why do the jw's say?

Question

we have no spirit,If the spirit of a man has no existence apart from the body, why does Stephen just before his death in Acts 7:59, pray to Jesus to "receive my spirit"? How could Jesus, who was in heaven, receive Stephen's spirit if a man's spirit ceases to exist when the body dies and if no one could enter heaven until the year 1914? Similarly, if the soul ceases to exist after the death of the body, why does Paul say that he would rather be “absent from the body” so he could go make his “home with the Lord” (2Cor 5:8), and why would he say that he would rather depart from this life so that he could go be with Christ (Phil 1:23)? How could Paul be “with Christ” and make his “home with the Lord” if no one could enter heaven until 1914? ,what about enoch,and the chap next to jesus on the cross,in paradise today with me...............

Answer 1

Neither Stephen nor Paul mentioned a time frame in which they expected their heavenly resurrections.

Jehovah's Witnesses certainly do *NOT* teach that there is no life after death. In fact, Witnesses believe the bible to teach that most dead humans will be resurrected to life in a restored paradise earth, with the hope of living forever under God and Christ. Others already have been and soon will be resurrected to heaven.

So what does the bible teach about "the soul"?

A "soul" is a life, with no implication regarding some immortal otherwordly entity. Each deceased life is in Jehovah God's remembrance (with the potential for future resurrection), but the dead do not exist anywhere but memories until and unless the life is resurrected.

(Ezekiel 18:4) The soul that is sinning - it itself will die.

(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all

(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]

(Genesis 2:17) But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.”

(Genesis 17:14) And an uncircumcised male who will not get the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, even that soul must be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

(Judges 16:30) And Samson proceeded to say: “Let my soul die with the Philistines.” Then he bent himself with power, and the house went falling upon the axis lords and upon all the people that were in it, so that the dead that he put to death in his own death came to be more than those he had put to death during his lifetime.

(Job 33:22) And his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to those inflicting death.

(Psalm 78:50) He did not hold back their soul from death itself; And their life he handed over even to the pestilence.

(Isaiah 53:12) he poured out his soul to the very death

(Acts 3:23) Indeed, any soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.’

(Revelation 16:3) And the second one poured out his bowl into the sea. And it became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died, yes, the things in the sea.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.ca/e/lmn/index.htm?article=article_08.htm
http://watchtower.ca/e/19970515/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.ca/e/20050501/article_02.htm

Answer 2

Good question and very good scriptures to prove your case. I notiice that they haven't answered one single point you have raised, just gone into the old "dead are conscious of nothing at all" rote. If people applied their God given brains they might recognize that prior to Christ there was no chance of resurrection of either spirit or body, for the Bible clearly says that Christ was the first; Colossians 1:18 "the firstborn from the dead". Rev 1:5 "Firstborn from the dead". Hence anybody who died prior to Christ did not go to heaven or hell, they all, and this includes Lazarus, went to the common grave of mankind. So the old example of Lazarus doesn't work at all, Lazarus could not talk about heaven because he couldn't possibly have gone before Christ's ascension. The scriptures they quote about the dead are all taken out of context, if you read all of Ecclesiastis 9 instead of cherry picking an odd verse or two you will find that what Solomon is saying is that life is pretty short, so get on with living with the Lord now whilst you have the chance, because once you are dead your chance will be gone.

Answer 3

A million (?)s in 1... Here goes:

Spirit: We do not deny having a spirit; it is the meaning that people put on the term nowadays that we reject. The spirit is the animation, the spark of life within us that is sustained by continuous respiration. Look @ Genesis 2:7 -

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Jehovah animated Adam with spirit, bringing him to life as a soul.

Jehovah and Jesus (now in his glorious exalted state) are the only ones with the capability to resurrect some1 who has died. Therefore it can be said that some1's spirit rests with them. When Jesus was being impaled he himself said something like this -

Luke 23:46
"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."

Now we know that Jesus did not go directly to heaven after being killed - he remained in the grave from Friday to Sunday. After being resurrected on Sunday he even told Mary Magdalene not to cling to him b/c he hadn't ascended yet. (John 20:17)

So do the scriptures contradict themselves by saying Jesus delivered up his spirit/ghost to his Father, when we know he didn't go to heaven at that time?

No, the meaning that has been traditionally put on the term spirit is what makes the passages seem contradictory. The same is true for the criminal executed beside Jesus. Jesus told him that he would be with him in paradise. Many people like to emphasize the use of the word 'today', as if Jesus were saying that it would happen the same day. Considering that Jesus death, resurrection, and subsequent presentation of the value of his sacrifice are all what opened the way for any human to go to heaven, does it seem reasonable to conclude that the criminal (who died later than Jesus but was still dead after Jesus was resurrected) would have gone to heaven?

Keep in mind also that Jesus specifically used the term Paradise and not heaven. The origin of the word 'paradise' suggests a park, or garden. Remember that when the earth was created Jehovah placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and instructed them to extend its boundaries worldwide.

Answer 4

In 50 years as a Jo Ho, i know of very few who've dedicated suicide, perchance 5 or so persons. frequently, those produce different psychological situations. One youthful woman with 2 young ones who, I had watched boost up, get married and grow to be a mom, merely went into her bathing room and shot herself, on an identical time as her relatives replaced into interior the domicile. they did no longer know that she had a gun. To be easy, her finished relatives replaced into loony and that all of them bounced in and out of the Jo Ho's. One youthful guy, who's relatives replaced into additionally loony, grew to become enthusiastic approximately a chain of comments written interior the 1890's and imagined they have been written approximately him. The lead character interior the final tale commits suicide and so did he. i did no longer see a intense fee of suicides between Witnesses. there could be different information, like the object you point out. i could prefer to work out that article. I actual have considered what i assumed have been greater stages of melancholy between witnesses, yet i'm no longer able to ensure that information and that i do no longer see the way you may wisely assemble such information. EDIT, WOW!! look on the posts from ex Jo Ho's right here. I had no thought there have been that lots of people who pondered suicide. Sorry, adult males. i did no longer propose any disrespect by skill of my positioned up. Becuase i replaced into no longer conscious of it, does no longer mean it wasn't there. i'm chuffed you adult males have been sensible sufficient to get the heck out!

Answer 5

4000 years had passed, millions of people had lived and died, but when Jesus was on the earth talking to a religious leader, Jesus said at: "John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, King James Bible

Below is what Jesus said about death.

Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.

The Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.

Think about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it? And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place? Of course not!

The Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”

the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection. You enjoy the best sleep ever, until Jesus resurrects you, sometime in the future.

Answer 6

False religion...following a False God to distruction..sad


http://towerwatch.com

Answer 7

Good question bro! Let the dodging begin!

Answer 8

By "jw's" (a lower case j and w, followed by an apostrophe and an s), do you mean "Jews" or "Jehovah's Witnesses"?

Answer 9

Too many Questions...Break it down..