In this lecture, you’ll learn about anthropology–the bible’s view of humanity. In particular, we’ll focus on the two ends of the spectrum: creation and death. We’ll see how the biblical view of humanity is rather exalted since we are made in God’s image. We’ll examine what the bible teaches about death and resurrection and how the intermediate state is regularly labeled sleep.
—— Notes ——
Why start here? it’s where the bible starts (creation)
anthropology: your understanding of humanity
where do humans come from?
two typical answers
unguided natural processes based on huge amounts of time and inconceivably unlikely chance events (evolution)
God made the first people (imago dei)
Genesis account
Gen 2.7: God personally creates humans
with heavenly bodies God says, “let there be”
with plants God says, “let there be”
with animals (air, land, or sea) God says, “let there be”
with humankind God stoops down
he forms us; he shapes us from dust, like clay
he breaths into our nostrils the breath of life
sounds like mouth to mouth
animals have the breath of life, but not such a tender description
consider God’s human design
22 square feet of skin
206 bones
25 feet of intestines
45 miles of nerves
100,000 miles of blood vessels
can live from hottest equatorial climates to the frigid polar caps
skin provides
waterproof barrier
temperature regulation
sensory input
fingers are both finely tuned (painting) and strong (boxers)
wrists enjoy 160 degrees of motion
throw frisbee
ride a motorcycle
ball and socket shoulder joint allows
360 degrees of motion
lift an object from the ground over our heads in one fluid motion
hearts pump 2,000 gallons of blood each day
never rest
stomachs produce hydrochloric acid powerful enough to digest solid metal
biped design allows for ridiculous range of activities
climb trees
run marathons
ballet
ears pick up incredible range of sounds
soft sounds
rock concerts
voices can whisper, speak, yell, sing
eyes allow for nearly 180 degrees of horizontal vision
three dimensions
brains process everything effortlessly
and assemble a realistic perception of the external world
capable of thinking abstractly (what’s better courage or integrity?)
can imagine future possibilities
mental simulator to run through plans
art, science, relationships, sports, etc.
people are capable of incredible creations
Shakespeare
your favorite song
Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai (more than a half mile high)
Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China (more than 100 miles)
bicycles, performance cars, submarines, airplanes, and spaceships
we are discoverers
charted a billion stars
catalogued over a million animals species
we are producers
130 million books
over 28 million songs
more than 2 million movies
we peer into space far away and examine the minute DNA within the microscopic world
you gotta admit, that God did a pretty amazing job making us!
God’s creation was good (7x)
significant b/c it means God made the universe and people the way he wanted
it wasn’t some accident (Gnostics)
was God’s original plan for humans to live forever?
how do you know?
Gen 2.9; 3.22-24
something went wrong
our first parents rebelled
what was the consequence?
Gen 3.19
What is death?
simple definition: the absence of life
whatever death means it can’t be the same as being alive
you can use the bible to support any view of death you have
options include
heaven (be a star like Lion King, float on a cloud, stare at God forever)
purgatory (tortured for a little while before going to heaven)
hell (tortured forever)
reincarnation (turn into a bear)
annihilation
ghosts, spirits that haunt buildings (6th sense)
asleep until the resurrection
the question is: where does the preponderance of the evidence lie?
what is the dominant phrase people use to talk about death?
so-and-so “passed away”
doesn’t that assume that they went somewhere?
sleep is the dominant metaphor the bible uses to talk about death
1 Kings 2.10 David slept with his fathers
1 Kings 11.43 Solomon slept with his fathers
1 Kings 14.20 Jeroboam slept with his fathers
Job 3.11-14 death is lying down, quietly in sleep, and at rest
Ecclesiastes 9.5-6 the dead know nothing; they are clueless about what happens under the sun
Ecclesiastes 9.10 no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave (clearly teaches dead are unconscious)
Psalm 6.4-5 in death/the grave people have no remembrance or praise of God
Psalm 13.3 help me or else I’ll sleep the sleep of death
Psalm 115.17 the dead do not praise the LORD
Psalm 146.3-4 breath [ruach/spirit] departs, return to earth, plans perish
John 11.11-14 Jesus calls Lazarus asleep when he is dead
Acts 2.29, 34 David died, was buried, and did not ascend into heaven
Acts 7.60 Stephen cried out and then fell asleep
1 Corinthians 15.6 some of the 500 who saw Jesus have fallen asleep
death is like time travel
ex 1: fall asleep in car and wake up a couple of hours later
ex 2: getting wisdom teeth removed (Ruth: “How was it” me: “They didn’t do it yet”)
two perspectives
from one point of view king David has waited in the grave for 3,000 years
from David’s perspective he instantaneously goes from his last breath to the resurrection
resurrection is the key to immortality
this is how someone escapes death and acquires immortality
Daniel 12.2
John 5.28-29
1 Cor 15.51-55
resurrection happens at the coming of Jesus on the “last day” at the “last trump”
1 Cor 15.17-24
John 6.39-40, 44, 54
1 Thes 4.13-17
dangers of believing in conscious intermediate state
opens the door for spiritualism
Lev 20.6 people whoring after mediums and necromancers will be cut off
Lev 20.27 any medium/necromancer will be put to death
Deut 18.9-13 abominable practice, a reason why Canaanites were expelled
advantages of the sleep of the dead
comfort to know loved one is just resting in peace (RIP)
would be really weird if they watched everything you do
don’t need to pray for them a million times hoping to change God’s mind
avoid abuses by church (sale of indulgences)
conditional immortality: immortality is conditioned on God giving it at resurrection, rather than innate
why are most Christians confused about this?
ancient Egyptians believed in the kingdom of the dead and built huge tombs (Pyramids)
Plato famously defended immortality of the soul in his Phaedo (talking about Socrates’ death)
Socrates: Do we believe that there is such a thing as death?
Simmias: To be sure, replied Simmias.
Socrates: Is it not the separation of soul and body? And to be dead is the completion of this; when the soul exists in herself, and is released from the body and the body is released from the soul, what is this but death?
Simmias: Just so, he replied.
the biblical idea was hard for people without a Jewish background to swallow
two unique ideas
the dead are asleep until resurrection (Jewish)
souls escape their bodies at death (Pagan)
hybrid view: bodies sleep while soul enjoys heaven until resurrection when it reunites with the body (“Christian”)
contradicts all the scripture that says people sleep (not just their bodies, see also John 11.34; 20.15)
makes the resurrection an awkward leftover
why would you want to become restricted by your body after you had lived as pure energy in heaven
what about Lazarus getting torn out of heavenly bliss to inhabit his body?
eclipses the real hope by putting heaven-at-death
doctrines are interconnected
CI leads to a proper understanding of Christ
CI leads to a proper understanding of the atonement
CI leads to a proper understanding of the kingdom
CI leads to a proper understanding of hell
this one is really good to start with when talking to Christian friends
it doesn’t seem all that threatening
it’s so easy to show from so many verses
—— Links ——
See other episodes in this Theology Class
Find more Restitutio classes here
For more on conditional immortality see these posts
For excellent podcasts and biblical resources on CI, see rethinkinghell.com
Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
