The Eden Conspiracy

by Clayton Carlson

Adam finishes talking just in time to signal and steer the truck onto the off ramp leaving the freeway. Staying to the right at the cross road, Adam smoothly shifts the transmission into a lower gear, checking for traffic he cruising past the yield sign. Adam presses the throttle and the engine torques the right front corner of the truck upwards slightly as they quickly head towards the big truck stop sign, HUSKY it read, glittering in the sun about a quarter mile away. Turning onto the access road he drives behind the buildings to the truck parking area. Making wide arching turns, Adam maneuvers the long trailer between two other units in the parking lot.

  Coming to a stop, Adam turns the ignition key off and for the first time since getting into the truck, Isaac is in complete tranquility and silence. Gone is the roar of the engine, the whistling of the wind, tires and drive line whine, but most of all, gone is the harsh barking of the Jake brake. The constant vibration and bouncing was gone as well. Closing his eyes he sinks slightly into the passenger seat relishing the calm. Slowly, his hearing and feeling start to become adjusted to the lack of noise and movement. The subtle sounds from outside the cab begin to register with him and his elbow is sore from repeatedly bouncing it on the metal window ledge. But for a fleeting moment he was in the warm blanket of sensory deprivation. It felt as though he was insulated from the world, adrift on a sea of bliss.

  “I don't want to stop too long, just long enough for a drink and a pee,” Adam says opening his door to get out. “Don't bother locking your door; if you do we can't unlock it from the outside. Things are safe around here anyway. Thieves tend to pick on the new pretty trucks, the chances of finding good stuff is better than it is in ruff looking old trucks. You’d never think I had a lap top in here, even if it's an old hand-me-down one. Kids old cast off junk, but it works for me.” With that said, Adam turned and launched himself out of the door as before with his left hand squeezing the grab rail controlling his decent to the ground.

  Isaac pulled the inside door latch while giving the door a shove with his right shoulder to get it to open. He cautiously climbed down the fuel tank steps holding tightly to the hand rails attached to the cab in convenient spots. Once his feet were planted firmly on the ground he pushed the door to close it. It barely managed to latch and remained partially open. He tugged the door handle to open it again and this time with a continued push it closed firmly. Looking at the door and shaking his head in disgust he looked towards the truck stop building for Adam. He didn't see him anywhere in the parking lot and it was too far for him to already be inside. Isaac's eyes darted around the mostly empty lot looking for his new companion. Not seeing him, he stood in front of the truck looking back and forth hoping to catch a glimpse of Adam somewhere.

  “Where could he have gone,” Isaac thought to himself. Startled by a touch on his right arm, Isaac turns to see Adam standing behind him.

  “Are you ready to go in?” Adam gestures towards the Husky station. “I always like to walk around the truck and check the tires and stuff when I stop. It helps me to stay on top of any developing problems,” Adam explains.

  “Well your passenger door doesn't close very well. You might put that on your, to do list,” Isaac points out in aggravation.

  “Oh, that's nothing. It's just that the cab is to air tight with the windows up. Once they are down an inch or so the doors close much better.” Adam is smiling craftily as he explains the door problem to Isaac who is skeptically listening with growing disbelief.

  “Well let’s go get a drink and I really have to pee,” Adam is still talking as he starts to head towards the truck stop. “I don't know why, but once I stand up and it's a bit cooler, I really got to go,” his pace quickens as he gets caught up in a light breeze that swirls the dust and bits of garbage at his feet. Isaac follows just behind him, sticking his hands deep into his front jean pockets and hunching his shoulders to help guard against the cool wind.

  Once inside the glass doors Adam heads directly to the men’s room with Isaac in tow. Emerging through the same bathroom door a short time later both Isaac and Adam are drying their hands on their pant legs. Adam gets the attention of the cashier behind the counter.

  “You’re out of paper hand towel in the bathroom.” He said slightly grumpily. He didn't mean to sound that way. His mood often got reflected in his tone of voice without him noticing and he had never been successful at speaking with a loud happy voice. It always sounded a bit angry just because of the volume. His mostly deaf mother had thought he was always mad at her until he explained himself to her one day.

  “Mom, I am not mad! I can't shout happily?” He told her. After that his Mom felt better, but no one had explained these subtleties to the truck stop clerk.

