No. 43, June 2000

 

WHY I BELIEVE IN IMMORTALITY

 

            When I was doing graduate work at Harvard I had a professor of theology who was an atheist. An atheist teaching theology! An oxymoron you might say, but that was Harvard Divinity School back in those days. It was more stimulating than you might think.

 

            There is a funny story about this particular prof. He attended a Billy Graham Crusade in nearby Boston in those days, surely as a matter of curiosity . Word got around that a Harvard Divinity School professor was in the audience, so he soon found himself seated on the platform among the esteemed guests. A confirmed atheist sitting amidst the honored saints at a Graham rally!

 

            One day when we were discussing the theology of immortality, the prof asked me (why me, I know not), if I believed in a life after death. I assured him I did. Most of my classmates were Unitarians, and they would probably have answered otherwise, which may be why he picked on me.

 

            He wanted to know why I believed in immortality. Fair enough and typically Harvard. There were different reasons, I told him, but one is that it is unreasonable to suppose that this brief life on earth, where so many gifted people are cut down in the bloom of youth, is all there is to human existence. And even those who live to advanced years have only begun to fulfill their potential. Surely life goes on in another world, I told him, supposing it was no time to be quoting the Bible.

 

            He ran his hand across his bald head and said to me kindly, almost fatherly, “Very well, Mr. Garrett, but you’ll understand if I cannot believe for any such reason as that.”

 

            It was clear that there was no reason that he would accept, however persuasive it might be to others. I conceded that he won hands down, if it was proof he was after. There is no way to prove or disprove immortality. Like the thesis that God exists, it cannot be proved or disproved. It is an axiom that is either accepted or not accepted. God and immortality are matters of faith, not science.

 

            But the kindly prof did not ask me to prove immortality. He asked me why I believed. The church has always had an answer to that, an answer that a disbelieving world does not accept.

 

            I thought of that Harvard exchange, now a half century ago, while recently reading an old essay (1942) in a Scottish journal on immortality by a Princeton professor that I knew in pre-Harvard days. He argued that “the incompleteness of this life seems to necessitate immortality.” The brevity of life renders it impossible for the human potential to be realized. Even if one lives beyond the allotted threescore and ten the human mind cannot possibly fulfill its full capacity. So, an ongoing of life beyond death seems necessary, he reasoned.

 

            I found it reassuring that the Princeton theologian would give the same reason I gave at Harvard, but he also gave some impressive illustrations. John Keats, the English poet (who, by the way, described this life as “a vale of soul-making”), was carried away by tuberculosis before age 26. Mozart, the great composer, after producing immortal music, died when only 35 when he was at the threshold of even greater things.

 

            Then the prof says, “How irrational it would be to suppose that death could snuff out such men as Keats and Mozart for good and all, with their magnificent powers ripening into bloom!”

 

            He also refers to older men. Victor Hugo, the noted novelist, and Goethe, the great German writer, who at 70 and 83 were just going good – with spring in their hearts. What a waste if they do not live on to bless eternity!

 

            But at the same time the Princeton prof quotes another scholar who disagrees, suggesting that no individual life, however gifted, can be rendered “eternally indispensable.” And as for waste, nature is prodigiously wasteful.

 

            So, where are we in our belief in immortality? Do we live on or do we vanish like a bubble?

 

            Some have found their answer in Spiritualism, a movement that claims to make contact with the spirits of the departed through such methods as trance mediumship, table-rappings, and automatic writings. The eminent Sir Canon Doyle, inventor of Sherlock Holmes, was converted from rank materialism to belief in life after death by this means.

 

            While some Christian leaders have shown sympathy toward Spiritualism, it has been almost universally rejected by the church as not only fraudulent but even demonic. This was my own conclusion, having once been a witness to a fantastic demonstration of what was presumed to be a communion with departed spirits.

 

            Spiritualism can be justly indicted on three counts: (1) Its methods (usually in the dark!) are suspect, and have often been exposed as fraudulent; (2) Its presumed messages are trivial and inane, and they often describe an unattractive afterlife; (3) There are other and better explanations for the alleged communications, such as it being the work of demons, which is often hair-raising in intensity to those present.

