Immortality, Death and the Hereafter: Exposing Mankind's Most Enduring Deception About the Soul

By Shefflorn Ballantyne

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter is a unique approach to answering the profound questions surrounding the soul and what happens at death. Do we continue in conscious existence somewhere else after you die? Do we go to heaven or hell as soon as we breathe our final breath on earth? Is there a resurrection of the dead set for the future? Will God burn sinners for billions of years into eternity? Did Jesus teach the immortality of the soul? Where did that doctrine originate?

This book offers you the answers to these questions, demystifying these mysteries in an easy-to-read manner. You will be moved to challenge your own personal views on life after death as you look at evidences from the Bible and history as they are presented. You will know just what happens after death, who really appears as dead loved ones and a systematic approach to being preserved for Luciferian deceptions in the future.

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter is written by someone just like you who experienced the death of loved ones in his life. With the loss of his mother at age 20, and his father a decade before, Shefflorn brings the mysteries of death to life with a retelling of his own personal story of  his parents’ final moments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shefflorn Ballantyne
• Release date: Mar 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533756862

Book preview

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter

Exposing Mankind’s Most Enduring Deception about the Soul

Shefflorn Ballantyne

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter

Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

First Edition, March 2016.

Revised April 2016

Copyright © 2016 Shefflorn Ballantyne. All Rights Reserved.

This book is an ELDOXA Publication - Thusia SDA Church

www.thusiasdaevangel.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Print Edition ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-1530544455

ISBN-10:1530544459

That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Yahweh art the most High over all the earth Psalm 83:18

Acknowledgement

This book would not have been possible without the inspiration God placed on my heart to shed light on a subject so clearly explained in His Word. He must therefore be thanked for His love and conviction of truth on my mind throughout this writing process.

Thanks to:

My wife – Ann-Marie, for her constant encouragement, sacrificial assistance and editorial work.

My 2-year-old son Diyahsab, for the lessons of patience and focus.

My two spiritual mentors, Brothers Nyron Medina and Wiesmullan Vonbruggen for spiritual guidance on this subject, personal encouragements and endorsements of this work.

All my dear brethren of the Thusia Seventh Day Adventist Church for the support in the advancement of this authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The team and community at the Self-Publishing School for making self-publishing so easy. 

Table of Content

Acknowledgement

Table of Content

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Ye shall not surely die

Chapter 2 – Just what is the soul?

Chapter 3 – What Dying Entails

Chapter 4 – The State of the Dead and the Resurrection

Chapter 5 – Hell and the Grave

Chapter 6 – Can the Dead Answer Us?

Chapter 7 - Satan’s Miracles

Chapter 8 - The Story of Lazarus and the Rich Man

Chapter 9 – Answering Objections

Chapter 10 – Satan’s Intention versus God’s Plan Revealed

Chapter 11 – Our Future

Chapter 12 – Our Only Safety

Notes

About The Author

Introduction

I CAN REMEMBER IT as if it were yesterday. I was 10 years old when my mom received the news that my dad was admitted to the hospital. I had never heard of a coma before, but its description stood vividly in my young mind. I imagined my father periodically losing and regaining consciousness as he lay on the hospital bed. I pictured the scene, since I was never taken to see him during those last days of his life.

Within a few days of his admission to the hospital, my mom received news that my father was dead. The year was 1994.

Dad never lived to witness any of my major accomplishments in life – neither graduation, baptism, marriage nor the birth of my son.

There is a mystery about death that always interests me, even at age ten. Death is a strange phenomenon. It has always been an area of sincere enquiry and many theories exist in regards to the nature of death and dying. My own 10-year-old mind tried to make sense of my loss. Many minds have devised explanations to comfort themselves in times of grief. I did not stick to my own immature view of death, but continued to search for an explanation that reflected truth and reality. This search has resulted today in this book you are now reading.

I know this book will prove a tremendous benefit to you because you too have had to deal with the subject of death. It is an issue that raises questions in our minds each time we have to cope with the death of a friend or family member. And at whatever age we are, we feel the need to comfort someone who has to endure the grief and pain as diseases, such as cancer, snuff the life from a husband, wife or child. 

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter addresses several profound philosophical questions on the subjects of death, the soul, spirit, hell and the grave. It provides answers in an easy-to-read manner. It lays the foundational principles which every man, woman and child must know in order to understand the truth about the soul and salvation. 

The first five chapters present the origin of the immortality of the soul doctrine, the Biblical meaning of soul, spirit and hell, what happens at death, the true state of the dead, the nature of the resurrections and a discussion on hell and the grave as used in the Bible. These chapters demystify death in a way that will liberate the mind from superstitious deceptions surrounding this subject.

