THE SACRIFICIAL DREAM HYPOTHESIS-CONCLUSION

The Sacrificial Dream Hypothesis: Conclusion

An Aside: The Worry of Hebrews 10: 21-36

According to the terrifying warning given in Hebrews 10: 26-31—

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10: 26-31

–it is possible for saved individuals to lose their salvation if they continue to do the one thing out of anything a person can or will do prior to physical death that results in loss of salvation (disbelief notwithstanding): sin.

Sin is the single source of hostility between God and man. It is the “kryptonite” that causes man to ‘fall short of the glory of God’and is the cause of man having the potential to be sentenced to Hell (eternal torment in common doctrine, utter obliteration from existence via fire of Hell according to the doctrine of Annihilism).

Hebrews 10:26-31 exists and as such cannot be dismissed out of hand. It threatens salvation because man sins and is prone to sin and, aside from the secret existence of a Christian faith that renders one absolutely sinless prior to physical death upon hearing and belief, will sin multiple times after conversion. Hebrews 10:26-31 states that a saved individual can lose salvation if the individual continues to sin deliberately. Deliberate sin, of course, manifests visibly in the form of physical, outward behavior governed and generated by a volition to commit the sin despite the punishment Jesus suffered for sin.

The most obvious form of deliberate sin leading to loss of salvation is Pesha sin.


The Three Types of Sin or ‘Avera’ in Judaism

From the Wikipedia article, Jewish Views on Sin, (interesting read):

Transgression

The generic Hebrew word for any kind of sin is avera (literally: transgression). Based on verses in the Hebrew Bible, Judaism describes three levels of sin. There are three categories of a person who commits an avera. The first one is someone who does an avera intentionally, or “B’mezid.” This is the most serious category. The second is one who did an avera by accident. This is called “B’shogeg,” and while the person is still responsible for their action it is considered less serious. The third category is someone who is a “Tinok Shenishba”, which is a person who was raised in an environment that was assimilated or non-Jewish, and is not aware of the proper Jewish laws, or halacha. This person is not held accountable for his or her actions.

 [b][i] Pesha[/i][/b] (deliberate sin; in modern Hebrew: crime) or [i]Mered[/i] (lit.: rebellion) - An intentional sin; an action committed in deliberate defiance of God; (Strong's Concordance :H6588 (פשע [i] pesha', peh'shah[/i]). According to Strong it comes from the root (:H6586); rebellion, transgression, trespass.

  [b][i] Avon[/i][/b]   (lit.: iniquity) - This is a sin of lust or uncontrollable emotion. It is a sin done knowingly, but not done to defy God; (Strong's Concordance :H5771 ([i] avon, aw-vone[/i]). According to Strong it comes from the root (:H5753); meaning perversity, moral evil:--fault, iniquity, mischief.

  [b][i] Cheit[/i][/b]  - This is an unintentional sin, crime or fault. (Strong's Concordance :H2399 (חַטָּא [i]chate[/i]). According to Strong it comes from the root [i] khaw-taw[/i] (:H2398, H2403) meaning "to miss, to err from the mark (speaking of an archer), to sin, to stumble."

On the commission of Avons, Cheits, and Peshas, it seems straightforward that the commission of a Pesha is the most obvious and uncontested “deal-breaker” for salvation. But does Hebrews 10:26-31 refer to the commission of Avons? Avons are sins committed deliberately as well as knowingly, though not committed out of hatred and defiance of God. They are a deliberate “giving in” to desire or lust that irritates the mind until the person willingly chooses to realize the desire.

If Hebrews 10:26-31 refers to Avons, the atonement of Jesus Christ ultimately fails as every person in the history of mankind invariably continues to deliberately sin in the form of Avons— thus everyone will invariably lose salvation after having gained it. This utter failure of salvation occurs not only because of outward, physical behavior associated with Avon or “Avonic” sin, but because of the mental and emotional aspect of sin. Hebrews 10:21-36 universally costs the salvation of everyone if man is burdened with keeping himself from Hell through abstinence from deliberate sin caused by The Uncontrollable Avon.

