So Christians , what did faithful Jews believe death to be?
Simply put, they believed that death is the opposite of life. Psalm 146:4 tells what happens when the spirit, or life-force, leaves a human being: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” Similarly, King Solomon wrote that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.”—Ecclesiastes 9:5.
Why, then, were many first-century Jews, such as the Zealots at Masada, (Remember Jimmy Jones ) so convinced of the immortality of the soul?
The Jews got this idea, not from the Bible, but from the Greeks. Between the seventh and fifth centuries B.C.E., the concept seems to have made its way from mysterious Greek religious cults to Greek philosophy. The idea of an afterlife where bad souls would receive painful retribution had long held great appeal, and the notion took shape and spread. Philosophers debated endlessly on the precise nature of the soul. Homer claimed that the soul flitted off at the time of death, making an audible buzzing, chirping, or rustling sound. Epicurus said that the soul actually had mass and was, therefore, an infinitesimal body.
But perhaps the greatest proponent of the immortal soul was the Greek philosopher Plato, of the fourth century B.C.E. His description of the death of his teacher, Socrates, reveals convictions much like those of the Zealots of Masada centuries later. As scholar Oscar Cullmann puts it, “Plato shows us how Socrates goes to his death in complete peace and composure. The death of Socrates is a beautiful death. Nothing is seen here of death’s terror. Socrates cannot fear death, since indeed it sets us free from the body. . . . Death is the soul’s great friend. So he teaches; and so, in wonderful harmony with his teaching, he dies.”
It was evidently during the Maccabean period, in the second century before Christ, that Jews began to assimilate this teaching from the Greeks. In the first century C.E., Josephus tells us that the Pharisees and the Essenes—powerful Jewish religious groups—espoused this doctrine. Some poetry that was probably composed in that era reflects the same belief.
Jehovah God cannot lie….God says You Die……..Satan says You Don’t…..Whom do YOU Believe?
Fireball You Amaze Me sometimes You are right ,Sleeping…Awaiting The Resurrection
The first-century Christians did not view the soul as the Greeks did. Consider, for example, the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. If Lazarus had had an immortal soul that flitted off, free and happy, at the time of death, would not the account in John chapter 11 read very differently? Surely Jesus would have told his followers if Lazarus was alive and well and conscious in heaven; on the contrary, he echoed the Hebrew Scriptures and told them that Lazarus was asleep, unconscious. (Verse 11) Surely Jesus would have rejoiced if his friend was enjoying a wonderful new existence; instead, we find him weeping publicly over this death. (Verse 35) Surely, if Lazarus’ soul had been in heaven, reveling in blissful immortality, Jesus would never have been so cruel as to summon him back to live a few more years in the “prison” of an imperfect physical body amid sick and dying mankind.
January 19th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Sleeping..
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January 19th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Fireball You Amaze Me sometimes You are right ,Sleeping…Awaiting The Resurrection
The first-century Christians did not view the soul as the Greeks did. Consider, for example, the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. If Lazarus had had an immortal soul that flitted off, free and happy, at the time of death, would not the account in John chapter 11 read very differently? Surely Jesus would have told his followers if Lazarus was alive and well and conscious in heaven; on the contrary, he echoed the Hebrew Scriptures and told them that Lazarus was asleep, unconscious. (Verse 11) Surely Jesus would have rejoiced if his friend was enjoying a wonderful new existence; instead, we find him weeping publicly over this death. (Verse 35) Surely, if Lazarus’ soul had been in heaven, reveling in blissful immortality, Jesus would never have been so cruel as to summon him back to live a few more years in the “prison” of an imperfect physical body amid sick and dying mankind.
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JW
January 19th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
< God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever…" >
Hmm. Do you actually believe a tree existed that gave eternal life? To take that literally is very odd, to say the least.
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January 19th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
The Psalms 146 understanding is repeated in the Scriptures, how sad that mankind cannot keep their understanding pure as when God-given. What do they profit from believing lies? But whatever they have been taught they embroider out of all recognition. It is no wonder that the LORD God gives them up to their own foolishness unless they call on Him.
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January 19th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
They believed that they would die, be asleep in death, and later be resurrected to an Earthly paradise.
Daniel 12:13 "And as for you (Daniel) yourself, go toward the end; and you will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of the days.”
John 11: 21-24 "Martha therefore said to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. And yet at present I know that as many things as you ask God for, God will give you.” Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
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watchtower.org
January 19th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Not meaning to ignore your previous questions, I usually check my e-mail Wednesday night – Saturday night. I like your thought provoking questions, similar to those in the field or at the meetings. On this question, I believe you already answered it.
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