Is There Consciousness After Death?

Is There Consciousness After Death?

Dear Mr. Waddey:
You say that the dead are conscious but what about the following scriptures, Eccle. 9:5,10 and Psalm 146:4 ?
- Shannon

Dear Shannon:
I surmise you have been talking to or reading the material of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

We base our belief that the dead are conscious on the teaching of Christ regarding the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Both men died. Because of their actions on earth they went to different destinies. In torment, the Rich Man recognized his suffering, he was aware of the peace and comfort that Lazarus enjoyed with father Abraham. He remembered the plight of his brothers on earth and begged that a warning might be sent to them. Abraham was aware of the Rich Man's fate and conversed with him.

When Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James and John, there appeared unto him Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matt 17:1-3). Both of these men had long been dead yet they were fully conscious and aware of what Jesus was doing.

In Rev. 6:9-10, John saw a vision of the souls of those who had been martyred for Christ. They "Cried with a great voice saying, How long, O Master...dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" Those martyrs were dead, yet they were aware of the fact that evil men were still prevailing on the earth.

To grasp the meaning of the passages in Ecclesiastes there are some things that must be understood.

The book of Ecclesiastes is the record of Solomon's search for the meaning and purpose of life on earth (1:3, 13). There was a point in his life when he turned away from God and tried by human wisdom and experimentation to find answers to his quest. He tried wisdom, wealth, wine, materialism and sexual pleasure. All were found wanting. His dependence on human wisdom led him to many foolish and erroneous conclusions. In that state of mind he concluded that "man hath no preeminence above the beasts" (Eccle. 3:19). He doubted if man's spirit at death went back to God (3:21). Still depending on unaided human wisdom he concluded that the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward" (9:5) and that there is no knowledge in Sheol (9:10). With unaided human wisdom, one knows nothing about the invisible spirit of man or of life beyond this earthly, material realm. To the man ignorant of God's word, when a person dies, it appears that he ceases to live in all aspects. His dead body has no awareness of its surroundings. He is put in a grave and soon consumed and forgotten. For some years Solomon pursued his vain search for meaning and purpose but concluded that life without God was "Vanity and striving after the wind" (2:26). That means his searching for life's meaning apart from God yielded him nothing more than you would have if you captured a bag full of wind. It is only when you get to final chapter of his book that Solomon reveals where the meaning and purpose of life are found "This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man" (12:13).

In Psalm 146:4, the writer is warning his readers, "Put not your trust in (human) princes, Nor in the son of man (any mortal man), in whom there is no help. His (the strong man you might trust for deliverance) breath goeth forth (he dies), he returneth to the earth (is buried); in that very day his thoughts (i.e. his plans and purposes) perish." The meaning can be illustrated thusly. President John Kennedy was a powerful man. He had great plans for his administration. Many trusted him to be their leader and protector. Yet being mortal, he was struck down in an instant. When he died all his plans and purposes came to an end.

Cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists and a few others, failing to properly understand these passages build up elaborate doctrines on them which are false and harmful to those who accept them as true.

Back -- or go -- Home