The Uncontrollable Avon

When thinking of what it means to “not sin” or to “abstain from sin”, it is common to imagine abstaining from outward, physical behavior regarded as sin by scripture and religious authority. But ‘transgression of the law’ (sin) involves not only physical behavior but the mere existence of certain thoughts and emotions independent of accompaniment by physical action. Jesus himself established that sin is not mere physical behavior but psychological state, regardless of whether or not states occur in isolation or accompany physical behavior:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

-Matthew 5: 21,22; 27,28

It is widely accepted that one has power, ultimately, to control outward physical behavior despite the pressures of inner life, such that one has power to become “physically sinless” in abstinence from physical sin. But does one have power to abstain from psychological sin, thoughts and feelings, in the sense of having power to ensure thoughts and feelings never arise before the fact, having power to actually will them from coming into existence in the first place? Can one say to oneself: “I will never feel lust, anger, or malice for the remainder of my life” with lust, anger, and malice in response to this command never again appearing within consciousness?

Mental and emotional sin fall under the categories of Pesha, Avon, and Cheit, but Pesha sins notwithstanding, can any person in the history of existence (other than Jesus Christ) never experience mental or emotional Avons and Cheits? Relevant to Christian salvation, does their secretly exist (given absence of commonality and proliferation) an unknown faith in Jesus that having it causes one to be completely unable to mentally and emotionally sin? If such a faith exists, those who continue to psychologically sin do not possess the “true” faith.


From Jay M. Brewer (this Author)’s The Unknown, Secret God Book Four: The Possible Nature of the Afterlife:

“Fear of the unknown in death has special significance for those of the Christian faith, as those believing in the existence of Hell secretly possess an extreme fear of death (though they may vehemently claim otherwise), and this extreme fear of death is caused by another, special fear. This fear is fear that despite what one has been told by religious authority and despite what one thinks God wants or demands for salvation, one is probably failing to perform the correct procedure to attain Heaven. For example, there is fear one has not the purity of heart necessary for Heaven; that there is a secret, special love and inward feel one must possess to gain entrance, but one introspectively discovers that one cannot experience this feel. There is fear of an unknown, special type of “acceptance” of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that goes beyond mere belief in his sacrifice on the cross; the suspicion of a knowledge necessary for salvation cryptically implied in the Gospels that fails to enter one’s mind—a knowledge held and practiced by the Apostles of Christ, attained from the Holy Spirit, and attained and practiced by a special few in the present time but fails to instantiate in oneself. This fear of Christian inadequacy, the fear that something is being left undone or that one lacks the psychology for Heaven fuels a private, internal terror that one may discover the truth of this inadequacy at the Great White Throne Judgment—where despite every Christian effort one is sentenced to Hell.”


If there is a Christian faith mentioned in the Bible having power to render one absolutely sinless and this mental, emotional, and physical sinlessness is invariably an ability of those having this faith, the Bible’s containment of Hebrews 10: 21-36 is unnecessary.

In short, Hebrews 10:21-36 obviously refers to the commission of post-conversion Pesha sins (although person having the Divine Spark committing a Pesha outside impressionable reflex is possible but astronomically unlikely: see Jay M. Brewer (this Author)’s: Those That Pesha And Those That Don’t— A Helpful Explanation And Categorization Of Sin), and admittedly to deliberate physical sin initiated by an uncontrollable Avon (although this remains a matter of debate. Hebrews 10:21-36 obvious does not refer to Cheit sin.

The “Game of Death” in Christian belief in denial of Inextricable Mimicry, then, is the lifelong contest of ensuring that one recognizes, repents of, and seeks forgiveness for every physical and psychological Avon (and every Pesha should this occur: see The Thirteen Attributes of God’s Mercy in Judaism) prior to physical death. Beware: a sin one knows as sin that one forgets to ask forgiveness for (perhaps the phone rings with news of overtime at work causing one to forget to say “God forgive me for x”) is the forgotten “mine” that “blows one up” at Final Judgment.

