Yellowstone wrote:
1Pe 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Did Christ preach to the fallen patriarchs? Or was he speaking to fallen heavenly (spiritual) beings such as angels......I think we are aided in this reasoning by Scripture, which states that we are not spiritual but rather dust
Quote from JustifyOthers:
May I pop in?? It seems like the second part of the verse in question was overlooked. It pretty clearly defines which spirits He was preaching/heralding to. Those who:
"....formerly were disobedient when the long-suffering of God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared..." So, who was that??[color]
Who was the Spirit of God preaching to?? Those who were disobedient in the time of Noah. Well, that was everybody minus eight! Yes, I'm saying their spirits were in "prison" for a time. It does not mean that our bodies do not turn to dust -- just not our spirits. Perhaps this was their judgement time. It's OK not to have ALL the answers, as long as we don't allow speculative conjecture to run amuk (sp?)
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I'll bite
You are correct, I quoted the wrong verses, oh well.
I truly am sorry for the above mistake, but let me share a few of my thoughts on this still.
God made it very clear that "his" spirit would not stay with fleshly man forever.
Gen 6:3
- And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
So where does God's spirit go when we die? Where does the flesh go? For without God's spirit, we are nothing.
Ecc 12:7
- Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
I believe that the Scriptures are very clear on where our spirits return to. It is also very clear on just when we will take on the form of spiritual beings.
1Cr 15:42
- So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Cr 15:43
- It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Cr 15:44
- It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Cr 15:45
- And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
Christ is the first and the only (as yet) human who is now a quickening spirit or spiritual being. This of course explains why he was able to preach to the imprisoned spirits, for he was spirit, such as they.
Our spirit is not ours, but God's; it returns to him upon our death. I think it is foolish to the extreme to think that only some of God's spirits return to him, but others are thrown in dark prisons. That just goes against all Scriptural reasoning.
So if my Scriptual reasoning is sound, then there must be another witness to the spirits being witnessed too.
Certainly, Peter in his second letter does not implicitly tie the building of the ark, the imprisoning of the angels and the destruction of all but eight to the same period of time.
2Pe 2:4-5
- For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth [person], a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
However, this is the second time that he brings these two events together. The first was in his first letter:
1Pe 3:18-20
- For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
This Scripture ties these two events much closer, implying that they were sometime disobedient while God awaited the building of the ark. Many have suggested that these spirits were the "Sons of God" of Gen 6-4, but I don't believe that.
But I do find it very interesting why Peter should not just once but twice link the angelic spirits that Christ preached to and the days of Noah. Is it possible that "the angels that sinned" sinned by demonizing the people of that time, and it was they that were imprisoned when the human hosts were drowned. Sounds reasonable, but their is no Scriptural proof.
Like it or not, there is simply NO scriptual proof that any human apart from Christ was/is conscious of anything after death.
Finally, I must answer your last statement:
It's OK not to have ALL the answers, as long as we don't allow speculative conjecture to run amukI could not agree more
So why would anyone choose to ignore the following:
Ecc 9:5- 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.
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Thanks for your comments and I hope I shed some light on my reasoning.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Love,
Darren