The Strange World Of Cryonics
Alcor says their frozen humans are NOT dead yet!
By David J. Stewart | March 2013
Today was one of those countless days in my life when I had to go take a walk after learning about the cryonics industry. This stuff is mind boggling, strange and disturbing to say the least. As a Bible-believing Christian I have some important things to say about this matter, but first let me explain the cryonics industry and process. Cryogenics is the science of very low temperatures and how materials are affected by low temperatures; whereas, cryonics is the science of the low-temperature preservation of humans.
Cryonics is the bizarre process of freezing the human body as soon as possible upon death to preserve the body and brain. In the process, the body is infused with a substance that removes about 60% of the body's water content, which prevents icy formation during the freezing process which could damage cells. The body is initially cooled to a temperature where the decaying process stops. Delicate care is taken to preserve the body in as original a state as possible at the time of death.
Finally the body's temperature is lowered over a period of several days to 320 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and then stored head down in a cryonic cylinder that houses 5 bodies. The bodies are stored upside-down in case of a cylinder leak, to ensure that the head stays covered in liquid nitrogen at all times to protect it from cell damage. The hope is that future nanotechnologies will enable scientists and doctors to restore life to the person's body. There is a growing belief, in part because of movies like Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone, The Outer Limits sci-fi series and other movies, that hundreds of years from now mankind will be able to restore life to bodies preserved in liquid nitrogen. It will NEVER happen, and I will show you why in this article from the Bible.
Presently it is not possible to restore life to either human or animal bodies once dead (preserved or unpreserved). Could such a thing ever be possible in the future? Interestingly, scientists have successfully lowered the temperatures of animals to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (freezing) and then returned them healthy to normal temperature. But to do it they had to replace the blood with a protective solution that doesn't freeze at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (the freezing temperature of water, or 0 degrees Celsius). Yet, in these successful experiments the subject never died. In cryonics, the subject is dead at the time of suspended animation (freezing).
One of the most popular cryonics companies is Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan. Their facility and work is fascinating to say the least. Here is a comparison of different companies and policies amongst existing cryonics companies. Some are non-profit organizations, others for profit. Either way such companies are making money. It costs 80,000 to have your brain preserved in cryonics. The whole body will cost you $150,000. DNA preservation is also becoming very common.
Alcor Says Their Frozen Human Bodies And Heads Are NOT Dead Yet!
It was almost like reading a script from John Carpenter's 1982 horror film, THE THING... “They're not dead yet!” Increasingly, people are seeking for ways to cheat death and enjoy their earthly life for as long as possible, but death is inevitable my friend. Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
On their website Alcor states...
Does Cryonics involve raising the dead?
No. Cryonics cannot provide life after death. Cryonics is just another kind of life-saving technology, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
We believe that today's medical criteria for "death" are flawed and inappropriate by the standards of future medicine. For example, when an otherwise healthy man "dies" of a heart attack, his brain (which is the seat of his memories, personality, and identity) is still intact. By placing him into cryopreservation immediately after physicians determine they cannot restart his heart, we can preserve his brain until it is possible to cure him. Indeed, even today many heart attack victims are successfully resuscitated despite the fact that only 50 years ago they would have been given up as dead.
As this example illustrates, criteria for pronouncing "death" have changed as medicine has advanced. At the time of the New Testament, physicians could not resuscitate people after heartbeat and breathing ceased. But today's physicians can often resuscitate people after cessation of breathing and circulation; sometimes even after an hour or more without heartbeat, breathing, or brain-wave activity (as in cases of cold-water drowning). They know that a person's memory, personality, and identity remain within the brain even after the person stops functioning. This has been demonstrated repeatedly by the recovery of patients chilled to just-above freezing on the operating table as well as cold-water drowning victims, all clinically dead, who have recovered with complete retention of mental functions.