Hebrews 10: 21-36 Defeated Through Metonymy, As Opposed To Wickedly-Added-Biblical-Verse or Errant Translation

It is tempting to go off the reservation and claim the idea that salvation can be lost was placed in the Bible by Satan or satanic humans wishing to sabotage belief in inerrant or inevitable salvation by “doctoring” certain portions of English translation of the Bible (being unable by power of God to alter truly inspired parts), or that English translation of the Bible innocently erred in interpretation of original Greek and Hebrew texts. But to avoid these accusations thus avoiding time-wasting conflict against Biblical Inerrantists, one may pull a metaphorical page from Wayne Jackson’s metaphorical book and “defeat” Hebrews 10:21-36 through the claim that—in the same manner Jackson claims the meaning of 1 Peter 2:24 is not (despite its obviousness) objective fact but metonymy:

‘…a subject is named when in reality something associated with the subject is intended. Any good textbook on sacred hermeneutics (the science of Bible interpretation) will provide ample evidence and illustrations of this figure of speech.’ (Jackson)

—Hebrews 10:21-36 may itself be metonymy in the sense that it seems a concrete statement but is in fact a conjectural implication that if Inextricable Mimicry did not exist, a saved individual would have to painstakingly ensure never to deliberately sin (in the sense of deliberate sin in response to an uncontrollable mental and emotional Avon, not a Pesha) to prevent loss of salvation.

[Note: If Jackson is a Biblical Inerrantist, he would blankly accept the obvious meaning of 1 Peter 2:24.]


Compare in this regard Romans 2:13:

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

And the later appearing Romans 3:20:

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Romans 2:13 obviously contradicts Romans 3:20 at first sight, But if Romans 3:20 though not stated in a way that it unambiguously supplants Romans 2:13 by right of a new state of grace, a ‘righteousness from God apart from law’ that is by faith in Jesus Christ and arguably, faith that one is bound to Christ through Inextricable Mimicry, causes on to obey the law according to one’s Mimicry of Christ obeying the law in post-crucifixion/pre-resurrection content of consciousness in Sheol. This new way of law obedience supplants the old of walking a tightrope over the fires of hell in fastidiously avoiding mental, physical, and emotional Avons with human mind and effort. One may argue that there is a hidden or poorly expressed/interpreted metonymy in which the first is something that seems concrete, but is an implication of that which would hold thrall if not for the second.

Inextricable Mimicry Solves Afterlife Worry

What is the underlying anchor that ensures and holds faith in Jesus? Not faith in isomorphism for the purpose of saving one from Hell, no. It is faith that Inextricable Mimicry is objective reality behind every other belief, that happily defeats fear for others that have in some way professed faith in Jesus Christ prior to physical death, but have died without this necessary ingredient.

Inextricable Mimicry makes vying for Heaven for the sake of survival in terms of escape from hell besides the point. It makes futile the conscious or subconscious craftiness of man in attaining Heaven to avoid Hell, as man is inextricably bound to Christ in Isomorphic Mimicry. ‘There is therefore no condemnation’ and also no license to sin with impunity as man is bound to Christ and can do nothing but mimic the Lord’s death. In Inextricable Mimicry, the nay-sayings of the Devil and inner worry of man regarding afterlife fate of oneself and one’s loved ones become obsolete. It is a fixed, irrevocable fate in which ‘he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ’ (Phillipians 1:6).


Nigh-Conclusion:

The Divine Spark

Indeed when Gentiles, who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts , their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them .

Romans 2: 14,15


The divine spark is the idea, most common to Gnosticism but also present in other Western mystical traditions, that each human being contains within himself a portion of God.

In these theologies, the purpose of life is to enable the Divine Spark to be released from its captivity in matter and re-establish its connection with or simply return to God, who is perceived as being the source of the Divine Light. In the Gnostic Christian tradition, Christ is seen as a wholly divine being which has taken human form in order to lead humanity back to the Light.

The Cathars of medieval Europe also shared the belief in the divine spark. They saw this idea expressed most powerfully in the opening words of the Gospel of St. John.