  “Oh yaa. I'll be sure to get right on that.” She said sarcastically while twirling her long bangs. “And by the way, the bathrooms are for paying customers,” the gum snapping in her mouth as she chewed it hard.

  “We will be customers in a minute,” Replied Adam bewildered by the girls crabbiness. Remembering his wife’s encouraging to make other people’s day nicer. Adam makes sure his tone is pleasant when he speaks again to the bleach blond clerk.

  Isaac picks himself a bottle of Dr. Pepper from the cooler. Adam notices the small sign advertising buy one get the second one 75% off. Thinking that Dr. Pepper would be good, he gets a bottle for himself and grabs a couple of Eat More from the chocolate bar rack. Only having his pop to pay for, Isaac is standing at the till when Adam comes up beside him and says, “Here I'll get that for you.”

  Taking the pop out of Isaac's hand Adam places the items on the counter then pulls out his wallet. The cashier rings up the total coming to $4.37. Adam passes her a new blue five and waves off the change and receipt.

  “Don't need that.” Adam told her smiling, making sure to have a pleasant tone. “Have a good day.” Adam said turning to go.

  “Thanks. You too,” The girl also had a sweeter tone to her voice. “Come again.”

  “Here you go.” Adam said as he handed Isaac back his pop and the bonus Eat More. “That should keep you going for a while. There’s some ripe fruit in the truck we can eat as well. Benefits from hauling produce and groceries. If it's not visually perfect then the retailers don't want it. I hardly ever have to buy food. It may not look the best, but it is tasty.”

  “Thank you.” Isaac replies, twisting the plastic lid off of his pop and taking a drink.

  “Don't through the lid away unless you’re going to drink that all at once. Those bottles tend to fall over in the truck with all of the bouncing,” admonishes Adam.

  “OK. Good point. This should last me a while.” Isaac replies, replacing the lid back onto the bottle.

  They walk slowly around the building towards the back and the parked trucks. A cattle liner comes into the parking lot a bit fast off of the frontage road. Taking the corner hard, the air ride trailer leans its bawling load of cows to the ditch side of the road. Streams of brown clumpy water pour out of the large ventilation holes down the sides and back of the aluminum E.coli wagon.

  “Nothing like the smell of money,” Jokes Adam.

  “I'm glad that it wasn't pigs,” Quips Isaac. “That smell can really stay with you all day.”

  They detour around the stinky spots on the road stretching their appendages as they go, heading back to the old Western Star. When they get close Adam instinctively starts to check for wet spots under his truck and trailer. Isaac follows him counter clock wise around the old semi kicking tires and checking hubs for heat. Adam half crawls under the trucks rear duels and then again under the trailer axles.

  “What are you checking under there?” asks Isaac.

  “The brakes,” Adam replies.

  Smiling nervously Isaac stammers. “Hope they’re OK. Will they make it all the way home?”

  “Ya, they’re fine. They have to be checked all the time. All trucks have to be routinely checked during a long trip. That's why I do my walk-rounds whenever I make stops. It keeps me aware of problem
s that might come up during the trip and lets me chose when to fix things, before they become problems.” Adam says wiping his now dirty hands on his lower pant legs.

  Nodding as if he understood, Isaac follows behind Adam as he continues up the passenger side of the trailer towards the cab. Aware of his shadow Adam makes his checks more elaborate than necessary. Sensing Isaac's nervous naivety to the world of trucks, Adam displays worried scrutiny by rubbing and touching seemingly vital parts of the semi. Slowly shaking his head and scrunching his brow he quietly utters distressed phrases like, ah I don't know, that doesn't look too good, and his favorite, ewww, I forgot about that, to even the most unimportant component. Arriving back at the passenger door Adam gives the handle a knowing flip and the door pops open for Isaac to climb in.

  “There you go, don't forget to buckle up,” Adam says not letting Isaac see his smile. He heads around the front of the truck to the driver’s door, opening it and springing into the cab from off the tank steps. Once in, he closes his door just in time to see Isaac role his window down an inch before he pulls the passenger door shut. It closes tight with little effort. Isaac then rolls his window back up.