It is only after the brain structures critical to identity are destroyed that real death occurs. Since current cryopreservation techniques have been shown to preserve the critical brain structures (synapses) where neurobiologists believe memory is stored, it is reasonable to presume that cryonics patients could potentially be resuscitated by tomorrow's life saving technologies. [emphasis added]Whoa! Alcor states, “It is only after the brain structures critical to identity are destroyed that REAL DEATH OCCURS” [emphasis added]. That's totally unbiblical. Alcor does NOT believe that they are raising the dead (or attempting to), because they don't believe that the person is really dead yet. As long as the brain is preserved, Alcor considers their frozen remains very ALIVE. So according to Alcor's reasoning, if you are beheaded in a guillotine and your head is immediately frozen in cryopreservation, you're NOT really dead yet. They can freeze your head in liquid nitrogen in a storage container and you're still alive. That's not only creepy, resembling something out of a Tales From The Crypt episode, but totally unbiblical. Alcor attempts to justify their cryopreservation business by twisting the Bible and even quoting a Lutheran minister back from 1965, Kay Glaesner, who states...
"Christianity and the Church have always been interested in the extension of human life... that he (man/woman) might be more fruitful in bearing God's witness and doing God's work. We have in our hospitals at this very moment electronic stimulators, inhalation techniques, blood transfusions, and many other mechanical medications. These represent only a few of the prosthetics which are used and fostered by our medical sciences and are approved by the Christian Church.... It follows, therefore, that cryogenics (cryonics) can certainly be approved and substantiated by the Christian Church....
"I am all in favor of extending life. Day by day I pray that God will direct us how to use the techniques, medical sciences, healing, and miracles since He is the Physician of all physicians... life could be extended a year, one hundred years, or a thousand years, but there is still no doubt in the minds of thinking people that such (life extension)... is but a small span on the totality of God's plan. No art or craft of man will evade or nullify the judgement of God. ...
SOURCE: Kay Glaesner, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY; October 27, 1965)
May I say, God never intended for deceased people (who are declared legally dead) to be preserved in liquid nitrogen in hopes of being revived by future advancements in technology. Alcor claims that as long as the brain of a human is cryopreserved, the person is NOT DEAD YET! The Bible does NOT agree with Alcor's false theology. If God wanted men to live to be 950 years old as did Noah in the Old Testament, then God wouldn't have shortened man's lifespan after the flood. Methuselah lived to be 969 years old, the oldest recorded man who ever lived. Yet, Moses only lived to be 120 years old. For whatever reason, God decided that men would live shorter lives after the flood.
Blood-transfusions, organ transplants and heart pace-makers are entirely different matters than freezing a person's detached head in a cylinder filled with liquid nitrogen at 320 degrees below zero. In view of the statements that you just read by Lutheran minister Kay Glaesner and Alcor, do you really think that preserving a man's detached head in liquid nitrogen is a part of God's plan? Do you really believe that such mad science can be approved by the Christian Church as they claim? No way! I am open minded, but I am foremost a born-again Christian who believes that God gave us the Bible for all matters of faith, life and death. I am as narrow-minded as the Bible.
The Human Brain Function Cannot Be Preserved Once the Body is Dead
With all our incredible modern technology, scientists and doctors still don't understand how the human brain stores memories nor how it functions. The brain is a living organism. The body's normal operating temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The warm blood, rich with oxygen and nutrients, flows throughout the brain. God, Who spoke trillions of known galaxies into existence, each galaxy containing billions of stars, lovingly formed man with His own hands. Genesis 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Isn't that precious? God spoke the universe into existence, but He lovingly FORMED man with His very own hands. What a beautiful truth!!! 1st John 3:16, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
The BRAINS frozen at Alcor, Cryonics Institute, Suspended Animation, Trans Time, EUCrio, KrioRus, American Cryonic Society and other such cryonic preservation companies are DEAD. THE BRAINS ARE DEAD!!! What a horrifying thought to be buried alive. What if those brains locked inside of a block of frozen liquid nitrogen were still conscious and able to think? That would be horrifying! If Alcor is correct, that is, that their cryopreserved brains are in a coma state of unconsciousness, then they are very much still conscious to some extent.
A British researcher has found that patients who were declared clinically dead after suffering a heart attack, and the brain function stopped (electrical activity ceased), still had brain activity...
