Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) 📕

(church of Christ).
[17] ADAM CLARKE: "The doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect" Commentary on I Corinthians 15.
[18] WILLIAM ENFIELD: "Very soon after the rise of Christianity, many persons, who had been educated in the schools of the philosophers, becoming converts to the Christian faith, the doctrines of the Grecian sects, and especially Platonism, were interwoven with the simple truths of pure religion. As the Eclectic philosophy spread, Heathen and Christian doctrines were still more intimately blended, till, at last, both were almost entirely lost in the thick clouds of ignorance and barbarism which covered the earth" History of Philosophy.
[19] HOMER HAILEY: "Time passed and innovations came into the Church. When untaught individuals became nominal Christians, changes were made. Attitudes were no longer as they were in former years, and the pattern was altered. The pristine simplicity was gradually marred and covered, until little of the original simple plan of God could be recognized. Ambitions began to manifest themselves when pagan philosophies became a substitute for the word of God. Over time, darkness descended upon the face of the earth and the light of truth was covered by ignorance and superstition" From my class note in 1957 at Florida College, (church of Christ).
[20] JERRY CROSS: "When Jesus was on earth he didn't speak of immortality, but rather of eternal life. The Greeks taught that the soul had a natural and innate quality to enable it to pass through death and resist corruption. But, Jesus taught that our 'immortality' is anchored in a life-relationship with God. Jesus was a teacher of 'eternal life,' but Plato of the 'immortality of the soul.' Today these expressions are often confusingly used as synonyms. Yet, they spring from two different sources, one from Greek philosophy, and the other from New Testament Christianity... It is very easy to read the term 'soul' or 'spirit' in the English Bible and impart modern western philosophical beliefs into the terms. With Plato and (much later) Descartes, Western thinking became very much dualistic in its view of man. A person is composed, according to this view, of material, extended, substance (body) and immaterial, non-extended, substance (mind). The soul is the imperishable element that is housed in a bodily prison. Therefore, when western man hears the term 'soul,' he thinks of that element of himself that is confined within his body that is destined to live forever. The presentation of 'soul' in the Hebrew Old Testament is quite different however...the Old Testament presents man as an 'animated body' which is a 'complex of parts, drawing life and activity from a breath-soul, which has no existence apart from the body'" Magnolia Bible College 1984 Lectures, Page 48 and 49, (church of Christ).
[21] SAMUEL DAWSON: "You may be surprised to learn that most, if not all, of our popular concepts of Hell can be found in the writings of Roman Catholic writers...None of our concepts of Hell can be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ! You know how indignant we get at the mention of purgatory-we know that's not in the Bible. You may also find out that our popular concepts of Hell came from the same place that purgatory did-Roman Catholicism" "Jesus' Teaching On Hell," Page 13. A free copy of this book at: www.gospelthemes.com, (church of Christ).
[22] CURTIS DICKINSON: "There is not one scripture to support the idea that man is an immortal soul living for the moment in a temple of clay, and that when the body dies the man goes on living...It might come as a surprise to some to know that the term immortal is never used in scripture in connection with soul or man's spirit" "What The Bible Teaches About Immortality And Future Punishment," Page 8 and 9, (church of Christ).
[23] JOHN SCOTT: "Genesis 2:7 is the classic statement of the uniting of flesh and spirit. Here, we have the creature of flesh and bone created from the dust and then brought into a living existence by the Lord blowing into man's nostrils the breath of life. The phrase 'became a living soul' is the same Hebrew phrase used in verse 19 referring to 'every living creature,' that is, to the beasts and birds as other forms of life. In this sense of the word then, man is not distinguished from the animal world as far as life is concerned by the use of these special terms ...The nehphesh may even be said to die [Judges 16:30], but nehphesh is never used of the spirit of the dead; in fact, nowhere is the suggestion made that the soul survives the man whose life it was in the Old Testament" Harding Graduate School Lectures, 1971, Pages 130-131, Gospel Advocate Company, (church of Christ).
[24] ROGER DICKSON: "A general meaning would be that the soul has reference to any animate being of life that has sense perception ... thus, the soul would be the life principle of an individual" "Life, Death and Beyond," Biblical Research Library, Page 45, (church of Christ).
