Why do so many Christians think there is life after death, when the Bible itself clearly states otherwise?

Question

Ecclesiastes 9:5,10 "The dead know nothing . . . There is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence, within the grave."

The psalmist wrote that when a person dies, "his spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish."—Psalm 146:4.

I picked these verses because they are explicit and require no "interpretation".

Reread all of Ecclesiates 3 and 9. It most certainly is not referring just to nonbelievers, nor does it distinguish between the death of the body and just plain death. Nor does it say the spirit goes up, it asks that question! Are atheists the only ones who actually read the Bible? Quit making crap up.

Answer 1

The bible is written by a bunch of different people. Probably from different times, influenced by different culture, and beliefs. It is much easier to belive in happines after death, than to search for it in life.

In response to an above answer, where the dude asks why you use only verses to suit your purpose----Everyone does that. In any book or movie we all see what we want to.

Answer 2

The scripture that you are referring to is talking about the physical body after death and before the resurrection, which at that time is just a corpse. After the resurrection when the the body is resurrected by God and the spirit of man is re-united with the body then the there is indeed life after death. Also As it says in the other scripture in Psalm 146 it says the spirit goes out, that it leaves the body. Elsewhere in Ecclesiastes it tells you that the spirit returns to God who gave it, but it soesn't ever say the spirit dies, only the body. The spirt of man is eternal and will never die, only the body dies temporarilly until it is resurrected and re-united with the spirit. You question sounds like a twisting of Jehovah's Witness doctrine.

Answer 3

Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.

4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

That is Psalm 146:3-4. It's saying their bodies return to the ground (from dust to dust), because their spirits have left... and where do you think their spirits go? To the life they should have after death. Same thing with the first verse. The dead (bodies) know nothing. There is no life in a GRAVE. But life in either heaven or hell, yes. There is life after death. The bible never states otherwise.

Answer 4

I interpret this the same way that many others already have. I think what 'dies' is the human body, and preexisting earthly attributes. The spirit goes out, and begins anew without previous bad thoughts and misdeeds.

The key words within the Ecclesiastes passage are "within the grave". Obviously, nothing will happen within the grave now or after the Day Of Judgement.

Answer 5

Well, look at it from this direction> The bible is a book, written by man a long time ago. Do you know the history of the bible?

Back in the day, every organized religion was fighting over supremecy. Constantine (The then emperor of Rome) said damn, i really need to get this crap under control or there will be more mayhem.

So Constantine (A Pagan) declared christianity as the official religion of Rome and all outlaying areas. At the time, there was no "BIble" or holy book so to speak of. So it was "created" (by man). Check your history, the bible did not pop up until 700 years after Jesus's death.

A lot of the beliefs, holidays, rituals in the bible came from the Pagans (The first organized system of worship, where a preponderence of archaeological and written proof is in museums around the world).

Christmas for example actually coincides with a female deity. Read the bible again, it says that christ was born in the summer, so ask yourself why we have christmas in December. Same with Easter - it was the annual spring harvest festival where people got together and paid respect to the goddess or "Mother of Earth" who provides for us all.

So to answer your question, I think people know, deep inside, that something is wrong with the bible, so they go off on their own, mentally, to find truth. Until god reveals his or herself to us, we will not know what lies beyond death. But it does not hurt to wonder...

Diva

Answer 6

Very true what you say but what about when Jesus comes back for His people? How do you explain 1 Thess. 4:16-17 as well as Rev. 20-22? All state there will be life eternal for those that have accepted Jesus and go back with Him when He comes. Those in the grave are just waiting for His return so they can be alive forever more in Heaven. Does that not say we will be alive in Heaven? So where is it that says we are not going to be alive after we die? Maybe we will have to wait till He comes but there will be life after death as the bible states. Better do some of the studies that are found at the site below.

Answer 7

Not all the christians think that way. Some think they go with God or hell right away. I think the people that wrote their scriptures where what they thought also back in the day. This bible is written in the past. These things happen in the past. We have no one at this moment writing about whats going to happen now. We are in the dark. And have a book called the bible to guide us, as we live in this world. Don't get me wrong, I believe in God and what he created. But for some reason I still question the bible.

Answer 8

Read Jn 20. It explains plenty. We humans think about life after death as similar to that of some religions in reincarnation. The life after death is figuratively speaking in the spiritual life with the creator after the physical death of the human. The two quotations you mentioned about is the physical death of a human. In fact, Ps.148 talks about the spirit going out...to where? Pray for an open mind and heart my friend! What amazing discoveries you will receive!

Answer 9

This verse is taken out of the context of the whole book. The book is a wise teacher and preacher, Solomon in fact. He is talking about man in his youth when he questions everything. What's it all about? In Chapter 3 ,verse 21 he says: "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? It's a question.
In Ch. 9, vs. 5 and 10 he is acknowledging that men die like animals. He is not referring to their spirit which he has already questioned in chapter 3 by asking , living bible says: "For who can prove that the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward into dust. Read the end of the book . It says"But , my son, be warned: there is no end of opinions ready to be expressed. Studying them can go on forever, and become exhausting! Here is my final conclusion: fear God and obey His commandments, for this is the entire duty of man. For God will judge us for everything we do, including every hidden thing, good or bad." It's a great book and would be a good college text.

Answer 10

spamandham,
The way you have approached this subject is exactly how cults gets started. You take a verse or two, ignore all the rest, and form an entire theology with it.

Solomon was referring to those that don't believe in God. He was putting himself in their shoes, so-to-speak. They walk around the Earth thinking that nothing really matters, " for the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything."
Ecclesiastes is difficult to understand for many. For me it takes a sense of humor to understand it. Others have said that it requires litugical skill, I don't think that I have much of that, but at least I could explain it to you. ( commentaries are invaluable!)

Your problem with Psalm 146:6; you forgot to include the verse before it:
Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Trusting in anything other than God < trusting God.
The Bible over and over again teaches that we need to trust God more than anything else.

Answer 11

Jesus said in John 14:2, "In my fathers house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if i go prepare a place for you, I will come again, and recieve you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may also be" which basically states that we will be with Christ in Heaven. Revelation 21:4 also reads "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" this states that GOD will wipe away all the tears from the faithfull's eyes, we will be with him in a place that contains no sad or painful things, there are literally hundreds of other references which state of an afterlife, you can choose to believe or reject it but i personally am absolutely convinced