Response to Douglas V. Pond on Biblical and LDS Anthropology and Eschatology

Douglas V. Pond is the author of the book, Pillars of Mormonism: A Kindly Review of Mormonism in a Careful Comparison with the Bible (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978) (abbreviated hereafter as “POM”). The book is one of very few works by a Seventh-Day Adventist on the topic of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This article will be a response to Pond’s criticisms of Latter-day Saint theology, specifically on (1) anthropology (theology of man) and (2) eschatology (theology of the end-times). I believe this will be educative for LDS and even non-LDS readers as Pond, who was a Seventh-Day Adventist, held to (1) soul-sleep and (2) a rather unique understanding of the Millennium that informs much of his criticisms of the LDS position and his hermeneutic for approaching the relevant biblical texts. As such positions, especially the SDA view on the Millennium, is not one LDS engages with (most Evangelical critics of the Church reject soul-sleep, for instance), I hope this will add to LDS apologetics in some way.

The Personal Pre-Existence of Man

According to [LDS sources], “every one” ever born into this world was or is “well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father.” However, what are the words spoken by the Lord concerning Cyrus, who was to lead the Medes and Persians in conquering Babylon in 539 B.C.?

“This saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servants sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me” (Isa. 45:1-4)

In His great foreknowledge, the Lord said of Cyrus, “I have surnamed thee.” God knew all about Cyrus. But Cyrus did not know God. And this message of God was spoken through Isaiah approximately 150 years before the birth of Cyrus. Therefore, if the preexisting spirit of Cyrus were right then—a century and a half before he was born—living in God’s “house” and dwelling “with him year after year” in the very “presence” of “both the Father and the Son,” how could the Lord say, “Thou hast not known me”? Without doubt Cyrus would have known the Lord if he were then actually living in His presence. (POM, 61-62; comment in square bracket added for clarification, italics in original)

Such a comment only shows ignorance about Latter-day Saint theology. In actual LDS theology, there is a veil of forgetfulness, if you will, placed on each and everyone of us so that we do not remember our personal pre-existence. There is nothing for or against Latter-day Saint theology in Isa 45:1-4 as (1) the issue of personal pre-existence is not in view in the pericope at all and (2) more importantly, if Cyrus did pre-exist, while in mortality, he would not have “known” (intellectually, experientially [from the pre-existence]) God—however, the type of knowledge in view in this passage is covenantal/salvific knowledge of God anyway.

To understand the implicit biblical evidence for the LDS doctrine of pre-existence, see:

Kevin L. Barney's paper, "On Preexistence in the Bible." This is a review of chapter 3 of J.P. Holding's book, The Mormon Defenders: How Latter-day Saint Apologists Misinterpret the Bible (Self-Published, 2001).

The second is that of Dana M. Pike, "Exploring the Biblical Phrase 'God of the Spirits of All Flesh'" This was chapter 15 of the book, Bountiful Harvest: Essays in Honor of S. Kent Brown (Provo: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2012). This essay focuses on Num 16:22; 27:16.

See also my article, The Christological Necessity of Universal Pre-Existence where I show that there is an absolute theological necessity to hold to the personal pre-existence of all of humanity if one will declare, as does Pond and modern SDAs, the personal pre-existence of Jesus and his true humanity.

The Status of the Dead

The word rûach is used 379 times in the Old Testament, but in not one of these cases does it denote an intelligent entity that is capable of an existence apart from the physical body, as far as man is concerned. The same observation applies to pneuma. (POM, 108)

The problem is that this is false. Firstly, while It is common to hear from some groups and individuals that hold to psychopannychism or thnetopsychism ("soul-sleep" and "soul-death," respectively—often labelled “mortalism”) that “spirit” as well as the term for the "soul" (Hebrew: נפשׁ; Greek: ψυχη), in the theology of the biblical authors, does not survive death. However, recent scholarship and textual discoveries have called this claim (held by a number of scholars, such as the late Oscar Cullmann) into question. A recent volume by Richard C. Steiner, Disembodied Souls: The Nefesh in Israel and Kindred Spirits in the Ancient Near East, with an Appendix on the Katumuwa Inscription (Society of Biblical Literature, 2015) has shown that, in the worldview of the Hebrew Bible and its environment, the נפשׁ could survive independently of the body.

The SBL offers this book for free as a .pdf download here.

Secondly, there are instances of disembodied spirits of humans (the inhabitants of Sheol) having a conscious post-mortem existence in the Old Testament itself:

And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. (1 Sam 28:6-14)

It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit. They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain. There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword. There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord God. For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God. (Ezek 32:17-32)

Commenting on Deut 26:14, one scholar noted the following, showing that the OT authors believed that the dead in Sheol were conscious:

This verse states that the person who has paid the tithe of his produce should say:

I have not eaten of it while in mourning;
I have not eaten any of it while I was unclean;
and I have not given any of it to the dead.

