“Intelligent and thinking people began to wonder why the Lord would resurrect the dead, if they were either in heaven or hell, and their portion forever unalterably fixed. Then they began to wonder why the dead were called dead, if really alive. Then they wondered why our Lord and the apostles said nothing about the dead being still alive, but on the contrary always pointed to a resurrection as the only hope; even declaring that if there be no resurrection all have "perished". (I Cor. 15:13-18.) Then our Lord's words, promising an awakening to "all that are in their graves," began to have a meaning; and it gradually came to be seen that the dead are not alive, but that death signifies the opposite of life. And those who sought found that the Scriptures are in perfect harmony with themselves on this subject, but in direct opposition to the common traditions of to-day, received from Papacy.The root of error being thus removed, the various branches soon began to wither; and soon it was seen that instead of everlasting life (in misery) being the punishment of the wicked, the reverse is the Bible statement of God's plan;- that everlasting life is the reward for righteousness and that death, a cutting off from life, is the punishment for wilful sinners.”

—  Charles Taze Russell

Source: Milennial Dawn, Vol. III: Thy Kingdom Come (1891), p. 117.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Intelligent and thinking people began to wonder why the Lord would resurrect the dead, if they were either in heaven or…" by Charles Taze Russell?
Charles Taze Russell photo
Charles Taze Russell 28
Founder of the Bible Student Movement 1852–1916

Related quotes

Shane Claiborne photo

“For even if the whole world believed in resurrection, little would change until we began to practice it. We can believe in CPR, but people will remain dead until someone breathes new life into them. And we can tell the world that there is life after death, but the world really seems to be wondering if there is life before death.”

Shane Claiborne The Irresistible Revolution

The Irresistible Revolution (2006)

Elie Wiesel photo

“Waking among the dead, one wondered if one was still alive. And yet real despair only seized us later. Afterwards. As we emerged from the nightmare and began to search for meaning.”

Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor

Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)

Dwight L. Moody photo

“As a dead man cannot inherit an estate, no more can a dead soul inherit heaven. The soul must be resurrected in Christ.”

Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) American evangelist and publisher

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 562.

“New York, home of the vivisectors of the mind, and of the mentally vivisected still to be reassembled, of those who live intact, habitually wondering about their states of sanity, and home of those whose minds have been dead, bearing the scars of resurrection.”

Muriel Spark (1918–2006) Scottish writer

The Hothouse by the East River (London: Macmillan, 1973) p. 12

Chris Rock photo

“The government hates rap. That's why they don't arrest anybody that kills rappers! Only the good ones are dead, man! Only the good ones: Biggie dead, Tupac dead, Vanilla Ice still alive! They don't fill out a police report. They don't even have a chalk line when it's a dead rapper, they just take a piss around the body.”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director

Never Scared (HBO, 2004)

Joan Didion photo

“I know why we try to keep the dead alive: we try to keep them alive in order to keep them with us. I also know that if we are to live ourselves there comes a point at which we must relinquish the dead, let them go, keep them dead.”

Joan Didion The Year of Magical Thinking

Source: The Year of Magical Thinking

G. K. Chesterton photo

“I know that journalism largely consists in saying 'Lord Jones Dead' to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.”

G. K. Chesterton book The Wisdom of Father Brown

The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914) The Purple Wig
The Father Brown Mystery Series (1910 - 1927)

Orson Scott Card photo

“Our savior will resurrect us,” said Peggy, “but I haven’t noticed that Christians end up any less dead at the end of life than heathens.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Alvin Journeyman (1995), Chapter 14.

“Have you wondered why all the windows in heaven were
broken?”

Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972) American writer and poet

"The Character of Love Seen as a Search for the Lost"
Context: Have you wondered why all the windows in heaven were
broken?
Have you seen the homeless in the grave of God's
hand?
Do you want to acquaint the larks with the fatuous
music of war?

Related topics