Our world has been flooded by the strong waves of mysticism. The word “mysticism” is a complex term that encapsulates a huge variety of ideas. From a religious perspective, the word implies the union of the individual with the Divine or Absolute in some kind of spiritual experience or trance. This characterizes the worship experience … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Matthew 7:21-27, John 11:40-44, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 Samuel 28:3-25, Ephesians 6:10-18. Memory Text: “And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15, , NRSV). Our contemporary world has become a … Continue reading –>
By Ocrhain Matengu People came in a seemingly constant procession to look pityingly on 2-year-old Akurious in the hospital in Katima Mulilo, Namibia. The boy had been ill for months, and the people wept as they saw his terrible pain. “The hospital is failing us,” one told Akurious’ parents. “You should consult with the witchdoctor.” … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The First Great Deception,” Pages 531-550; “Can Our Dead Speak to Us?” Pages 551-562, in The Great Controversy. “Upon the fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of consciousness in death — a doctrine, like eternal torment, opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to … Continue reading –>
Read 1 John 5:3-12. Why does the apostle John limit “eternal life” only to those who are in Christ? The biblical doctrine of conditional immortality of the human being — in contrast to the nonbiblical theory of the natural immortality of the soul — is made explicit in 1 John 5:11-12. To grasp the meaning of this … Continue reading –>
Though Protestants don’t accept purgatory, many nevertheless believe that the souls of the righteous dead are already enjoying Paradise in the very presence of God. Some argue that those “souls” are just disembodied spirits; others believe they are disembodied spirits but covered by a spiritual body of glory. Whatever the supposed metaphysical state of the … Continue reading –>
The Roman Catholic Church holds that the dead who do not deserve hell but who are not yet ready for Paradise can have their sins purged in purgatory and then ascend from there to Paradise. Their sufferings in purgatory can be reduced by the prayers and penances of loved ones. The Catechism of the Catholic … Continue reading –>
In his booklet for children entitled, The Sight of Hell (Dublin: James Duffy, [1874], p. 24), English Roman Catholic priest John Furniss (1809-1865) illustrates the eternal torment by means of a great solid-iron ball, larger than the heavens and the earth. “A bird comes once in a hundred millions [sic] of years and just touches the great iron ball … Continue reading –>
Compare Mark 9:42-48 with Isaiah 66:24. How do you understand the expression “their worm does not die” (Mark 9:48, NKJV)? Some interpret the singular noun “worm” (Mark 9:48) as an allusion to the supposed disembodied soul or spirit of the wicked that, after death, flies into hell, where it never dies and suffers eternal torment. But this interpretation does not reflect … Continue reading –>
Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 9:42-48; Malachi 4:1; Jude 7; 1 Timothy 2:5; Acts 2:29, Acts 2:34-35; 1 John 5:3-12. Memory Text: “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NKJV). Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) wrote his famous work, The Divine Comedy, about a fictional journey of the soul after death. The soul went either to the inferno (hell) within the … Continue reading –>