The last phrase “to the dead,” is the singular Hebrew לְמֵ֑ת (lemēt), LXX τῷ τεθνηκότι. It most probably refers not to food for mourners, but to placing food in the grave of a dead person for its journey to Sheol, the underworld, or also or its stay there. This was known for example, as a common practice in  Thebes and elsewhere in ancient Egypt. However, holes in the floors of some graves found in Samaria are also thought to have “served as receptacles for food and drink offerings to the dead” in Sheol. The term “to” (ל [l]) can just as well mean “for” or “on behalf of” the dead, i.e. for their consumption. (Roger David Aus, Two Puzzling Baptisms: First Corinthians 10:1-5 and 15:29. Studies in Their Judaic Background [Lanham, Md.: Hamilton Books, 2017], 80-81)

Therefore, passages such as the Ecc 9 and 12 texts discussed below, and others (e.g, Psa 49:7-20; 146:4) used to support death being unconscious existence in Old Testament theology cannot be retained as "proof-texts" for the dead being unconscious.

Now, we ask: According to the Bible, what happens to this “spirit” at death? And we get this reply: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecc. 12:7). The spirit spoken of here is the lie principle, the character, the personal identity, that God gives to a person at birth, and which leaves the body at death and returns to the Creator of all . . . All of life’s joys and problems are no more for him who rests in the “sleep of death” (Ps. 13:3), either to encourage or to trouble him. This is simply stated by Solomon: “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun . . . Whatsoever in any thing that is done under the sun . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, now knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecc. 9:5-10) (POM, 108, 111)

Before one interacts with the relevant texts, one has to note that a key error in much work defending this view of the dead is an ignorance of "phenomenalistic language"--the use of language to describe things as they appear to be, rather than as they are. Examples of phenomenalistic language in the Old Testament include:

·       Descriptions of the rising and falling of the sun (the sun does not literally rise or fall, but it appears to)--Num 2:3; Psa 50:1; 113:3; Isa 45:6

·       References to the "four corners of the earth" (the earth does not literally have four corners, but it appears to)--Isa 11:12; Ezek 7:2

·       The "standing still" of the sun and moon on Joshua's "long day" (the sun did not literally stand still, but it appeared to)--Josh 10:12-13.

This can be transposed to the topic of the state of the dead and the biblical descriptions of them--as phenomenological language focuses on the outward description or appearance of something rather than a complete metaphysical analysis, one can say, as with the biblical authors, that the dead appear to be sleeping. There is nothing problematic to Latter-day Saint theology in light of this, and if one wishes to prove their case one way or another (soul sleep or conscious intermediate existence), one will have to go elsewhere for sound exegetical support. Indeed, such a consideration eviscerates the force of Pond’s appeal to Lazarus in John 11:

Let us review Christ’s teaching, which we find to clearly defined in his conversation with His disciples after hearing that His friend Lazarus had died: “He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead” (John 11:11-14). Then he said, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him” (verse 15) . . . When Jesus said “Lazarus is dead” he was confirming the great Bible truth that death, which is cessation of life, may be likened to being unconscious in sleep (POM 109, 110)

Finally, on a page on Jeff Lindsay’s Website, Raymond Woodworth noted the following about the metaphor of the dead “sleeping”:

A metaphor is a figure of speech use to suggest a likeness between two different objects, ideas, or states of being. So, even though death is not sleep, there are certain similarities. Nevertheless, the point to keep in mind is that this metaphor is not meant to be a comparison between the state of a disembodied spirit and sleep; but rather, it is meant to be a comparison between the state of a corpse and sleep.

Generally, when a person dies, the body lies down; the eyelids close; and both the heartbeat and the breathing stop. Similarly, when a person sleeps, the body lies down; the eyelids close; and both the heartbeat and the breathing are markedly slowed. Thus, the appearance of one who has fallen asleep resembles that of one who has recently passed away. As a person rests in a state of unconsciousness in sleep, so a corpse rests in a state of no consciousness in death (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10; Psalms 146:4).

In the Bible, there are number of verses which show that this metaphor is used specifically to describe the state of a corpse. For instance, a corpse sleeps in the "dust" of the earth (Dan 12:2); a corpse sleeps and is "buried" (1 Kings 2:10, 11:43, 14:31, 15:8, 15:24); and a corpse sleeps and sees "corruption" (Acts 13:36). Even Matthew wrote that "bodies" sleep in the graves (Matthew 27:52).

