The Biblical Meanings of "Soul"

[Guest]

paidion/mort--

i am curious about what you think of alleged near death experiences (some of them apparently well-documented) where people say they leave their bodies and see themselves on the operating table etc but are later rescussitated.

do you think they are all hogwash? if not, what are these people experiencing? especially the ones that claim to see things that they could not have known were there (like stuff on the hospital roof, filing caninets, etc).

TK

[Guest]

also, i'd like your input on this article by Greg Koukl:

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6771

thx, TK

[Guest]

In this story, the word "angel" seems to be used synonymously with "spirit". In the time of Jesus and the early church, belief among Jews that humans possessed a non-corporeal spirit was the norm. I don't see any teaching in the NT which contravenes this prevailing view.

There was also a prevailing view that the earth was flat, and I don't think you can find any teaching in the whole Bible which contravenes it. The phrase "circle of the earth" won't do, as that could describe a flat circular surface.

In any case, I think Paul's statements concerning the necessity of a personal resurrection contravene the concept of the continuity of consciousness after death prior to one's personal resurrection.

i am curious about what you think of alleged near death experiences (some of them apparently well-documented) where people say they leave their bodies and see themselves on the operating table etc but are later rescussitated.

do you think they are all hogwash? if not, what are these people experiencing?

No, I don't think these stories are "hogwash." I think the people had the experiences they described, but I don't think they were "out of body", but very much "in body", and possibly close to death.

I don't think their minds actually saw any items of which they were not previously familiar.

The working of the mind is an amazing phenomenon. A person can be hypnotized and brought back to earlier and earlier periods in his life, and finally brought back to a period before he was born. He remembers, supposedly, a past life, with a great many details. Some think that this is proof of reincarnation.

Another interesting fact is the many cases where, in near-death experiences, many or perhaps most people find themselves moving down a long tunnel toward a light. Does that mean that it's actual? Most of them find themselves moving to a place that is full of joy and peace. It doesn't seem to matter whether they had been Christians or not. Does that mean that being a Christian or disciple of Christ has no bearing on the afterlife?
It is just possible that there is some demonic influence on some people near the time of their death to give so many of them this common experience. The purpose would be to convince people that what God says about the after-life is false, and that becoming a disciple is unnecessary.

[Guest]

paidion wrote:

Most of them find themselves moving to a place that is full of joy and peace. It doesn't seem to matter whether they had been Christians or not. Does that mean that being a Christian or disciple of Christ has no bearing on the afterlife?

apparently not, according to the universalist position on other threads.

TK

[Guest]

apparently not, according to the universalist position on other threads.

That may be the position of the modern "Universalist". It is certainly not the position of many or most who believe in the reconciliation of all things to God, including myself, as well as George MacDonald and the apostle Paul when they were alive.

For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:19,20

[Guest]

i didnt mean to include you, Paidion. I should have said something like "extreme" universalists. not that there's anything wrong with that.

TK