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter offers a unique and scriptural perspective of God’s remedy for sin as He designed a plan to restore man to a state where he is sin-free.

Challenging questions are also addressed, including the true meaning of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man of Luke chapter 16 as well as the encounter of Saul with the witch of Endor in 1 Samuel chapter 28. There is also a perspective on miracles performed by evil angels in the last days as well as counsels of truth on how we can be prepared to face Satan’s final onslaught of the Mark and Image of the Beast.

This book exposes Satan’s motive behind the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Satan’s role in the forming of the mark of the beast and the final institutions he uses as the vehicle for his deceptions are all investigated in light of immortality, death and the hereafter. 

We exist in an age where many people are turning to mediums for answers from their dead loved ones. Immortality, Death and the Hereafter presents the truth behind these mediums’ inability to satisfy your quest for answers.

There are key Biblical concepts which have been lost for centuries in the crowded world of errors and false Christianity parading themselves as authentic. In this book, political correctness is ignored. You will be engaged in a frank discussion on subjects affecting each of us, reasoned from a strictly Biblical perspective.

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter promises you nothing but the truth. It presents evidence from scripture and history in supporting the central thesis that immortality is not inherent but conditional, bestowed at a particular point in time. You, the reader will be drawn into questioning your own traditionally held views concerning your deceased loved ones. It gives a glimpse of death which only God can reveal, a glimpse which preserves the mind in a time of grief. 

The positions presented in Immortality, Death and the Hereafter are so well proven that even some objections to these truth positions are included and soundly refuted. This book can only show you the truth. It is up to you to take sincere action to embrace it. A Bible study is included to guide you into doing just that. 

Immortality, Death and the Hereafter must be read with a sincere heart...a willingness to reconstruct your own world view based on the new evidence you may discover herein.

It is my prayer that you will be motivated to prayerfully search the scriptures as you read, and discover the truth on this subject of immortality, death and the hereafter. May you take action by accepting the character of the sin-free Jesus Christ for your salvation from sin. AMEN.

Chapter 1 – Ye shall not surely die

...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:16, 17

I RECALL PLAYING A GAME in my teenage years. We called it the Chinese telephone.  This game required as many persons as possible for it to be interesting.

One person began the game by whispering something into the ear of the person beside him. The second person then repeated what he heard to another person next to him who would do the same until the message reached the ears of the last person in the game. It always turned out that when asked what the message was, the last person would reveal something entirely different to what the initial person whispered.

We always wondered how one message could transform into something totally different as it moved along a chain of persons. It changed as it passed from one person to the next. And it is often done deliberately. A message such as, Jack loves cherry pie and milk at the beginning of the game could quite easily end up as, Jack hates cherry pie and milk.

That game was fun when we played it as teenagers. The messages had no serious consequences and a burst of laughter erupted when the one who distorted the message revealed himself or herself to the group.  It was a lesson to us on what often occurs with messages. We all can relate to how information changes as it passes from one person to the next.

There are messages, though, which if distorted, can result in dire consequences. One such example is a deceptive prank which occurred 6000 years ago. It was a distortion which changed the history of the earth unto this very day.  This deliberate alteration of the truth was quite literally a matter of life and death. The Divine sentence for disobedience - Ye shall surely die was corrupted by the serpent as he spoke to Eve. He countered -Ye shall not surely die – the very words which sparked the immortality of the soul doctrine so widely held today.

The pervasiveness of this distortion

Today, the idea of the immortality of the soul has mushroomed so much that we are bombarded with it each time death is discussed. And it is not limited to out-right religious discussions. It also pervades the bosoms of the non-religious. The great majority of persons do not know that it is a distortion of the truth – it is the first lie ever told to mankind.

You will often hear newscasters clutching to the idea of a never dying soul as they attempt to bring some comfort to the relatives of victims who have perished in a terrible tragedy. It seems to be the easiest and natural thing to say as they see the look of pain in the eyes of a bereaved friend:  Don’t worry; she is in a better place now, looking down on us. One singer even sang that the dead are somewhere around the throne of God.

There are persons who make a career out of attempting to contact the departed souls on behalf of families who desire to receive messages and solve mysteries. Movie makers also perpetuate the common theme of a soul that keeps on living after the death of the human body. This soul, according to them, is conscious of, and participates in various activities taking place among the living.

But there is a need to explore the origin of the immortality of the soul doctrine.  After all, it is a question each of us has to confront. Death is