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The Watch Tower Society uses the passage below to substantiate its
doctrine that people go out of existence when they die.
†. Ps 146:4 . . His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; In that day
his thoughts do perish.
The Hebrew word for "thoughts" is 'eshtonah (esh-to-naw') which means:
thinking.
Unfortunately, Ps 146:4 is the only place in the entire Old Testament where
'eshtonah appears so we can't compare its uses in other contexts. However,
according to Webster's the word "thinking" is an ambiguous word with quite
a variety of meanings to choose from; including, but not limited to:
concerns, anticipations, conceptions, opinions, imaginations, visualizations,
ideas, epiphanies, plans, schemes, fantasies, arguments, deliberations, and
the like.
For example: consider all those people who perished in the World Trade
Center, in the Japan and Indonesia tsunamis, and the Haiti earthquake.
None of them woke that day planning on it being their last on earth. No, on
the contrary; they had people to see, places to go, and things to do: but
before the day ended; whatever was on their minds lost its importance--
their priorities went right out the window and became no more significant
than green cheese on the moon. All their plans, their dreams, their
schedules, their schemes, their problems, their ambitions, their loves, and
their aspirations went right down the tubes as they were suddenly
confronted with a whole new reality to cope with.
So then, an alternative to the Watch Tower Society's theology is that people
don't go out of existence when they die. Their cognitive processes don't stop
working; no, Ps 146:4 only means that whatever was on their minds while
they were alive is now out of mind; viz: null and void.
Take for example Michael Jackson. While working on a new world tour,
Jackson died in his sleep. As a result; his tour perished on the spot.
Michael's dream went right out the window.
The "spirit goes out" refers to the breath of life that God blew into
Adam's nostrils in the book of Genesis. That breath (a.k.a. life force) served
but one purpose and that was to energize Adam's body (cf. Jas 2:26). But
there is much more to human life than a body. For example: where does
human nature come from? That is a great mystery.
How does the human brain, a 3-pound lump of flabby organic tissue,
produce the phenomena of memory, consciousness, individuality, and self
awareness? Why does Man have a sense of justice, of fair play, and a desire
for revenge? Why does he prefer to be right rather than wrong? Why be
right and/or wrong at all? Why does Man want his life to count for
something? Why isn't Man amoral like the other creatures? Butterflies are
free, why aren't we?
Those kinds of questions cannot be answered on a physical level. There is an
element to human life that is above and beyond an organic explanation.
=======================================
The Watch Tower Society uses the passage below to substantiate its
doctrine that people go out of existence when they die.
†. Ps 146:4 . . His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; In that day
his thoughts do perish.
The Hebrew word for "thoughts" is 'eshtonah (esh-to-naw') which means:
thinking.
Unfortunately, Ps 146:4 is the only place in the entire Old Testament where
'eshtonah appears so we can't compare its uses in other contexts. However,
according to Webster's the word "thinking" is an ambiguous word with quite
a variety of meanings to choose from; including, but not limited to:
concerns, anticipations, conceptions, opinions, imaginations, visualizations,
ideas, epiphanies, plans, schemes, fantasies, arguments, deliberations, and
the like.
For example: consider all those people who perished in the World Trade
Center, in the Japan and Indonesia tsunamis, and the Haiti earthquake.
None of them woke that day planning on it being their last on earth. No, on
the contrary; they had people to see, places to go, and things to do: but
before the day ended; whatever was on their minds lost its importance--
their priorities went right out the window and became no more significant
than green cheese on the moon. All their plans, their dreams, their
schedules, their schemes, their problems, their ambitions, their loves, and
their aspirations went right down the tubes as they were suddenly
confronted with a whole new reality to cope with.
So then, an alternative to the Watch Tower Society's theology is that people
don't go out of existence when they die. Their cognitive processes don't stop
working; no, Ps 146:4 only means that whatever was on their minds while
they were alive is now out of mind; viz: null and void.
Take for example Michael Jackson. While working on a new world tour,
Jackson died in his sleep. As a result; his tour perished on the spot.
Michael's dream went right out the window.
The "spirit goes out" refers to the breath of life that God blew into
Adam's nostrils in the book of Genesis. That breath (a.k.a. life force) served
but one purpose and that was to energize Adam's body (cf. Jas 2:26). But
there is much more to human life than a body. For example: where does
human nature come from? That is a great mystery.
How does the human brain, a 3-pound lump of flabby organic tissue,
produce the phenomena of memory, consciousness, individuality, and self
awareness? Why does Man have a sense of justice, of fair play, and a desire
for revenge? Why does he prefer to be right rather than wrong? Why be
right and/or wrong at all? Why does Man want his life to count for
something? Why isn't Man amoral like the other creatures? Butterflies are
free, why aren't we?
Those kinds of questions cannot be answered on a physical level. There is an
element to human life that is above and beyond an organic explanation.
=======================================
