SINCE Adam was expelled from Eden billions of persons have died. Where did they go at death? and what is the present state of the dead?

Two answers have been given to this question. They are exactly opposite to each other. If one of the answers given is true, then of necessity the other must be false. It is written concerning the Word of God: "Thy word is truth." (John 17:17) Therefore in determining which answer is true and which is false both must be measured by the Word of God. For convenience in considering the proof and argument, one of the answers is here designated the layman's answer and the other is designated the clergymen's answer.

The layman's answer is: Every man is a mortal soul. When death ensues the man is completely dead, out of existence, and not conscious anywhere. In that state he must remain for ever unless God awakens him out of death and affords him an opportunity for life. That is the true answer.

The clergymen's answer is: Every man has an immortal soul; and when death ensues only the body dies, but the soul lives on. If the man is good, when he dies he goes immediately to heaven, and there remains for ever in endless bliss. If he is not good and has not satisfied the justice of God for sins already forgiven, he goes to purgatory, where he cannot help himself; but he may be aided by the prayers of faithful men on the earth. If the man is wicked at death he goes immediately to hell, the place of conscious torment; and

there he remains for ever, suffering torture, with no hope of relief. This is the false answer.

The true answer to the question must of necessity be consistent with God and in harmony with every part of his revealed plan. The very essence of the divine plan now revealed is that God is providing a way for man to gain everlasting life by and through the sacrifice of his beloved Son, Christ Jesus. (John 3:16) The teaching of the clergy concerning the dead, to wit, that every man has inherent life and cannot actually die and that at the time of the dissolution of the body the "good soul" goes to heaven and the "wicked soul" goes to hell, is wholly inconsistent with the divine plan.

Men had been dying for four thousand years when Jesus came to earth and gave his life as a ransom for mankind. (John 10:10; 6:51-53; Matthew 20:28) The answer of the clergy to the question concerning the state of the dead is entirely inconsistent with God's plan, particularly with reference to the ransom sacrifice, because if such millions were in heaven or torment the ransom would do them no good. If the clergy's theory or answer is correct, then the death of Jesus was of no value.

The Man

What is man? Is he a soul or does he possess a soul? The Scriptures answer: "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) The words soul, being, and man are synonymous terms. No man has a soul. Every man is a soul. The Scriptures declare that the beeves, asses and sheep are souls. (Numbers 31:28) The preachers have made the people believe that man carries a soul around in him, and that when he dies the body decays and the soul hikes off to some other place. Their answer finds absolutely no support in the Scriptures.

Immortality

To support their answer that the dead are conscious, in either heaven, purgatory or hell, the clergy must find that man has an immortal soul. Immortality means that which cannot die. It is easy to be seen that no being could be for ever in hell torment or in heaven or in purgatory if that creature could be killed. Therefore the master mind behind these false doctrines said: 'We must teach that the man has an immortal soul.' If the Scriptural proof is that man is a mortal soul, subject to death, then the purgatory and torment theories must be completely false.

When God made man and placed him in Eden he said to him: 'In the day that ye sin ye shall surely die.' (Genesis 2:17) That was the plain statement of God's law. Did he mean that only the body should die? The answer is: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" — Psalm 89:48.

Satan's Lie

Jehovah had told Adam the eating of a certain fruit would result in his death. Satan desired to alienate man from God and have the worship of man for himself. Fraudulently he approached Eve and said to her: 'You can eat of that food; and if you do eat it, you will be as wise as God himself. You shall surely not die.' He induced Eve to disobey God.

The only support for the theory of immortality of all souls is what the Devil said. God stated: "Thou shalt surely die." The Devil stated: "Ye shall not surely die." Whom shall we believe, God or the Devil? The clergy have accepted the Devil's statement and rejected God's; therefore their answer is false. The Devil was

the father of lies, and this was his first. To the clergy of his time Jesus said: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was & murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." — John 8: 44.

Who Is Immortal?