Study: Brains Function in Clinically Dead
By Sarah Tippit
SOURCE: Page 2 - Study: Brains Function in Clinically Dead - ABC News | Page 2
L O S A N G E L E S, June 29
A British scientist studying heart attack patients says he is finding evidence that suggests that consciousness may continue after the brain has stopped functioning and a patient is clinically dead.
The research, presented to scientists last week at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), resurrects the debate over whether there is life after death and whether there is such a thing as the human soul.
"The studies are very significant in that we have a group of people with no brain function … who have well-structured, lucid thought processes with reasoning and memory formation at a time when their brains are shown not to function," Sam Parnia, one of two doctors from Southampton General Hospital in England who have been studying so-called near-death experiences (NDEs), told Reuters in an interview.
"We need to do much larger-scale studies, but the possibility is certainly there" to suggest that consciousness, or the soul, keeps thinking and reasoning even if a person's heart has stopped, he is not breathing and his brain activity is nil, Parnia said.
Promising Data, Say Researchers
He said he and colleagues conducted an initial yearlong study, the results of which appeared in the February issue of the journal Resuscitation. The study was so promising the doctors formed a foundation to fund further research and continue collecting data.
During the initial study, Parnia said, 63 heart attack patients who were deemed clinically dead but were later revived were interviewed within a week of their experiences.
Of those, 56 said they had no recollection of the time they were unconscious and seven reported having memories. Of those, four were labeled NDEs in that they reported lucid memories of thinking, reasoning, moving about and communicating with others after doctors determined their brains were not functioning. [emphasis added] ...Obviously, contrary to his claim, the brain function hadn't stopped, or else the brain wouldn't be active. In essence, the researcher found that patients whose hearts had stopped, and their brains stopped functioning normally due to the stopped heart and blood flow, still had some level of nil brain activity; but may I point out that the brain was still very much alive, still warm at body temperature, and hadn't totally died. It wasn't God's time for them to die. The heart had stopped beating for a short time. The brain had stop functioning for a short time due to the missing heart pulse. But the blood was still present around the brain, though not flowing. The Bible says that the life of the flesh is in the blood, not the heart (Leviticus 17:11).
In sharp contrast, Alcor pickles the brain (removing the head in some cases) in a special moisture-absorbing substance and the corpse is suspended in liquid nitrogen at 320 degrees below zero. This is VERY different than a warm patient who has just suffered a heart-attack and has been clinically dead for a few minutes before being revived. We're not talking about a dead man who two weeks later came back to life after the body cooled to ambient temperature, and rigor mortis has hardened the body. NO DEAD PATIENT who has been stored in a morgue refrigerator for a week to cool completely, was or ever will be brought back to life.
In cases of drowning, victims have often been revived, but the brain hadn't been solidified by rigor mortis or by freezing. The body's temperature can be lowered greatly, which slows the heart rate and the body's processes, allowing a high rate of success for paramedics to resuscitate the drowning victim. Please keep in mind that the brain never stopped functioning completely.
I believe in the situation of the researcher who studied dozens of heart attack patients, who were declared clinically dead, that the brain simply got a break from working. The heart stopped, the blood ceased to flow and the brain went into idle mode. The brain would have died if the body's temperature were allowed to drop and remain low long enough. The brain would have died if the blood flow were not returned soon. The brain would have died if TIME were not a critical factor in resuscitating each patient. Just because an EEG machine (which tests the brain for electrical activity) doesn't show any activity doesn't mean that the brain is physically dead. It simply means that the brain was taken out of it's normal state for a short time. The human body is incredibly resilient.
NDE's (or Near Death Experiences) are of great interest to the world. Throughout human history mankind has desired to know what lies beyond the grave. Luke 16:19-31 (which Jesus DIDN'T call a parable) teaches that upon death, Lazarus had angels waiting for him to guide him home; but the rich man who died in his sleep woke up in the fires of Hell. There is no reason to believe that dying will be any different for anyone else. I expect to see angels when I die, who will escort me to see my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Most people will find themselves in the fires of Hell beneath. Matthew 7:13-14 teaches that most people are on a highway to destruction in Hell; but a few will enter into Heaven on the narrow path at the straight gate. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven!
