Я знаю, — говорит праведный Иов, — Искупитель мой жив, и Он в последний день восставит из праха распадающуюся кожу мою сию, и я во плоти моей узрю Бога. Я узрю Его сам; мои глаза, не глаза другого, увидят Его (Иов. XIX, 25–27).

Оживут мертвецы Твои, — свидетельствует пророк Исайя, — восстанут мертвые тела! Воспрянйте и торжествуйте, поверженные в прахе: ибо роса Твоя — роса растений, и земля извергнет мертвецов (Ис. XXVI, 19).

Та же вера в вечную жизнь была жива в Израиле и в позднейшую эпоху его истории — в эпоху Маккавеев. Один из мучеников Маккавеев мужественно исповедал эту веру и быв же при последнем издыхании, сказал: ты, мучитель, лишаешь нас настоящей жизни, но Царь мира воскресит нас, умерших за Его законы, для жизни вечной (2 Мак. VII, 9).

Еще более таких свидетельств в Новом Завете.

В Евангелии от Иоанна читаем слова Самого Господа:

Истинно, истинно говорю вам: наступает время, и настало уже, когда мертвые услышат глас Сына Божия и, услышав, оживут (Ин. V, 25).

Ядущий Мою Плоть и пиющий Мою Кровь имеет жизнь вечную, и Я воскрешу его в последний день (Ин. VI, 54).

В рассказе о воскресении Лазаря мы находим новое подтверждение того же учения.

Иисус говорит Марфе: воскреснет брат твой. Марфа сказала Ему: знаю, что воскреснет в воскресение, в последний день. Иисус сказал ей: Я есмь воскресение и жизнь; верующий в Меня, если и умрет, оживет (Ин. XI, 23–25).

Апостол Павел в послании к Коринфянам удостоверяет:

Христос воскрес из мертвых, первенец из умерших. Ибо, как смерть через человека, так через человека и воскресение мертвых. Как в Адаме все умирают, так во Христе все оживут, каждый в своем порядке: первенец Христос, потом Христовы, в пришествие Его (I Кор. XV, 20–23).

В послании к Солунянам:

Сам Господь при возвещении, при гласе Архангела и трубе Божией, сойдет с неба, и мертвые во Христе воскреснут прежде (I Фес. IV, 16).

Обычным возражением против бессмертия человека служит указание на то, что в природе все разрушается. Ничто не вечно — все имеет свой конец. Человек также умирает в свое время, разлагается, нет никаких оснований думать, что душа его продолжает жить.

If we accept this objection in such a naked, unconditional form, then it is essentially unjust. In fact, even in the material world, we do not observe anywhere a complete cessation of existence, a transformation into nothingness. We do not know death as annihilation: there is only a transition from one form of being to another, and this is equally true of matter as well as of the various forces at work in it. In nature, it is impossible to destroy a single piece of matter, not a single atom. If you burn a log in the stove, it seems that it has been destroyed, but it only seems so. In fact, the burned log turns into smoke, which settles as soot in the chimney, into coal, into ashes. In other words, there is no annihilation, but only the transformation of matter from one state to another. The cattle ate the grass – this grass turns into manure, fertilizing the land and giving new life to new plants. And so it is everywhere and in everything. We cannot completely destroy a single speck of dust without leaving a trace of it.

The same must be said of the forces at work in nature. Here is a locomotive in front of us, ready to move: a fire is burning hot in the furnace, water is boiling in the boiler. What's going on here? The force of heat is transformed into the force of steam, the force of steam is transformed into the force of motion, but again there is no annihilation of force, there is only transformation.

In a word, in nature the sum total of matter and energy is always the same, and neither matter nor force is annihilated.

If we observe this general law everywhere, the question arises, on what grounds can we admit the destruction of the human soul, its reduction into nothing? If the human body is not destroyed, but only disintegrated in the process of decay into its constituent chemical elements, why should the force which animated this body, which we call the soul, be an exception to the all-encompassing law of the world economy? Why should it be destroyed? No matter how we define this force and its essence, whether we call it an organic force, a biological force, the force of life, or the soul, as we call it, it does not matter in this case, only one thing is important: in the living man there is some force that animates and animates him, a force without which he becomes a corpse. This difference between a living man and a dead body is so great that the most hardened sceptics are compelled to admit the presence in the living man of a special force which conditions in him life and mental activity. But since the existence of this force is certain, it is clear that it cannot be completely annihilated under any circumstances by virtue of the above law.

In the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament there is an extremely interesting story that proves the afterlife of the soul after the death of a person. This story is given in the First Book of Kings and refers to the time when Saul, rejected by God for disobedience, sought support everywhere and, finally, in a fit of cowardice and despair, turned to the Witch of Endor with a request to summon the spirit of the already deceased prophet Samuel.

And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and went, and encamped in Shunam; Saul also gathered together all the people of Israel, and encamped on Gilboa. And when Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled violently. And Saul inquired of the Lord; but the Lord did not answer him either in a dream, or through the Urims, or through the prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, Find me a sorceress woman, and I will go to her and ask her. And his servants answered him, "Here in Endor there is a woman sorceress." And Saul took off his garments, and put on others, and went himself, and the two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And Saul said to her, I beseech you, tell me and bring me out whom I will tell you about... Then the woman asked, "Whom shall you bring out?" And he answered, "Bring Samuel out to me." And the woman saw Samuel, and cried out with a loud voice; And the woman turned to Saul, saying, "Why hast thou deceived me?" you are Saul. And the king said to her, "Do not be afraid; What do you see? And the woman answered, "I see, as it were, a god coming out of the earth." What kind of person is he? Saul asked her. She said, "An old man is coming out of the earth, dressed in a long robe." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed down. And Samuel said to Saul, Why do you trouble me that I may go out? And Saul answered, It is very hard for me; The Philistines are fighting against me, but God has departed from me, and no longer answers me, either through the prophets or in dreams. therefore I have summoned thee, that thou mayest teach me what to do. And Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, when the Lord has departed from you, and has become your enemy?" The Lord will do what he has said through me; The LORD shall take the kingdom out of thy hand, and shall give it to thy neighbor David. Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, and have not fulfilled the wrath of His wrath against Amalek, the Lord is doing this to you now. And the LORD shall deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: thou and thy sons shall be with me, and the LORD shall deliver the camp of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. Then Saul suddenly fell with his whole body to the ground, for he was greatly frightened by the words of Samuel (1 Sam. XXVIII, 4–8, 11–20).

Such is the story of the Bible, which proves beyond doubt that the soul of man continues to live even after the death of the body and can even enter into communion with the inhabitants of the earth.