The Devil himself is not immortal, because the Scriptures show that God is going to destroy him in due time. (Hebrews 2:14; Ezekiel 28:18) We might with propriety propound to clergymen this question: If hell is a place of eternal torment, and if the Devil is the chief fireman, who is going to keep up the fire when the Devil is destroyed?

A Christian is admonished to seek immortality. (Romans 2:7) A man does not seek that which he already possesses. God alone possesses the quality of immortality, as it is written: "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting." — 1 Timothy 6:16.

When Jesus was on the earth he was not immortal, but God gave him immortality at his resurrection. (John 5:26; Revelation 1:18) The faithful overcoming Christians are promised immortality as a glorious reward, as it is written: "This mortal must put on immortality." (1 Corinthians 15:53) It would be inconsistent for the Lord to have put that into his Word if man were already immortal. Now these scriptures show that man is a soul; that he is subject to death; that he is therefore not immortal (Job 4:17); and these things being true it must follow that a man, when he dies, could not immediately go to heaven, purgatory or eternal torment.

Purgatory

The theory of purgatory is this: A man dies who professes to be a Christian and is a member of the Catholic church but not a very good one. He then must go to purgatory, and can do nothing to help himself; but the priest or clergy remaining on earth may aid the poor fellow in purgatory, by praying for him.  — See "Faith of the Fathers", page 205, by Gibbons.

Purgatory has been a source of revenue for the clergy for a long period of time. Is it reasonable that God would permit the poor man to die and go to a place of suffering, and then permit selfish men to use that condition for commercial purposes? Such is absolutely repugnant to the very name of Jehovah, and is wholly unreasonable and unscriptural. The clergy in Jesus' time tried to use their religion, and did use it, for commercial purposes. As to how God regarded them may be determined by what Jesus said to them: "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Matthew 21:13) Then Jesus drove the seekers for filthy lucre out of the temple.

For many years the people have relied upon the statements of the preachers and priests, believing that they were teaching the truth. For this reason there is still a great amount of ignorance concerning purgatory and other doctrines taught by them. No one has ever cited a scripture in support of the purgatory theory, but has cited only such men as Dante and other clergymen who lived years ago. Not only is the doctrine of purgatory without support in the Scriptures, but the Scriptures show that the teaching concerning it has operated as a fraud and a snare, and that it was invented by the Devil himself and is used by Satan's agents against man's interests, and to the defamation of God's holy name.

Heaven

People in sorrow like to believe that their loved ones have gone to a place of rest and peace, and so the clergy have told the people that all the good members of their church go to heaven when they die. They have found no support for this in the Scriptures. Heaven means high, lofty and exalted. Heaven is the habitation of Jehovah. No man has ever seen Jehovah or ever can see him. "For there shall no man see me, and live." (Exodus 33: 20) Any one who goes to heaven must be changed from a human to a spirit being. Jesus was changed from human to spirit or divine nature at his resurrection.

At that time more than four thousand years had elapsed since death entered the human race. Great numbers had died, and amongst them men whom God approved. A long list of these approved ones is given in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. Not one there mentioned went to heaven. Concerning all the good who had died when Jesus was on earth, he said: "No man hath ascended up to heaven." — John 3:13.

Amongst those who were faithful to God was David. It is written concerning David that he was a man after God's own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) David is used to foreshadow The Christ. The name means beloved. At the dictation of Jehovah, he was the writer of many of the Psalms. Surely if any men were to be taken to heaven at death David would be amongst them. But it is plainly written concerning him: "David is not ascended into the heavens." (Acts 2: 34) John the Baptist was a good man, and received the approval of God, and was the one selected to announce the coming of the Savior of the world. He was beheaded shortly after Jesus began his ministry. He died because of his faithfulness to God. Yet

Jesus declared that John the Baptist would never be of the heavenly kingdom class. — Matthew 11:11.

Heaven is promised as a special reward to those who are faithful unto God as members of the new creation. It is written: "God . . . hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5) It is wholly unreasonable, and inconsistent with God's revealed plan, that he will provide heaven for the good in general, whereas he specifically states that it is only for those who, after the giving of the ransom sacrifice, are faithful unto death. — Rev-elation 2:10.