  “Now you’re getting it,” Adam says encouragingly. “It won't take long and you'll be wanting to drive.” Holding the parking brake valves in the released position, Adam waits until the hissing sound of moving air subsides before taking his hand off of them. Checking his mirrors he puts the transmission into gear and pulls ahead, then gives the spike a small tug. The back end of the trailer dips as its brakes slow the truck's forward movement. Letting go of the spike, air hisses at the steering wheel as the trailer brakes release and the truck lurches forward. Adam then jabs lightly at the brake pedal with his right foot and again the forward movement of the semi is momentarily hindered.

  Smiling his approval and without thinking Adam picks up the pace of the truck with a quick series of shifts recorded in his muscles memory from years of practice, accelerate shift, accelerate shift, accelerate shift. The route towards the highway is quickly retraced. Turning to the left after crossing the overpass Adam now heads west, back a few miles to the Connector overpass that will take him and Isaac home.

  It felt good to have been out in the fresh air and stretch his legs with some walking around. Now that he was back in the cab of the truck Isaac was eager to pick up the discussion where they had left off. Having some time to think things over, a few new thoughts came to mind and Isaac was anxious to share them with Adam. They were barely back on the Coquihalla heading west towards the Okanagan Connector overpass, when Isaac starts to talk.

  “At school we used a book as a guide to find ancient reference material. It was written by a scholar, professor and church leader from England. It had to do with the Resurrection of Jesus, what the apostles, Paul and the early church believed and why. It went into great detail about pagan ideas and how the beliefs of Paul and the Jews differed from them. It contained a lot of very good documented research. All of which was peer reviewed. I wish I had a copy of it with me. I remember that in it, the professor author believed, that after death we went to be with Jesus, before we were resurrected into our new bodies, an intermediate stage. I always thought he had an interesting explanation for how it all worked.”

  Adam takes a quick glance at Isaac then replied. “You said the ground rules were to only use the King James Bible. That the thoughts of men couldn't be trusted and we had to rely solely on the word of God. Are you thinking of changing those parameters?”

  “No, No, not at all. I was only thinking of what he said and how it made sense to me at the time. I would like to see the scriptures he used to come up with his conclusions. There must be some verses that we, or I'm not thinking of. He did a lot of well documented research; he must have used some verses that I am missing.”

  Believing Isaac's words are sincere, Adam instructs him to check under the plywood on the passenger front side of the sleeper bunk mattress. The leg was broken off and in its place he would find a thick tattered book on top of a tool box holding up the bed's corner from disjointedly dangling in mid-air. It took a lot of squirming but Isaac retrieved the book before they turned onto the Connector off ramp.

  Wiping off the dusty cover Isaac smiles in amazement, “This is it, it's the book that I was talking about. The Resurrection Of The Son of God, by N.T. Wright. Did you read it all? We didn't have the time, it's so long. We only used it as a reference book to find material that was hard to source. If I can find the places where he talked about what I remember him saying, then we could read the verses he used to support his beliefs.”

  Taking short glances at Isaac, Adam answers. “Well yes, I did read it all. It took a long time too. The history was good, but I found myself disagreeing with some of his speculation. I thought some of the conclusions had no scriptural support. I wrote notes on the mostly blank front pages when I didn't agree, or I wanted to refer to his research later and needed to find the page.”

  Isaac opens the cover to find the first six pages covered in tiny hand writing, each line documenting a random thought provoked by the book and its corresponding page number. Isaac turned to the bibliography section at the back of the book. He looks up where Ecclesiastes 12:7 is used. Turning to a few pages before the first page referenced, squinting, he starts to scan silently to himself to understand the context. “It's hard to read the fine print with all of this bouncing” He complained.

  “We’ll soon be going up a long steep hill and things will smooth out.” Adam assured him as he held the steering wheel hard to the right as they careened around a seemingly endless 270 degree cornered off ramp that was leading them onto the Okanagan Connector. “Oh no, bad luck. We caught a red light,” Adam declared slowing to a stop.

  Isaac wasn't paying attention. Taking advantage of the brief refrain from the constant movement, Isaac reads aloud from the small font the book was printed in. Listening intently to Isaac's oratory as the traffic light turned green, Adam smoothly and repetitively shifts his way up the long arduous hill that stretched out before them.

