Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1909-04-29
IS THE SOUL IMMORTALa
BY REV. A. c. DIXON. D. D.

WITHOUT any nne-Spun uennltlOnS we
shall consider the soul as meaning tha
part of us which thinks, remembers, rea-
sons, rejoices, suffers, approves the righ
and condemns the wrong.
The Immortality of the soul is suggest
ed by nature. We plant seed in the
springtime and in autumn we reap the
same kind of seed. The thing that con-
tinues in the seed is the invisible Vita
force. The particles may be different
but the life is the same The reappear-
ance of this life in bud and leaf and flower
at least suggests that the life mental, mo-
raj and spiritual in us may continue in us
after death.
The Immortality of the soul is taught by
universal consciousness. The rude saw
age believes in future state. The Indian
buries with his comrade the blanket, the
bow and arrow, believing that he will
need these things in the happy hunting
grounds of the future. Even modern in
fidelity does not deny il. When the
champion blasphemer of America stood
over the corpse of his brother he spoke
of the star of hope which the soul sees in
the night. The heart is sometimes wiser
than the head.
Suggested by nature, taught by univer-
sal consciousness, the Immortality of the
soul is confirmed by observation. There
are cases on record where page after page
Of foreign languages, long forgotten, have
been repeated by men on beds OF sickness.
A friend told me that, when he was
thrown from his horse and almost killed,
the panorama of his life came before him,
impressions that had faded from memory
while he was physically strong revived
during the time of weakness.
So imagination is sometimes most bril-
liant when the body is weakest, and |
have known at least two or three men
whose reason was as vigorous just mo-
ment before they died as il ever was in
the days of their physical strength. If
you have ever been in Mammoth Cave
and stood over the river Styx you will re-
member that it disappears under the cav
ern walls. Up to the very point OF dis
appearance the current is swift. Is there
man on earth foolish enough TO suppose
that there is no river after the swift cur
rent has disappeared? Does he not be-
lieve with a conviction that amounts to
certainty, that the river, though hidden,
continues to flow on? And when, up to
the point of dying, we find memory, i'm
agination, reason, love and conscience as
strong, if not stronger than ever before, is
there not presumption which amounts
to conviction of certainty that these fac
ultes OF the soul will continue to live after
the body dies?
The Immortality of the soul, suggested
by nature, taught by universal conscious
ness and confirmed by observation, is IL
nally established by revelation. The
words Immortal" and immortality oc-
cur six times in the Bible. They are two
words in the Greek, one OF which means
"incorruptble" and the othcr"deathless. "
The word meaning "incorruptible" is ap-
Piled to God himself in Timothy LII,
and is so translated by the revisers. In
Romans 81 are the words: ITO them who
by patient continuance in well doing seek
for glory and honor and Immortality, eter-
nal life" The revision correctly renders
ii "inconuption," which we are to seek
diligently. In 2 Timothy Ito we are told
that Christ ''hath brought life and incor-
ruption to light through the gospel" he
is the one incorruptible being. The word
which means deathlessness occurs in
Timothy 6:l6 and refers TO the Lord Je-
sus, "who only hath Immortality dwelling
in light which no man can approach unto, "
Link this with Genesis 1:26. 3 "Let us
make man in our image after our likeness, "
and John III and 3, "The Word was God"
and "all things were made by him, and
it was plain that man was created immor-
tai. God who only hath Immortality Gre
ated man in that image and likeness. Sin
did not destray the Immortality which God
impaired in creation.
The difference between Immortality and
eternal life should be kept clearly in mind.
Immortality means everlasting existence.
Dead things exist. can imagine stone
existing a million years as dead then as
now. Corpses exist. Men dead in tres
passes and sins, this side of the grave, ex-
ist, and they will exist after death. One
does not begin really TO live until he has
accepted Christ, but he exists. Letus ac-
cept the definition OF eternal life which the
Lord Jesus himself gave, and this will
clear away all misunderstanding. Turn
to John 17:3: "This is life eternal that
they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent"
Eternal life is knowing God through Jesus
Christ. To know God is to live; TO re-
fuse to know God is to continue..to exist
in state OF death.