Before examining the Scriptures relating to hell, the Scriptural proof is here submitted in support of the layman's answer given, that the dead are actually dead, unconscious, in the tomb, and know not anything until God's due time to awaken them.

Unconscious

No creature could be enjoying bliss in heaven, or be undergoing suffering in purgatory or torture in hell, unless that creature were at the time conscious. Some clergymen try to qualify the statement of bodily torment in hell by saying that the wicked are merely undergoing 'mental torment' because of the memory of their wickedness. Neither could this be true, unless the creature at the time were conscious and able to remember what had transpired. If the Scriptural proof then establishes the fact that when one dies he has no knowledge nor wisdom; that he has no memory; that he cannot work and cannot think; and that he is in a condition of silence, such absolutely disproves the

clergymen's answer that the dead are undergoing any kind of suffering or any kind of joy.

God is true, and his Word is true. Men are not true nor is their word true, except when in harmony with God's Word. (Romans 3: 4) Upon the question at issue the following quotations from the Word of God are submitted, with absolute confidence of establishing the truth of the layman's answer, to wit:

"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." — Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 10.

"For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" — Psalm 6:5.

"Like sheep they are laid in the grave [sheol]; death shall feed on them." — Psalm 49:14.

"The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." — Psalm 115:17.

Man was made of the elements of the earth, and when he dies he returns to the dust. — Genesis 3:19.

"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." — Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20.

The breath of life animated man and made his organs function. No longer do they function when he ceases to breathe. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." — Psalm 146:4.

The clergy have attempted to apply these texts to the body only, and not to the soul. In this they are wrong; for it is the soul or being or creature that ceases to exist. — Ezekiel 18:4.

Hell

There is no place for the eternal torture of men or souls. God is not a fiend, as the clergy would make him appear. God is love. What good could result from torturing one of Jehovah's creatures? How could love be expressed in such a manner? Furthermore, how could torment in any wise comply with the law which God gave to Adam, and which provided death as the penalty? Again the answer of the clergymen is both unreasonable and inconsistent with God.

The doctrine of eternal torment was never heard of for more than four thousand years after Adam was sentenced to death. It is an invention of the Devil promulgated for the purpose of supporting his original lie; namely that there is no death. (Genesis 3:4) The Devil saw that if man should believe the doctrine of the inherent immortality of the soul he likewise must believe that the wicked are somewhere in torment. If he could induce man to believe that God had provided a place for the eternal torture of that soul, then he would succeed in turning man away from God and causing him to hate Jehovah. The doctrines of eternal torture and inherent immortality are intended to support each other, and both being false both must fall.

The Bible was translated from other languages. The Old Testament was translated from the Hebrew and the New Testament from the Greek. The English word "hell" is derived from the Hebrew word sheol; and the Greek words hades, gehenna and tartaroo are also translated "hell" in the Scriptures. As winter time approaches, a farmer gathers his carrots and turnips, digs a hole in the ground, and then covers these vegetables over so that they will not freeze. According to the old English way of describing it he is putting his vegetables into hell; that is to say, a dark place.

The Hebrew word sheol is translated in the Bible "grave" and "pit" more times than it is translated hell. The grave is a dark place. If sheol means torment in one place, it must mean this in all. A few scriptures on the point will illuminate the mind on this question.

Jacob was one of the men whom God approved. Jacob's son Joseph had been taken away and sold into Egypt, and representation had been made to Jacob that his son was killed. His sons and daughters came about him to comfort him; but he said: "I will go down into the grave [sheol] unto my son mourning." (Genesis 37:35) Years afterwards there was a famine in the land where Jacob lived, and he sent his sons into Egypt for corn. They found Joseph there. They returned with the request that the father send Benjamin, the younger son. Jacob responded to their request with these words: "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother [Joseph] is dead, and he [Benjamin] is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [sheol]." — Genesis 42: 38.