On the other hand, this metaphor is never used to describe the state of a disembodied spirit; which neither sleeps in the "dust", nor is "buried", nor sees "corruption". Remember, the body returns to the dust of the earth, not the spirit (Genesis 3:19, Ecclesiastes 12:7). Even so, some still insist that the spirit is just a form of energy or life force to the body, as electricity is to a computer, having no consciousness apart from the body. But to their dismay, the Bible teaches otherwise.

Before leaving this subject, however, one should also consider one of the primary differences between death and sleep; specifically between the state of "no consciousness" and the state of "unconsciousness". As described above, a corpse rests in a state of "no consciousness" because no spirit dwells inside a dead body (James 2:26). Thus, a corpse has neither knowledge, thoughts, nor emotions. On the other hand, a person who is asleep rests in a state of "unconsciousness" because a spirit still dwells inside a sleeping body.

While asleep, one retains the knowledge acquired thus far in mortality and continues to have unconscious thoughts and feelings in dreams. A person can even solve mathematical problems or think of new ideas during this period of unconsciousness. In fact, some individuals have received revelation from God through dreams; showing that one can acquire new knowledge while asleep (e.g. Genesis 37:5-11, Daniel 2, and Matthew 1:18-25). These inspired dreams also show that a person can see and hear while asleep, not with one's physical eyes and ears, but with one's spirit. Therefore, since the spirit inside the body can see, hear, feel, think, and learn while one's body is asleep; shouldn't the same spirit outside the body be able to perform these same functions while one's body is dead? (Source: Mormon Answers: Questions About the Dead)

With respect to the Ecc 9 and 12 passages, such rests on eisegesis. With respect to Ecc 9:5-7, let us quote a modern scholarly translation and offer some commentary:

Since the living know they will die. But the dead know nothing; they have no more recompense, for even the memory of them has died. Their loves, their hates, their jealousies have long since perished; and they have no more share till the end of time in all that goes on under the sun. Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God. (Ecc 9:5-7; 1985 JPS Tanakh)

R.B.Y. Scott, in his commentary on Proverbs/Ecclesiastes, offered the following exegesis of vv. 5-6:

With this unequivocal statement about death, cf. vs. 10 and Pss. vi 5 EV, lxxxviii 12 EV, cxv 17; Job xiv 10-12. Other OT writers speak of the "shades" of men as still possessing consciousness and memory, where they "dwell" in the gloomy, dusty cavern of Sheol beneath the earth (Num xvi 30-33; 1 Sam xxviii 8-14; Ps xcliii 3; Isa xiv 9-11, 15-17). Job ponders the possibility of resurrection (xiv 14-17, xix 25-27), and in the eschatology of late prophecy and apocalyptic writing resurrection if affirmed (Isa xxvi 19; Dan xii 2). (R.B.Y. Scott, Proverbs/Ecclesiastes [Anchor Bible; Garden City: Doubleday, 1965], 246)

As Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong, in an online paper "Soul Sleep": A Thorough Biblical Refutation noted about Ecc 9:7:

In other words, in relation to this world, the dead know nothing, but they are in a different realm, where they do know something. As further examples of this limited sense of “not knowing anything” in Scripture, see 1 Samuel 20:39 and 2 Samuel 15:11, where an interpretation of unconsciousness would be ridiculous.

Armstrong also made the following observation:

Consciousness after death is clearly taught in Scripture. For example: the soul is described as a separate entity from the body:

MATTHEW 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

REVELATION 6:9-10 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

1 KINGS 17:21-22 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s soul come into him again.” And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. (cf. Lk 8:53-55)

The same applies to Ecc 12:1 and any other passage used to support soul sleep/death.

Interestingly, on the understanding of the "spirit" and "soul" in the Old Testament, Gen 2:7 provides implicit evidence for the LDS understanding of the pre-existence thereof.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

At least two biblical texts in the Old Testament seem to equate the underworld with human origin. In a statement praising God as creator, the author of Psa 139 declared, "My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being in the depths of the earth" (v. 15 [NRSV]). Psa 139:15 suggests the possibility for understanding Gen 2:7 as a reference to the connection between the human spirit and the underworld.

This perspective certainly concords with the later Adamic curse: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen 3:19). One could argue that this statement indicates that some Israelites believed that in the process of creation, deity literally extracted the human spirit from out of the underworld.

