Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1927-12-24

regions Oh SCleHCe anu
philosophy, but when we come to the
we'll trodden field Of eschatology, 1t
is quite difficult to make new dis
coveries. al
CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE.
1.-THE question of our present con-
sideration has not been so commonly
discussed as others, not because 1t
is less important to the Christian
faith, but it may be due to lack OF
personal fascination on the part OF
popular writer's. The subject respect
ing the future conscious state Of ex-
istence requires: ..
81. A clear conception Of the in
dependent relation existing between
the body and the soul.
"2. A knowledge of the immor-
tally Of the mind or soul.
"3. Distinction between the body
and soul. In other words, in what
class does the body balong, material
or spiritual? All things are classed
under one or two general heads,
matter and spirit. Each Is subject
to laws peculiar to its nature.
1.-The materialist would feign fill
the earth with knowledge Of his
preachment that matter possesses an
independence of self existence. Such
theory pales away before the doc
trine Of absolute Divine Providence,
which recognizes God as Creator of
all material and spiritual things. In
the beginning when God spoke mat
ter into existence, he also put laws
into operaf ion, which govern it in
all of it's various forms alike.
FIELDS OF ANNIHILATION.
"The' stars, which spangle the
vaulted heavens; the trees, adorn-
ing a thousand hills, and the waters
which fill The banks of the ocean
must some day fall in line at the
command of matters government
and march TO the fields of annihi-
la'ion, leaving only TO grapple with
the experiences of eternity that which
is spiritual. Coming to the master
piece of Gods creation, which is
man, he is found to be at least a
d'cotomic being, flesh and spirit. At
the dissolution Of the soul and body
we are not in want for ScIiTt"rai
ground as t, the destiny of each,
for Then shall the dus' return to
the earth as it was and the spirit
unto God, who gave it,.
MATTER AND SPIRIT.
eff materialism is true, the whole
man perishes and there is no ground
for any such distinction between
body and spirit as made in the text
Just quoted This distinction made
by Solomon is conclusive proof of
the truthfulness of Isaiah's doctrine,
THAT all flesh is grass" This phys
ical organism of man is no more
RELAXED to him than vessel to water
that it may contain. The psycholo-
gists say that brain thinks, sees,
smells, hears and feels. This state
ment in it's truest sense is only a
metomy. The skilled surgeon tells
us that the body of dead man IS
just as complete in its organism as
THAI of live man.
NO ANSWER FROM THE DEAD.
"If this be true, why doesn't the
dead man answer when he is called?
Why doesn't he see? Why doesn't
he move when the undertaken
pierces his arm? This irresponsive
condition proves TO US that it is not
the brain which thinks, or the eye
that sees, or the ear that hears, or
the nose that smells, but IL is the
Immortal part of man, which is spfr-
itual in NATURE and leaves the body
at death to live on. Hence the ques-
zion arises, If the spirit Is gone. doAs
j. still act In It's disembodied state?
This brings US to the other side Of
the subject. The Immortality of the
mind. T..
THE BODY AND THE SOUL.
We have Just seen that the body
of man belongs to material things,
therefore perishable. What then Of
the mind? The mind and The soul
are synonymous. They are not the
spirit of man. yet they are spiritual
in essence and are often referred to
as the 'spiritt This, however, is
only a figure of speech. DR.. Buck
says. The soul is thai vital imma-
terial, active substance or principle
in man whereby he perceives, re-
members, reasons and wills. There
fore the soul is the seat Of the in
telled". In connection with DR..
Bucks definition,---the soul is that
immortal part Of man which partakes
of Divine essence. Man was made a
perfect being, but motionless as a
mummy until God breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life and Moses
says, Then he became a living soul.
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
'This immor' atty of the soul is
brought out BY Christ in his admon-
ition to the Apostles when he sad,
Fear not hem. which kill the body
but are not able to- kill the SOUL :,
Christ would never have made any
distinction if the soul had not been
Immortal. otherwise to kill the body
would have mean the death Of the
soul also. See story Of Elijah and
the Widows son. I Kings 17:21-22.
We now see that The soul or mind
Is immortal and can exist indepen-