The Signs of the Times, vol. 13
October 27, 1887
“The Scripture Cannot Be Broken” The Signs of the Times 13, 41, p. 647.
HOW much of the Bible shall remain when the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is in question? Here comes the Christian Union and says that the fifth and tenth verses of the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes, “are not to be regarded as divine revelations respecting the future state.” The Union had said that there is nothing in the Bible limiting probation to this life, and a correspondent asked for an explanation of these two verses. Here is the answer in full:— SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.1
“The passages referred to are as follows: ‘But the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.’ ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.’ Ecclesiastes records the experience of one who had made full trial of the world and its pleasure, living without any spiritual faith or hope. He regards, as a result, that life as vanity, and the conclusion of his experiences is that the true way to live is to fear God and keep his commandments. The verses given above are not to be regarded as divine revelations respecting the future state; if so, then divine revelation would disclose that there is no immortality, no life beyond the grave; they are to be regarded as the expression of despair which inevitably and always accompanies the philosophy of materialism and the life of worldliness.” SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.2
Well, let that stand so for a little while, and let us look further. David said of man, “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. And this, “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17. And this, “In death there is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?” Psalm 6:5. Are these words “to be regarded as the expression of despair which inevitably and always accompanies the philosophy of materialism and the life of worldliness”? Are these the words also of one who is recording “the experience of one who had made full trial of the world and its pleasure, living without any spiritual faith or hope”? Is that the kind of a man that David was? Did he live without any spiritual faith or hope? Was his the philosophy of materialism and the life of worldliness? And are these verses also not to be regarded as divine revelations respecting the future state? SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.3
Job, too, according to the estimate of the Christian Union, was a man living without any spiritual faith or hope. His, too, was “the philosophy of materialism and the life of worldliness.” For he said: “But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Chap. 14:10-12. Again, speaking of his infancy, he said: “Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.” And again he says: “Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” Chap. 10:18-22. Of the dead he says: “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Chap. 14:21. SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.4
Good king Hezekiah, too, just after the Lord had miraculously restored him to health, and while thanking and praising the Lord for it, fell into the “materialistic philosophy” of the same worldly crowd, for he said, “The grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.” Isaiah 38:18. SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.5
Paul also was tinctured with it, for he said: “If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.” And, “If the dead rise not ... then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” 1 Corinthians 15:32, 16-18. SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.6
Now if the words in Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 are not to be regarded as divine revelations respecting the future state, then how can these words of David, and Job, and Hezekiah, and Paul be regarded as such? And if it be left for men to decide which of the words of God are to be regarded as divine revelations regarding a future state, and which are not, then what is the use of the Lord’s saying anything on the subject? SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.7
The fact is that the words of Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 are divine revelations regarding the state of man between death and the resurrection; as are also the words of David, and Job, and Hezekiah, and Paul, above quoted, with many others that might be quoted. In short, the whole Bible, with all its doctrines, all its arguments, and all its conclusions, is in perfect accord with the plain text of these passages which the Christian Union sets down and excludes from divine revelation as the expression of the despair of the philosophy of materialism and a life of worldliness. It is true that with this view of the Scriptures, there is no place there for the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. But that does not affect the Scripture at all; it only shows the utter falsity of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. And it is time to suspect the correctness of any doctrine when it presumes to set aside the plain words of inspiration, as “not to be regarded as divine revelations” upon the very subject on which they speak. SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.8
But, says the Union, if these words are to be regarded as divine revelations, “then divine revelation would disclose that there is no immortality, no life beyond the grave.” Not at all. It only shows what it was intended to show, and what is manifestly the divinely revealed truth, that there is no immortality, no life in the grave, where men do certainly go. For that same book of Ecclesiastes abundantly shows that there is to be life beyond the grave. But that life can only come through the resurrection of the dead. The whole difficulty is that in the doctrinal scheme of the immortality of the soul there is no place for death, nor for the grave, nor for the resurrection of the dead, while by the Bible all these are held constantly in view. Death comes alike to all; all go alike to the grave; and there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. Those who, through faith in Christ, have done good, shall come forth from the graves unto the resurrection of life, while those who have done evil shall come forth unto the resurrection of damnation. SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.9
It is better to believe what the Bible says than to try to set aside so much of it as does not agree with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. “The Scripture cannot be broken.” “The word of God shall stand forever.” SITI October 27, 1887, page 647.10
J.