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in the preceding, namely, Job 19:25-27; Ps. 16:9-11; 17:15; 73:23,24,26. They breathe the
confident expectation of pleasures in the presence of Jehovah.
2. THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
In the New Testament, after
Christ has brought life and immortality to light, the proofs naturally multiply. The passages that
contain these may again be divided into various classes, as referring:
a. To the survival of the soul.
A continued existence of both the righteous and the wicked is
clearly taught. That the souls of believers survive, appears from such passages as Matt. 10:28;
Luke 23:43; John 11:25 f.; 14:3; II Cor. 5:1; and several other passages make it quite evident
that the same can be said of the souls of the wicked, Matt. 11:21-24; 12:41; Rom. 2:5-11; II Cor.
5:10.
b. To the resurrection by which the body is also made to share in the future existence.
For
believers the resurrection means the redemption of the body and entrance into the perfect life
in communion with God, the full blessedness of immortality. This resurrection is taught in Luke
20:35,36; John 5:25-29; I Cor. 15; I Thess. 4:16; Phil. 3:21, and other passages. For the wicked
the resurrection will also mean a renewed and continued existence of the body, but this can
hardly be called life. Scripture calls it eternal death. The resurrection of the wicked is
mentioned in John 5:29; Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:12-15.
c. To the blessed life of believers in communion with God.
There are numerous passages in the
New Testament which stress the fact that the immortality of believers is not a bare endless
existence, but a rapturous life of bliss in communion with God and with Jesus Christ, the full
fruition of the life that is implanted in the soul while still on earth. This is clearly emphasized in
such passages as Matt. 13:43; 25:34; Rom. 2:7,10; I Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:21; II Tim. 4:8; Rev. 21:4;
22:3,4.
D. OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF PERSONAL IMMORTALITY
AND MODERN SUBSTITUTES FOR IT.
1. THE MAIN OBJECTION TO IT.
Belief in the immortality of the soul for a time suffered a
decline under the influence of a materialistic philosophy. The main argument against it was
forged in the workshop of physiological psychology, and runs somewhat as follows: The mind or
the soul has no independent substantial existence, but is simply a product or function of brain
activity. The brain of man is the producing cause of mental phenomena, just as the liver is the
producing cause of bile. The function cannot persist when the organ decays. When the brain
ceases to operate, the stream of mental life comes to a stop.