Alcor believes (see quote below) that during cryopreservation the human soul remains in an unconscious state, as with a frozen embryo or person in a coma. It's good that Alcor acknowledges the existence of the soul in an embryo in its mother's womb, which means that abortion is indeed the murder of a human being. Alcor states...
What happens to the souls of people in cryopreservation?
If the premise that patients cryopreserved today are not dead is accepted, then the soul of a cryonics patient is in the same condition as the soul of a frozen human embryo or the soul of a person who is in a coma or unconscious.Regarding the preceding statement, a big difference must be mentioned here between being in a coma or state of unconsciousness verses cryopreservation. In a coma or state of unconsciousness, the brain is still maintained at a normal operating temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and the blood is flowing with oxygen and nutrients to the brain; but in cryopreservation, the brain is stored at 320 degrees BELOW ZERO Fahrenheit and nothing is flowing, the brain has died. So Alcor's preceding claim is untrue. The brain does not remain in an unconscious state, any more than an embalmed corpse filled with formaldehyde and buried 6 feet under ground is in any state of consciousness or unconsciousness. A brain that is cold, where the blood has stopped flowing, and the biological life is gone IS DEAD!!! The biological organism that was once able to house the soul and spirit is gone.
Doctors and scientists have no idea how the brain stores thoughts. Some believe that the brain stores thoughts by creating another wrinkle on the brain. They do not understand how the spirit enters into a biological life from the mothers womb. As Christians, we DO understand, because the Bible teaches that God gives the spirit...
Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
All life comes from God; not the Big Bang fraud of evolutionists. The basic premise of cryonics is that lowering the brain's temperature stops the decay process and preserves it. Under normal circumstances, a brain without oxygen begins to shut down after a few minutes and will DIE after approximately 9 minutes. It is likely that the human head is still conscious and able to see after decapitation, at least for a couple moments. Creepy, huh? Even though the head is removed, it is still able to think and function for a few moments.
Countless people have been resuscitated from drowning, even after being under water for a couple hours, because the cold water slowed the body process, slowed the heart rate and the cold temperature protected the brain from cell damage. Albeit, most drowning victims cannot be recovered. Time is critically important when life is involved.
TRUE STORY: I once saw a man drown many years ago at Olive Park in Chicago. I used to go Perch fishing down there. He had been drinking booze and jumped off a park patio into Lake Michigan's frigid waters. His friends watched in horror. It was summertime, but the water is still very cold (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit). I didn't see the man jump into the water. I found out when some people came by to warn me that I might snag a human body on my fishing line. I stopped fishing and walked down to see what was going on. A helicopter came, and police scuba divers. About 45 minutes after the man dived in, divers found his lifeless body at the bottom close to where he jumped in. I saw the body as it was removed from the water. The body was swollen. The toes were doubled in size. The entire body was swollen from absorbing water. Paramedics were unable to revive the man. I'll never forget as dozens of people gathered around, many laughing and telling jokes. A man had died. Booze kills!!!
In contrast to drowning, cryopreservation COMPLETELY solidifies the brain, freezing the tissue down to 320 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. A FROZEN BRAIN IS A DEAD BRAIN!!!
The Bible teaches that the average expected human lifespan is 70 years old (a score means 20)...
Psalms 90:10, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
God is The Keeper of Men's Souls, Not a Cryonic Facility
The Bible says in Proverbs 24:12 that God is the KEEPER of men's souls, NOT Alcor or the Cryonic Institute. Proverbs 24:12, “If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?” The word “keepeth” in Proverbs 24:12 is the Hebrew word natsar and means “to guard.” Here's the details ...
A primitive root; to guard, in a good sense (to protect, maintain, obey, etc.) or a bad one (to conceal, etc.): - besieged, hidden thing, keep (-er, -ing), monument, observe, preserve (-r), subtil, watcher (-man).