Indeed, it was the location from which the life-force was taken, for like the word אֶרֶץ (earth), the term אֲדָמָה (ground) often refers to Sheol, the abode of the dead:

And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Gen 4:10)

But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all the appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand these men have provoked the Lord . . . The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households--everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods. (Num 16:30, 32)

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when the company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign. (Num 26:10)

And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the sons of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel. (Deut 11:6)

For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. (Isa 15:9)

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Dan 12:2)

Therefore, Gen 2:7, when properly understood in its ancient context, is implicit evidence for the Latter-day Saint doctrine of pre-existence, and evidence against Pond’s understanding of “spirit” and “soul” (i.e., the human spirit cannot exist in a disembodied state).

The New Testament provides explicit witness against such a view of the intermediate state, too. As one example:

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)

This verse is controversial as proponents of psychopannychism or thnetopsychism ("soul-sleep" and "soul-death," respectively—often labelled “mortalism”) argue that the punctuation in the KJV and other translations is wrong and instead it should be punctuated, “I say unto thee today, you will be with me in paradise,” that is, it refers to the time Jesus made the promise to the good thief, not that the good thief would, on that day, enter “paradise.”

One of the many problems with this perspective is that it would result in an inconsistency in how the author of Luke used σήμερον ("today"). As New Testament scholar Jerome Neyrey wrote:

[T]he climax of this scene is Jesus’ remark: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (23:43). According to Luke’s overall perspective, Jesus’ remark proclaims two things: (a) the man’s sin are forgiven, for sinners are excluded from paradise, and (b) the man is promised eschatological life: he will surely die on the cross, and paradise is not a place of death. Much scholarly discussion has been given to the meaning of “today” in Jesus’ remark, especially whether this refers to the final judgement after a long stay in some intermediate state. It is important to ask what Luke means by these words, rather than to speculate on what the historical Jesus could have meant by them. The Lukan understanding of them is accessible to us and we do well to concentrate on that.

Luke’s Gospel contains numerous examples of the proclamation of immediate salvation: the angels announce to the shepherd, “Today is born to you a Savior” (2:11); to the repentant Zacchaeus Jesus proclaims, “Today salvation has come to this house” (19:9). “Today” saying prophecies are fulfilled (4:21), “today” sins are forgiven (5:26), and “today” demons are cast out (13:32). Luke’s Gospel, then, insists that salvation is not simply a radically future experience but a thing of the present. So when Jesus proclaims to the repentant criminal, “Paradise . . . today,” we should take the pronouncement of salvation in terms of Luke’s consistent sense of immediacy. (Jerome Neyrey, The Passion According to Luke: A Redaction Study of Luke’s Soteriology [New York: Paulist Press, 1985], 137-38)

Something that is important to note that most of the “proof-texts” used by groups that hold to such a view derived from the Old Testament (via eisegesis, as we have seen) is that the ancient Israelites did not hold to “soul sleep” but instead believed that the dead still had conscious existence, as evidenced by the fact that they had a “cult of the dead,” gave offerings to the dead, and even when the authors of the Old Testament criticised such, never argued that the dead were unconscious or non-existent, something that would have been the death-blow to such a view.

As one scholar wrote about the cult of the dead and related issues in the Old Testament:

Was there a cult of the dead in ancient Israel? The Deuteronomistic legal material in the Hebrew Bible reveals restrictions against consulting the dead (Deut 18:9-11): presumably presenting offerings to the dead (Deut 26:14), and engaging in certain practices associated with death rituals such as self-laceration (Deut 14:1; but cf. Jer 16:6; 41:5) which seems to have been typical of Canaanite death cult practice. The Holiness Code also contains categorical prohibitions against people who turn to necromancy and demands the death penalty for any mediums or necromancers (Lev 20:6, 27). From such laws we may safely infer that cults of the dead existed and flourished in ancient Palestine to the extent that they were considered a thread to what eventually emerged as normative Yahwism. This seems to be supported by references to Manasseh’s necromancy (2 Kgs 21:6) and Josiah’s eradication of it (2 Kgs 23:24) however the Deuteronomist may be using stereotypical lists (or catalogues) of sins and reforms. Lastly, specific death cult vocabulary seems to underlie Absalom’s erection of a funerary monument as well as Jezebel’s burial (Lewis 1989: 118-122).

Two passages in the Hebrew Bible confirm the existence of the well known marzēaḥ banquet In Amos 6:7, the marzēaḥ banquet is described as revelry without any ties to death cult practices. Yet in Jer 16:5 the marzēaḥ has clear funerary connections. The context is one of mourning and bereavement. As with the Ugaritic mrzḥ, some scholars are the raison d’ȇtre for the marzēaḥ to be a banquet with the dead. Other scholars describe its primary function to be that of a drinking banquet which could, on occasions, be associated with funerary feasts. Another subject of debate is whether post-internment funerary offerings were presented see hints of long term offerings of some kind behind such passages as Deut 26:14 (‘I have not offered any of it [i.e. sacred food] to the dead’); Ps 106:28 (‘they ate the sacrifices of the dead’) and Isa 57:6-8 (‘Even to them [the dead] have you poured out libations and brought offerings’). Funerary offerings of food and libations are well attested in the archaeological data (Bloch-Smith 1992:25-62, 106-108) yet it is difficult to determine whether this was solely at the time of internment or whether such a practice was on-going as a part of the regular cult of the dead.

