Excerpts From

Life and Immortality

An Examination of the Nature and Meaning of Life and Death as They Are Revealed in the Scriptures

Over 75 Free Online Bible Commentaries
Pulpit
Expositors
Keil & Delitzsch
Matthew Henry

By Basil Atkinson, M.A., PhD.

Born in 1895, Basil Atkinson gained a PhD in 1926 at Magdalene College, Cambridge. From 1925 to 1960 he served as Under-Librarian in the University Library there. He became well-known in evangelical circles as a leader of devotional Bible readings. He was the main adviser of the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union during the years when the Inter-Varsity Fellowship was being built up and conservative Evangelicals were trying to extricate themselves from liberalism. He was the great pillar of orthodoxy.

INTRODUCTION

In the sections that follow I have sought to use positive arguments drawn from Scripture only and to examine as far as possible all relevant scriptural material...We will ask ourselves the following questions. If Man's consciousness is carried by an invisible part of him which survives, how is it that unconsciousness can supervene from a physical accident such as a blow on the head? Should we not reasonably have supposed it to continue unaffected by sleep, accident, or any physical cause? If the godly are in a conscious disembodied state of bliss after death but before resurrection, how is it that there is no hint of recollection of it by the half dozen or so persons whose resurrection to life on earth is described for us in the Bible? If the godly dead are now in a state of perfect satisfaction and bliss, what is the object of their resurrection? If the ungodly are in conscious misery for eternity and above all if they continue in increasing sin for eternity, how can we believe the apostle's supreme declaration in 1 Corinthians 15:28 that God will be all in all without narrowing its scope and distorting its meaning?...Finally I would ask all who are interested and especially any who remain unconvinced by the arguments of the sections that follow or feel doubts over them to look up carefully the references given and earnestly and honestly to search the Scriptures to see whether these things are so....at the same time to remember that God speaks of Himself as the One "who only hath immortality" (1 Tim. 6:16), words which language forbids us to interpret as the ONE Who only has no beginning, but as the One Who alone has natural immortality in Himself..."

THE NATURE OF MAN

As we cannot understand what the Bible reveals about immortality and a future life until we discover the nature of death, so we cannot understand what it teaches about the meaning of death until we first obtain a clear idea of the nature of man...We must go to the Scriptures and seek to read them without the intrusion, as far as possible, of any preconceived ideas, in the light of the Holy Spirit's guidance. If we are given grace to do this we can be assured of finding the truth. No one who believes that the Scriptures are God's Word written can believe that they can be inconsistent with themselves. Thus humble study and research must reveal a clear and consistent teaching on any subject...into which we are led to search. It is evident that the Scriptures must be clear and not confusing.

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The Creation of Man

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Animals and Souls

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The Image of God

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Man a Living Soul

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The Soul of Man

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Frequent Weak Sense of Nephesh

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The Soul and the Emotions

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Mind and Feelings

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The Nephesh in Life and Death

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The Nt Corresponding Word For Nephesh

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Psychee and Animals

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Psychee and Man

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Psychee Meaning Self

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Psychee as the Seat of Emotions

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Psychee in the Sense of Life

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Soul and Spirit

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Hebrew N'shamah - Breath, Wind, Air

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The Breath of the Spirit

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The Spirit of God

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Ruagh as Life Principle

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Ruagh as the Disposition and Seat of Emotions

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Spirit in the New Testament

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Pneuma as a Person

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Pneuma as Wind

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Pneuma as Life Principle

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Pneuma as the Regenerate Nature

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Pneuma in 2 Corinthians 7:1

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Pneuma as Man's Disposition and Character

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The Pneuma of the Prophets

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Ruagh and Pneuma

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The Heart

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New Testament Teaching

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The Witch Of Endor

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Hebrew Muth

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Hebrew Gava

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Greek Words Meaning "To Die"

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Hebrew and Greek Words for Death

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Maveth Used Figuratively

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Greek Thanatos in the New Testament

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Death as Sleep

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Death as Sleep in the New Testament

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Greek Katheudein with Reference to Death

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The Rephaim

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The Death of Sisera

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Nekros in the New Testament

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The Grave

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Rest in the Grave

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All Men Together in the Grave

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The Ancient Creeds

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Passing Alive Into Sh'ol

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The Depth of Sh'ol

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Sh'ol and the Resurrection

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The Sorrows of Sh'ol

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Figurative Language About Sh'ol

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The Silence of the Grave

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Sh'ol Used for Second Death

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The Pit

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Conclusion

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Revelation or Inference?

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Relationship of Survival and Resurrection

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Those Brought Back to Life

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Everlasting Life

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Victory Over Death

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Resurrection in the Old Testament

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The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

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Resurrection in the Gospels

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Resurrection in the Gospel of John

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Resurrection in the Acts and General Epistles

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Resurrection in the Apostle Paul's Epistles

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Resurrection In The Apocalypse

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The Second Coming in the Acts and the General Epistles

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The Coming of the Lord in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul

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The Second Coming in the Apocalypse

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Paradise

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Everlasting Life

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The Inheritance and the Crown

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Glory, Honor and Immortality

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Universalism Unscriptural

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Death the Wages of Sin

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The Second Death

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MUTH and APOTHENEIN

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Everlasting Destruction

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Destruction in the Old Testament

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Greek Words For "Destruction"

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To "Destroy" in the Greek Nt

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Apollymi and Death

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Further Greek Words In The Nt

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Silence And Darkness

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Destruction

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Weeping And Gnashing Of Teeth

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Everlasting Punishment

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The Lost In Prison

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Suffering Of The Lost

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The Suffering And The Death Of Christ

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The Consummation Of The Wicked

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Hell Fire

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Greek Pyr In The Nt

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Unquenchable Fire

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Gehenna

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The Lake Of Fire

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