But we don't want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don't grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
To what extent, then, may solid doctrinal postulations be founded upon such a metaphor, which is obviously founded upon the superficial resemblance between a dead person and one who is merely asleep?  Mason warned that no doctrine "may be deduced with precision, from such a metaphor";[22] and full agreement is felt with this.  However, Christ used this metaphor just prior to performing two resurrections, and the apostle Paul would not have used it here, except for the purpose of suggesting "a continued (even if partly unconscious) existence, and the possibility of a reawakening."[23] In this light, therefore, it seems safe enough to construe this metaphor as teaching: (1) that death is not annihilation; (2) that the manner of existence is changed; (3) that there will be an awakening from death in a resurrection; and (4) that there will be a rejuvenation of bodily strength in the resurrection.