Due to Deuteronomistic polemic against death cult practices, it is surprising that we have an account of a necromantic ritual preserved in the Deuteronomistic History. In 1 Sam 28 king Saul uses a necromancer at En-Dor to conjure up the dead Samuel from the netherworld whose preternatural character is described as an ‘ělohîm (literally ‘god’ see above). Even the efficacy of the conjuring is left intact by the editor. Unlike Mesopotamian texts which describe necromantic procedures in detail (cf. Finkel 1983-1984:1-17), the En-Dor episode is remarkably brief about describing for us what was entailed in such an episode. Nonetheless, the narrative in 1 Sam 28 shows us that necromancy was well known in ancient Israelite religion despite efforts by Deuteronomists and those of like mind to eradicate the practice.

Necromancy was also criticized by certain biblical prophets. Isa 8:19 mocks the practice by comparing it to chirping and muttering (cf. Isa 29:4). Necromantic practices are similarly ridiculed in Isa 19:3 which describes the Egyptians’ resorting to necromancy because of their lack of any capacity to reason. This is ironic due to the virtual lack of necromancy attested in ancient Egypt. Van Der Toorn (1988:199-218) has also elucidated how communication with the dead lies behind Isa 28:7-22, a passage replete with death cult vocabulary (e.g. those making ‘a covenant with Death . . . a pact with Sheol’). In short, contrary to 1 Sam 28, no efficacy is ascribed to necromancy by these texts. The amount of literature against the practice of necromancy shows that many people in ancient Israelite society (including priestly and prophetic elements) felt that it was a legitimate form of divining the will of Yahweh. Other prophetic denunciations of death cult practices may be found in Ezek 43:7-9; Isa 45:18-19; 57:6; 65:4.

The traditions reflected in the wisdom literature expand the Deuteronomistic and prophetic polemic against necromancy to a new level. In Job 14:21 the dead are described as having no knowledge about the affairs of humans. Likewise, Eccl 9:4-6, 10 says quite bluntly that the dead know nothing, for ‘there is no work or reason or knowledge in Sheol’. Both of these views are strikingly different from the one in 1 Sam 28 in their appraisal of the ability of the deceased. A similar polemic against ascribing any power to the dead may be found in Ps 88:11 ‘Do the shades rise up to praise you?’ Whereas the Ugaritic Rapi’uma are very active, we have very few descriptions of the Israelite denizens of the underworld in an active role. The most activity is found in Isa 14:9 where the Rephaim are roused to greet the king of Babylon. For the most part, the biblical Rephaim are stripped of any power, malevolent or benevolent (cf. Isa 26:14). (T.J. Lewis, S.V. “Dead” in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, eds. Karl Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. Van Der Horst [2d ed.; Leiden: Brill, 1999], 230-31)

One final biblical text we will consider is that of Dan 7:15:

 

I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

 

The Aramaic term translated as "body" in this verse is נדן (alt. נדנה). In HALOT, we read the following:

 

Da 7₁₅ בְּגוֹא נִדְנֶה hellip. אֶכְרִיַּת רוּחִי: traditionally ) נִדְנֵהּwith sf.( is read for נִדְנֶה. The meaning is controversial but possible interpretations include.

 

—A. sheath: GenAp ii: 10 נשמתי לגו נדנהא my soul is in their sheath )cf. Fitzmyer Gen. Ap. 78(; Bab. Talmud Sanhedrin 108a e*d. L. Goldschmidt 7: 482(: חוזרת לנדנה שלא תהא נשמתן that their soul should not return to its sheath; cf. also Pliny Nat. Hist. 7: 52/3 donec cremato eo inimici remeanti animae velut vaginam edemerint; Codex Venetus of the Sept. reads ἐν τῷ κολεῷ in the sheath; Theodotion has ἐν τῇ ε]ξει μου e;]ξι῍ = גְּוִיָּה body in Jdg 14₉, so already Gesenius Thes. 854b; Lebram has covering(.

