“The dead know nothing”

In recent weeks, a renewed discussion has broken out on the forum about “the condition of the dead.” Particularly, the traditionally well-known texts that are repeatedly brought forward to defend the idea that the dead are not dead (= capable of something), have come up. The arguments used can roughly be categorized as follows:

1. Figurative language is interpreted literally
   Examples: the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16); the souls under the altar (Revelation 6); the poetic description in Isaiah 14;
2. Non-necessary conclusions
   Examples: in Luke 23:43, “today” is read with the second part of the sentence instead of the first; the gospel that was brought to the dead (1 Peter 4:6) is read as: brought while they were already dead;
3. Account of a séance
   A major role is played by the appearance in the spiritualistic setting at Endor (1 Samuel 28);
4. Texts that refer to resurrection life are applied to ‘the intermediate state’
   Examples: Philippians 1:23 (“I am yearning to be off and to be with Christ”); “to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5);
5. Irrational reasonings
   Example: from the Dutch word dodenrijk (“realm of the dead”) it is concluded that it refers to a realm of the dead, while the underlying biblical terms (sheol and hades) absolutely do not carry this meaning; the dead await a new body at the resurrection, yet in the meantime one supposedly already has a mouth, fingers, feelings, eyes, etc.

Opposite ten, at most fifteen texts (or passages) of this kind stand countless Scriptures that teach that the dead are truly dead. The following notions are decisive in this regard:

1. The Bible affirms the primary meaning of ‘death’: incapable of any activity.
   The Bible does not regard death as another form of life but as the opposite of life;
2. The serpent’s lie consisted of a denial of death (“your eyes shall be opened”), and this lie is characteristic of every religion (immortal soul or reincarnation);
3. The book of Ecclesiastes explicitly declares that the dead know nothing and that in the realm of the dead there is no knowledge, work, or deliberation (Ecclesiastes 9);
4. Dozens of times the Bible compares death to unconscious sleep;
5. A handful of times we read in the Psalms and Isaiah that the dead do not praise God, do not hope for His faithfulness, and cannot think of God;
6. Never do we read in the Bible about experiences of people who were raised from the dead;
7. The Bible repeatedly teaches that death is a return. Just as a person does not ‘exist’ before their birth, so a person also ‘does not exist’ after their death;
8. All hope in the Bible is fixed on resurrection; apart from that, the believing deceased would be hopelessly lost. They are therefore not rejoicing before God’s throne or anything of the sort.

When we take into account the total testimony of Scripture concerning death, it is easy to determine that the Bible truly regards death as death. This is clear from the QUANTITY of (dozens of) data points that support this. But it is especially the QUALITY of the argumentation that proves decisive. Many explicit statements; logical consistency; and the elegant ability to explain a few texts that seem to argue the opposite—all of this makes the “the dead know nothing” view a SOLID BIBLICAL TEACHING.

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