The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-11-15
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WHAT AFTER DEATH?
81 xKv DAv1D CLAIBORNE GARRETT

81 REV. DAVID CLAIBORNE GARxErr.

But would not have you 10 be r.
norsnf, brethren, concerning them wnich
have fallen asleep. that ye sorrow not.
even an others. which have no nope
First ThesE-. WIZ
Where are our dead and what are they
1--WE have but faith: We cannot know.
For knowledge II OF things we see.
And yet we trust 10 comes from Thee,
A beam I'm darkness. let IL grow.
A regards the exact condition OF the
soul after death We are all agnossics. not
Of doubt, bit Of hope. Where we may not
know, we dare believe. Everybody is in
ferested In this question. even those who
affect indifference There has never been
\ time when men were not concerned
about the mystery of death. The master
naind In ali literature debates this ques-
ton and suggests that In the sleep OF
death there may be dreams. When We
ask. Where are our deadg" we need not
think Of place. Heaven and hell are con-
dstions rather than places. The spiritual
universe where the spirit dweIis after
death Is too eternal and too spiritual to
admit OF geographical definition. The
spirits Of the dead may compass all the
gaIaxIes Of the natural universe and fit
from star to star. but whether In heaven
or In he'll. a. men understand these terms.
depends on the state Of the soul As TO
First--We may without dogmatism affirm
that the disemhodied soul or the soul re-
embodied Is In state OF consciousness.
Here at the outset Il a question that has
always excited the keenest discussion.
Even today much is said about it. Some
maintain thar at death the soul goes 10
sleep. Others In deepest reverence are
asking
III Sleep and Death be truly one
And every spirits folded bloom
fhro' all Its tntervitai gloom
In some long trance should slumber orr
The theology that says the spirit sleeps
tells also of an awakening. literal day
OF Judgment. From the Scriptures texts
are gathered TO prove such theories UNI
mindful OF how easy the proof that needs
only detached verses with strictly literal
Interpretation. Daniel forfeIls that at the
resurrection many OF them that sleep In
the dust Of the earth shall awake" ST.
Stephen fell asleep" OF the 500 brethren
who had seen the Lord some were fallen
asleep" Our Lord himself was declared
to be the "firat fruits Of them that slept"
Paul says: The Lord himself shall de-
scend from heaven with shout, with the
voice OF the archangei. and with the
trump snsn ,,s Of God Cod and the dead in Christ
sieep-is found IN our hymns and prayers
and Is nssEi I'm our cemeteries. But the
opposite side Is just as strong. Isaiah
Describing the entrance OF the king of
Babylon into hades. says: Hell from be-
meath Is moved for thee at thy coming: II
stirreth up the dead for thee. All they
snail speak and say unto thee. Art thou
also become weak wer.. Ezekial
speaks OF "ihe spirits of the princes of the
earth as comforted on hearing that the
great cedar. the dreaded king OF Assyria
had fallen like themselves" The truth is
that there Is very little in the Old Tesla
ment about future life. While there was
belief In place ~ departed spirits, the
condition OF it's inhabitants was not re-
garded In n cheerful light. The most ex-
allied writer's OF the Old Testament con-
ceived OF tha spirits OF the righteous as in
communion with God. In the New Tesla
menf the argument far as references
30 Ia largely on the side of consciousness
after ceath- Christ teaches IL by parable,
notably In the story of Dives and Lazarus
To the thief on the cross our Lord SAYS:
To-day thou shalt be with Me in para
disc. which was hades or hell, the place
OF departed spirits. Peter tells distinctly
that Christ during the interval between
the crucihxiqn and resurrection. went to
preach to the spirits in prison" Paul
reached SO high degree OF spirituality
that he heard "the souls of men I'm spirit
uai conversation" And the same apostle
nae desire ITO depart and be with
ehrfss- In the vision of John 1.-THE souls
under the altar were not asIeep. .'for
they ye1rned for something yet to come"
There Is not passage referring TO death
az sleep that cannot be better under
stood In spiritual sense. while almost
every New Testament reference to death
rs Implying a conscious condition Is un-
mistakahiy literal. For those who wish
70 conssrue the Scripture In this way and
hold to the sleep theory the church offers
the largest liberty. II is not incompatible
with church membership. II was strong
~ maintained In the Middle Ages and
served as lively topic for debate at three
ecclesiastical councils. On matters nom
essential the church allows wide room for
difference Of opinion.
Passing from Bible proof 10 the reason
OF the thing itself. there Is little ground
for holding that the soul sleeps In death.
Tho spirit never sleeps. II does not sleep
in this world when the plant-iike life OF
man reposes in night slumher. The real
Ese Is always awake.
Dreams arc a proof OF this and we al
ways dream. although frequently the
shock OF rcusing the senses diSpels the re-
menhranc..
We cannot even remember all the flying
ideas that fhrcng the soul when the body
Is active. That we are able 10 awaken IT
fixed hour proves that the scui Is always
alert. The inability 20 steep we'll the first
there are strange noises and the suhse-
auert overcoming OF this difficulty. proves
the same thing. Siecr-wslking where one
has no recollection afterward Is an addf-
ttouaf argument. II Is the same with the
rwoon and trance condition. Everything
points 10 the spirit itself retaining self
consciousness through all these. There
are physical conditions where the body
has exactly the appearance OF death. while
the mind is conscious all the while of ev-
erything thBt Is going on. IT, then. the
spirit d always awake while the natural
life exists. why should We suppose the
spirit 20 sleep when the animal life sub
sidesF The burden Of proof is on the 9th
er side, There Is no logical ground. as far
a. earthly phenomena SO. for believing
that the consciousness that goes on
through bodily siecp and trance and
swoon and on through loss OF physical
strength and even whole members Of the
hcs.y. should Suddenly quit when the out
ward part is wholly set aside The rsa!
truth OF the matter IS rnagniiicentlv ex-
planned by Paul. who must have learned
4 from oer f.oTa himself ara what Paul
tells IA akou, the two bodies here and
hereafter ar~wers most fully the question
that naturally ARISES at this Point '.Wha,
tsen. ia the sreaninS ~ the resurrection II
the hosys' one view ~ the resurrection
= that the soul after death though con-
scseus II In sort az aisemhosised state
fuhahitsrg an intermediate place and that
en- the last great day the spsrtt will he
reunited "a the Identical bcstv that Was
employed Ia this life AZ the time CT
Christ the phaFtsees taught fhs. doctrine
~ the resurrection in It's gross sense while
the Sadincees rejected n altogether lust