 

Clines gives the definition of נדן as:

Taken from David J.A. Clines, The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, 8 vols. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2011), 5:626

In his commentary on the book of Daniel, John Goldingay rendered Dan 7:15 as:

 

I, Daniel, was disturbed in spirit at this. The visions that came into my head alarmed me. (John E. Goldingay, Daniel [Word Biblical Commentary 30; Dallas, Tex.: Wordbooks, 1989], 143)

 

In his commentary on this verse, we read an alternative translation of the Aramaic:

 

אתכרית רוחי . . . בגוא שדנה “my spirit was disturbed in the midst of the sheath.” (p. 146)

 

In the theology of this passage, Daniel understood the relationship between his body and spirit as that of a sheath to a sword. Such is consistent with Latter-day Saint and other theologies of the body/spirit but inconsistent with those that hold to a form of soul sleep/soul death.

The Bible plainly teaches that unrepentant sinners who have died are not now being punished or their transgressions. Their punishment is still in the future. According to 2 Peter 2:4 even the evil angels are “reserved unto judgement.” In verse 9 we read, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.” They are reserved to receive their punishment at a future time. They are not now being punished. (POM, 114, italics in original)

This is simply false. The fallen angels in 2 Pet 2:4 are not simply “reserved” for punishment. The text reads as follows:

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment. (NRSV)

The verb translated as "cast into hell" is ταρταρόω. As the footnote for this verse notes:

tn Grk "casting them into Tartarus" or "holding them captive in Tartarus." This verb, ταρταρόω (tartaroo), occurs only here in the NT, but its meaning is clearly established in both Hellenistic and Jewish literature. "Tartarus [was] thought of by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out, and so regarded in Israelite apocalyptic as well" (BDAG 991 s.v.). Grammatically, it has been translated as an indicative because it is an attendant circumstance participle.

In Sibylline Oracle 1:111-19, we read:

[T]hese men were in the fourth race; much blood they spilled,

nor feared they God nor had regard for men,

for maddening wrath and sore impiety

were sent upon them.

Wars, homicides, and battles

sent some into Erebus, since they were conceited,

impious men. But the rest did the heavenly God himself

in anger afterwards change from his world,

casting them into mighty Tartarus down under the foundation of the earth.

Verse 119 uses the noun form Ταρταρος for the place of punishment these men were consigned to, similar to the fallen angels in 2 Pet 2. The same applies for the Testament of Solomon 6:3 (Recension A):

And with me a second godless (angel) whom God cut off and now, having been shut up here, holds the race in my bounds in Tartarus (Ταρταρος). And he is nurtured in the Red Sea, who in his own time will come in triumph.

Commenting on the phrase ἀλλὰ σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν  ("but cast them into hell and committed them to fetters of nether darkness"), Richard Bauckham noted:

The verbs ταραρουν and (rather more common) κατααρταρουν means “to cast into Tartarus," and were almost always used with reference to the early Greek theogonic myths, in which the ancient giants, the Cyclopes and Titans, were imprisoned in Tartarus, the lowest part of the underworld, by Uranos, Kronos and Zeus (Pearson, CRB 10 [1969] 76-78). They were not used in the Greek version of 1 Enoch, though ταρταρος (“Tartarus”) is used in the place of divine punishment in 1 Enoch 20:2, as elsewhere in Jewish Greek literature (LXX Job 40:20; 41:24; Prov 30:16; Sib. Or. 4:186; Philo, Mos. 2.433; Praem. 152). But Hellenistic Jews were aware that the Greek myth of the Titans had some similarity to the fall of the Watchers (though Philo, Gig. 58, rejects any comparison). Sometimes the Watchers’ sons, the giants (the Nephilim) were compared with the Titans (Josephus, Ant. 1.73; cf. LXX Ezek 32:27; Sir. 16:7) but in Jdt 16:6 (and also the Christian passage Sib. Or. 2:231) the Watchers themselves seem to be called τιτανες (“Titans”). Thus in using a term reminiscent of the Greek myth of the Titans the author of 2 Peter follows Hellenistic Jewish practice. (Richard J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter [Word Biblical Commentary 50; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996], 249)

Yes, the eschatological punishment of these angels is future; however, they are still in a state of punishment, not bondage merely.

For further information on “Tartarus,” Thomas Farrar has a good article that, in part, gives an overview of Tartarus in Greek mythology and Second Temple Judaism:

The Angels that Sinned (and Tartarus) Revisited

The Millennium

As noted, Pond, a SDA, holds to a rather unique understanding of the Millennium. While accepting a literal millennium, SDA theology holds that only one person will inhabit the earth during those 1,000 years: Satan. The wicked will be destroyed while the faithful will not be on the earth, but instead, will be with Christ in heaven—in SDA theology, Christ will rapture His people and take them to heaven with him, and only will come to the earth after the Millennium (a commonality with Postmillennialism on that score). This comes from the teachings of Ellen G. White in The Great Controversy, and informs Pond’s approach to various texts, some of which we will exegete. Here are some comments from Pond where he explicitly affirms such an understanding of the end-times:

