More insights, as we go in circles here......
More insights, as we go in circles here......
spiritual dead and yet alive
We've been over this many times before for those following. Way 2 go interprets the 'second death' as meaning only some kind of condition of being 'spiritually dead', and NOT an actual death of the soul itself,
its life and consciousness, its very existence. It seems logical however that the 'second death' is a judgment of final or eternal consequence, and is not just a continuation of an unsaved person being in their unregenerated condition, being 'dead in sins'. We might want to differentiate there, because Revelations descriptions and terms are eschatologically significant. We've also covered here as far 'biblically speaking' goes, that 'conditional immortality' seems to have MORE SUPPORT from biblical passages, than ECT. So all this is is running around the mulberry bush with one side being too stubborn to accept a different definition or meaning for their concept of the 'second death'. All this is a clashing of terms with attached meanings and definitions, throw whatever verses you like up, but if you want to 'biblical' about it, I think 'conditional immortality' has more support (while I have a flair towards universalism at times). I personally draw from spiritual teachings and traditions outside of just a 'Bible only' format,...being an eclectic spiritualist and pure universalist, so have insights and opinions about this that stretch outside the box, and some aspects of this that I'm fine being an 'agnostic' about, since there are some things you just have to admit that you DONT KNOW. - all else is either some gnostic experience (personal religious experience or knowing), speculation, point of view or opinion subject to various conditioning.
As I've shared before,...this resource
HERE has a vast commentary of biblical support for 'conditional immortality'. The authors challenge any open minded person to consider the evidence provided. See for yourself, be open to research the matter.
I've also earlier in this very thread shared my primary views and reasons for my questioning ECT
here (blog post archive of my earlier posts on the subject).
There is also the pivotal doctrine of 'karma' that is instrinsically related to 'punishment' and 'suffering', being the law of sowing and reaping, cause & effect, action and consequence that expands our consideration and assumptions about the subject here. I take on Way 2 go in his thread challenging me
here
Finally we reflect on the infinity of love, the eternity and magnitude of God's mercy and wisdom in his divine providence for all souls and see that if we do have true freedom of choice to determine our destiny (be it 'life' or 'death'), then God would allow for one to make a final decision on these matters, or by some all-empowering irresistible grace draw ALL SOULS to himself ultimately, yet this would be 'universalism' of one kind or another. So we see that 'free will' also plays a part in the eschatology of souls, depending on how true individual choice is, and if it is indeed 'sovereign' in determining one's own destiny. In such a case of God giving souls individual sovereignty in this matter, then souls could choose Life or Death for themselves at any point in time, and also have freedom of choice make this 'final' (in making souls immortal, or a soul rejecting life altogether and being disintegrated).
ECT (eternal conscious torment) seems the most depraved, illogical and heinous doctrine sported since the Middle ages, protestants taking the ball and running with it,...heck even Catholicism grants 'purgatory',...and that probably because they saw the unjust severity of ECT, but still nevertheless reserve it for more hardened sinners. Conditional immortality is more rational on different grounds, again back to 'terms' and 'conditions'. Then 'Universalism' has some positive and perhaps rational points but this again has its own terms and conditions, and its own 'proof-texts'. Beyond any 'literalism',....one must fall back on reason, principle, logic, moral sense, philosophical insight in determining the destiny of souls, and if one is a student of truth...BE OPEN to keep reconsidering and researching one's conclusions, because there may be a better more correct or reasonable proposition.