Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) by William West (reading strategies book .TXT) 📖

D. 166. The Greek doctrine of an immortal soul was believed by some in
his time and opposed by him and others of the Church Fathers. He said, "For if you have fallen in with
some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this...who say there is no
resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do
not imagine that they are Christians." The First Apology Of Justin, Edinburgh Edition, Page 480.
IRENAEUS MARTYR: Died about A. D. 202, a pupil of Polycarp, Martyr A. D. 147 said, “Some who are
reckoned among the orthodox to beyond the prearranged plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ignorant
of the methods by which they are disciplined beforehand for incorruption; they entertain heretical opinions.
For the heretics…affirm that immediately upon their death they shall pass above to
heavens. Those persons, therefore, who reject a resurrection affecting the whole man, and do their best to
remove it from the Christian scheme, know nothing as to the plan of resurrection” Ante-Nicene Fathers,
Eerdmans Publishing, Volume one, page 560. "It is the Father of all who IMPART CONTINUANCE FOREVER
AND EVER TO THOSE WHO ARE SAVED. FOR LIFE DOES NOT ARISE FROM US, NOR FROM OUR OWN
NATURE; but it is bestowed according to the grace of God. And therefore he who shall preserve the
life bestowed on him, and give thanks to Him who imparted it, SHALL RECEIVE ALSO
LENGTH OF DAYS FOREVER AND EVER, But he who shall reject it, and prove himself
ungrateful to his Maker, inasmuch as he has been created and has not recognized Him
who bestowed the gift upon him, DEPRIVES HIMSELF OF CONTINUANCE FOREVER AND
EVER. And for this reason the Lord declared to those who showed themselves ungrateful towards Him: 'If you
have not been faithful in that which is little, who will give you that which is great?'--indicating that those who in
this brief temporal life have shown themselves ungrateful to Him who bestowed it, SHALL JUSTLY NOT
RECEIVE FROM HIM LENGTH OF DAYS FOREVER AND EVER." Edinburgh Edition, Volume 1, Page 252.
ORIGEN Died A. D. 235: Mosheim said, "The foundation of all his faults was, that he fully believed nothing
to be more true and certain than what the philosophy he received from Ammonius taught him respecting God,
the world, souls, demons, etc. and therefore he in a measure recast and remolded the doctrines of Christ after
the pattern of that philosophy" Historical Commentaries, Volume 2, Page 159.
The early non-inspired writers used Bible statements, which are used by both sides. Two examples:
1. An example: When an early writer quoted Matthew 10:28, "God is able to destroy...soul [psukee]," it is
used today by the unconditional immoralists to prove the church fathers believed God will not destroy
the soul [psukee], and by the conditional immoralists to prove the church fathers did believe God can
and will destroy the soul [psukee]. Both sides assume that the early non-inspired writers understood the
word "soul" [psukee] and other words just as they do. Therefore, both sides have many quotations from
the early writers. The first and second century writers used Greek, and the word they used was "psukee"
not the English word "soul" but the unconditional immoralists translate it "soul" and then apply today's
English meaning, an undying part of a person to "psukee." Conditional immoralists read the same writers
and say the early writers used "psukee" as the Hebrew word "nehphesh" is used in Genesis, a "living
creature."
2. Another example: When Matthew 5:22 is quoted by the church father, they wrote in Greek and used
"Gehenna" just as Christ did. Some English translations of the church fathers change Gehenna into Hell.
They change one proper noun, the name if a particular place [Gehenna] into another proper noun, the
name of another particular place [Hell] just as the King James Version did. When the early writers used
"Gehenna," the way they are translated or the way they are mistranslated makes them say what the
translator wanted them to say.
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THE VIEW OF THE CHURCH FATHERS ON DEATH according to Henry Constable in "The Duration And Nature
Of Future Punishment," 1871.
• Barnabas, Died A. D. 90. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Clemens Romanus, Died A. D. 100. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Hermas, Died A. D. 104. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Ignatius, Martyr, Died A. D. 107. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Polycarp, Martyr, Died A. D. 147. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Justin Martyr, Died A. D. 164. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Theophilus of Antioch, Died A. D. 183. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Athenagoras, Died A. D. 190. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Tatian, Died A.D. 200. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Irenaeus Martyr, Died A. D. 202. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Clemens Alexandrinus, Died A. D. 212. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Tertullian, Died A. D. 235. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Hippolytus, Died A. D. 235. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Origen, Died A. D. 235. Believed UNIVERSAL RESTORATION.
