The Deep Mystery (Pt. 1)  -- Looking More Closely at Genesis 2:7

[Apologies.  I've been away from my desk (to engage in writing) longer than I had originally expected.]

As I mentioned in my last entry, people are perennially delving into the great and deep mystery of what happens when you die.   The obvious challenge with this is that you don't typically have people "coming back from" death. It's essentially a one-way trip.  There are no brochures detailing what to expect.

Admittedly, you do have a small class of people who will sometimes claim to have died "for 'x' number of minutes" and in that time claim to have seen / experienced all sorts of incredible things (whether it be encountering departed loved ones; figures from their religious faith traditions; spirit creatures; horrors beyond description; hellish scenes of torture being applied to those who have done evil in their earthly lives; pleasures and joy beyond the human ability to communicate, etc). Sometimes these are referred to as "near-death experiences."  Some of these tales have later been exposed as falsifications, people telling stories for money, fame, or both.  Others cling to the claim that what they saw was what they experienced, and therefore, what the "other side" is like.   How does one choose whether to trust in these testimonies or not?  Is there a way to measure or gauge what is true about such claims?  Or just to know what the reality is about this mystery called "death"? 

To cut a long story short (or to truncate a rather lengthy argument), I think it safe to say that the Seventh-day Adventist faith tradition has chosen to trust the Bible as a place where truth can be mined and gained, and as an authority with regard to such questions.  Thus, the following articles are offered on the topic, utilising the teachings of Scripture to demonstrate and uncover what has been held as mysterious and unknowable for most of human history.  There have obviously been plenty of theories about the subject, but as we shall see, the Bible takes a particular stance on the matter, one which is consistent throughout the Book itself.

So let us begin.

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Genesis 2:7 (KJV) — “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.”

Genesis 2:7  (NASB1995) — “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

I don’t think it would be wrong to say that the foundational text for exploring this matter has been Genesis 2:7, since it addresses the very creation of humankind, and teaches some valuable insights that can then be applied throughout the rest of the Biblical narrative.  

You’ll likely notice I’ve used not one, but two different Bible translations in this case.  I’ve done so because many love the KJV, and consider it to have its own inherent authority.  But I’ve also chosen the more contemporary (yet still conservative) New American Standard Bible (1995 version) because of what it demonstrates in the vernacular (common way of speaking).  But I’ll elaborate upon this more shortly.

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The text here is set in the context of the Creation of this world by an Almighty Deity known here has “The Lord God.”  This Being chooses to initiate human life through what appears to be a rather crude process: He simply gathers up some of the carbon material that this world is made from and shapes a bipedal form from it.   Imagine, if you will, a mannequin, or a sand person one might make at the beach.  It is shaped like us, but it is inert, just a piece of wonderful art that is there for the moment, but will most likely disappear at the next windstorm or rainfall.  

Until, that is, God does something additional.  It says that He breathed into this lifeless simulacram the “breath of life.”  This action is what transforms the storyline from a cosmic origin story merely told about a planet to one about those who then up inhabiting that planet ever after.  It is at this precise moment that “mankind” / “humankind” enter the stage of the Biblical narrative.   And this “introduction” of them into reality at this point of the story really needs to be emphasised, precisely because they were not there before this.  Humanity did not exist before this moment in time.  They were not waiting “spiritually” in the wings for a physical form to be afforded them, like moving into a new house.  This is the inception point of all those who would inhabit this planet ever after.

Why this emphasis?  Because some argue that the “substance” of humanity is to be found in the ethereal, the spiritual, the realm of the non-corporeal.   Some even go so far as to argue that God had made “human spirits” beforehand, and then decided (for whatever reason) to then place those “spirits” into physical bodies (again, for whatever reason).    But it needs to be pointed out that this is not what the story here indicates at all (nor ever after in the remainder of the Biblical corpus).

Once God chose to impart this Gift of breath (read: life) to this dirt dummy, a most incredible transformation took place.  The inert took on initiative.  That which had not existed suddenly did. Some refer to this as the “miracle of Creation”, and indeed, it is not difficult to see why.  Only an Omnipotent being could effect such an event.  It happened by the will of God in that moment, and proceeded from there.

