Month: March 2011

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Why the State of the Dead Teaching is Important

cemetaryWhen teachers of Biblical wholeness speak of the importance of the doctrine, they usually make one of a few arguments. Certainly there are more, but these are the most common reasons given by them that the doctrine is important.

1) Opens us up for demonic deception

This is perhaps the most common objection is that if we do not hold to this doctrine that the nature of humanity is not a soul that lives in a shell, then demonic agencies can take on the personalities of dead loved ones and deceive us into believing a lie.

I do believe that demonic agencies live and manifest themselves in our world. In addition, I believe that these entities do seek to to deceive us. However, believing in Biblical wholeness does not remove the possibility that we will be deceived by demonic agencies. For example, demonic agencies could take on the body and personality of people who are not dead just not here now. Your mother who is in England. Now one would argue, that the demons could say “I have been gone and now I came back, and this is true, but certainly one could take on the body of Jesus (Which many predict) or Elijah (who according to the Biblical Record never died).

The key point is that believing Biblical wholeness does not totally keep one from being deceived by demonic agencies. One still needs that close connection to God to be able to discern God’s truth in a world of many competing truths.

2) Minimizes embodiment

Perhaps one of the most important reasons that some are coming to the idea of Biblical wholeness is that the other idea minimizes embodiment. In short, a person, in that idea, is not an embodied person, but merely taking residence in this body.

Such an idea has ramifications that minimize the importance of the body. This idea can tend to say that Our body is not important, what we eat is not important, how we tend to this body is not important for what is really important is the “spirit” over the “body.”

In addition, racists and sexists of previous generations used the idea that there was a “soul” that was more important than the Body and tried to say that women and other ethnic minorities either did not have this soul or their body was in charge of their soul thus they needed added guidance. However, all of this is illusionary, for we do not have a “soul” that can be removed from our bodies, we are souls.

3) Minimizes the Second Advent Hope

If one is going straight to heaven at death, why is there a need for a second advent? Certainly, as the argument goes, our pleasure is increased and our pain increased as a result of the second advent according, but even this lowers the importance of the second coming.

A side note to this idea is the common refrain that this earth is not our home, heaven is our home. The idea sometimes reduces to heaven being a place where “spirit” beings live in contrast to the earth which is where we are encumbered by bodies and physicality. However the idea of Biblical wholeness is that we do not look forward to becoming spirit beings floating around heaven but concrete embodied people living in the new Jerusalem.

4) Minimizes the Sacrifice of God

An interesting thought that the 1888 Message Study Committee posits is the idea that the natural immortality of the soul reduces Christ’s sacrifice. Christ died, in his humanity, the equivalent of the second death which is as Jack Sequiria states “Saying Goodbye to life forever.”

If Christ, in his humanity, assumed an immortal soul then the death, in his humanity was simply the hours of pain that he had to go through and not the anguish of dying as you and I die.

Conclusion

Certainly the State of the Dead is an important doctrine,and this is simply a rough outline of some of the reasons why that is the case. I would encourage you to continue looking at this site as we explore this and other vital topics.

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We Are Pilgrims – Pain Makes Me Yearn For Home

Hebrews 11:13 speaks of the faithful being pilgrims who only saw the promise from a distance. I think it is important for us to live effective and fruitful lives in this world. It is important to occupy till the Master returns. In that we are to take that which the Master has placed in our hands and get an increase. (Luke 19:12-13). It is important that we do not fall into the trap of thinking that there is nothing for us to do here but wait. The world should be better because we have been here. We should “lighten the corner where we are.”

After having said that, we cannot ever lose the fact that we are still at a distance from God’s incoming Basilea. Things will get worse, and even in places we may see some things get better before they get worse. We may live a good life and then again we may have barely enough to survive. Whatever the case, we are pilgrims and strangers.

I Yearn For Home

Yes I am a citizen of the United States, but I am also a citizen of the Basilea of God. And my ultimate loyalty is to that. And because of that I yearn for the home that I have only been able to see from afar. I yearn for that home when thousands of our sisters and brothers die in an earthquake and the resulting Tsunami in Japan. I yearn for that home when I hear of children, elderly, those with special needs, and the weakest amongst us being abused by those more powerful. I yearn for home when killing citizens is referred to as “collateral damage.” I yearn for home…

I know it’s old school, but every once in a while I just want to think about walking on the streets in glory. I want to think about asking Moses about the exodus. I want to think about the lion lying with the lamb, I want to think about “peace in the valley.” And yes, along with Rance Allen I long to just make it to heaven…that will be good enough for me!

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Earthquakes, Adventist Evangelists, and The End Time

A few Adventist websites are addressing the “prophetic significance” of the earthquake in Japan. On AToday, Ervin Taylor makes a startling prediction

In the spirit of traditional Adventism, I would like to prophesize. I predict that, over a period of six months, the Adventist Review and Adventist World will publish, on at least four occasions, in some form either by itself or in connection with other “signs,” statements to the effect that the recent major devastating earthquake in Japan is another sign that the “End is Near.”

Well, maybe it is not so startling…Probably before he could hit the publish key Shawn Boonstra, formerly of It Is Written, already was ready to fulfill Taylor’s prediction by saying:

Without the Bible’s prophetic road map, large-scale disasters become nothing more than unfortunate random events. And from the perspective of tragic ignorance, the signals of Jesus’ rapid approach shake us up, but fail to make a lasting difference. People are shaken, but not stirred.

Fulfillment of Prophecy?

An article that Alexander Carpenter over at the Spectrum website took great exception.

OK, lets be honest, you gotta admit that it is really quite easy to say this is a “fulfillment of prophecy” even if you don’t ultimately buy it. I mean Jesus himself said there would be “earthquakes in diverse places.” Mark 13:8. I would bet that you will find many more Christians of many denominational groups making assuming that there is prophetic significance for this event. I mean really Taylor’s prediction is like predicting that the sun will set tomorrow…

A church built on apocalyptic eschatology will have a tendency to see significance in every event that comes. You may not like it, but you certainly can’t be surprised by it.

Pastoral Sensitivity and The Preacher’s Language

Now there is a question of pastoral sensitivity that we must ask however. OK, you might argue that Evang. Boonstra and the Adventist Review shouldn’t have used the verbiage “shaken not stirred” to apply that ongoing terrible tragedy. Maybe so. however, I read it as a preacher turning a popular saying into a homiletic device. I agree that it was not the most sensitive thing to do. I would also agree that despite my best attempts, from time to time my sermons include sayings and verbiage that I probably should have said better.

It is true that Adventist eschatology points Adventists to see prophetic significance in every terrible event. But to be honest, anyone who reads those apocalyptic texts in the Bible could come to the same conclusion (and many do).

Is God Trying To Tell Us Something

Now there is the whole “God is trying to tell God’s true church something” bit. Ok it is possible to read this as “God killing of thousands of innocent lives just to tell the church something.” I don’t know, but I don’t think that is Boonstra’s interpretation. I would guess that Boonstra would mean that “God is withdrawing God’s hand of protection and thus the evil one is allowed to do more and more of these things. Thus it is a signal to us that the end is near.” Certainly folks may disagree with that due to having a different theology, but is it really an insidious attack on God’s goodness.

To conclude, I think that Boonstra is simply giving a traditionalist Adventist explanation of what we can learn from terrible events that happen in general and specifically the earthquake in Japan. Does this mean that the end is right now? No, some would argue that , but I doubt Boonstra would. But certainly you can’t be surprised. I mean the church often measures how close we are to the end by disastrous events. So certainly it will see disastrous events as meaning we are closer to the end.