IN THE BODY AND OUT.
It is confidently asserted that Paul believed a man could exist
independently of the body from certain expressions which he uses in 2
Cor. 12: 2-4:--
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body,
I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
such an one caught up to the third Heaven. And I knew such a man,
whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
By the man whom he knew, it is generally supposed that the apostle means
himself, and the language he uses is a record of his own experience.
Paul was taken to the third Heaven, to paradise, and heard words which
it is not possible for a man to utter; but whether it was in his body,
or out, he did not know.
This instance, then, furnishes no example of a spirit actually existing
in a conscious condition outside of the body, even if this is what is
meant by the expression, “out of the body;” for Paul assures us that he
did not know that he was in that condition. Yet it is claimed that it
has all the force of an actual example; for such a condition is
recognized as possible. It is very readily admitted that such a
condition is recognized, as is expressed by the terms, “out of the
body;” but that this means an immaterial spirit, an immortal soul, the
real, intelligent man, speeding away through the universe even to the
third Heaven, there to hear unspeakable words, and gather up heavenly
information, and return at will to resume its abode in the, for a time,
deserted body, should not be too hastily inferred from this passage.
Of what is the apostle speaking? He says, in verse 1: “It is not
expedient for me, doubtless, to glory. I will come to visions and
revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ, above fourteen years
ago,” &c., as previously quoted. His subject, then, is the visions and
revelations he had received from the Lord; and the language from verse 2
to verse 4 is the record of one such remarkable revelation, perhaps the
most remarkable one he had ever experienced. He was given a view of
paradise, and heard unspeakable words. And so real and clear and vivid
was the view, that he did not know but that he was transported bodily
into that place. If not in this manner, the view was given in the
ordinary course of vision, that is, by having the scene presented before
the mind by the power of the Holy Ghost.
All must concede that only these two conditions are brought to view,
either his transportation bodily to paradise, or the ordinary condition
of being in vision. If he went bodily to paradise, the instance has no
bearing of course on the question of consciousness in death. And if it
was an ordinary vision, how does this prove consciousness in death? The
question is reduced to this one point; and the answer turns on the
definition given to the expression, “out of the body.” Did Paul mean by
it, what modern expositors wish us to understand by it? Paul meant by
it, simply being in vision; the expositors aforesaid mean by it, the
going out of the immortal spirit from the body, and its existence for a
time in a separate conscious intelligent condition independent of the
body. But let us look a little further, and see what this condition is.
According to the common view, the separation of the soul from the body
is death. This is what death is defined to mean. There can be no such
thing as the separation of soul and body, and death not result. And the
return of the soul to again inhabit the body, is a resurrection from the
dead. This is what is claimed in the case of Rachel, whose soul
departed, and she died, Gen. 35:18, and the widow’s son whom Elijah
raised, whose soul came into him again, and he revived. 1 Kings 17:22.
But does any one suppose that Paul meant to say that he did not know but
that he died and had a resurrection? That is what he did say, if the
words, “out of the body,” mean what some would have us understand by
them. His soul went off to paradise, and his body lay here, we know not
how long, a corpse upon the earth! And when his soul returned, he had a
resurrection from the dead! A necessary conclusion so preposterous, must
be sufficient to convince any one that Paul, by the expression, “out of
the body,” does not mean a state of death. He simply means that he was
in vision, a state in which the mind, controlled for the time by the
Holy Ghost, is made to take cognizance of distant or future scenes, and
the person seems to himself to be really and bodily present, viewing the
scenes, and listening to the words that are spoken, before him. Dreams,
which all have experienced, are doubtless good illustrations of how this
can be, and the case of John, in the Revelation, furnishes a notable
example; for he was carried forward far into the future, and seemed to
be present and taking part in scenes that did not then exist, and at
which he could not really have been present, even in his supposed
immaterial immortal soul.
Paul, then, had no reference whatever to a state of death in 2 Cor.
12:2-4. To suppose him to refer to that, according to the immaterialist
view, runs us into the greatest absurdity. Hence his language affords no
proof that there is a soul in man which can live on in a conscious
intelligent state, while the mortal body crumbles back to dust.