-Wikipedia, Divine Spark

(Author’s Note: I am not Gnostic. The Gnostic definition of the Divine Spark is included here as analogy for normal human goodness [since God created man, one can easily make the argument that like the saving faith, normal human goodness is a gift from God analogous to Gnosticism’s belief that a portion of God is in man independent of the Holy Spirit]. One can make the argument that humans with natural goodness, if combined with belief in God, Jesus Christ, and Christ’s atoning sacrifice are more easily convinced of the truth of the atonement and gain more easily, from God, the saving faith. My use of the term ‘Divine Spark’, therefore, indicates the ability to love, and possession of conscience and empathy, beneficial qualities that render sinful man not completely sinful and makes one more susceptible to Union with Christ.)


For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

-Galatians 5:14; 22-23

Everyone sins, but does one desire to always sin? Are there not spaces or voids between sins when one is naturall y sinless? Within these voids, do you feel kindness? Do you love? Is there sympathy for those in distress causing one to send prayer? Is there love for parents, siblings, children, or spouse? Are there moments of peace and camaraderie between human beings, instances wherein there does not exist a single thought of lust, anger, and malice?

If the answer to the first question is “no” and to the remaining questions “yes”—one has the Divine Spark.

For those having the Divine Spark, the law resides in one’s heart without effort, without need to exert mental force preventing oneself from fulfilling predatory or maladaptive desire. Conversely, it is the Divine Spark that causes one to exert mental force to prevent fulfillment of predatory or maladaptive desire when these desires unexpectedly and inexorably arise, ending previous respite from predatory and maladaptive desire.

The Divine Spark manifests in an atmosphere of effortlessness and forgetfulness regarding whether or not one pleases God and avoids Hell. That is, one obeys God completely oblivious to the fact one is obeying him because one is preoccupied in the throes of natural, genuine empathy, conscience, love, and work, which arises and acts without thought of reward or consequence for their absence. One is “in the moment”, so to speak, having forgotten the commandments of God in the act of fulfilling them.

This absence of sin-mindfulness and hell-fear is the crème de la crème of the Christian mind. It is not gained by effort, it simply is. It simply appears, unexpectedly, without thought to its existence before the fact. It is the Divine Spark mindlessly at work as a manifestation of a person as one is, not as one fearfully or pretentiously purports or attempts to be for ego or survival.

A beloved example:

My brother, Mark Alonzo Sr. died May 13th, 2018 of unknown cause (at the time of this writing). He died at home surrounded by his children; by the time I and my sister and nephew arrived at the hospital, he was gone. But as funds came through charity to pay for his funeral, a testimonial from a donor regarding Mark’s final kindness to him and his mother, who was near death in the ICU wing of a hospital the same day as Mark’s death, states that upon hearing of the distress of the donor’s mother Mark offered a prayer on her behalf. Hearing that one of the last things he did, perhaps less than two hours before his death, was offer prayer for a stranger out of natural sympathy shook me to the core as I stood amazed at the light of his Divine Spark.

I shall never forget.


[b]Conclusion:

Of Sheol and Abraham’s Bosom: The Temporary Abode Of Spirits Of The Unknowledgeable Or Gospel-Errant Dead, Having The Divine Spark[/b]

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

-Romans 10:13

Listen Children,
All is not lost,
All is not lost

  • Chicago, Saturday In The Park

When considering the necessity of believing in the existence of God (Hebrews 11:6), Jesus Christ, and Christ becoming flesh and dying for the sins of mankind to attain Heaven, and the penalty of eternal Hell for disbelief as well as sins committed in disbelief a logical conundrum arises: if knowledge of the existence of Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice is necessary for salvation, what of the afterlife fates of the billions of people living and dying prior to the birth, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Of The Unknowledgeable and Gospel-Errant Dead

What of the afterlife fate of post-ascension humans failing to learn of Christ’s existence and sacrifice despite the tireless efforts of 1st century Apostles, new converts springs from the testimony of 1st century Apostles, and every Christian preacher and theologian from the 1st century to present day (examples: aborted fetuses and children not old enough to understand the relevant concepts, as well as people born and raised in insulated cultures, such as tribespersons in the Congo or in the deep forests of the Amazon)?

Anyone never hearing of the existence and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ prior to physical death, for any reason, is a member of the set of the mass trans-historical population of the Unknowledgeable Dead.

