The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

III. Canadian “United Church” Committee Report on “Life and Death”

Important as may be the statement of any individual religious leader, the significance of a representative group statement-speaking in behalf of, or reporting to, an entire denomination, and especially for a union of religious bodies-is multiplied proportionately. It is vastly more significant than a one-man opinion. CFF2 941.5

We have already covered the report of the Anglican commission, in England, rendered in 1945 ²⁶ We now turn to a similar “Study of the Christian Hope” prepared by the “Committee on Christian Faith,” authorized by the sixteenth General Council of the United Church of Canada in 1954. After five years’ work on the report, the resultant 126-page statement of a committee of forty, under the chairmanship of Dr. D. M. Mathers-and including the principals of eight theological colleges-was released in 1959. Titled Life and Death, it had three printings in 1959, and received the “general approval” of the appointing body-the General Council of the United Church of Canada. ²⁷ This union comprises the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist bodies of Canada. CFF2 942.1

1. COMMITTEE “SUSPECT” “ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.”

The book comprises twenty-one chapters. The first thirteen have the following headings:
“1. What is the Christian Hope?
“2. What Is the Meaning of Death?
“3. Why Should We Bother About Life After Death?
“4. Why Do We Believe in Life After Death?
“5. What Is Eternal Life?
“6. What Happens When We Die?
“7. What Is Meant by the Resurrection of the Body?
“8. Is There a Purgatory?
“9. Is There Opportunity for Repentance and Salvation After Death?
“10. What Do We Mean by Heaven?
“11. What Do We Mean by Hell?
“12. What Fellowship Have the Living With the Departed?
“13. What Is the Last Judgment?” ²⁸ CFF2 942.2

The Introduction tells of widespread concern over the “final destiny of man,” and mounting interest as to the “Last Things-death and the hereafter.” ²⁹Intensive investigation led the Committee to “suspect certain traditional beliefs, for example, eternal punishment.” ³⁰ CFF2 942.3

2. IMMORTALITY “PUT ON” at RESURRECTION

Considering death to be the “tragic shattering of life,” the committee takes note of the belief of primitive peoples as to the survival of the soul and fancied escape from “their bodies as outworn shells.” It emphasizes the relationship of sin, death, and judgment-death being recognized as “an enemy and robber of man.” ³¹ In chapter four the committee turns to “life after death.” After affirming faith in Christ and His resurrection, it points out that “over against the [popular] belief in the natural immortality of the soul the Christian message asserts the reality of death.” ³² Then follows this arresting statement: CFF2 943.1

“The word ‘immortality’ means ‘deathlessness’ and in the New Testament is not used of man except to describe his life after the resurrection. Paul did not say that man does not die, but that ‘the dead shall be raised imperishable’ (or immortal). He did not say that the soul naturally survives death, but that ‘this mortal must put on immortality.’” ³³ CFF2 943.2

3. HOPE IN “RESURRECTION,” NOT IN “NATURAL IMMORTALITY.”

After declaring that the frequently repeated expression “There is no death” is a “lie,” the report continues:
“Deathlessness is not a quality of the human soul any more than it is a quality of the human body. Indeed, this division of man’s being into an immortal soul and a mortal body does not come from the Bible and actually clashes with the Christian teaching that life beyond death is a work of God’s grace, not a natural unfolding of man’s constitution, and that the Christian hope is in resurrection, a being raised from the dead, rather than in a natural immortality.” ³⁴ CFF2 943.3

4. SEPARABLE SOUL AND BODY NOT BIBLICAL BUT PLATONIC

The source of the non-Biblical concept of soul and body is then declared: CFF2 943.4

“The idea that man consists of two separable parts, soul and body, does not come from the Bible; it comes from the Greek philosophers. And while we would be more than ungrateful if we did not value their magnificent insights and their patient, fearless pursuit of truth through reason, we cannot accept the typical view as expressed by Plato that death is ‘the separation of soul and body,’ and that ‘to be dead is the completion of this, when the soul exists by itself and is released from the body.’” ³⁵ CFF2 943.5

It came, then, from pagan, human philosophy, not divine revelation. CFF2 944.1

5. ONLY GOD “POSSESSES IMMORTALITY” BY “NATURE.”

After noting the truth of the Apostles’ Creed—that the resurrection of the body is the “Bible’s point of view”—the committee adds, “Life beyond death is not thought of in the Bible as disembodied.” ³⁶ The following impressive declaration is then made: CFF2 944.2

“It is only God, the living and eternal One, who possesses immortality or deathlessness by nature. If man is to share in an immortal or eternal life, he can do so only through a gift from God; he must be raised by grace from the dead. In this resurrection we believe, on the basis of the Bible’s testimony, that the essential unity of body and spirit in the personality will be preserved, though of course under the new conditions of a ‘heavenly’ existence. That this is to be man’s destiny is revealed in that mighty climax of the Gospel-the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.” ³⁷ CFF2 944.3

6. IMMORTALITY NOT AN INHERENT POSSESSION

In chapter five, discussing eternal life, the committee asserts that “survival beyond death” is not the result of an innate or constitutional element. The report is packed with such Biblical truisms as: CFF2 944.4

