Unfinished Thoughts on the Soul - Part 1

 Good morning,

A few months ago, I began making notes on the soul. Do you think about the soul often?

When I was a child my mother taught me a prayer that many children learned in those days:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

I remember wondering what the "soul" was. I never asked my Mom, and I'm sorry I didn't. I neglected to ask her many questions that I wish I had. When she died at almost 43 years old there was no longer an opportunity to ask her anything.

To my young mind, the soul seemed like something mysterious, weighty, and important. To my old mind it still seems that way.

As I reflect back on pastoring, I wonder why I didn't preach on the soul, why I didn't explore it with my congregations. This is akin to what I've been experiencing with my health in this season of life, it demonstrates my ignorance. 

Like many older folks I have a cardiologist, a hematologist, I've seen a neurologist, I have a rheumatologist, and one or two other "ologists." I have wondered how I got to be so old and know so little about my own body, I've lived in this tent for over 75 years and have only just started to really learn about how it works (or not!) and how fearfully and wonderfully made I really am. How could I have been so ignorant for most of my life?

Below are some of my thoughts on the soul, some of my questions and ponderings.    

What thoughts do you have?

Much love,

Bob

 

The Soul – Does It Matter?

 

Have you wondered why it matters?

 

Why does what we believe matter? Why does what we do matter?

 

Is it a matter of reward and punishment beyond this life?

 

Is it a matter of ultimate salvation beyond this life?

 

Can we envision a God who says to one person, “Because you have believed this creed you are rewarded,” and to another person, “Because you have not believed this creed you are judged”?

 

Suppose the first person hated people as a way of life, and the second person loved and served people as a way of life?

 

For those who believe that salvation is a transactional matter that can be signed, sealed, and delivered in a moment of time without further experience, why does what we believe beyond that matter? Why does what we do beyond that matter?

 

Why contend for the faith within the faith community if, when we die and enter eternity, what we have believed has no eternal and ongoing significance?

 

A fair reading of Scripture indicates that, as Christians, what we believe and what we do matters, it matters to the point that Paul suffered much so that Christians would believe and do the “right” things; not “right” in the eyes of man, including religious man, but “right” in the eyes of God – “right” in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Most of the letters of the New Testament, including Revelation, deal to some degree with correcting false belief and false living.

 

Religious falsity was more of a threat in the New Testament than the sin of the world, the flesh, and the devil; after all, we often can’t see that which is the closest to us. How we forget that the Pharisees and Sadducees crucified Jesus. As Paul points out in Galatians, those who are born of the flesh are ever persecuting those born of the spirit and promise (Galatians 4:29).

 

At this point, before I move on to the matter of the soul, I want to suggest that there are mysteries beyond the grave that we ought to acknowledge. I’ll likely return to these, but I want to raise an awareness of two of them right now. The first is found in 1 Corinthians 3:10 – 15 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, and the second is in 1 Corinthians 15:35 – 49.

 

In the first two passages we see that there is an accountability beyond the grave, and in the second passage I believe we can infer that this accountability results in dimensions of participation in the glory of God, “one star differs from another in glory.” Now this raises its own questions, and I can think of no better exploration of them than Dante’s Paradise, so I will leave the questions alone for now. (A wonderful survey with thoughtful commentary is Hans Boersma’s, Seeing God - The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition.)

 

But is “accountability” the best word to use? While it may be a word to use, is it the only word to use? I’ll return to this question.

 

Regarding the first two passages, contrary to the thinking of many American Christians, 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us that we will be held accountable for the “deeds done in the body…whether good or bad.” Forgiveness for sins is one thing, accountability is another. Whether we understand the dynamics of this or not, we ought to acknowledge the Bible’s teaching. What we do matters, our actions matter.

 

In Revelation 19:8 we read, “It was given to her [the Bride] to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

 

I imagine many of us would like to gloss over this verse, for we want it to read, “The fine linen is the blood of Jesus,” or “The fine linen is the righteousness of Christ,” but the verse doesn’t say that, it says that the fine linen is our righteous acts.

 

Now for sure all righteous acting and living flows from the Vine, the One who was made sin on our behalf so that we would be made the very righteousness of God in Him (John 15:1ff; 1 Corinthians 5:21). But let us not dismiss Revelation 19:8, for it is in the context of eternity.

 

Our actions matter. We will all appear before Christ’s judgment seat – we cannot hide in the crowd.

 

When we come to 1 Corinthians 3:10 – 15, we come to a passage that many Protestants gloss over lest we begin asking uncomfortable questions, for this passage surely portrays a process, an experience that indicates more than a brief “moment,” however we might think about time within eternity. There is a revealing by fire to come, one which we will all experience, just as we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

 

Here again we see that our works matter very much. We may build with “gold, silver, and precious stones,” or with “wood, hay, and straw.” Building material matters. The quality of our lives matters. They matter to the point where Paul writes, “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

 

Does not our dear Lord Jesus command us to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20)?

 

Just as I have pointed to Dante’s Paradise in considering 1 Corinthians 15, so I will point to Dante’s Purgatory in considering 1 Corinthians 3, as well as, once again, Boersma’s fine work. Dante’s Purgatory is a journey in spiritual formation, and I suspect it is better to experience it now rather than putting it off until after we die. Read what Dante says, not what your possible prejudices think he says. (I recommend the Sayers translation with its excellent notes).