Finally!
Finally!
Hi cirisme,
Finally!
When the lightbulb is destroyed, light and heat are not destroyed. Indeed, the lightbulb can no longer produce these things, but they still exist. Do they not? Now, this is where you might begin arguing that it's not the same light, my response to that would be, "Well, is a light bulb ever continuasly producing the same light?" The answer would be no. Let's try a different analogy. I have a glass of milk. Being the clutz I am, I drop it and the glass breaks. The milk continues to exist, but the glass can not contain it any longer.
My main point is that the light bulb example was AN ANALOGY. I used it NOT to be representative of how a light bulb really behaves, but rather as a representation of how I believe MAN is!
I agree, the light/heat remain. They diffuse, but they remain (in one form or another). But, that's not my point. And even though this is really outside the topic, IF I accept your analogy and force it to my understanding of man, I would assert that the light and heat BEFORE the bulb broke exist, they would have to be streams of consciousness whose GENERATION preceded the destruction of the bulb.
Now, that's getting a little "high-tech" for me, i.e. does a thought "live?" Does it travel in some dimension? I don't know and at this time, I don't really much care.
But, again, to accept your understanding of light bulbs, I would assert that there is no longer CONTINUED GENERATION OF HEAT AND LIGHT and due to the fact that the hardware is destroyed. No continued streams of consciousness. No continued praise of the Lord, love for the Lord.
The psalmist indeed asks, "Who can praise thee in the grave" and Acts, when referring to David, does not say that his body is in the grave, it says that DAVID is in the grave?
Now, wouldn't that be colossaly superficial if David is equated to his body and NOT his person?
That's the way it is with our bodies. We have a physical body which is the "glass" that contains our spirit, us. When our glass breaks, the milk leaves and it must go somewhere. If that "milk" was close to God in relationship, then it will spend eternity close to God. If that milk was seperated from God when the glass broke, it will spend eternity away from God.
Well, I chose the analogy so as to do just this. To provide what I see as the core point of departure of our beliefs. I asserted my belief with respect to this and you have asserted yours.
Frankly, I do not subscribe to your belief and I understand and appreciate that you do not subscribe to mine.
But, I repeat, the Bible does not differentiate personhood from how a being is identified. It speaks of Satan being destroyed. It does not parse his physical component (should he have one) from any consciousness component. Same with David and the same with everyone else.
I believe this is a strong biblical argument in my favor.
To me, the most PERTINENT attribute of me (Tony) is not my flesh and bones. It is my personality. It is the sum collection of my thoughts and feelings and passions and loves, etc. It is inclusive of the service with which my MIND renders to the Lord.
To say that Tony is in "hades" and he can't praise the Lord and then to:
1. Assert that "Tony" is inclusive of his consciousness and thus all of him is dead
is a lot more accurate a statement of just WHO Tony is, then to assert
2. Tony refers to just his physical component. The rest is NOT Tony.
I think to suggest the Bible actually does not include one's personhood as a PART of how one is identified is unacceptable and clearly erroneous.
God Bless You cirisme...
Tony