Luke 16 (NKJV)

As stated we believe our Lord’s statements in regards to the Rich man and Lazarus to be a parable, a FIGURATIVE portrayal of events, however some are still insistent upon believing it to be a LITERAL portrayal of events. With this in mind we should like to consider our next verse from the literal perspective and note its inconsistencies.

Here we will disregard the sound scriptural teachings (some of which we noted in our last post) in respects to the true nature of hell (Hades) as well as death, and imagine as our eternal torment friends do that Hades is an actual place of fire and brimstone where its inhabitants are very much alive.

“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.”

Verse 23 “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.”

So here we have an individual who following his death was casts into Hades simply because he was rich, was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. As stated previously nothing was said as to whether or not he was a good man or bad man, it is merely an assumption that somehow he was a bad man, based on the fact that he was in Hades?

Now it is stated that he lifted up his eyes and beheld Abraham afar off. How he managed to do this we have no idea baring the fact that being in the “flames of hell” his flesh and eyes would have long since melted away. And yet somehow mysteriously he is not only able to see, but to see all the way up to heaven and to pick out among all those who dwell there, Lazarus and Abraham. This would be quite a feat for any man even if he weren’t in hell but simply here upon the earth looking up to heaven.

What about you, can you see heaven from where you are standing? I certainly can’t, I have enough problems just seeing a street sign a ways up the road.

The Scriptures tell us that the kingdom of heaven comes without observation that is to say (apart from the earthly phase of the kingdom) the heavenly phase is entirely invisible to the natural eye, but here our eternal torment friends would have us believe otherwise. What say the Scriptures? “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) The spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God will always be invisible to men, as those composing it will be of the divine, spiritual nature, which no man hath seen nor can see (1 Tim. 6:16); yet its presence and power will be mightily manifested, chiefly through its human representatives here on earth.

Now of course we can pretty much guess how our eternal torment friends are going to explain this one away, employing yet another one of the many false doctrines taught by the professing church (orthodoxy) they are going to tell us that it is not the body (the flesh) of the rich man which is in torments, but his soul. The theory is that the soul is the real being, a spark of divinity, possessed of divine quality and intelligent life, etc., separate and apart from the body; and that it inhabits the human body for a time, and uses it for a house, and when the body is worn out, disabled or dies the soul abandons it.

Some as suggested above believe the soul to be immortal while others simply suggest that God keeps the souls of the condemned alive so that they can suffer their just (?) punishment, however both suggestions are unscriptural.

Human theory says there must be something which never dies; else there can be no future life. The divine theory says, the same God who created the individual in the first place is able to resurrect him after he dies. This is the conflict between the Word of God and all the human theories of earth amongst the civilized as well as amongst the heathen: all human theories teach that man does not die, and hence has no need of a Life-giver and a resurrection (In other words they affirm the Adversaries lie, “Thou shall not surely die”, Gen 3:4). The Bible theory is that man does die, and that without the Life-giver, and without a resurrection, death would indeed end all, and there would be no future life.

The Scriptures in no way support the idea that the soul can exist apart from the body. A soul is the combination of body (organism) and the spirit of life also referred to as the breath of life; it is a living, thinking creature. Man does not have a soul. Man IS a soul. If the breath of life be taken from the individual the soul ceases to be, if the organism dies the soul ceases to be.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (soul).” NKJV Gen 2:7

We might well use the Candle Illustration to help aid us in picturing the relationship between the human body, spirit and soul.

First the unlit candle would correspond to the inanimate human body or organism which the Lord formed from the dust of the earth, the lighting of the candle would correspond to initial spark of life imparted by the Creator, when he breathed into the nostrils of the organism the breath of life. The flame or light which resulted when the oxygenized atmosphere, united with the carbon of the candle in supporting the flame, corresponds to the breath of life or spirit of life, united with the human organism producing soul or intelligent existence.

If now an accident should occur which would destroy the candle, the flame, of course, would cease to be; so too if a human or animal body be destroyed, as by disease or accident, the soul, the being, would cease to be. Or if the supply of air were cut off from the candle flame, as by an extinguisher or snuffer, or by submerging the candle in water, the light would be extinguished even though the candle remained unimpaired. So the soul, life, existence, of man would cease if the breath of life were cut off by drowning or asphyxiation, while the body might be comparatively sound.

For more on this subject see our blog post entitled, “What is a Soul”.

Death is the cessation of life. When a person dies, they cease to exist as a living thinking person in any respect. “In that very day, his thoughts perish”. (Psa 146:4). “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where thou goes”. (Eccl 9:10). There is no lingering consciousness at all after death.

According to the Scriptures, “The wages of sin is death,” “The SOUL that sins, IT shall die,” (Ezek 18:4) “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.” “There is none other name given under heaven or amongst men whereby we may be saved but the name of Jesus,” hence “He … that hath not the Son shall NOT SEE LIFE, but the wrath of God (the Adamic curse, the sentence of death) abides on him”.

Thus we conclude that it would be impossible for the body, the flesh of the rich man to exist in this hell of fire and brimstone as well as impossible for his soul (somehow alive and apart from the organism, another impossibility) to be in hell. As illustrated above if the organism has died, has return to the dust from whence it had come, and the spirit or power of life has returned to its source, then the flame (the soul) would cease to be.

We will continue our examination of this parable in our next post.