 

            A more defensible belief in an afterlife is drawn from natural law or moral logic. An interesting instance of this is seen in the correspondence between two of the founding fathers of our republic. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were probably more deistic than theistic, and certainly not orthodox Christians, and yet they exchanged views on immortality that would befit a true believer.

 

            They both lived to see the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which they had helped to create, and, as God would allow it, they both died that same day, July 4, 1826. It was in the shadows of that day that Jefferson wrote to Adams of ‘ ’a country to which (our loved ones) have flown, a country for us not too far distant.”

 

            Jefferson went so far as to comfort Adams at the death of his wife with, “The time is fast approaching for both of us when we will leave sorrows and suffering bodies, and ascend to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose again.”

 

            The author of our Declaration of Independence probably based such a faith in immortality on the nature of things more than upon any religion. It does seem that God has placed “something of eternity” within all of us. History indicates that all peoples, including the most ancient, have had a feel for a life beyond this one. It seems that “a sense for God,” basic to human instincts, implies “a sense for immortality.”

 

            That is the way the German philosopher Immanuel Kant put it, God and immortality go together. One cannot believe in one without the other. And he seemed to think it was an imperative to believe in both, again a kind of moral necessity. Long before Christ, Socrates spoke of another life as if it were a matter of logic.

 

            For the Christian, however, there is an assurance that reaches beyond human instinct, natural law, or moral philosophy. I could have told the Harvard atheist that I believe in immortality because Jesus did, even though he would have rejected that too. It is my assurance as a Christian. That Jesus could say so calmly and with such assurance amidst great crisis, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” means everything to me.

 

            Even when our Lord was challenged by Sadducees, who did not believe in immortality, he made no attempt to prove an afterlife. He rather assumed its reality, naming some of its characteristics: (1) Those who attain to it are like angels in some respects; (2) As sons of the resurrection they will die no more. (Lk. 20:35-36).

 

            If Jesus argued for an afterlife, it was in terms of God’s care for the individual. “He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” he said, and then added, “He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” And then that great line: All live unto Him. (Lk. 20:38).

 

            Jesus is saying that since God loves us and has made us His own, He will not allow death to end that relationship. We will live on in God’s tomorrow for one very good reason - God loves us!

 

            Since only God has immortality, as I Tim. 6: 16 tells us, we are to understand that human kind is not immortal by nature. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul was born of Greek philosophy, not biblical teaching. All people are mortal and destined to a never-ending death, except those who receive immortality as a free gift from God.

 

            This is why the apostle Paul could say with such finality: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23).

 

            Eternal life is far more than ongoing existence. We don’t simply live forever. It is as much a qualitative life as quantitative. Eternal life is life with God in a real tomorrow. We continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to fulfill our potential, and yes, of course, continue to serve and work in an ever-expanding, limitless universe or universes.

 

            As Jesus put it, “My Father continues to work and I work.” God is at work, eternally at work doing what God does. So it will be with us, with infinite assignments in a infinite universe, far beyond anything we can now even imagine.

 

            C. S. Lewis wisely observed that we should take care how we look upon the lowliest person, for if we could see her as she may one day be in another world, we would be tempted to bow down and worship her. – Leroy

 

 

 

TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO BE CHRISTLIKE

 

            To be a Christian is to be like Christ. Episcopal Bishop Stephen Neil gave this definition of a Christian, one that might well be an embarrassment to many of us. It is not where most of us are or have been. While the bishop measures a Christian in personal terms, we define a Christian by doctrinal standards. To be sure, doctrine is basic to being a Christian, but if doctrine does not make us Christlike something is seriously wrong.            .

 

            We have pioneers in our own heritage, the Republican Methodists who became Christians only back in 1794, who were even more daring than Bishop Neil when they made Christlikeness the only condition for fellowship and church membership. How revolutionary it would be if we pled for unity of all believers on the ground of Christlikeness! – Leroy

 

 

 

THE MOTHER OF US ALL

 

            I will relieve your mind at the outset: I am not going to say that we should think of God as Mother as well as Father. Some feminist theologians these days are urging that we pray to “Mother God,” and some who call for the removal of all “sexist language” in the Bible insist that we should think of God as “She” as well as “He.” Such as, “Our Mother who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” I do not buy that.

