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I found the following six-part video by the noted Baptist author Warren Prestidge. Pastor Prestidge is the one who wrote Life, Death, and Destiny: one of the best books on conditional immortality around. Click here to check it out.

Today I’m continuing in my quest to post more works from my collection of old theology writings that are now out of print and as far as I know are not yet out there in any digital form among the “ether” of the internet.

The following little poem is from a very old newspaper clipping that my parents had saved in a theology file they had put together over the years.  I truly do not know just how old it is, though from the looks of it it very well could be from the era of the 1940’s - 1950’s.  The author is listed as “H. A. Owens”.  But I have not been able to find any information about that person anywhere.

I stopped adding new shows/podcasts to Truth Matters months ago when I went back to school. However, before I left I had recorded this show with David Burge of New Zealand. I finally found the time to edit it and so you can now download it (if it interests you) by going to www.truthmattersradio.com or clicking the link below. Also, please add David to your prayers as he is currently fighting cancer (see note at the bottom).

to listen to “Objections to Conditional Immortality Answered with David Burge” click here

David Burge is the pastor of the Takanini Church of Christ in Auckland, New Zealand. He also leads the Advent Christian Conference of New Zealand and the Conditional Immortality Association of New Zealand (www.afterlife.co.nz). He has researched, written, and spoken extensively on the topic of conditional immortality (the belief that dead people are asleep until the resurrection at the return of Christ).

More Common “Proof Texts”

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 is probably the primary passage that on the surface appears to support the popular notion that judgment, with resulting punishment and reward, is meted out before the resurrection. But this would contradict the rest of Scripture, which says that judgment will take place after the resurrection at the return of Christ (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29; Revelation 20:11-15).

Common “Proof Texts”

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the Scriptures, there are a small handful of passages that are repeatedly cited as proof that a believer goes immediately to be with the Lord at death. One of the most common is Paul’s statement in II Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” This verse is almost always misquoted as, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” It is generally assumed Paul meant that to be absent from the body (i.e. at death) equals being present with the Lord. Similarly, Paul wrote in Philippians 1:23, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.” Did Paul mean that when he departed he would be immediately with Christ? Does being absent from the body mean being present with the Lord? If this was what he meant, it would contradict not only the Hebrew understanding of death which we have discussed, but even many things that Paul himself wrote elsewhere.

After we die, will we ever come back to life?

From the information in the last post, we can see that when people die, they are no longer alive at all – that is, death is the complete absence of life. In addition, death is described as “sleep” – which implies that death may be a “temporary” state. Finally, we know that when people die, they do not go to heaven (or anywhere else). Instead, dead people are simply “sleeping in the grave”, completely unconscious.

So, now we reach the final question – after a person dies, is there any way that he can ever live again? If so, how can that person come back to life? Let’s see what Scripture has to say:

What Happens At Death?
When a person dies, the spirit (breath life) is gone and the body corrupts in the grave (”Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.” - Psalm 104:29). Nowhere does it say that they are conscious on another plane of existence. This makes sense when you consider that consciousness and thought are the product of a functioning brain, and the brain is no longer functioning after the breath of life is gone.

Are dead people conscious of anything?

As noted in the introduction, the mainstream doctrine states that people remain conscious after they die – by virtue of the fact that people have “immortal souls”. However, my belief is that souls are mortal – and as a result, when we die, we are not conscious any longer. So, let’s take a look in scripture, to determine if people are still conscious after they die or not:

Ecclesiastes 9:5

⁵For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

What is the most well known Bible verse in all of Christianity?

People who grew up through the Seventies and Eighties might reply with John 3:16 – especially if you went to or watched any televised football games during that time period. I fondly recall seeing signs and banners like the photo above being displayed by people in the end zone sections of games for years and years.  Plus it was always a staple verse of instruction/memorization in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and summer church camp classes everywhere. I imagine if you took a poll of mainstream Christianity and asked about John 3:16, a great many people could quote it back to you verbatim.

This is something that has popped into my head here and there for some time now.  And I’ve read other answers to this kind of question out on the web (see links below).  But I wanted to ask it in more of a theological setting to see what others here could add to the subject. Please note that I’m not trying to be callous regarding death and the intense emotions it brings.  As an only child who lost both parents at a young age, that vile enemy death has had a far-reaching and deeply emotional effect on my own life.

So here is the question: Why are people who believe death leads immediately to immortality so sad for those who “pass-on”?