Does it not seem odd, that the unrighteous who are unlucky enough to be alive at the end get eternal death, whereas the unrighteous who are dead, get life?
Not only is it taught that they get a second go-round, but they get to do it while growing to perfection, under divine rulership, with Satan out of the way for a thousand years. How fair is that?
I never caught-on to the implications of the resurrection as taught by JWs until reading this thread just now.
This is also destructive to the current Bible Student eschatology:
The At-One-Ment Between God and Man What, then, dies? We answer that it is the soul that dies-- the sentient being ceases. Let us remember that the sentient being was produced by the union of the breath or spirit of life with an organism, and that the separation or dissolution of these two causes the cessation of the being, the soul--death. That this is true of the lower animals, none would for a moment question; but is it not equally true of man, the highest animal, created in the intellectual image and moral likeness of God? It is no less true, and should be equally evident to every reasoning mind. We are aware that some few scriptures might be twisted and misunderstood to contradict this proposition, but in due course they will have consideration and will be found in most absolute accord with these presentations.
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Take another illustration of the relationship between the human or animal body, spirit and soul: an unlighted candle would correspond to an inanimate human body or corpse; the lighting of the candle would correspond to the spark of life originally imparted by the Creator; the flame or light corresponds to sentient being, or intelligence, or soul quality; the oxygenized atmosphere which unites with the carbon of the candle in supporting the flame corresponds to the breath of life or spirit of life which unites with the physical organism in producing soul or intelligent existence. If an accident should occur which would destroy the candle, the flame, of course, would cease; so if a human or animal body be destroyed, as by disease or accident, the soul , the being , intelligence, personality, ceases . Or if the supply of air were cut off from the candle flame, as by an extinguisher or snuffer, or by submerging the candle in water, the light would be extinguished even though the candle remained unimpaired. So the soul , life, existence, of man or animal would cease if the breath of life were cut off by drowning or asphyxiation, while the body might be comparatively sound.
As the lighted candle might be used under favorable conditions to light other candles, but the flame once extinguished the candle could neither relight itself nor other candles, so the human or animal body while alive, as a living soul or being can, under divine arrangement, start or propagate other souls or beings--offspring: but so soon as the spark of life is gone, soul or being has ceased, and all power to think, feel and propagate has ceased. In harmony with this we read in the Scriptures of Jacob's children: "All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls ." (Exod. 1:5) Jacob received his spark of life as well as his physical organism, and hence the united product of these, his soul or intelligent being , from Isaac, and hence from Adam, to whom alone God ever directly imparted life. And Jacob passed on the life and organism and soul to his posterity, and so with all humanity.
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A candle might be relighted by any one having the ability; but by divine arrangement the human body bereft of the spark of life, "wasteth away," returns to the dust from which it was taken, and the spark of life cannot be re-enkindled except by divine power, a miracle. The promise of resurrection is therefore a promise of a relighting, a re-enkindling of animal existence or soul; and since there can be no being or soul without a body and restored life-power or spirit, it follows that a promised resurrection or restoration of soul or being implies new bodies, new organisms. Thus the Scriptures assure us that human bodies, which return to dust will not be restored , but that in the resurrection God will give such new bodies as it may please him to give. 1 Cor. 15:37-40
The Apostle here declares that in the resurrection there will be a special class accounted worthy of a new nature, spiritual instead of human or fleshly: and, as we should expect, he shows that this great change of nature will be effected by giving these a different kind of body . The candle may here again serve to illustrate: suppose the fleshly or human nature to be illustrated by a tallow candle, the new body might be illustrated by a wax candle of a brighter flame, or indeed by an electric arc-light apparatus.
With any power and wisdom less than that of our Creator guaranteeing the resurrection, we might justly fear some break or slip by which the identity would be lost, especially with those granted the great change of nature by a share in the first (chief) resurrection to spirit being . But we can securely trust this and all things to him with whom we have to do in this matter. He who knows our very thoughts can reproduce them in the new brains so that not one valuable lesson or precious experience shall be lost. He is too wise to err and too good to be unkind; and all that he has promised he will fulfil in a manner exceedingly abundantly better than we can ask or think.
Many suppose that the bodies buried are to be restored atom for atom, but, on the contrary, the Apostle declares,
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"Thou sowest [in death] not that body which shall be." It is the soul , the sentient being, that God proposes to restore by resurrection power; and in the resurrection he will give to each person (to each soul or sentient being) such a body as his infinite wisdom has been pleased to provide; to the Church, the "bride" selected in this age, spirit bodies; to the restitution class, human bodies, but not the ones lost in death. 1 Cor. 15:37,38
As in Adam's creation, the bringing together of an organism and the breath of life produced a sentient being or soul , so the dissolution of these, from any cause, puts an end to sentient being--stopping thoughts and feelings of every kind. The soul (i.e., sentient being) ceases; the body returns to dust as it was; while the spirit or breath of life returns to God, who imparted it to Adam, and to his race through him. (Eccl. 12:7) It returns to God in the sense that it is no longer amenable to human control, as in procreation, and can never be recovered except by divine power. Recognizing this fact, the Lord's instructed ones commit their hope of future life by resurrection to God and to Christ, his now exalted representative. (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59) So, then, had God made no provision for man's future life by a ransom and a promised resurrection, death would have been the end of all hope for humanity. 1 Cor. 15:14-18