“The Bible does not teach the natural immortality of the soul. It does not assure us that survival beyond death is a result of our natural constitution. In the Bible the word ‘soul’ really means ‘life.’ Man is a living soul. But he may be just as well described, from the point of view of the Bible, as a living body. It does not occur to the Biblical writers that ‘soul’ is a part of human personality which is somehow more sacred than the body and which may exist apart from the body. Man is distinguished from other living creatures not by the possession of an immortal soul, but because he is made in the image of God, that is, he is capable of knowing God, of receiving God’s revelation, of responding to God in worship, obedience and service.... CFF2 944.5

“Eternal life does not mean the natural immortality of the soul. We are not immortal until God makes us so. Eternal life is inseparably linked with the resurrection of the body.” ³⁸ CFF2 945.1

7. ETERNAL LIFE BROUGHT TO “PERFECTION” AT SECOND ADVENT

Defining “eternal life” as a “sharing in the life of God,” the report adds: CFF2 945.2

“Eternal life does not mean the natural immortality of the soul. It is a new creation, the result of a new birth. It is the resurrection-life.” ³⁹ CFF2 945.3

“Eternal life, then, is the life of the world to come. But it is begun here in Baptism and brought to its perfection at the return of Christ, when the new creation, the final fulfilment of God’s purpose, shall be disclosed.” ⁴⁰ CFF2 945.4

8. TWO VIEWS—DEATH-SLEEP” v. RESURRECTION AT DEATH

Stating that the “act of dying, by itself, does not give any advantage to the dead over the living,” the committee notes two concepts of the intermediate state: CFF2 945.5

“There are some who point to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, and say that after death the Christian ‘sleeps’ until the return of Christ, and then is raised from death to be with Christ forever. By ‘sleep’ Paul means, of course, simply ‘death’, so that this passage seems to say that between his death and the return of Christ the Christian remains in death, although his resurrection is a sure and certain hope because he is ‘asleep in Christ’, or is one of ‘the dead in Christ’.” ⁴¹ CFF2 945.6

Other statements of Paul seem to imply that “far from being in a death-sleep awaiting the resurrection, the ‘dead in Christ’ are closer than ever to him [Christ], enjoying a conscious communion with him.” ⁴² CFF2 945.7

Such passages seem to imply that the believer’s resurrection “takes place at his death.” ⁴³ The committee frankly recognizes the difficulty of reconciling these two views.” ⁴⁴ CFF2 945.8

9. AFTERLIFE DEPENDS ON RESURRECTION

Turning in chapter seven to the resurrection, the committee states: “The Bible does not recognize any division of the human personality into body and soul.” ⁴⁵ These united refer to “the total personality,” also “the possibility of life after death depends on resurrecton.” Further, God’s “gift of a new body” still “maintains our identity.” The distinction is this: “While the body of flesh is perishable, the new body is imperishable.” ⁴⁶ And it adds, “There can be no question of the reality of judgment.” ⁴⁷ CFF2 945.9

10. PURGATORY AND SPIRITUALISM NOT BIBLICAL

Declaring that “the Roman Catholic conception of Purgatory is not Biblical, ⁴⁸ and referring to the two classes of mankind-one group destined for eternal punishment, the other for eternal life- the committee states: “It is not at the death of individuals but ‘when the Son of man comes in his glory’ that the separation of souls takes place.” ⁴⁹ CFF2 946.1

Turning then to the conflicting views of universal salvation and eternal punishment, and avoiding clear definitions of “heaven” and “hell,” as to the intent of the parable of Dives and Lazarus, the committee says: “We have no right, on the basis of this parable, to go further than this and, for example, to interpret Hell as the place of everlasting fiery torment.” ⁵⁰ CFF2 946.2

As to the claims of Spiritualism, and communication with the departed, the committee goes on record with this statement: “Spiritualism finds no support in the Bible. It is forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10-11.” ⁵¹ CFF2 946.3

Also rejected is the Roman Catholic idea of “prayer for the souls in Purgatory” and “praying souls out of Purgatory.” ⁵² CFF2 946.4

11. LEANS TOWARD UNIVERSALISM ON DESTINY OF WICKED

Turning to the fate of the wicked, the committee treads lightly. It recognizes, from John 3:16, the “possibility of perishing.” But it leans toward Universalism.” ⁵³ While it recognizes the grave warnings of our Lord in Matthew 13:41, 42, it adds: “We cannot conceive at all of everlasting physical torment in fire.” But in the very next sentence it says, “We can conceive of final and absolute extinction and loss.” ⁵⁴ It then adds: CFF2 946.5

“We cannot see how the repentence [sic] that would be involved in this state of mind [weeping and gnashing of teeth] could fail to lead to salvation, since God is eternal love.” ⁵⁵ CFF2 947.1

The committee frankly says that it can “not arrive at any completely satisfactory conclusion.” ⁵⁶ But on the nature of man it is refreshingly clear. CFF2 947.2