now what is related of the spirits or souls of the dead sometimes appearing to those who are alive, and begging certain duties of them whereby they may be set free, we count those apparitions among the laughingstocks, crafts, and deceptions of the devil, who, as he can transform himself into an angel of light, so he strives either to overthrow the true faith or to call it into doubt. In the Old Testament the Lord forbade the seeking of the truth from the dead, and any sort of commerce with spirits Deut. 18:11). Indeed, as evangelical truth declares, the glutton, being in torment, is denied a return to his brethren, as the divine oracle declared in the words: "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead" (Luke 16:29 ff.).
Irish Articles of Religion-1615
OF THE STATE OF THE SOULS OF MEN AFTER THEY BE DEPARTED OUT OF THIS LIFE, TOGETHER WITH THE GENERAL RESURRECTION AND THE LAST JUDGMENT.
101. After this life is ended the souls of God's children be presently received into heaven, there to enjoy unspeakable comforts; the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, there to endure endless torments.
102. The doctrine o£ the Church of Rome concerning Limbus Patrum, Limbus Puerorum, Purgatory, Prayer for the Dead, Pardons, Adoration of Images and Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is vainly invented without all warrant of holy Scripture, yea, and is contrary unto the same.
103. At the end of this world the Lord Jesus shall come in the clouds with the glory of his Father; at which time, by the almighty power of God, the living shall be changed and the dead shall be raised; and all shall appear both in body and soul before his judgment-seat, to receive according to that which they have done in their bodies, whether good or evil.
104. When the last judgment is finished, Christ shall deliver up the kingdom to his Father, and God shall be all in all.
Baptist Confession of Faith-1689
OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
Paragraph 1. The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption;1 but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.2 The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies;3 and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell; where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day;4 besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.
1 Gen. 3:19; Acts 13:36
2 Eccles. 12:7
3 Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:1,6,8; Phil. 1:23; Heb. 12:23
4 Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 16:23,24
Paragraph 2. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive, shall not sleep, but be changed;5 and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other;6 although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.7
5 1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:17
6 Job 19:26,27
7 1 Cor. 15:42,43
Paragraph 3. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.8
8 Acts 24:15; John 5:28,29; Phil. 3:21
Scottish Confession of Faith—1560 (John Knox)
Chapter 17
The Immortality of the Souls
The elect departed are in peace and rest from their labours:[1] not that they sleep and come to a certain oblivion (as some fantastics do affirm), but that they are delivered from all fear, all torment, and all temptation, to which we and all God's elect are subject in this life,[2] and therefore do bear the name of the kirk militant: as contrariwise, the reprobate and unfaithful departed, have anguish, torment, and pain, that cannot be expressed.[3] So that neither are the one nor the other in such sleep that they feel not joy or torment, as the parable of Christ Jesus in the sixteenth [chapter] of Luke,[4] his words to the thief,[5] and these words of the souls crying under the altar,[6] O Lord, thou that art righteous and just, how long shalt thou not revenge our blood upon them that dwell upon the earth! doth plainly testify.
1. Rev. 14:13.
2. Isa. 25:8; Rev. 7:14-17; 21:4.
3. Rev. 16:10-11; Isa. 66:24; Mark 9:44, 46, 48.
4. Luke 16:23-26.
5. Luke 23:43.
6. Rev. 6:9-10.
Heidelberg Catechism—1563
Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?
Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.
Question 57. What comfort does the "resurrection of the body" afford thee?
Answer: That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its head; (a) but also, that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ. (b)
(a) Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Philip.1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philip.1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (b) 1 Cor.15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Cor.15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Philip.3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
There are numerous avenues to pursue which lead to a proper understanding of what happens to ALL souls upon death. One such avenue is to ask what the leading theologians of the past and their confessions taught. Ours is a day in which historical theology is frowned upon, but surely such hubris is fraught with peril.
Is it not instructive that all of the Reformed Confessions quoted above come to the same conclusion regarding the status of the souls of the deceased? Did you note that the Second Helvetic Confession even mentions the demonic nature of apparitions? This is the teaching of historic Christianity from the 16th and 17th centuries regarding the notion of ghosts, and they present a united mind. Before you deviate from this consensus, it is incumbent upon you to provide the burden of proof that they were wrong. Thus far, nobody has come close to showing that the classical view of life after death is mistaken…though some have tried…and failed miserably.
Of course these confessions are not the bible. However, their purpose was/is to summarize accurately and systematically the teaching of the bible. These confessions in particular are the most consistent summaries of biblical teaching, in my opinion….especially the Westminster Confession…Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
It saddens me how many adopt a dismissive attitude toward the herculean efforts of the saints from centuries past. Church history is an extension of the book of Acts, and there are so many lessons we can learn. One lesson is that our Reformation heroes (and successors) are united in their view of life after death. Surely that should have some impact on you if you are a Christian.
Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Dalai Lama at Conference on ‘Living and Dying in Peace’ at University of Lausanne
In his opening address, the Rector said:
“I have the privilege today to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thank him for spending this day with us.”
Moderator Philippe Moreillon explained that when they heard that His Holiness would attend, faculty and staff members from many disciplines showed interest in participating. They have worked together to formulate common questions for the event that they felt they had been unable to answer within their own areas of study. The first question put to His Holiness imagined a young boy asking his grandfather “Is it a good thing to grow old?”
His Holiness replied:
“I think it depends on what kind of life you have led, whether your life was meaningful and of benefit to other people. The grandfather might say time keeps moving on, eventually we all become old. One day, although you are young now, you will be old too. This is a natural process. He might say I’m fortunate to have lived this long, but I’ve not wasted my time and I’ve gained some experience of how to live.
