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An Apostolic Fellowship
The Name "Christadelphians"
A Distinctive Foundation
The Whole Bible
God, Creator and Father
The Vital Earth
Israel in God's Purpose
Promises to the Patriarchs
The Truth about Mankind
Man is Mortal
The Nature of Jesus
Son of God not God the Son
The Devil and Satan
The Good News
Baptism
The Kingdom of God
When Christ Comes...
The Life of Discipleship
Peace of Mind
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Man is Mortal Why does human nature
behave like this? Because, says the Bible, the first human beings having been presented with a free choice, preferred
to please themselves and to reject the clear command of God. It was an act of rebellion which the Bible calls sin.
Its consequence was mortality, the condition in which all human life ends naturally in death. We die because we
are mortal. If left to ourselves, we "perish" (to use the Bible phrase) - that is, we cease to exist.
The dead lie unconscious in the grave; they suffer no pain, but "sleep in the dust of the earth" (Daniel
12:2). The widespread idea that man possesses an "immortal soul" and goes on living after death (usually
"in heaven") is definitely not a Bible teaching. The Church of England Commission which produced in 1945
its report Towards the Conversion of England, stated clearly that the idea of the immortal soul "owes its
origin to Greek, not the Bible, sources" (page 23). The theory was early absorbed into the teaching of the
Church from paganism, and is an important example of a number of changes in original Christian beliefs made over
the centuries.
But there is hope. The grave need not be the end for us, as we shall see.
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