“As
far as we have been able to determine, Athenagoras was
the
very first Christian writer to teach the doctrine of Natural
Immortality -- some
75 years after the death of the Apostle John!
77
Considering
his background (before his conversion),
it would seem appropriate
to
conclude that the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul was
literally “imported” intoChristianity
from Platonism, rather than being any part of ancient Christian
theology, as the doctrine
of Conditional Immortality evidently was.” Page 52 of this
document
“And,
“souls and spirits... endure as long as God wills that they should
have an existence and
continuance”
since “life does not arise from us, no
r
from our own nature; but it is bestowed
according
to the grace of God. And therefore he who
shall
preserve the life bestowed upon him,
and
give thanks to Him who imparted it, shall
receive
also
length of days forever and ever. But
he
who shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker,
inasmuch as he has been
created,
and has not recognized Him who bestowed [the gift upon him], deprives
himself of [the
privilege
of] continuance forever and ever” (2 Heresies
34:3).
85
This
is a pretty clear statement of
the
conditional nature of human immortality. “ Page 54 of the same
document quoting IRENAEUS OF LYONS
“Thus,
both in Eusebius’
history,
and in Origen’s own writings, there is preserved a record of the
fact that in the middle of
the
third century AD, both Natural Immortality and
Conditional
Immortality were being taught in
Christian
churches, and there was an active, ongoing debate between the
proponents of the two positions” Page 69 same document. So this
has been an ongoing debate and it is those who side on the soul being
inherently immortal who are the new kids on the block. Those who
believed that immortality is a gift conferred by God who alone is
immortal were the orthodox, and this other belief in immortal souls
and eternal conscious torment were the ones proclaiming something
“new”.
“Arnobius
makes
it clear where he stood in the debate, saying, “We have been taught
by
the greatest teacher (i.e., Jesus) that souls are set not far from
the gaping jaws of
death;
that they can, nevertheless, have their lives prolonged by the favor
and kindness of the Supreme Ruler if only they try and make an
effort to know Him -- for the knowledge of
Him
is a kind of vital leaven and cement to bind together that which
would otherwise fly apart”
(2
Disputations 32:1). page 79
“The
second, and next most important, thing we have
learned
is that, during the period
under
study, Conditionalism, and not (as it is today) Naturalism, was the
more prevalent view of the writing Fathers of the Church. This fact
can be demonstrated by a simple enumeration, as follows:
Conditionalists:
16
definite, 4 probable
--
total, 20
Naturalists:
8
definite, 1 probable
--
total, 9
Unclassified:
1
So
Conditionalism was favored over Naturalism by approximately a 2/3
majority of the
thirty
Fathers we have been able to classify. “ page 81
“It
is clear from this chart that Conditionalism was the original
doctrine of the Early
Church
(AD 95-177), and that Naturalism was first introduced by Athenagoras
of Athens, and
popularized
by Tertullian of Carthage, after whose time it rapidly became the
predominant view, though there continued to be an outspoken minority
of Conditionalists. “ Page 84
Later
on “John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, John Milton, and John Darby”
are listed as conditionalists. Page 84
“We
have seen that there are two radically different opinions on the
question of human
immortality:
we have come to know them as Naturalism and Conditionalism. We have
also seen that throughout most of Christian history a “debate”
has raged between proponents of
the two positions. Furthermore, we have discovered that almost all of
the Church Fathers who wrote before AD 200 were Conditionalists, and
that most of those who wrote between then and AD 310 were
Naturalists. We have concluded that Conditional Immortality was the
original, and predominant, doctrine of the early Church.” page 85
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