25 January 2012

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

It has become fashionable to suppose that the admittedly Hellenistic notion of the immortality of the soul is completely devoid of support in Holy Scripture, being rather an anthropological error of the ancient Greeks at odds with the Hebraic conception of man. -- Dr. John R. Stephenson, Eschatology, p. 40.

2 comments:

Marinus Veenman said...

The OT does SEEM contradictory at times. The witch of Endor called UP Samuel from his sleep, but Moses teaches (in one of the Psalms) that after a hard life of 70-80 years we "fly away". Then there are the souls waiting under the altar in Rev. which seem to be aware of the passage of time.... What to think????

William Weedon said...

The OT picture is complicated. I think we get a handle on it when we understand the Lazarus story as giving us some solid insights: a place of comfort for the righteous departed as they await the resurrection; a place of torment for the unrighteous (where each is apparently alone!) as they await the resurrection of the unjust and further torment to come.