Christ and mortal beings will not, then dwell on the earth during the millennium, or thousand-year period, for at the Redeemer’s coming, to summarize: (1) the righteous living (“We shall not all sleep”) shall “be changed in a moment”; (2) the “dead in Christ” shall be raised from their graves, and the righteous living shall be “caught up together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Thus, all the righteous of all time will ascend together to heaven, where they will live and reign “with Christ a thousand years”—this same millennial period under discussion (Rev. 20:4); (3) The living wicked will be destroyed “with the brightness of his [Christ’s] coming” (2 Thess. 2:8); and (4) All the wicked dead shall remain in that condition “until the thousand years . . .  [are] finished” (Rev. 20:5) . . . Not one human being will be alive on this earth at any time during the one-thousand-year period, according to the Bible. With all the wicked dead during the thousand years, and all the righteous in heaven during the same millennium, Satan and his evil hosts will be bound by a chain of circumstances, as portrayed in Revelation 20:1-3 . . . Meanwhile, the righteous in heaven will be sitting with Christ in judgement on the wicked of all ages . . . The Bible passages quoted above give a clear picture of the millennium, and of the final end of Satan and the wicked. This means that there will be no “mortality upon the face of the earth during the thousand years.” During the millennium, no man, woman, or child will be found on the earth—from north to south, from east to west-who “will still be mortal.” Nor will there be during that time one human being on the earth who is immortal. They will all have gone to heaven with Christ. (POM, 162, 163, 173, italics and square brackets in original)

Let us interact with some of his alleged biblical proofs for his eschatology.

Christ is coming, not to reign on this earth, but to “receive” His people unto Himself . . . The Saviour is son coming for His people, to take them away from this corrupt world, so filled with hatred, suspicion, war and every form of iniquity. Only after this earth has been purified by fire, which will take place after the close of the thousand years, will the promise be fulfilled that “the meek . .  shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5) (POM, 160)

The apostle Paul states clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:53 that the mortal righteous shall “put on immortality.” This takes place when they are “changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (verse 52).

And when is “the last trump” to sound? 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 answers, and adds some detail to 1 Corinthians 15: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (POM, 161)

Neither 1 Thess 4:16-18 nor 1 Cor 15:52-53 supports the concept of the “rapture” which informs the SDA readings of these texts.

The term in 1 Thess 4:15 translated as "coming" is παρουσια. This is a term Paul is borrowing from the Roman world where the empire or another leader, when he was returning to his home city, would be greeted by the people and then would be royally escorted to that city. This does not fit the SDA reading of the verse where the people meet Jesus and he takes them back to where he came from; instead, it supports the historical premillennial view (one that Latter-day Saints hold to, too) that the followers of Jesus will meet him in the "air" and then the crowd will escort Jesus to the earth.

Note how BDAG defines this term with reference to 1 Thess 4:15:

α. of Christ, and nearly always of his Messianic Advent in glory to judge the world at the end of this age: Mt 24:3 (PSchoonheim, Een semasiolog. onderzoek van π. ’53); 1 Cor 1:8 v.l.; 15:23; 2 Th 2:8 (on the expr. ἐπιφάνεια παρουσίας s. FPfister, Pauly-W. Suppl. IV ’24, 322); 2 Pt 3:4; 1J 2:28; Dg 7:6; Hs 5, 5, 3. ἡ π. τοῦ υἱοῦ τ. ἀνθρώπου Mt 24:27, 37, 39 (cp. the suggestion of retribution SIG 741, 21-23; 31f). ἡ π. τοῦ κυρίου 1 Th 4:15; Js 5:7f. ἡ π. τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ 1 Th 3:13; cp. 2:19. ἡ π. τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ 5:23; 2 Th 2:1 (on the use in 1 and 2 Th s. RGundry, NTS 33, ’87, 161-78); 2 Pt 1:16 (δύναμις w. παρουσία as Jos., Ant. 9, 55; cp. Ael. Aristid. 48, 30 K. [both passages also b above]).—This explains the expr. ἡ π. τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρας the coming of the Day of God 2 Pt 3:12.—EvDobschütz, Zur Eschatologie der Ev.: StKr 84, 1911, 1-20; FTillmann, D. Wiederkunft Christi nach den paulin. Briefen 1909; FGuntermann, D. Eschatol. des hl. Pls ’32; BBrinkmann, D. Lehre v. d. Parusie b. hl. Pls u. im Hen.: Biblica 13, ’32, 315-34; 418-34; EHaack, E. exeg.-dogm. Studie z. Eschatol. über 1 Th 4:13-18: ZST 15, ’38, 544-69; OCullmann, Le retour de Christ² ’45; WKümmel, Verheissg. u. Erfüllg.² ’53; TGlasson, The Second Advent ’45; AFeuillet, CHDodd Festschr. ’56 (Mt and Js).—On delay of the Parousia WMichaelis, Wikenhauser Festschr. ’53, 107-23; EGrässer, D. Problem der Parousieverzögerung (synopt and Ac), ’57.—JATRobinson, Jesus and His Coming, ’57.

