The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

V. Drew’s Michalson-No Immortality Apart From Resurrection

Another Methodist pastor and professor spoke out in 1958 in the closing chapter of his Faith for personal crises. He is CARL MICHALSON, ⁴⁴ professor of systematic theology and philosophy of Drew University. Five of the lectures were first given as the Willson Lectures at Southwestern University in 1957. Lecture eight was titled “The Crisis of Death.” Contrasting the vital difference between a man simply dying with his dying “in Christ,” Michalson says of the latter that such “has already conquered the second death.” ⁴⁵ For, he says significantly, “death for the Bible is not simply the last moment of life; it is the last enemy.” ⁴⁶ This leads to the point of our quest. CFF2 966.1

1. SOULS DO NOT EXIST INDEPENDENT OF BODIES

After referring to “sentimental views about the imperishability of the soul,” Michalson first declares that “there are no instances of souls existing independently of nervous systems.” ⁴⁷ There are no discarnate souls. “Naturalism,” he observes, “maintains that when the body dies man dies.” ⁴⁸ And, Michalson adds, Christianity sustains this very view. The soul does not live on, apart. Note his clear statement: CFF2 966.2

“It [Christianity] does not hold out the hope of the immortality of the soul. All flesh is grass, it withereth. When a man dies, he dies completely. Only God is immortal. (John 5:26) We carry the sentence of death within us, as Paul the Apostle said, in order not to trust in ourselves. (2 Corinthians 1:9) The Bible knows nothing of the existence of souls independent of bodies:” ⁴⁹ CFF2 966.3

Michalson remarks that, as to this, materialist Thomas Hobbes, of the seventeenth century, “is on more solid exegetical ground than many Christians when he says ‘that the soul of man is in its own nature eternal, and a living creature independent of the body; or that any mere man is immortal, otherwise than by the resurrection in the last days, except Enos and Elias, is a doctrine not apparent in Scripture.’” ⁵⁰ CFF2 967.1

2. NOT INNATE IMMORTALITY BUT RESURRECTION

Michalson is very explicit in declaring that all future life for man is “contingent upon the resurrection”—first of Christ, and then of His followers. Here is his impressive statement: CFF2 967.2

“What the Bible professes is not the immortality of the soul but the resurrection of the dead. A man dies completely. If he lives again, it is through the same power that brought him to life in the beginning. The sign of the Christian’s hope of resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because he lives, we shall live. Our future life is contingent not upon some spark of life within us which death never extinguishes. It is contingent upon the resurrection of our Lord who, in conquering sin in the world has thereby conquered death. If there is an immortality, it is not the immortality of the soul but ‘the immortality of the God relation.”’ ⁵¹ CFF2 967.3

That, Michalson remarks, is the glory of the “Christian faith.” It is centered in Christ. Note it: CFF2 967.4

“Each man’s death can be substituted for-by the death of Jesus Christ. Because he died and rose from the dead, no man needs to die the second death. When we die, we die fully. When we rise, it will be because he died and rose.” ⁵² CFF2 967.5

Michalson reiterates: “The continuity of our life resides not in us but in Him who by His grace has given us the promise of life in Jesus Christ.” ⁵³ CFF2 967.6