[25] ELIAS SMITH: Often referred to as "Elder" Elias Smith. "This year, in June, my attention was called to think of the real state of the wicked after the last judgment. Before this time, I had taken for truth the old pagan doctrine of 'eternal misery' for the wicked. In June, 1804, being in Mr. Holmes' bookstore, in Boston, I asked him if he had any new publications. He handed me Evan's Sketch. On opening the book my eyes first fixed on the word, 'destructionists.' I read one page, and concluded, people who held the wicked would be destroyed, were in strange error, as no such thing ever before entered my mind. I bought the book. Often after that the destruction of the wicked would pass through my mind, though I supposed eternal misery was recorded in the Bible. In April 1805, I concluded one day to take my Bible and concordance, and find eternal misery, and not have my mind any longer troubled about destruction. I examined the words misery, miserable, and miserably; and found there was not one place in the Bible where the word was used to describe the state of man beyond death. Next I looked for the word torment, and found that was limited, and that there was no torment mentioned beyond the Day of Judgment. I then looked at the words destroy, destruction, death, second death, perish, consumed, perdition, burnt up, end, etc. I examined the similitudes used to describe the end of the wicked, such as chaff and stubble burnt up; dry trees cast into the fire, and tares burnt up; the fat of lambs consumed, whirlwinds, a dream, and noise. All these things proved to me that at the last judgment, the wicked would be punished with everlasting destruction, which would be their end. My mind was settled upon the subject; but concluded to keep my discovery to myself; as the people were almost distracted with having so many new things; such as that God was one and not three, and that all rules but the Bible was useless, and that salvation was free for all. My first preaching and writing disturbed the clergy and the wicked; the next disturbed the Baptists, and I was about certain, if this were known, it would disturb my brethren with whom I was connected. I kept it back as long as duty would suffer me, and was constrained at last to make it known, or preach no more. It made some stir, but people bore it as well as could be expected. Soon after preaching it, I wrote and published five sermons upon the subject, which has never been answered to this day." The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travel and Sufferings of Elias Smith, 1886, Page 347, (church of Christ).
[26] AL MAXEY: "The Maxey-Thrasher Debate" A debate on the eternal destiny of the wicked between two Gospel preachers, church of Christ. "'Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living SOUL/being' (Genesis 2:7). Some traditionalists virtually equate this last phrase (living soul) with 'immortal soul.' But, that is NOT what the passage says. God put breath within this body and the body became a living being. The exact same words are used of animals in the Scriptures. Further, it doesn't say man was GIVEN a soul. It says man BECAME a soul. Big difference!" Free on the web at: http://www.zianet.com/maxey/MxThrshr.htm (church of Christ)
[27] ROBERT DOZIER: "Dozier-Johnson Debate," The eternal destiny of the wicked by a Gospel preacher, church of Christ. "But Gehenna was all about destroying that which was dumped there. There were not cries of never ending conscious pain coming out of the bodies cast there. No conscious torment, just destruction of trash, carcasses of animals, and some dead human bodies. It was all about death and destruction. That is what those who heard Jesus speak of Gehenna would think of. Jesus spoke of the wicked and lost as being cast into Gehenna AFTER God killed them (Luke 12:5)." Free on the web at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Religiousdebates/message/1408 (church of Christ).
[28] MOSES E. LARD: "'For the wages of sin is death' it always pays. Whether the sinner stipulates for his wages or not, he is sure to receive it. What the wages of sin are, the apostle here tells us: it is eternal death. How astounding the fact that so many should serve for such a reward!" Commentary on Romans from “The Restoration Library” Page 218, 1875, Gospel Light Publishing Company, and also his book "Do The Holy Scriptures Teach The Endlessness Of Future Punishment?" I have been unable to find a copy of his book but found this about it by Steven Clark Goad in “church of Christ Christian Podcast.” He said in a recent conversation he had with Jimmy Allen of Harding University, Jimmy Allen said that he was rethinking and restudying the traditional understanding of Hell. That Jimmy Allen of Harding University shared with him more that confidentiality he would not be allow to repeat, but Jimmy Allen at Harding University sent him a copy of a paper by Moses E. Lard, 1879, “Do the Holy Scriptures Teach the Endlessness of Future Punishment?” Steven Clark Goad said this booklet by Moses E. Lord is a magnificent word study of the Greek word aion draws many of the conclusions he had outlined at: http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-on-punishment-of-the-wicked/ this booklet by Lard points out that his understanding is not new or something a few harebrained fanatics have recently thought up to stir controversy, (church of Christ).
[29] F. LaGARD SMITH: Teacher at David Lipscomb University, “If, as we are told at funerals, out loved ones are already in heaven with Jesus, what is the purpose of Christ’s Coming and the Resurrection?” After Life, A Glimpse Of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door, (church of Christ).
[30] ROBERTSON L. WHITESIDE: "If you serve sin, you need not doubt as