In the preceding definition, the words that appear after the colon are other English words in the Bible that come from the same Hebrew word. So they're similar to synonyms. God continually watches and observes our soul, guarding. It means exactly what Proverbs 24:12 teaches, that is, that God monitors our every thought throughout life and will recompense every man according to his works. When people attempt to lie, shift the blame and claim that they didn't mean it, God KNOWS 100% exactly what they really intended and will judge them accordingly in eternity.
FOR EXAMPLE: People often gossip by bringing up a person's name at a church prayer meeting, mentioning something bad about a person to hurt them, disguising their true intentions. But on judgment day God will hold them accountable for gossiping (tongue murder) to hurt that person. They can lie and fool others here on earth, because we cannot see what's in their heart. Ah! But God is the Keeper of men's souls and continually, round-the-clock, watches every thought of men's hearts. Jesus warned in Matthew 12:36 that God will hold men accountable even for the idle words they speak. How much more will people be judged for their hurtful, hated and harmful words. No one is going to get away with anything. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Bible discerns even the THOUGHTS and INTENTS of man's heart, which God continually observes and will judge men's works accordingly by them.
459.6 degrees below zero is called Absolute Zero (the coldest known temperature in the universe). Alcor claims that a person's soul is in a state of unconsciousness while that person's brain is stored in liquid nitrogen at 320 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (196 degrees below zero Celsius). That claim is utterly unbiblical. God is the keeper of men's souls, not Alcor. This means that God is the keeper of our mind, heart and will. The Lord monitors what we think, what we feel and the choices that we make. We cannot prevent a hateful or lustful thought from entering into our mind, but we do have a choice of whether to dwell upon that sinful thought. If we choose to dwell upon a sinful thought, then it becomes evil. Evil is planned, premeditated, sin. God created all men. God made the universe. He has given us the freedom to choose between good and evil, but the Bible already tells us what God says is good and evil.
The Bible teaches that the THOUGHTS come from the HEART (soul) in man, not from the biological, physical, brain...
Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
When our body dies, our thoughts go with us into eternity, because they are a part of our soul. Jeremiah 17:9 says that man's heart is inherently evil by nature. Man is capable of doing much good, but by nature tends to make up his own rules and pervert what is right or wrong, good or evil. God is the only One Who has a right to dictate what is good or evil. When Adam and Eve sinned, God gave them what they wanted, that is, to be as gods making their own choices between good and evil, and mankind has been paying for it ever since, because we keep making all the wrong decisions. That's why the world is so messed up today. Man's sin is to blame, not God. God allows people to rule themselves if they want, or we can obey God's Word and do things His way. WE HAVE A CHOICE!!!
The Bible not only provides moral guidelines, but also establishes the basic guidelines for law, civil order, war, finance, agriculture, et cetera. That's not a coincidence. The Bible was given by God to mankind to govern us in all matters of life. THE BIBLE WORKS!!! But when men decide to live a playboy lifestyle and women desire liberation (as did Eve), then sexual immorality becomes prevalent in a culture, which consequently leads to millions of intended pregnancies and unwanted children. So man turns to abortion as a solution to the problem that he created by not obeying God's command not to commit adultery. One sin begets another, until society deteriorates into a cesspool of iniquity. The problems in America didn't just happen overnight.
Like a creature who flew into a spider's web, the more it tries to escape, the more entangled it becomes in the spider's web. Satan is the spider and the sinful world is his web. All men are born into a sinful world. The only hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 2nd Peter 2:20, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” Sin is like a spider's web.
Alcor's Unbiblical View of Death
If Alcor is correct that a cryopreserved brain hasn't died yet, then they can postpone death indefinitely as long as the brain is kept in a state of cryopreservation. So instead of going to Heaven or Hell as the Bible teaches, they are being held in a state of limbo. Literally, that would give Alcor and other cryonic companies the power of God over life and death. Since the person allegedly preserved in cryopreservation cannot communicate with the administrators of the company, that would mean that those souls stored in liquid nitrogen are not allowed to die. There is a preponderance of evidence in the Word of God to show that cryonic storage is wrong. Alcor's website states...
