JehovahsWitness wrote:
The bible does not support the teachings of consciouse survival of any part of a person after their physical body ceases to function. Physical death is always presented as the end of all consciousness (the end of all thought, action and feeling). When a person dies, they cease to exist and are in the exact same state as they were before they were conceived or created, in short a dead person no longer exists anywhere as a conscious feeling thinking being.
A person is defined as "a man, woman or child", but the word comes from the word "persona" which is "a mask", or what is presented to the world. The bible describes Adam's body being created from the dirt, but there really isn't any description of Adam's persona being created by God. Instead Adam reflects God. Adam's persona is not his own, but the image of God. He doesn't present his own image, but God's image instead.
This image can't be Adam's body as God can't be compared to anything that is created. This image is a reflection, not of what is eternal, but of eternity which has no beginning or end. It can't be of what is eternal because God is not a "what" or a "thing". All things are created, therefore God cannot be a thing.
While I can see thoughts, feelings, and ideas ceasing to exist after the body dies. It doesn't then follow that consciousness ceases as well. Unless you are a thought, feeling, or idea, you shouldn't feel any need to identify with them. The assumption is that this consciousness is the property of the person who is living, but the bible tells us that it's all God's everything that is created is God's, but is consciousness created? Just because one is conscious of a thought doesn't then mean consciousness ceases when thought ceases. The same is true for feelings, and ideas. It's a non sequitur.
Is God conscious? If so, then God's consciousness must be eternal, no? If man reflects God's consciousness then this reflection is derived from eternity, but if man reflects himself instead, then the self must die with what it is identified with.
To assume that the consciousness is identified with the body isn't necessarily the case, and I know of no place where the bible states that it is. It seems that it is the self that identifies with the consciousness, and Christ corrects this error by telling his disciples to "deny yourself".
