I'm Naked! - NSFW
September 26th, 2017
Which passages specifically am I referring to? Here are some significant ones:
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 – “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, should be torn down, we are to have a building from God, a house not made with hands, everlasting in the heavens. For in this house we do indeed groan, earnestly desiring to put on the one for us from heaven, so that when we do put it on, we will not be found naked. In fact, we who are in this tent groan, being weighed down, because we do not want to put this one off, but we want to put the other on, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 – “So we are always of good courage and know that while we have our home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we are walking by faith, not by sight. But we are of good courage and would prefer to be absent from the body and to make our home with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 12:2 – “I know a man in union with Christ who, 14 years ago—whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows—was caught away to the third heaven.”
Philippians 1:21-24 – “For in my case, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now if I am to live on in the flesh, this is a fruitage of my work; yet what I would choose, I do not make known. I am torn between these two things, for I do desire the releasing and the being with Christ, which is, to be sure, far better. However, it is more necessary for me to remain in the flesh for your sakes.”
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, Paul states that he would rather live up until the time Christ returns, so that he might receive his resurrection Body without dying, because if he dies first, then he will be 'naked' in between his death and the resurrection. Again, he will be naked - not non-existence. We must ask 'what will be naked?' That is, there is something there. And, it is hard to think that "naked" is a metaphor for annihilation, since Paul clearly envisions himself as existing between his death and resurrection. Thus, Paul is more than just his body, and thus is partly immaterial.
This is strengthened by what follows in verses 6-8, for two states - being in one's (mortal) body and being with the Lord - are contrasted; to be in one state excludes being in the one. Since one is literally present in their body (for, in fact, our bodies are part of us), we should take 'making our home with the Lord' literally as well: some immaterial part of us, which survives separation from (and the destruction of) the body, goes to be with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 12:2 again indicates that existence is possible outside of the body and so is consciousness, which would help to see why Paul again prefers to be with Christ at Philippians 1:21-24: it's not just that from his perspective he's instantly warped to the glory enjoyed at the resurrection (because of not being aware of what's going on what he is disembodied), but he's in real beatific bliss while he is with Christ as he awaits the resurrection - which requires consciousness. (Indeed, if he will just be unconscious the whole time, why would he prefer, not merely death, but what it leads to: being with Christ; if he is unconscious, what benefit is there in being with Christ specifically so that he considers that worthwhile?)
Thus, Paul clearly envisions that the human persons consists of physical and immaterial parts (body and soul - to use the most common terms), the latter of which can subsist apart from the body in a conscious state. Why don't Witnesses teach the same?