 

            I do favor some revision of sexist language in Scripture, such as was done in the New Revised Standard Bible (1989). Such as Gal 3:26: “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith” becomes “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” “Brethren” becomes “brothers and sisters.” We’ve even improved some hymns: “Rise up, a men of God” has become “Rise up, a church of God.”

 

            Prof. Bruce Metzger of Princeton, who chaired the New RSV, told me when I was once back to Princeton that the revision committee was under pressure to make God a She as well as a He, and to depict God as Mother as well as Father. It was pressure they had no problem resisting. The biblical writers refer to God as Father, not Mother!

 

            But the Bible does refer to “the mother of us all,” and it is that mother that I refer to.

 

            (Note to preachers: It makes a good Mother’s Day sermon!)

 

            We all understand that there is “one God and Father of us all” (Eph. 4:6), but few realize that we have a mother in heaven as well as a Father. The apostle Paul states it clearly in Gal. 4:26: “The Jerusalem that is above is free and is the mother of us all.”

 

            Our mother above is referred to as “the heavenly Jerusalem” in Heb. 12:22, and as “the holy city, the new Jerusalem” in Rev. 21:2. The aged John saw this holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven to earth. Our mother comes from heaven to make a home for us, which is what mothers do.

 

            The reference in Hebrews tells us that as Christians we have come to “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” Since this is a reference to the church, it is not amiss to think of the church as our mother - the church that is in heaven as well as on earth.

 

            So, the imagery moves both ways: Our mother comes to us (the holy city in heaven), and we come to our mother (the church both in heaven and on earth). The church, which reaches back through the centuries, nurtures us with a Tradition of exemplary discipleship and sacrifice even unto martyrdom.

 

            We are her sons and daughters who pass the torch to the next generation. That the writer of Hebrews in the same context says we have also come to “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” indicates that the church is triumphant in heaven as well as militant on earth.

 

            Mothers give gifts, and our heavenly mother gives us a precious gift, freedom. Paul is emphatic that “the Jerusalem above is free, and is the mother of us all.” Freedom is the theme of Galatians, as in 5: 1 “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

 

            The case for freedom is based on Abraham’s two sons, one born of a slave, the other of a freewoman. While the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the freewoman was born according to the promise. Paul calls it an allegory: “The women are two covenants” (Gal. 4:24). One woman (Hagar) represents Mt. Sinai, “which gives birth to bondage” and “corresponds to the Jerusalem that now is.”

 

            The freewoman (Sarah) represents the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free and our mother. This means our mother could also be identified as the New Covenant, along with all it bequeaths: freedom, the church, the Spirit.

 

            In this context the apostle explains why persecution arises: Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, those who are of the flesh will always persecute those who are of the Spirit (v. 29). To put it another way: Those who choose slavery, such as sectarianism and legalism, will persecute those who choose to be free. The apostle drives home his point with So it is now!

 

            It is a sober lesson. Sectarian bondage begets mean-spiritedness. It is often vicious, attacking those who are the most Christlike. In choosing to be free in Christ we also choose persecution. The apostle seems overly persuaded on this point: “All those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer. persecution” (2 Tim. 3: 12).

 

            Those who choose freedom will be gloriously rewarded, abundantly eclipsing whatever measure of persecution we may suffer. The victory is depicted in John’s description of the descending New Jerusalem: God makes His home with us; He wipes away our tears; there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death; all things are made new.

 

            Our mother in heaven is not a person but an abode, a dwelling place. In my growing up years, and through much of my adult life, I thought of home as where mother was. Home was mother, mother was home.

 

            That is what the biblical writers are saying when they declare that we have a heavenly mother as well as a heavenly Father. Mother is heaven. - Leroy

 

            Our other mother: When Eve was brought to Adam, he became filled with the Holy Spirit, and gave her the most sanctified, the most glorious of appellations. He called her Eva, that is to say the Mother of All. --Martin Luther

 

 

 

Between Us . . .