Here the word sheol is translated "grave". It is easy to be seen that Jacob expected to go to the tomb. The translators saw that they could not make this scripture read "hell"; if they did it would be rather inconsistent to argue that Jacob's gray hairs would last long in fire and brimstone. The modern revision committee left this word sheol untranslated, evidently expecting thereby to deceive the uneducated.

Job was a good man and approved by Jehovah. The Devil boasted that he could make Job curse God. God let him try it. But he never succeeded in causing Job to curse Jehovah. Job was afflicted with boils from the top of his head to the soles of his feet; his flesh was putrid; and all of his neighbors and friends turned against him and came to mock him; even his wife re-

pudiated him and said: "Curse God and die." Poor Job was left with no one to comfort him. According to the preachers' description of hell Job was having about as much of it as any man could have on this earth. If he believed that hell means eternal torment, it would seem rather strange that he should have uttered this prayer, to wit:

"0 that thou wouldest hide me in [hell, sheol] the, grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!" (Job 14: 13) Then he adds: "If I wait, [hell, sheol] the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness." (Job 17:13) Job wrote these words under inspiration from Jehovah. They are cited here to prove that the word sheol, translated hell, means the grave, the tomb, the condition of silence.

In Psalm 16:10 it is written: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell." This is quoted in Acts 2:30-32 and is specifically applied to the Lord Jesus, proving that Jesus went to the hell of the Bible, which means the tomb. If hell were a place of eternal torture Jesus would still be there. But he came out in three days. He was resurrected from the dead. The preachers may answer: "He went down to investigate and to inform others how hot it is there." If they are correct he must have been supplied with an asbestos body for the trip. Besides, Jesus spoke of hell and never indicated that it was a place of torment, as we shall see as we progress with this argument.

One of the best illustrations of what is meant by hell is that with reference to Jonah. A great whale swallowed him. Jonah says: "I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I." (Jonah 2:2) Evi-

dently it was quite dark in that whale's belly. If hell had been eternal torment Jonah would not have gotten out.

The same word sheol is often translated "pit". Describing the wicked that die, it is written concerning them: "They go down quick into the pit." (Numbers 16:30) The word pit is from the word sheol. Again it is written concerning those who die: "They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust." (Job 17:16) The word here translated pit is from the same Hebrew word sheol, and plainly expresses that it means the condition of death.

Hades

In the New Testament the Greek word hades is translated into the English word hell, and has identically the same meaning as sheol in the Hebrew. It refers always to the condition of death, spoken of as the grave, the tomb, or the pit, A few proof texts concerning this: Acts 2: 27 is a quotation from Psalm 16:10. Then in Matthew 16:18 Jesus uses the word hades, which is translated hell, saying, "The gates of hell shall not prevail" against his church. Without doubt the thought is that the condition of death shall be destroyed in due time, and therefore that it cannot prevail against those who serve God.

In harmony with this, in Revelation 1:18 it is declared that Jesus has the keys of hell; that is to say, the means of unlocking the condition of death. It is written: "Death and hell delivered up the dead." (Revelation 20:13) Hades is the word here used; it has the same meaning as sheol, and evidently means the grave, or tomb, which shall give up the dead at the resurrection. It manifestly does not mean eternal torment; because if people are there eternally, they could

not be brought out. This scripture does not say that hell gives up the living, but says that it gives up the dead.

Gehenna

The Greek word gehenna is also rendered "hell" in English. It means the condition of death, or complete destruction, from which there is no awakening or resurrection. Gehenna is a Greek expression, referring to the valley of Hinnom. Just on the south side of Jerusalem is a valley called the valley of Hinnom, or the valley of Gehenna. Therein was a fire kept constantly burning. The offal from the city and the bodies of dead animals and the like were thrown into this fire and destroyed. Under the Jewish law no living creature was permitted to be cast into that fire. The practice was to bring the offal out of the gate of the wall of Jerusalem and cast it over the high embankment into the valley. The bodies of some of these animals lodged on the rocks, and the worms consumed them. The valley of Hinnom therefore was a place of destruction. It pictured the destruction of the wicked.

