Myth 5: Death Means The Permanent End Of Our Existence

We cease to exist when we die, but this does not mean that everything is necessarily finished. The faithful man Job knew that he would go to the grave, Sheol, when he died. But listen to his prayer to God: " O that in Sheol you would conceal me, that you would keep me secret until your anger turns back, that you would set a time limit for me and remember me! If an able-bodied man dies can he live again?...You will call, and I myself shall answer you." - Job 14:13-15.

Job believed that if he was faithful until death, he would be remembered by God and in time be resurrected. This was the belief of all of God's servants in ancient times. Jesus himself confirmed this hope and showed that God would use him to raise the dead. Christ's own words give us this assurance: " The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear [Jesus']voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment." - John 5:28, 29.

Very shortly God will remove all wickedness and establish a new world under heavenly rulership. (Psalm 37:10, 11; Daniel 2:44; Revelation 16:14, 16) the result will be a paradise over the whole earth, inhabited by people who server God. In the Bible we read: " I heard a loud voice from the throne say: 'Look! the tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more,neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.' " - Revelation 21:3, 4.

Free From Fear

Knowledge of the resurrection hope coupled with knowledge of the one who is the source of that provision can comfort you. Jesus promised: " You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32) That includes emancipating us from the fear of death. Jehovah is the only one who can actually change the process of aging and death and grant us eternal life. Can you believe in God's promises? Yes, you can because God's Word always comes true. (Isaiah 55:11) We urge you to learn more about God's purposes for mankind. Jehovah's Witnesses will be delighted to help you.

Myth 4: Some People Are Just Tormented After Death

Many religions teach that the wicked will go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever. Is this teaching logical and Scriptural? The human life span is limited to 70 or 80 years. Even if someone was guilty of extreme wickedness all his life, would everlasting torment be just a punishment? No. It would be grossly unjust to torment a man forever for the sins that he committed in a short lifetime.

Only God can reveal what happens after people die, and he has done so in his written Word, the Bible. This is what the Bible says: "As the [beast] dies, so the [man] dies; and they all have but one spirit....all are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust." (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust - to nonexistence -when they die.

In order to be tormented, a person has to be conscious. Are the dead conscious? Once again, the Bible gives the answer: "the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages,m because the remembrance of them has been forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5) It is impossible for the dead , who are conscious of nothing at all," to experience agony anywhere.


Continued - Next time: Myth 5: Death means the permanent end of our existence.

Myth 3: God Takes Little Children To Become Angels

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who studied terminally ill individuals, referred to another common perception among religious people. Describing a real incident, she stated that it is "unwise to tell a little child who lost her brother that God loved little boys so much that he took little Johnny to heaven." Such a statement cast God in a bad light and does not reflect his personality and behavior. Dr. Kubler-Ross continued: " When this little girl grew up to be a woman she never solved her anger at God, which resulted ina psychotic depression when she lost her own little son three decades later."

Why would God snatch a child to get another angel - as if God needed a child more than the child's parents did? If it were true that God takes children, would that not make him an unloving, selfish Creator? Contrary to such a perception, the Bible says: " Love is from God." (1John 4:7) Would a God of love cause a loss that even humans with any measure of decency would not tolerate?

So why do children die? Part of the Bible's answer is recorded at Eclesiastes 9:11: "Time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all." And Psalm 51:5 tells us that all of us are imperfect, sinful, from the time of our conception, and the eventuality for all men now is death from any number of causes. Sometimes death strikes before birth, resulting in a stillbirth. In other cases, children succumb to their dire circumstance's or have accidents and die. God is not responsible for such eventualities.


Continued -Next time: Myth 4: Some People Are Tormented After Death