Setting aside the Unknowledgeable Dead, what of the afterlife fate of humans having learned the existence and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that, despite a lifetime of Bible-reading and church attendance, did not hear the correct Gospel, and go to their graves (or urns) having incomplete knowledge of the true nature of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

Anyone not receiving the correct Gospel and correct interpretations and knowledge of the Scriptures, for any reason, is a member of the set of the mass trans-historical population of the Gospel-Errant Dead.


Strengthen the feeble hands.
Steady the knees that give way;
Say to those with fearful hearts
“Be strong, do not fear,
your God will come…”
Then the eyes of the blind
will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf
unstopped.

-Isaiah 35:3

…to open the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the prison house those who sit in darkness.

-Isaiah 42:7


On the strength of the verses above and Daniel 12:10:

“Many will be purified, made spotless and refined…”

God will not hold the Gospel-Errant Dead responsible for having heard and believed in the wrong Gospel, as they have not known the true Gospel in which they must have faith to begin with. The Gospel-Errant Dead brought to a place where they will be ‘purified, made spotless and refined’ interpreted the scriptures in incomplete and erroneous manner, but they nevertheless accept the existence and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead (at least in terms of concept) and possess the Divine Spark. Those who preach an errant Gospel, if after death they are brought to a place where they are ‘purified, made spotless and refined’ did so not out of malice but ignorance.

If, for example, one does not believe and accept the true nature and process of Christ’s atonement for sin (1 Peter 2:24), one simply does not believe that Christ took upon himself the sins of mankind while dying upon the cross. One is not doomed to hell for this type of unbelief (as one at least accepts the existence of Jesus and the concept of his atoning sacrifice and possesses the Divine Spark) but is sent to Sheol in the section known as Abraham’s Bosom to learn the true nature of Christ’s atonement and come to accept it not out of fear of Hell, but as an irrefutable reality.

The Unknowledgeable Dead simply have never heard of Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice, much less the correct Gospel of salvation. These are brought to Abraham’s Bosom after death where: ‘the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped’ (Isaiah 35:3).


From: He Descended Into Hell? By Joe Rigley, Professor at Bethlehem College & Seminary:

We all know that Jesus died. “‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46). But what happened after he died? We know that his body was laid in Joseph’s tomb, but what about his human soul?

Reflecting on this question not only sheds light on the Bible’s teaching about death and the afterlife, but it also is a great encouragement to us, who must face death and seek to do so without fear.

What Is Death?

First of all, what exactly is death? Death is separation, a dividing of things that ought to be united. Fundamentally, it is separation from God. Paul suggests as much in Ephesians 2: 1-2, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” To walk in sin is to be dead, to be enslaved to dark powers, to be separated from God, to be children of his wrath. This type of separation is an estrangement, a hostility, an alienation from the life and hope of the living God. In this sense, all of us, by nature, are born dead, and it is this death that Jesus endured in his suffering on the cross.

But of course, death is more than just separation from God. Death also marks the separation of the soul from the body. God made human beings to be embodied souls and ensouled bodies, and death rips this union asunder. But what happens to these two parts after they’re separated? Psalm 16:10 gives us a window into the biblical teaching.

You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

This passage directs us to the normal account of what happened when a human being died prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus. The soul was abandoned “to Sheol,” and the body saw corruption or decayed.

In Acts 2:29-31, Peter tells us that David, in writing this psalm, foresaw the resurrection of Christ, “that he was not abandoned to Hades [that is, his soul wasn’t], nor did his flesh see corruption” (notice that Peter reads the second line as a reference to Jesus’s body or flesh). Thus, prior to Jesus, at death, souls normally went to Sheol (or Hades), and bodies (flesh) decayed. We’re all familiar with the latter, but the former is more opaque. A quick Bible study will show us why Peter thinks that David’s prophecy in Psalm 16 is such good news.

What Is Sheol?