• Amobios, Died A. D. 303. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Augustine, Died A. D. 430. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE." The Encyclopedia Britannica says of
Augustine, "He fused the religion of the New Testament with the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy."
From the above, it is clear that it was not unto near the end of the second century that "the wages of sin is
eternal life with torment" was first believed. By teaching the resurrection, both the Bible and most of the early
Church Fathers denied emphatically the unconditional immortally of the soul.
"THE STORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH BETWEEN PENTECOST OF 31 A. D. AND THE COUNCIL
OF NICEA IN 325 A. D., ALMOST 300 YEARS LATER, IS AN AMAZING STORY. IT IS THE STORY OF
HOW YESTERDAY'S ORTHODOXY BECAME TODAY'S HERESY AND HOW OLD
HERESIES CAME TO BE CONSIDERED ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. IT IS THE
STORY OF HOW CHURCH TRADITION AND THE TEACHING OF THE BISHOPS CAME
TO SUPERSEDE THE WORD OF GOD AS A SOURCE OF DOCTRINE. IT IS A STORY
THAT IS STRANGER THEN FICTION, YET IS HISTORICALLY VERIFIABLE." John H. Ogwyn,
"God's Church Through The Ages."
“Educated in Platonism, they (church fathers) did not like to renounce it, and flattered themselves that
they might, with great advantage to the cause of Christianity, bring at least a portion of their old learning
into its service. Some brought less, some more, according as they were more or less thoroughly
acquainted with Christianity. But on one point they were substantially agreed. All of them, with Tertullian,
adopted in the sense of Plato Plato’s sentiment—‘Every soul is immortal.’ On this point Plato took rank,
not among prophets and apostles, but above all prophets and apostles. A doctrine which neither Old
Testament nor New taught directly or indirectly, nay, which was contrary to a great part of the teaching of
both, these Fathers brought in with them into the Church, and thus gave to the old Sage of the Academy a
greater authority and a wider influence by far than he had ever attained or ever dreamed of attaining. It
was in effect Plato teaching in the Church, under the supposed authority of Christ and his Apostles,
doctrine subversive of, and contrary to, the doctrine, which they had one and all maintained. This dogma
of Plato was made the rigid rule for the interpretation of Scripture. No Scripture, no matter what its
language, could be interpreted in a sense inconsistent with Plato’s theory. Christ, and Paul, and John, all
were forced to Platonise. The deduction of reason, half doubted by Plato himself, was by these Platonising
Fathers palmed off on men’s minds as the teaching of revelation” Henry Constable, Duration And Nature
Of future Punishment, 1871.
"Very soon after the rise of Christianity, many persons, who had been educated in the schools of the
philosophers, becoming converts to the Christian faith, the doctrines of the Grecian sects, and especially
Platonism, were interwoven with the simple truths of pure religion. As the Eclectic philosophy spread,
Heathen and Christian doctrines were still more intimately blended, till, at last, both were almost entirely
lost in the thick clouds of ignorance and barbarism which covered the earth." W. Enfield, "The History Of
Philosophy."
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"The doctrine of hell evolved long after the core doctrines of the historic Christian faith were
established. The views of the early Church fathers about hell were far from unanimous. It took the
Christian community hundreds of years to come up with a consensus on the issue. The majority view -
that hell is a place of eternal fiery torment - emerged only after a long debate within the Church. By the
Middle Ages, the concept of a fiery underworld had become a dominant element in people's minds"
www.inplainsite.org
To fully document the apostasy that took place is beyond the scope of this book, but I have
given enough to show those who have never read the history of the early church that there was a
great apostasy with many changes in the beliefs and doctrines. The falling away Paul foretold did
happen. "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first,
and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself
above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was
telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be
revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so
until he is taken out of the way. And then, that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will
slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is,
the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false
wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not
receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a
deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged
who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" [2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; See 1
Timothy 4:1-3]. This apostasy led to the church of the Dark Age with its Pope who sits in the
place of God and is worshiped as God. Paul said the falling away would come. History says it did
come. The Catholic Church says there was no falling away. The Protestant Reformation says
there was an apostasy, but they reformed the Catholic Church with many churches that teach
many conductivity things. As Hailey said, "Attitudes were no longer as they were in former years,
and the pattern was altered. The pristine simplicity was gradually marred and covered, until little
of the original simple plan of God could be recognized." The second coming of Christ and the
resurrection was made to have little or no value by the doctrine of going to Heaven at death or
after spending some time in Purgatory. The heart of the beliefs and hopes of the early church, the
coming of Christ and the resurrection from the dead, was put into the background. The Church
was not faithful one day and an apostate