  “Page 96-99. N.T. Wright is talking about the nature of humans and animals and the Old Testament belief that death was a one way street and the grave is a land of no return, Isaac sums up. He has a part about Ecclesiastes I wanted to read, since we had already been discussing it.” Isaac reads from the worn paperback book.

  “'Ecclesiastes, too, insists that death is the end, and there is no return. Though nobody can be sure what precisely happens at death, as far as we can tell humans are in this respect no different from beasts: The fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human spirit [or: 'breath', rauch] goes upwards and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? No: to die is to be forgotten for good. Death means that the body returns to the dust, and the breath to God who gave it; meaning not that an immortal part of a person goes to live with God, but that the God who breathed life's breath into human nostrils in the first place will simply withdraw it into his own possession.'

  Then he goes on about how the Old Testament was focused on the hope of the nation of Israel, rather than on each individual. So it appears as though N.T. favours your understanding over mine. Let’s see what he has to say about Philippians 1.”

  Isaac is again searching through Mr. Wright's book. Scanning the preceding pages for context he picks up at the end of the first paragraph on page 226.

  “'Paul believes that what this God has already done in the present life through the gospel and Spirit is the guarantee of the final salvation which he will describe more fully in 3.20-21.

  This leads him to some extended reflections on his own situation, in which he thinks through the issues that face him, and which indeed are out of his control: will he die, presumably through being condemned to death by the Roman a
uthorities, or will he live and continue his apostolic work? He turns the matter this way and that, revealing almost casually the way in which he looks at death in the most telling of cases, namely his own:

  Phil. 1.18b-26

  Well, but I shall go on celebrating. 19 because I know that this will result in my deliverance, through your prayers and the continued working of the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah, 20 in accordance with my eager expectation and hope, that I won't be ashamed in any way, but that with all boldness, as always and so now, the Messiah will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death.

  21 To me, you see, living means the Messiah, and death means gain. 22 If it is to be living in the flesh, that means fruitful work for me; so I don't know which to choose. 23 I am pulled hard by both at once: I badly want to make my departure and be with the Messiah; that would be better by far. 24 But to stay on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I shall remain, and continue on with all of you, for your benefit and the joy of your faith, 26 so that your celebration may abound in me in the Messiah, Jesus, through my coming to you again.

  If this was the only passage of Paul, or even of Philippians, which addressed the question of what happens to Christians after they die, we could be forgiven for thinking that Paul held a one-stage view of life after death: Christians depart and go to be with the Messiah (verse 23). We know from the other letters that this is not his position; but, more importantly, we know from Philippians itself that he believed in a two-stage view: final resurrection will follow 'life after death' (3.20-21). What we have here, therefor, is a reinforcement of what we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4: between death and resurrection, Christians are 'with the Messiah'.'

  See, we do go to be with Jesus when we die,” Isaac adds enthusiastically.

  “Well, apparently that is what N.T. Wright thinks. Keep reading to see if he uses any scripture to support his belief,” Adam suggests

  Isaac continues reading.

  “Paul describes this in such glowing terms ('better by far') that it is impossible to suppose that he envisaged it as an unconscious state.”

  “Conjecture,” Adam protests as if he was a lawyer in court. “I can easily suppose that he did plan to be asleep. Is Mr. Wright's only proof left to supposition?”

  “I'm not done the thought yet. Let me finish reading this part!” exclaimed Isaac.

  “He looks forward to being personally present with the one who loved him and whose love will not let him go. This is the clearest answer we ever get from Paul to question 1b, the question of an intermediate state. He does not speak of 'going to heaven', though he would presumably have given that as the present location of the Messiah.”

  “Now are you done? Adam asks forcefully. Isaac nods his head yes. “That’s it? That's the proof that we have a spirit or something that goes to be with God when we die? Three words, Better by far, is the clearest answer we ever get! And as N.T. points out, Paul does not speak of going to heaven. It is left for us to, presume, that is his destination. Presumption and supposition, is not what I want to build my understanding of the afterlife on.

