Skip to main content

I was watching the news about a man who wrote the book Imagine Heaven, he stated that some people have near death experiences. I don't know if it happens or not, since the brain shuts down in just a few seconds after the heart stops beating. I have seen people passed away during my life and have never seen someone who came back after passing away. I did read in the Bible Mark 3:4 where Elias and Moses did appear after life, but they were not in a body that I know of.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Hi Daffy, if your really interested check out this short paper written by L. Ray Smith found @ http://bible-truths.com/death.htm

 

Excerpt:

 

AN ENCOURAGING THOUGHT ABOUT DEATH

 

 

Death has two different meanings that are essential for us to differentiate:

 

  1. The ACT OF DYING or termination of life.

  2. The STATE OF BEING DEAD.

 

All humanity will experience "the act of dying," but absolutely no one will ever experience the "state of being dead." And this is because:

 

"For the living know that they shall die but      the dead know not anything…" (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

    

 

This may be comforting to some, but scary to others.   It all depends on your point of view; your perspective; your emotional stability; your   up-bringing; your understanding. What I want to do in this little article is give you an   encouraging perspective of death. "How can anything be encouraging when it comes to   death?" you are probably asking. Well, let me try and answer that for you.

 

Virtually every time that I have read that verse   (dozens of times), it was to prove to someone that we do not have an immortal soul that   lives on after death of the body, nor do we have consciousness as is taught in   Christendom. But this past year I took another look at this verse and saw something else   that I had never contemplated before.

 

Not only is there no consciousness in death, but   there is no consciousness OF death either. This is the encouraging part.

 

"The living KNOW that they shall die, but  the dead KNOW NOT ANYTHING."

 

Let’s think about that for a few moments and  see if this is not quite encouraging.

 

"The living KNOW… the dead know  NOTHING." The dead don’t know that they are dead. When you die, you will NOT  KNOW THAT YOU ARE DEAD! But it gets better. Not only will you never know that you are dead  at some point in the future, but from your perspective YOU NEVER EVEN LOST  CONSCIOUSNESS. This to me was a marvelous revelation.

--------------------

 

Click the above link to read the rest.

 

Also reread the part where Moses and Elias appeared after life. You will see it was a vision and not really them appearing alive.

 

Here is what Jesus told the disciples after they saw the vision.

 

 

Mat 17:9

 

  And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the VISION to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

 

Lets not forget all the people Jesus brought back to life.

 

 

Last edited by gdriggs

What I would like to mention, regarding death/life, with respect to mankind, is that according to scriptures (and I believe) mankind (humans) are created a diverse creation such that we are spirit (soul) and physical body (flesh).  Death, I believe, occurs to the physical body but the spirit does not, at least at this time, experience death. 

 

Now the real question that many debate over, those that believe in a spiritual afterlife, is what happens to the spirit after physical death?  Also debated is just to what extent of conscienceless or awareness does our inner spirit/soul have?  In other words will the spirit/soul have the ability to recognize those of our family that we loved?  Friends or spouses and children? 

 

Science puts human conscience in the mind, the brain, and the brain is a physical organ, matter, atoms, etc, and in that reside our memories, senses, that which most agree makes us unique and alive yet we know upon death our brains, starved of oxygenated blood, dies and the cells along with it die.  The interesting, intriguing question remains where resides our spirits, our souls, and exactly how much of what makes us ... us is retained in that spirit?  It is also taught, and believed by many, that the spirit/soul is eternal.  It has a beginning, a creation, but is created to be an eternal entity.  Other's believe, as I do, that it is our soul/spirit that lives on into the afterlife and is judged by God and receives glory, punishment, rewards etc at and after judgment that is to come. 

 

It is also believed, an taught, by many, by Christians, that the soul/spirit is given a new home, a new dwelling place, a "glorified" body by God at some point in the future and it is that "glorified body" that we will enter and reside in eternity in.  I personally believe that much about the future is left for our faith and is awaiting for us to discover and learn at a time when God has chosen for us to learn it.

