The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

V. Conclusion: Immortal Soulism Collapses Under Scrutiny

1. FOURFOLD CASE AGAINST POPULAR CONTENTION

In the light of the full-rounded evidence here surveyed, we reject the story of Dives and Lazarus as in any way proving the continuing consciousness of the dead or as establishing the postulate of the Eternal Torment of the wicked. Such a dual contention is wholly without logical justification, and, as seen, flatly contravenes both the testimony of Christ and the consistent witness of Scripture. Death is consistently set forth throughout the Old Testament as a condition of silence, darkness, and unconsciousness, not of life and activity, and joy or agony. CFF1 267.3

In the light of all the facts and factors, we must consequently conclude: CFF1 267.4

(1) That the characters in this dialogue, with its parabolic personifications, were wholly imaginary. The legendary episode did not happen literally, and could not happen; CFF1 267.5

(2) That the timing was likewise fictitious, for it clearly antedated the Biblical sequence, and is consequently in conflict with Bible truth in this area; and CFF1 267.6

(3) That, as this is the only place in the New Testament where Hades is portrayed as a place of torment, in this fable form—just as in the Old Testament Isaiah raises dead kings in she’ol to utter a taunt upon Babylon (Isaiah 14:4-11)—it cannot and does not nullify the whole galaxy of positive, explicit, nonfigurative and inescapable Bible teaching upon which alone Christian doctrine is to be built and sustained. Pagan Platonism, polluting the Jewish faith, which Jesus cited but did not endorse in this legendary fable-parable, should never be allowed to corrupt sound Christian doctrine, which Christ came to establish and protect. CFF1 267.7

2. SPECIFIC COUNTS AGAINST ACCEPTANCE ARE DETERMINATIVE

We should therefore reject the contention that the sleeping souls of the damned are presently alive in torment, for that implies that man’s reward is received at death. But that fallacy CFF1 269.1

(1) nullifies the judgment by anticipating its appointed time. CFF1 269.2

(2) completely contradicts the clear testimony that the dead are asleep. CFF1 269.3

(3) represents disembodied spirits as inconsistently Possessing bodily members. CFF1 269.4

(4) puts the spirits in full view of each other forever in the future world—another example of the infiltration of Persian Dualism into Platonism, and thence into Jewish thinking. CFF1 269.5

Or, to put it in another way: (1) God’s appointed time of grace for man is before death and the resurrection—which is the main point and purpose of the parable; (2) retribution comes only after the resurrection; and (3) life after death is always contingent and consequent upon the resurrection. These determinative principles are violated in a literal interpretation. The story of Dives and Lazarus was never designed to teach conditions on the other side of death. That is an extraneous contention that has been introduced without warrant. It is fallacious as an argument and is unworthy of the name of sound exegesis. The literalistic “problem” of the passage collapses under the weight of its own inconsistencies. CFF1 269.6