What is in view is a return of Jesus to the earth, not some form of “rapture,” let alone a rapture with the added twists introduced by Ellen G. White and her followers.

As Pond’s interpretation of 1 Cor 15:52-53 rests upon the correctness of his interpretation of 1 Thess 4:16-18, we can skip it by as it is already dead in the water.

For those who wish to delve into the biblical evidence (or really, lack thereof) of the "rapture," one should pursue the following classical work:

Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ (Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1937)

Other chief passages used to arrive at such a model of eschatology that Ellen White and other SDAs have pointed to include Isa 24:1, 3, 19 and Jer 4:7, 23. Let us briefly example these passages:

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabits thereof . . . The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word . . . The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. (Isa 24:1, 3, 19)

Ron Abel raised the following objections to the SDA appeal to these verses:

1. If the earth is to become completely desolate who are the “few men left”? (v. 6). Why is every house shut up so that none can enter? (v. 10). Who is crying in the streets for lack of wine? (v. 11). Who is it that sings for joy? (v. 14).

2. Isaiah refers to the Lord of hosts reigning in Mount Zion, “and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously” (v. 23). This time is referred to by Isaiah in chapters 2 and 65. Both of these passages require the continued existence of mortal people on the earth. Note the following: Isa. 2:3 (these are not righteous immortals since they go to Jerusalem to learn, Zech. 14:17); Isa. 65:17-20 (“the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed” likewise indicates the continued existence of mortal nations on the earth).

3. The saints will not be removed to heaven. “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6). This reigning, will be on the earth: “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:10).

4. The apparently absolute expressions of desolation on the earth must, therefore, be read in a limited sense. This conclusion is further indicated by noting parallel expressions in Jer. 44:2,6  in which Jerusalem ins referred to as a desolation with no man dwelling therein, yet Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen. (Jer. 52:16).

5. God will not leave the earth utterly desolate with no inhabitants since “the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”(Gen. 8:21).

6. The words “the earth” throughout this chapter are the Hebrew word for “the land”, as pointed out in the alternative translation in the RV (ASV). The “land” referred to is the land of Israel, which was made desolate when its people were scattered abroad (v. 1) in fulfilment of “the curse” (v. 6) as predicted in Deut. 28:15,25,64; Lev. 26:16,31-33. (Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures: A Christadelphian Handbook of Suggested Explanations to Difficult Bible Passages [ed. John Allfree; rev ed.; Birmingham: The Christadelphian, 2011], 73

The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant . . . I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. (Jer 4:7, 23)

In SDA theology these verses from Jeremiah are linked with the Isaiah texts above to teach that the earth will be completely desolate during the millennium except for Satan. However, again, there are problems with this:

1. As in Isa. 24 “the earth” in this passage refers, not to the globe, but to the land of Palestine. (v. 1-3,5,6).

2. The passage was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem in 586 BC (Jer. 44:2,6; 52:5,7,8). Even then, some Jews were left to till the soil. (Jer. 52:15,16).

3. Even if there were a secondary application of this passage at Armageddon, positive evidence that mortals will inhabit the earth during the millennium is supported from the following passages:

a. The saints are to be given power over the nations to rule with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26,27). But this time must be during the millennial period since the end of the millennium results in the end of sin and mortality. (1 Cor. 15:22-28).

b. The saints are said to reign for a thousand years (Rev. 20:6). But who are they to reign over if removed to heaven? (cf. Rev. 5:10—“Who shall reign over the earth.”).

c. See also Zech. 14:16,17; Isa. 65:17,18 (Ibid., 74)

It should be obvious that the SDA understanding of the eschaton is a novelty that is void of any sound exegetical support.

Conclusion

As we have seen in this review, it is the Latter-day Saint, not Seventh Day Adventist, understanding of the nature of man (anthropology) and the end-times (eschatology) that have the support from biblical exegesis. It is my prayer that any reader who holds to either soul sleep/death (it is not a doctrine unique to SDAs) or the SDA understanding of the millennium will rethink their theology on such issues. Furthermore, this should serve to show that on these two important topics, LDS theology, contrary to the protestations of misinformed critics, is on very sound exegetical footing.