 

I see death as the reverse of birth in that at birth a created (by God)  spirit/soul is placed within a human (created by our parents) fleshly body to dwell and live a human life on earth.  As a new (fleshly) creation we come into life learning, developing, growing in knowledge and physical abilities.  In death that spirit/soul leaves the physical (dying) body and starts a new life, an eternal life, in a Spiritual realm/world that is vastly different and unknown from the, physical, world that we know today.  We will be in a realm, a world, an existence, that is a Spiritual one where God is in total control and one which we enter learning and developing as God gives us ability awaiting judgment which was determined to happen for that which each of us did when in our human/fleshly bodies on this physical earth.  As for at what point the spirit/soul awakens or if it ever sleeps or where it goes at death or what we will know or be able to perceive after death remains and will be a mystery for each of us to discover and find out.

 

I think there is much that we don't know about the future (Spiritual) world/life and that awaits each of us.   Many believe that physical life just happened and that upon death everything ceases and just quits and everything goes black.  There are many who have claimed after death experiences and others who claim that they believe in ghost or spirits/souls that are alive apart from a physical body/existence.  Again these are issues of faith (what we personally believe) but one thing is for sure and that is each of us WILL go through it as death awaits each of us.  There are those who say that death can be cured and that in the future people will live much longer and possibly forever as science seeks to digitize our brains and thoughts and turn who we are into a program or digital existence, so to say.  I think all that is vanity and egos gone to the extreme but instead I do believe that each of us has within us the ability to live forever and that forever is in the Spiritual realm.  AS to whether one judgment or verdict upon sin is spiritual death where the potentially eternal spirit life is terminated or squelched at some future point due to judgment upon our sins, is again something for faith.  Some believe that there is but two alternatives and one is heaven, blissfulness and paradise and the other torture, hell, torment and others believe that there is many degrees of punishment and reward(s) awaiting each of our spirit/souls in our future spiritual lives and glorified (eternal/spiritual) bodies.    I guess time will tell.  Either way, and I know it's going to invoke "Pascal's wager" but in essence we each are gambling on what that future will be and we each live our earthly, physical, lives pointing to and for a future unknown state based upon our own personal beliefs and faith. 

Originally Posted by Daffy:

I was watching the news about a man who wrote the book Imagine Heaven, he stated that some people have near death experiences. I don't know if it happens or not, since the brain shuts down in just a few seconds after the heart stops beating. I have seen people passed away during my life and have never seen someone who came back after passing away. I did read in the Bible Mark 3:4 where Elias and Moses did appear after life, but they were not in a body that I know of.

In all likelihood Daffy, if God had a reason to bring Lazarus back to life,

and he was dead, bcause he did stink. Who are we to say God can or can't

do for whatever reason. Then he will do it with or without the faith of people.

 

John 11: 11

These things he said; and after that he said to them: Lazarus our friend

sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.

 

So God is bound to medical facts as we know the facts, Someone

should have told God his NDE's are silly and the people at Cana actually

drank water.

 

 

I've watched a lot of shows on National Geographic, Science Channel, Discovery Channel and the other educational and documentary type channels and several seem to though in a documentary or show about things that are documented as happening in the Bible.  Most of these shows are created by and edited by people that are not Christians or believers and others seem to have some agenda to them.

 

What I mean by that is simply that in many or most cases, if not all, there is an effort to find some scientific reason or scientific cause for the reported miracles.  For instance take the plagues God brought upon Egypt.  There were efforts to tie all the plagues to a super eruption of a volcano in Europe or other events and they contort things around to attempt to tie them together.  

 

As a believer I believe that a miracle by God can be or should be something that defies science and something that is beyond explanation.  If God is God, then He should be and is capable to doing anything, manipulating any laws of physics or anything and there doesn't have to be a scientific reason or proof of it, at least for me there doesn't.   But that's just my own feeling/belief. 

Add Reply

Post

Untitled Document
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×