The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

II. National Council’s Swaim-Immortality a “Gift,” Not “Inherent” Endowment

We now turn to individual witnesses. In the International Journal of Religious Education ¹² for April, 1960, Dr. J. CARTER SWAIM, ¹³ of its editorial board, had an illuminating article titled “Life and Immortality,” which exemplifies the present growing denial that immortality is an inherent possession of man, but springs instead from Greek philosophy and involves the common dualistic concept of body and spirit. CFF2 999.1

1. “NOTION” OF IMMORTAL SOUL NOT BIBLICAL, BUT GREEK

Declaring that it was Christ who “brought immortality to light,” Dr. Swaim exposes the Greek origin of the popular concept of Innate Immortality:
“The notion that every human being comes into the world possessed of an immortal soul is Greek rather than biblical. The Greeks held that man was composed of two parts, body and spirit. The body is subject to decay, but the spirit is eternal.” ¹⁴ CFF2 999.2

The Hebrews, on the other hand, he says, did not so divide man, but “regarded him as a person.” Referring to 1 Timothy 6:16, stating that God “alone has immortality,” Swaim adds: “This runs counter to the popular notion that every human being is ‘an immortal soul.’” ¹⁵ CFF2 999.3

2. MAN ONLY “IMMORT-ABLE”; GOD ALONE IMMORTAL

Answering poet Hawthorne’s inquiry as to whether we were not “meant to be immortal,” Swaim says pertinently: “The answer is that man is immort-able-that is to say, capable of attaining or receiving immortality. Our normal state is one of lifelessness.” ¹⁶ CFF2 1000.1

Then comes this careful distinction:
“God ‘alone has immortality’—and this by reason of his own being and nature. He is the self-existent one. This is what he meant at the burning bush: ‘I am who I am (Exodus 3:14). God is the only one inherently immortal. Any other being who possesses immortality must receive it as a gift. That is precisely the good news of Easter. Christ has brought life and immortality to light.” ¹⁷ CFF2 1000.2

3. NOT NATIVE ENDOWMENT BUT GIFT OF GOD

Dr. Swaim continues by placing the Greek dualism in contrast with the Biblical portrayal:
“The contrast is evident when we consider again the Greek notion that immortality applied to one part of man’s being. Another part of him was held to be inherently evil and subject to decay. There was indeed a Greek epigram that a body is a tomb. The inadequacy of this doctrine is revealed in one of their own legends.” ¹⁸ CFF2 1000.3

Swaim concludes by declaring impressively that eternal life is ever a “gift” of God:
“Eternal life is not something with which we are natively endowed, nor to which we are naturally entitled. It is a gift which God, who alone Possesses it, bestows upon us. But it is in the nature of a gift that we do not have to accept it. We can reject it if we like.” ¹⁹ CFF2 1000.4

Furthermore, “this gift is mediated to us through a Person [Jesus Christ, not through abstract reason nor wonderful philosophical schemes.” ²⁰ CFF2 1000.5

Such is Dr. Swaim’s clear statement of position in the International Journal of Religious Education for April, 1960. ²¹ CFF2 1000.6