Speaking to the Jews who would understand his meaning, Jesus said: "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire [gehenna]: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:47, 48) The unquenchable fire and the worm represent destruction, and Jesus was telling the Jews that that was what would come upon their nation.

Jesus in plain phrase was telling the Jew that he, Jesus, was the one appointed King, and that in due time God would set up his kingdom; that a place in that kingdom was the greatest privilege one could have; but that no one could enter it unless he willingly

sacrificed everything that would be contrary to God's will. If therefore any one had something that was dear to him, even as dear as an eye or as a hand, if it was offensive and would keep him out of the kingdom he had better sacrifice it than be destroyed.

Again Jesus used the same word gehenna, in this text: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [gehenna]." (Matthew 10: 28) Here he plainly says that gehenna, translated hell, means destruction. One man might kill another one, and the one killed would be, in due time, resurrected; but if God destroys him he would destroy his very right to existence, and then there would be for him no resurrection.

Hades, translated hell, means the condition of death from which there shall be a resurrection. Gehenna means a condition of death from which there will be no resurrection.

In Jesus' day the clergy were his real enemies, although they claimed to represent Jehovah God. They were hypocrites, misrepresenting Jehovah and misleading the people. He plainly told them that they were the servants of the Devil. (John 8:44) After he had entered the temple and driven out the money changers, he delivered a discourse to the Pharisees and others of the clergy of that time, and in that connection he said to them: "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23: 33) The word gehenna is the Greek word here used. These men had sinned against light. They knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and yet they persecuted him and sought to kill him. Because they had this light, and persisted in sin, he was asking them the question, How is it possible for you to escape eternal destruction?  — Hebrews 6:4-6.

One who slanders and speaks evil against another and stirs up strife, seeks to destroy the other. It is written: "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." (James 3:6) The word here translated hell is gehenna, and clearly means destruction.

Tartaroo

The Greek word tartaroo is rendered in the English Bible by the word hell. There seems to have been no good reason why this should have been rendered hell, except that it represents a condition of imprisonment of evil angels. Prior to the flood certain spirit beings or angels defiled themselves with human beings. As a result a progeny of wicked ones lived on earth. (Genesis 6) The great deluge came, and these offspring were destroyed. But the evil angels were not destroyed. Concerning them it is written:

"God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." (2 Peter 2: 4) "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." (Jude 6) But there is nothing in the Scriptures that says that any human being ever went to such a place as tartaros. It is a condition of restraint of certain evil angels, who will finally be disposed of in the Lord's judgment time.

Eternal Punishment

Jehovah declares that he will punish the wicked, and that the punishment shall be eternal. The clergy try

to make it appear that eternal punishment and eternal torture are one and the same thing. They are not. Death is the highest penalty known to the law of any land. No punishment could be greater than complete destruction. Such is the punishment that God will inflict upon the wilfully wicked. "All the wicked will he destroy." (Psalm 145: 20) He will punish the wicked with everlasting destruction. — 2 Thessalonians 1: 9.

The Devil is the chief one amongst the wicked. God will ultimately destroy the Devil. (Hebrews 2:14) Destruction of the wilfully wicked is not fiendish, but is an act of justice and love on the part of Jehovah. The wicked, if permitted to exist for ever, would be a dishonor to God's name and a menace to creatures who love Jehovah, and would be of no value to themselves; therefore their destruction is in harmony and consistent with Jehovah. Such is punishment, but such is not torment.

There are degrees of punishment. If a man robs a house and is convicted he suffers punishment by imprisonment for a stated period of time. If he murders a man his punishment is death. In the one case his punishment is for a stated period; in the other case it is lasting or everlasting. When God destroys the wicked it will be everlasting destruction, from which there is no resurrection. It is therefore eternal or everlasting punishment.

The Scriptures therefore establish beyond a question of a doubt that the billions of people who have died from Adam until now are dead, unconscious, and therefore know not anything. Is there hope that they shall live again? Yes. To provide for their living again is the very purpose of God's plan concerning man, and to give them hope is his purpose in bringing them to a knowledge of the truth. In his due time God will open the way for these billions of dead to live again.