Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1912-04-13

i% W the Dead" II 8
text was:'If Christ
sazssssAasA 9Aaa be notrisen, then is
kfASl2k kUSoLLL) our preaching vain
and your faith also
vain; yea. and we are found false wit
nesses Of God. Then they also
which are fallen asleep In Christare per
ished." q Cor. XIV. II, IL, 49, He said
The faith once delivered to the saints
by Jesus and the Apostles in respect
to the resurrection of the dead has
been very generally lost. Christian
people profess a belief in the resurrec-
tion, because they find it stated in the
Bible, yet they are continually in diff
Guilty in their endeavor to make the
Scriptural teaching on the subject
square with some of the unscriptural
theories received into the Church and
incorporated into many of the creeds.
ST. Paul warned the Church against
these human PHILOSOPHERS, and called
them science, falsely so-called," which
make void the Word of God. These
errors have been instrumental in divid-
ing the faith of Gods people into 600
different denominations. with 600 diff
ferent professions. If Gods people
could all come back to the simplicity
of the Bibles teaching, all of these diff
ferences would speedily disappear
Gods Word would be seen to be beau
tiful and harmonious and satisfactory
to the consecrated intellect.
The Bible Resurrection Reasonable.
Really the doctrine or the resurrec
ton of the dead has been repudiatec
by all denominations, not willingly.
not Intentionally, but perforce, as it
were. An opposite theory received
and entrenched in the minds gives no
place for the doctrine of the resurrec-
ton as the Bible presents it. Conse
luently we have twisted the doctrine
of the resurrection and recite, II be-
lieve in the resurrection of the body
Yet, even this perverted view of the
resurrection is not satisfactory to
those who hold it, They wish many a
time that the doctrine of the resurrec-
ton was not in the Bible, so much
difference does it cause. For instance,
how inconsistent ii seems that they
should say, Il believe in the resurrec-
ton of the body" and then say, as
many do. Dying is but going home.
getting rid of the mortal flesh, and
being freed from its limitations. If it
is blessing to de and get free from
the limitations of the body, how could
it be blessing TO be reincarcerated in
the body. and be Obliged TO keep II
through all eternity?
There is nothing inconsistent in the
Bible presentation of the resurrection
Not from the Bible, but from men,
comes the suggestion of the resurrec-
tion of the body. The Bible invaria bly,
refers to the resurrection of the soul
1t is the soul that dies; as we read
1.-THE soul that sinneth 10 shall die
Adam was created living soul, but
his living soul came under the death
sentence because he disobeyed God
1t was his soul that was redeemed
from death, not his body. 81 will re-
deem thy life Qook up the word life to
see IL 1t is from the Hebrew word
meaning soul, and if so, add the word
soul after the word life, in parenthe-
Sis from destruction.-Psa ciii, 4.
To accomplish this redemption W.
read that Christ Jesus poured out
His soul unto death" He made His
soul an offering for sim" Moreover.
we are particularly told that it was
the soul of Jesus that was raised from
the dead: Il will not leave Thy soul
in sheOl." st, Peter quotes this state
ment as prophetical Of the resurrection
of Jesus that His soul was not left
in hades With what body do they
come? Is a totally different ques-
ton. Some of the dead souls, in the
resurrection. viii come forth with splr.
it bodies, and others with human
bodies. according to the Bible But the
important point is that it Is the soul.
the being that comes forth If the soul
dies, as the Bible declares, then mani
festly the soul should be resurrected.
Bible Made Void by Tradition.
The difficulty with us has been tina
we ''haye made void the Word of God
by our traditions" We received from
the Grecian philosophers tradition
which Socrates and Plato both ad
vocated. namely, that when human
being dies he does not really die. The
soul. it is claimed, cannot die. hut
whenever the soul gets out of the body.
the body dies. How strange it seems
that we all accepted this philosophy
without a word of Scripture. but with
hundreds of Scriptures to condemn 1t
1t behooves MS TO take a decided stand
either with the Grecian philosophers
and their theories, or with the Bible
The two are in conflict and whoever
attempts to- hold both is in confusion
If the dead are not dead, then no hui
man being is dead; and If no one is
dead. how could there be resurrec
ton of the dead?