The Apostle Paul, in his defence before the Jewish Council, declared: 'Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question' (Acts 23.6: also see 24.15 and 21). This was Paul's hope. If one were to ask the majority of professing Christians today what they considered to be the Christian hope, it is most doubtful whether many would reply: The resurrection of the dead'. Yet that was Paul's hope. It was the hope of all the early Christians and for which many of them suffered persecution and martyrdom.

The importance of the resurrection of the dead has been nullified in the theology of most Christian churches by the general acceptance of the immortality of the soul. But this is a doctrine which finds no place in scripture. It can be convincingly established that it has emanated from Pagan origins. The comments of William Tyndale are interesting in this connection. He wrote:

'In putting departed souls in heaven, hell and purgatory, you destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection. The true faith putteth the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers denying that, did put that the souls did ever live. And the Pope joined the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshy doctrine of the Philosophers together-things so contrary that they cannot agree . . . and because the fleshy-minded Pope consenteth unto heathen doctrine, therefore he corrupteth the scriptures to establish it.. If the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels? And then what cause is there of the resurrection?'

It will be remembered that Tyndale suffered martyrdom in 1536 for his 'crime' of translating the scriptures into English.

Man mortal on account of sin
The Bible clearly teaches that man is a death-stricken creature as a result of sin. The record in Genesis explains that man transgressed in the beginning and that death ensued as a consequence. The first chapter of Genesis gives the account of the creation and, in passing, it must be emphasised that this account has been endorsed by Jesus Christ himself (Matthew 19.4). Man was created out of the dust of the ground and by the in-breathing of the spirit of God was made a living creature. The record reads: 'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul' (Genesis 2.7).

The words translated 'living soul' in this verse are, in the original Hebrew text, 'nephesh hayyah', a term which means nothing more than a living entity. The identical term (nephesh hayyah) occurs in Genesis 1 v. 24 where it is translated 'living creature' and is applied in that verse to cattle, beasts and creeping things. Hebrew scholars agree that there is nothing in the original word which carries any possible implication of immortality.
Later on in chapter 2, there is given the account of the creation of woman out of a rib of man. Man and woman, so created by God, were placed in the garden of Eden and were allowed complete freedom of action except for one simple command. They were forbidden to eat of one particular tree, styled 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. The command was quite specific and the punishment for disobeying it was made abundantly clear: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die'. (Genesis 2.16,17).

The sequel is recorded in the third chapter. The serpent is introduced, described simply as one of the 'beasts of the field which the Lord God had made'. He was no more and no less; there is no possible suggestion in the record that he was the 'devil' of popular theology. This reptile was endowed with the gift of speech and a 'subtlety' or intelligence superior to the other creatures. He said to the woman: 'Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' (Genesis 3.1). The woman's answer indicates that she fully understood the divine command; she replied: 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die' (Genesis 3.2,3).

The serpent then produced the first lie - 'Ye shall not surely die'-a lie that has been perpetuated down the ages in the idea of the immortality of the soul. The serpent proceeded to tempt Eve by implying that if she partook of the forbidden fruit she would become like one of the angelic beings, knowing good and evil. Eve was tempted: she took of the fruit and ate, and gave to Adam, who ate also. This was sin-the transgression of God's law. The punishment followed as God said it would. God pronounced the edict:

'Unto Adam he said. Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which 1 commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; ... in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return' (Genesis 3.17-19).
Man was banished from the garden; his very nature was now sin-cursed and henceforward he would be subject to the ills of that nature; to toil, disease and finally death. In the scriptural phrase, he was now under 'the law of sin and death'.

In commenting on this in his epistle to the Romans, Paul wrote: 'Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned' (Romans 5.12).

All partake of Adam's stricken nature; all mankind is subject to sin, disease and death. Death is not the gateway to a better life (or for that matter to a worse one); it is the complete cessation of life. A few scriptural testimonies will make this abundantly clear. David, in the Psalms, declared: 'In death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?' (Psalm 6.5) and again: 'Put not your trust in princes, Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish' (Psalm 146.3,4).
notice particularly from this quotation how David speaks of the 'thoughts' perishing; no suggestion here of just the body perishing and a 'soul' Jiving on. David says emphatically that when man dies and 'returneth to his earth' his thoughts also perish.

David's son, Solomon, speaks just as emphatically of the death state in the book of Ecclesiastes. He wrote:

Nor the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest' (Ecclesiastes 9.5,6 and 10).

King Hezekiah, when told by the prophet Isaiah that he would die, fully understood what death meant and prayed to God that his life might be prolonged, which petition was granted. His prayer of thanksgiving contains these words concerning death:

The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as 1 do this day' (Isaiah 38.18,19).

There are many other such testimonies which could be adduced, but perhaps these will suffice to demonstrate the very clear Bible teaching concerning the state of the dead.

A Message of Hope
The Bible message concerning man and his destiny, however, does not end there. If it did, it would be a gloomy, hopeless message indeed. In that 146th Psalm, already quoted, David continued: 'Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God' (Psalm 146.5). David speaks of 'hope' and his hope was the same as Paul's hope. David died and Peter states categorically that 'David is not ascended into the heavens' (Acts 2.34). David's hope was in a bodily resurrection when he would awake from the sleep of death to everlasting life. In another Psalm he sang: 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness' (Psalm 17.15). The Bible certainly speaks of an 'after life', but it is not an 'after life' of an immortal soul enjoying bliss in heaven. It is a life obtained by bodily resurrection and will be enjoyed on this earth. The Bible not only reveals why mankind is subject to sin, disease and death, but outlines also the means by which man can be saved from this situation. It reveals God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.