This “breath” should not be understood nor confused with the popular misconception of “spirit” or “soul” that sees the life-giving energy of God as being the same thing as having a non-corporeal “copy” of yourself residing within you, like a driver who steers a car.  The “breath of God” is that which sustains life, that which empowers all life on earth, in fact.

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But we must be certain that we do not confuse the current (arguably global) misunderstanding of the definition of “spirit” / “soul” (as non-corporeal entity which is effectively immortal and everlasting), with what the Bible talks about here.  Notice especially what the Kings James Bible argues in favour of here; that once this Gift from God was given to this earthy shell, something marvellous occurred…but it is not that which you may well think occurred.  Note that the text says that “man became a living soul”.  Read that again.  Make sure you haven’t missed what it’s getting at.   Notice what it is not saying.   The text does not read:  “And man received a living soul”, but that “…he became a living soul.”  

Did you catch that?  See the difference? 

So often the popularised conception is that we are merely “shells” walking around, carrying this “soul” or “spirit” within us, just waiting to be released into the great Unknown to go on to fulfil whatever destiny we might envision for it (usually according to our personal or shared set of beliefs gained from our family, culture, religious background, or what have you).  

And people are free to believe what they will, but if we are to avoid being disingenuous, we should be willing to acknowledge that this starting text in the Biblical corpus does not argue in favour of the existence of a “ghost” in our “machines”! Quite to the contrary, in fact.  Man does not receive a living soul, but instead becomes that very thing! This is significant for our appreciation of all that yet remains to be considered in the overall context of the Bible.  If we are “souls”, that will very likely have a massive impact on the way that we then begin to understand and talk about who we are, and what happens to us when we die.  In the very least, we will have to start refraining from saying that when we die our “souls” go on to some other activity, whether above, below, or beyond Somewhere.  Biblically-speaking, that very phrase becomes nonsensical.  When you die, you, “the soul”, cease to exist!  That is the point that needs to be appreciated here! 

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Let’s try approaching this text from another angle.  Imagine for a moment that we try to turn this into a mathematical formula of sorts.  In this case, Genesis 2:7 would look something like this:

                [Formula 1]    Body  +  Breath of God  =  Living Soul (aka “Person” / Being”)

That seems straightforward enough, doesn’t it?

But what then happens if you should choose to reverse this formula?

         [Formula 2]   Living Soul (aka “Person” / Being”) — Breath of God  =   Body 

Again, a fairly straightforward proposition, right?

But this is where (and I have seen this so many times) people start to get really confused, and think that I am saying something other than what I am actually saying.   For example, in Formula 2, people tend not have a problem with the concept of a “body” being left after death.  We all know that is what happens.  You bury bodies.  You cremate bodies.  You entomb bodies. Yes.  We get it.

But what people don’t seem to appreciate as much is that you, the one we have been referring to a s “living soul” (a person / a being) no longer exists at this point in time.  They are usually willing to recognise that you may not be physically present, but in their grasp of the situation, you have merely shifted over to a non-corporeal form, a spiritual form, if you will.  But is that what the text (in reverse) is indicating? 

Let’s put Formula 2 in different words, shall we, and see if it makes a difference?

    A HUMAN BEING WHO LOSES OR HAS TAKEN AWAY FROM THEMSELVES THE BREATH (SPARK  / ENERGY) OF LIFE ENDS UP SIMPLY AS AN INERT CORPSE, A PILE OF INANIMATE CARBON. END OF STORY.   

See the difference now?

There is no “And then…” when it comes to any sort of transmigration of the “breath” (which people far too often equate with the mistaken definition of “spirit”) leaving the body.  The “breath” which God gave is not to be understood as the core definition of who we are. It is merely the source of life and energy afforded us by the grace of God, but it is by no means eternal nor immortal. 

There is no “And then….”

Death is an ending to the existence of that person / soul / individual / being.  Full stop. 

 

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But, some may ask, doesn’t the Bible teach that man is going to live forever?  Isn’t that one of the basic tenets of the Christian faith?  How can one of the first verses in the Bible seemingly contradict such a long-standing teaching?  (Or does it?).   Come back next time and we’ll go deeper on this.