In the Old Testament, Sheol is the place of the souls of the dead, both the righteous (like Jacob, Genesis 37:35, and Samuel, 1 Samuel 28:13-14) and the wicked (Psalm 31:17). In the New Testament, the Hebrew word Sheol is translated as Hades, and the description of Sheol in the Old and New Testaments bears some resemblance to the Hades of Greek mythology. It is under the earth (Numbers 16:30-33), and it is like a city with gates (Isaiah 38:10) and bars (Job 17:16). It is a land of darkness — a place where shades, the shadowy souls of men, dwell (Isaiah 14:9; 26:14). It is the land of forgetfulness (Psalm 88:12), where no work is done and no wisdom exists (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Most significantly, Sheol is a place where no one praises God (Psalm 6:5; 88: 10-11; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18).

In the New Testament, the most extended depiction of the afterlife is found in Luke 16:19-31. There we learn that, like the Hades of Greek mythology, the biblical Sheol has two compartments: Hades proper (where the rich man is sent, Luke 16:23) and “Abraham’s bosom” (where the angels carry Lazarus, Luke 16:22). Hades proper is a place of torment, where fire causes anguish to the souls imprisoned there. Abraham’s bosom, on the other hand, while within shouting distance of Hades, is separated from it by “a great chasm” (Luke 16:26) and is, like the Greek Elysium, a place of comfort and rest.

While much mystery remains, the picture begins to take shape. All dead souls go down to Sheol/Hades, but Sheol is divided into two distinct sides, one for the righteous and one for the wicked. The righteous [my interjection: those who have the Divine Spark] who died prior to Christ dwelt in Sheol with Abraham, and though they were cut off from the land of the living (and therefore from the worship of Yahweh on earth), they were not tormented as the wicked were.

Where Did Jesus Go When He Died?

What, then, does this tell us about where Jesus was on Holy Saturday? Based on Jesus’s words to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43, some Christians believe, that after his death, Jesus’s soul went to heaven to be in the presence of the Father. But Luke 23:43 doesn’t say that Jesus would be in the presence of God; it says he would be in the presence of the thief (“Today you will be with me in paradise”), and based on the Old Testament and Luke 16, it seems likely that the now-repentant thief would be at Abraham’s side, a place of comfort and rest for the righteous dead, which Jesus here calls “paradise.”

Following his death for sin, then, Jesus journeys to Hades, to the City of Death , and rips its gates off the hinges. He liberates Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, John the Baptist, and the rest of the Old Testament faithful, ransoming them from the power of Sheol (Psalm 49:15; 86:13; 89:48). They had waited there for so long, not having received what was promised, so that their spirits would be made perfect along with the saints of the new covenant (Hebrews 11:39-40; 12:23).

After his resurrection, Jesus ascends to heaven and brings the ransomed dead with him, so that now paradise is no longer down near the place of torment, but is up in the third heaven, the highest heaven, where God dwells (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

Now, in the church age, when the righteous die, they aren’t merely carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom; they depart to be with Christ, which is far better (Phillipians 1:23). The wicked, however, remain in Hades in torment, until the final judgment, when Hades gives up the dead who dwell there, and they are judged according to their deeds, and then Death and Hades are thrown into hell, into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15).


God, in his justice and mercy and his desire for ‘all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4) does not hold the ignorance of men in regard to the atonement of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world against them after death, but they are ministered to by Jesus in the three days prior to his resurrection (and, the Author suspects, ministered to by post-resurrection Christians representing Christ in Inextricable Mimicry of his dream of their mental participation in ministry to the dead as he resides in Sheol and his body lies in state in the Tomb of Joseph). The missing ingredient that marks the true nature of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the souls of Abraham’s Bosom shall learn, is Inextricable Mimicry: that the sorrows they suffered were also suffered in the mind of Christ as he died on the cross. That in his mind he wore their appearance and suffered (as he cannot sin even in their form and dreamt behavior) their darkness as his own, translating it in himself from sin to ‘the suffering of the Servant’.

Realizing they are not separate in terms of experience and consciousness-content from Christ but have all along re-enacted his experiences—the ‘eyes of the blind are opened’ and the ‘ears of the deaf [are] unstopped’. The souls of the dead coming to know and accept Inextricable Mimicry are ready for release from Sheol to the Third Heaven, where they forever share in the unknown, transcendent, never-ending experiences of post-ascended Christ.

‘If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.’

END