  We just read the Old Testament does not support the thought of having an immortal soul, that the Spirit we live by is God's, not ours. That it goes back to God when we die. If we have some kind of an entity that lives on consciously after we die, where and when did we receive it? Did it come to all of mankind or do only Christians have it? If Christians go to be with Jesus immediately after death, what happens to non-Christians when they die, where do they go? Mr. Wright does not supply any supporting scriptures for his presumptions and suppositions,” Adam loudly complained.

  Isaac picks up the defense of Mr. Wright. “Well we would only have to read the parable of Lazarus to see what happens to bad people when they die. It tells us plainly what awaits both the good and the bad.” Isaac has the parable cued up and was reading loudly before Adam had time to reply.

  “Luke 16:19-31

  19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

  20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

  21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

  22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

  23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

  24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

  25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

  26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

  27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

  28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

  29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

  30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

  31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

  There, that should help put an end to your conspiracy theory. It is plain that Lazarus went to heaven and it tells us explicitly that the rich man was being tormented by the flames of hell. How much more plain does the Bible need to be on the subject before you are convinced?

  Adam replies to the questions by agreeing. “Yes it is very plain that Lazarus is in luxury with Abraham and that the rich man is in the tormenting fires of Hell. The crucial point that you are missing, is that this story, is just that, a story. That is why it is called, a parable. It wasn’t told to reveal the afterlife destination of mankind. Any more than the parable of the yeast tells us that heaven is a fluffy place made out of flour, or the parable of the mustard seed means that the kingdom of God is one big garden.

  The meaning to the parable of Lazarus comes at the end of the story. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. He told this parable shortly before he brought, not coincidentally, a real life Lazarus, back to life after he had been dead for more than three days. Jesus resurrected Lazarus out of his grave to fulfill the last of the messianic miracles the Jews had devised to identify the Messiah. True to the parable the Jews still denied Jesus and from then on they actively perused a pretense to kill him.

  So yes, it plainly tells us where both the rich man and Lazarus were and what happens to them, but it is in the context of a story used to show how far the Jews would go to reject Jesus. Even when Jesus came back from the dead fulfilling his sign to them, they still would not accept him. That is the meaning of the parable. It's not given to us as a literal description of heaven and hell.”

  Isaac responds indignantly, "Well you’re the only one who believes that. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone credible to support that interpretation of those scriptures."

  "Oh, you think so? Adam said coolly. "Well you seem to hold N.T. Right in high regard, look through my notes there and find what he has to say about it."

  Isaac starts to scan through the scrawled notations in the front of the thick well-worn book. He finds a note that could apply and looks it up.

  "Here at the bottom of page four hundred and thirty seven is something." He says, nervous to find out that he once again overstated his argument.

  "Well let’s hear what it says," Adam grins knowingly. "I'm sure no one credible would
support my interpretation of those scriptures."

  Isaac clears his throat and starts to read out loud the words of N.T. Right.

  " 'I stressed in the earlier volume that the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is to be treated precisely as a parable, not as a literal description of the afterlife and its possibilities. It is therefore inappropriate to use it as prima facie evidence for Jesus' own sketching (or Luke's portrait of Jesus' sketching) of a standard post-mortem scenario. It is, rather, an adaptation of a well-known folk-tale, projecting the rich/poor divide of the present on to the future in order to highlight the present responsibility, and culpability, of the careless rich. However, while the parabolic nature of the story prevents us from treating it as Jesus' own description of how the afterlife is organized, it does not prevent us from saying that for Jesus himself, and/or for those who handed on the tradition, this story indicates, in standard Jewish style, a clear belief in continuity between the present life and the future one. As it stands it is impossible to say whether it belongs with the 'resurrection' strand in second-Temple Judaism, or with a 'disembodied immortality' strand;'

  See," Isaac said excitedly. "N.T. says that you can't tell if it supports the Jewish notion of resurrection, or the notion of going to heaven when you die."

  "You mean the pagan notion of becoming a disembodied spirit?" Adam interjects. "It was the Greek philosophers who promoted that belief."

  "Let me finish reading," Isaac complained. "Let’s hear the rest of it." Picking up where he left off Isaac continues, hoping for more support of his belief. "Continuing on page four hundred and thirty eight.

