by AwSnap 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
If a witness brought up the example of Lazarus, how jesus said he was "asleep" (which really meant dead)....and then he resurrected him and more people than ever had faith in Jesus.
As part of the argument that most don't go to heaven when they die, suppose a jw said "Most people believe we go live it up in heaven when we die. But wouldn't that be cruel on God's part to let Lazarus' soul come to heaven and then have Jesus bring him back to the crummy earth?"
How would you respond to that?
No, this would not be cruel. Lazarus soul awaited resurrection in Heaven, he was not whole- body soul and spirit. Jesus made him whole again, showing his power and what he can do. Lazarus did again die and again, his soul awaits in heaven its reuniting with his body and spirit....at the point of being made whole again Lazarus will be wherever New Jerusalem will be....as will anyone in Christ.
isaac,
Don't you dare bring what the bible actually says into a discussion about WT doctrine !!
LOL !
I disagree with the soul being in heaven though, I think its the spirit that returns to heaven, although in my view, the two are inseparable, you can't have one without the other.
The bible tends to show that the soul "dies" but the spirit returns to God, although the OT tends to use "soul" and "life" in an interchanging way.
If it was God's will for Jesus to make more converts by resurrecting Lazarus, he may have chosen not to bring him to heaven at that time. Or he could have gone to heaven where God told him he would have another opportunity to live longer on earth, before returning to heaven at a later time. I doubt many people would have a problem with that. The Bible's silence on this matter proves nothing.
Or the entire thing could be fiction. But I understand that your audience will not respond positively to that idea.
How would you respond to that?
Until I experience it myself by dying and being resurrected I cannot respond with any authority. Neither can anyone else. It's all speculation based on words written by people we have never met and whose credibility we cannot personally verify.
W
LOL PSac
I think we both agree though that when dead, Lazarus was not whole....the resurrection by Jesus made him whole again.
Well, this may sound rude, but I would say, "Yes, God is often portrayed as acting in an arbitrary manner."
Or, perhaps, "Who knows, maybe Lazarus volunteered to come back."
Or maybe, "Well, Lazarus knew how great it was, and he knew he was coming back, so what's the difference? It's like the Dalai Lama deciding to come back time and time again."
Taking the story at face value, at least that was kind to Martha and Mary...
Now maybe there is a measure of cruelty in bringing anybody to existence... even from non-existence ("And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun." -- Ecclesiastes 4:2f). That would apply to JW's "re-creation" just as well. Not to mention creation itself.
I would have to look at all the resurrections in the Bible to get some perspective. Do the jws think that the children returned to their parents were unkind acts?
In all the accounts, I see people glad to have their loved ones returned to them. So was it unkind to give Lazarus more time with his sisters?
The witnesses do not believe that Lazarus went to heaven because Jesus had not opened the way yet. So, really their argument is a moot point.
The bible tells us the dead "know nothing", death is not a conscious state, of that we all agree.
The spirit does go to the Lord, according to scripture.
It is what COMPRISES the spirit that we get into "debates" about.
I think the spirit is BOTH soul and spirit, I don't think one can exist without the other.
That said, Jesus doesn't come off as cruel in John's gospel, well, maybe to pigs and fig tress, LOL !
Jesus loved Lazarus, that is established right from the start, his bringing Lazarus back was an act of Love and an act of God power over death, the power that Jesus woudl show shortly himself.