“On the other hand, if he’s filled his time with sensory pursuits and dedicated himself, for example, to sport, he might say I can’t hear properly any more, can’t see properly - it’s all become hard work.”
The first presenter spoke about increasing life expectancy and different categories of older people, the ‘young old’ who are still active and the ‘old old’ who are increasingly frail. He asked: “How can we age well when our physical abilities are declining?” His Holiness answered that an important factor is your state of mind. Whether your mind is calm and peaceful depends not on your being knowledgeable, but on whether you are warm-hearted. Inner peace automatically gives rise to trust and friendship. On the other hand suspicion, mistrust and lies mean you end up alone and unhappy.
“From the individual’s point of view, if we train from a young age on a mental level, developing our analytical ability, the mind will remain alert. I’ve noticed that people who do this may face physical decline, but their minds remain clear and alert. From the family point of view, affection and support are important.”
Asked how to deal with dementia in the old, His Holiness replied:
“I don’t know, because I have no experience, but I believe showing affection is very important. You can show affection without having to rely on words.”
He speculated about how memory declines, noting that while you tend not to forget faces, remembering names is difficult and because of the concepts they represent there is terminology that you never forget. He wondered whether we forget names because they have no meaning, whereas terms with meaning are much easier to remember.
A question about spirituality prompted him to try to define the term, wondering if it means looking for meaning in life and the world; a collection of visions and values that are beneficial to ourselves and others. Because there could be spirituality linked to religious faith and independent of it, he suggested that people who have no faith might derive benefit from secular ethics. Otherwise, they are prone to come under the sway of destructive emotions. He stressed that just as it is wise to take care of our physical health, we also need to take care of our emotional well-being and proposed a programme of emotional hygiene.
The discussion came round to the role of the aging in society. His Holiness recollected a programme in Stockholm in which old people were brought in to work in kindergartens. They took part in the care of young children, played with them and told them stories. He said that there is great potential for mutual benefit in such activities. The children liked the presence of the old people, who in turn were re-energised in the presence of children. His Holiness joked:
“When I talk to young people it makes me feel young, but when I’m talking to old people I wonder ‘Who’ll be going first, you or me?’”
His Holiness said that his discussions with scientists, educationists, social workers and other concerned people lead to the conclusion that we need a system of values that contributes to the basic happiness of all members of society. Such a system could include techniques for training the mind. Education is the avenue for change. Education is the way we can change the course of humanity. And he suggested that ancient Indian knowledge about the mind and emotions as preserved in literature belonging to the Nalanda tradition could make a valuable contribution to this.
When pressed to recommend ways that the elderly who have not trained themselves earlier in life could begin to change, His Holiness said he doubted that there was an effective method, pointing out that such methods need to be adopted when we are young.
After a leisurely lunch filled with conversation and discussion the conference resumed. Asked to respond to the statistic that a majority of people die in hospital His Holiness surprised the panel by saying that if you die in hospital it means that all efforts to save your life have been exhausted, so there will be no room for regret. On the other hand he agreed that doctors and nurses need to treat their patients as beings with feelings of pleasure and pain, rather than as inanimate machines brought in for repair.
Commenting on whether warm-heartedness is a natural function, he said:
“Yes, our lives begin in our mother’s womb and her physical touch and expression of affection are essential to our healthy growth. This is the basis for our later development of a warm heart.”
To questions about helping the old or sick to die, he said we have to investigate why they wish to die. We have to use both compassion and wisdom to assess what is the best course of action. He said that in Buddhist practice helping to end someone’s life is permitted if it will benefit them in the long run, but again compassion and wisdom are needed to make the judgement.
He was asked whether it is important to train ourselves to meet death, and if so, how to do it.
“Death will come because it is a part of life,” he said. “People who avoid the very words old age and death will be caught unawares when it comes. In some of our meditation practice we visualize the process of death and the associated dissolution of the elements every day, so that we may be prepared for the actual event. For those who believe in a succession of lives, death is just like changing your body. If you have led a meaningful life, when death takes place there’ll be no need for regret.
“Training depends on the individual’s ability. One approach is to develop awareness of your dreams. If you can train yourself to recognise that you are in the dream state and take control of it, you can have a deeper experience of the dissolution of the elements that take place during the process of death.”
When it came to questions about rituals associated with death, His Holiness was firm in asserting his scepticism about the efficacy of rituals in the process. He conceded that if they were conducted by someone with experience and understanding they may have some benefit, but otherwise he doubted they would be of much help.
Coming back to the meditative practices that in effect rehearse the process of dying, he mentioned that he goes through them himself four of five times a day. In this connection he talked about meditators who remain in posthumous meditative equipoise after death. These are cases in which brain activity and the heart have ceased and yet the body remains fresh for several days. Over the last 50 years he is aware of 30-40 cases like this, including that of his Senior Tutor who stayed in such meditation for 13 days after he died. Science has as yet no explanation of this phenomenon, while the Buddhist explanation is that it involves the existence of subtler levels of consciousness. Although the heart, circulation and the brain have stopped, it is only when the subtle consciousness departs that the dying moment is reached and the decay of the corpse begins.
As the conference came to an end, the Rector offered words of thanks, expressing his gratitude to His Holiness for his understanding, his accessibility and his humour. He said it had been an honour to have his presence on the campus. He thanked both university staff and members of the Tibetan community whose hard work and support had contributed to the success of the event.
Original link + photos: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/931-conference-on-living-and-dying-in-peace-at-university-of-lausanne
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