 

            The only negative about my trip to Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee in May was that Ouida was not along. She opted to stay home and play catch-up. I flew to Montgomery and was met by longtime friend Dallas Burdette. We spent the weekend with the Oakwood Hills Church (Body of Christ) in DeFuniak Springs, Fl. I would call it a free, open Church of Christ. They chose a neutral name so as to appeal to the general public, which they are doing. They are not only growing but are practicing “Body life” by ministering to one another. I was impressed by their eagerness to learn and to grow in the Lord. We talked about Christlikeness as the purpose of our faith.

 

            On the same trip I addressed the Landmark Church of Christ in Montgomery, Al. on “The Difference That Christ Makes,” based on the book of Ecclesiastes. This is another church that has turned its back on our sectarian past and is moving into exciting ministries. Buddy Bell is the pulpit minister. I got to visit longtime friend Rex Turner, one of the founders of what is now Faulkner University in that city. I taught with Rex at the old Montgomery Bible College over a half century ago. Now 86, he suffers from Alzheimer’s, and while we could do some conversing I don’t think he knew who I was. I got to visit Southern Christian University, (separate from Faulkner though both are Church of Christ), and to see its president, Rex Turner, Jr.

 

            I had two great days doing Board at the Disciples of Christ Historical Society. It is reassuring to see such an important ministry making progress, in spirit as well as in funding. We have great fellowship in our dinners together, always a little more historical than hysterical. I capped off the Nashville trip as guest of Joe/Cornelia Bain. Joe drove me to Manchester on Sunday where I addressed the Forest Mill Church of Christ on “Scriptures With a Personal Touch.” It is a focused church with young, dynamic leadership.

 

            Ouida was with me for a weekend with the Airline Drive Church of Christ in Bossier City, La. We celebrated their 40th Anniversary by looking back to their beginnings in Stone-Campbell. After a Lord’s day love feast I did an impersonation of Raccoon John Smith, which is another way and a fun way to do history. Dennis Randall has been with this progressive congregation for eight years.

 

            On June 18 Ouida and I will be with the Random Rd Church in Arkansas City, Ks., and on July 16 with the Pecan Grove Church in Greenville, Tx.

 

            It will be great to see some of you at Jubilee 2000 in Nashville, July 5-8, which is one of the largest annual gatherings of Churches of Christ. I will give a 3-part study of “Our Heritage of Unity in Scripture and in History.” The theme this year is “In the Strength of the Lord.” Jubilee follows the Billy Graham Crusade in Nashville, with which some of our congregations are cooperating, notably the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ.

 

 

 

            I am really excited about one book just off the press, issued by a new publisher among Churches of Christ, New Leaf Books, Orange, Ca., a ministry of C. Leonard Allen. The book is Communings in the Sanctuary by Robert Richardson, which is a collection of meditations on the Lord’s Supper by the gifted associate of Alexander Campbell back in the 1840s. It is arguably the best work of devotion in the Stone-Campbell tradition. 152 pages, paperback, $14 postpaid.

 

            Two new publications in the Stone-Campbell heritage deserve notice. Walter Scott: A Nineteenth-Century Evangelical, Mark Toulouse, editor, is a collection of nine essays by writers from all three streams. It celebrates the 200th anniversary of Scott’s birth. $20 postpaid. Barton Stone: A Spiritual Biography by D. Newell Williams, is about Stone’s thought as well as his life. $30 postpaid.

 

            If you have any bound volumes of Restoration Review that you will sell, contact Otis Atwood at P. O. Box 176, Morrill, NB 69358-9616.

 

            We can provide back issues of Restoration Review at 25 for $10, selected at random over many years. They will give you a feel of what we said for four decades.

 

            We continue to get enthusiastic responses to Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy. Addressing as it does both heart and mind, it gets to the essence of what religion is about. $23 postpaid.

 

            Listening Carefully to Jesus by R.E.O. White helps one to hear the words of Jesus as people did in his own day. Special attention is given to what Jesus said about issues that are important today. $13 postpaid.