  The possibility is envisaged that Lazarus might return from the dead, but Abraham forbids that it should happen. It does, however, highlight one of the many metaphors current in Judaism for the abode of the blessed, either in perpetuity or prior to their possible rising again: Lazarus has gone to 'Abraham's bosom'. Luke's intention in placing the story here (soon after the 'inaugurated eschatology' of 15.24, 32, and soon before the apocalyptic warnings of 17.22-37) is at least clear: things done and decided in the present are to be seen in the light of the promised future. 'Resurrection' is coming forwards into the present in Jesus' ministry, but those who cannot see it and reorder their lives accordingly are in danger of loosing all. Significantly, this message of resurrection is clearly linked to the call for justice, which remains a closely related theme throughout early Christianity."

  "So he supports my belief that the parable is just that, a parable about the hard hearted Jews and not a description of what it is like in heaven or hell," Adam was forceful in his assertion.

  “Well let me check that out later,” Isaac says. “I still agree with the idea that we go to our final destination as soon as we die. That we have something innately in us that lives on.”

  “Why? We don't need it, God has a perfect memory. He is quite capable of resurrecting us back into who we are now. He knows everything about us. Our moods, emotions and memories are stored inside our brains through electrical connections that we develop while we live and think. When we are resurrected back to life with the same brain connections we have now, all of our emotions, memories, moods and habits will still be the same as when we died. We will be the same people as before our resurrection. We lose nothing by sleeping in death. We don't have to be conscious somewhere else, we will be with God, safe and sound in his memory, waiting for our resurrection to take place. As Christians our next thought after death, will be our first thought in our reinvigorated spirit bodies,” After pausing for a moment Adam goes on.

  “What do you suppose the most quoted verse in the Bible is, the one you would most likely see at a sporting event? Adam asks Isaac.

  “Probably John 3:16, I’m not really sure,” Isaac responded, puzzled by the question.

  “I don't know for sure either, but that's the one I would pick as well,” Adam said nodding his head. “I believe that the two verses of 15 and 16 are the sum total of salvation truth. Those two verses are the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They are the bedrock of the Christian faith, to disagree with them; one would be straying away from what it is to be Christian. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

  “Yes! Now you’re talking. I couldn't agree with you more,” Isaac said wholeheartedly.

  “That's what I thought, we can agree on these basics,” Adam said smiling. Then with his smile fading into a frown, he asks Isaac. “So why do you agree that eternal life can be found only in Jesus, yet you say that all of humanity has an eternal soul, or spirit, apart from Jesus? Why do you think we are born with immortality, if we can only obtain eternal life, if, we believe in Jesus.

  The fate of those who don't believe in Jesus is the opposite of life, they will perish. The opposite of eternal life is eternal death; they will be dead for the rest of time. Not be tortured for the rest of eternity in the fires of Hell. To be tortured for all of eternity would require an eternal life which can only be gained from having a belief in Jesus. Having this faith in Jesus not only brings eternal life, but will also spare you from ever being in Hell. How can John 3:15-16 be the truth if everyone is born with eternal life, whether they believe in Jesus or not?”

  “If that is true and we do sleep in our graves, then why does God say that all souls belong to him in Ezekiel 18:4? Here I'll read it,” Isaac protests. He finds the scripture quickly and begins to read.

  “4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine:

  See, this section of scripture is talking about the righteous that follow the laws of God; all of their souls belong to God. We do have souls that belong to God.” Isaac can't understand Adam's failure to understand the straight talking scripture.

  “Again you are giving a definition to soul that is unbiblical. We went through the definitions for soul and found that it means, Mortal! Every time you read soul you seem to think it means Immortal,” Adam points out aggressively. “This verse seems familiar to me. Does it say anything else?” he questions Isaac further.

  “I'm not sure. I've only ever read this much of it in the context of the righteous followers of God.” Isaac admits.

  “Well let’s read all of it,” Adam said encouragingly.

  “OK. Here it is.

  4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die,”

  Isaac reads out loud.

  “How can the soul die if it’s immortal? That’s a conflict of terms,” Adam asks exasperatedly.

  “Well I have never read it with those thoughts in mind. I need to do some research for a while before I give you an answer.” Isaac turns back to the lap top, questions flowing out of his fingertips as they peck at the keys.

  Chapter 6

  Road Hazard