We believe that today's medical criteria for "death" are flawed and inappropriate by the standards of future medicine. For example, when an otherwise healthy man "dies" of a heart attack, his brain (which is the seat of his memories, personality, and identity) is still intact. By placing him into cryopreservation immediately after physicians determine they cannot restart his heart, we can preserve his brain until it is possible to cure him.
Literally, the Alcor company believes that their cryofrozen human remains are still alive, able to be revived if the technology were available to do so. As evidenced by the preceding quote from their website, Alcor believes that the brains they have stored in cryopreservation still have each person's “memories, personality and identity still intact.” As long as the dead person's physical brain is preserved, Alcor considers them still very much alive.
According to Leviticus 17:11, the life of the flesh is in the blood. When the blood stops flowing, so does the oxygen and the nutrients that keep the body alive and the brain dies...
Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
Cryopreservation cannot extend human life anymore than freezing a ribeye steak can preserve the life of a cow. All these cryonics companies are doing is preserving the dead tissue of the human body, which in no way could ever be restored. The only thing possible is to harvest the DNA and clone a new body, which wouldn't be able to restore the original person. The new human would look exactly the same, but be an entirely new and unique individual person. Old memories cannot be transferred, because they are stored in the soul, which cannot be preserved by any means. When the body stops working and the blood stops flowing, the brain dies and the soul goes into eternity.
Man's Sin Nature is in His Heart (SOUL), Not the Physical Brain Itself
While mass-murderer, John Wayne Gacy, was still alive, he was interviewed numerous times by Helen Morrison, a forensic psychiatrist. When Gacy was executed, she came back to get his brain, and dissected it to see if there were any “tumors, scars or disease that made it abnormal.”1 Morrison eagerly awaited for the results to come back from the pathologist, which simply stated, “Normal brain.”1 Morrison states, “What makes a serial killer? After all these years, I still don't know.”1 Helen Morrison still has Gacy's brain stored in a plastic bag and “hopes that one day DNA or other scientific advances may lead to new tests.”1 If Morrison were a Christian and read the Bible, she would know that the problem was in Gacy's wicked heart. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Mankind is inherently evil, which is why there is so much sexual perversion and violence in society today. People can't seem to view enough sexual filth and violence on TV. We are a society in denial. Our moral compass is spinning in circles, broken, because we have deliberately rejected the Words of God.
The same experts who sit in bewilderment as to why John Wayne Gacy (a bisexual) killed 33 young men, have no qualms with the brutal murder of over 4,000 innocent children every single day in America by abortion. We are a warped, hypocritical society in America. Whether it be Gacy's victims or the victims of abortion, it is murder. So if you want to figure out what made the sicko Gacy do what he did, then look for the same reason why Americans brutally murder their own children by abortion, because the reason is the same—a wicked heart of rebellion against God. Our society wrongfully categorizes sin, calling abortion acceptable and even respectable in many cases; while the mother who uses scissors to kill her 2-year old daughter is demonized and charged with homicide. So why isn't abortion demonized? It is not surprising to see such utter perversions of justice in view of the fact that God's Word has not been taught to public school students since 1963. Those children have grown up and are now bad parents, lesbian journalists, unjust judges, murderous abortion doctors, lying politicians, corrupt lawmakers and shameless fornicators who irresponsibly conceive children they don't want. Genetics verses Sin
Dissecting the human brain can't reveal the root of sin. It is man's wicked heart in his soul that makes him prone to selfishness, wrath, rebellion and evil. Romans 5:12 tells us that our sin-nature came down through the generations from ADAM. Adam opened the floodgate of sin, a Pandora's Box of misery upon the world. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit because they wanted to be as gods, making their own choices. God let them, but they also had to live with the consequences of making wrong decisions, as has every human being since. It is man's wickedness that makes the world a sad, miserable and chaotic place. Men cause war, not God. God gave us the Bible to show us how to live in harmony, and to be happy, and to live forever by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our Thoughts Come from Our Soul, Not From the Physical BrainAlcor believes that a person's memories, personality and identity are able to be kept intact through the scientific process of cryopreservation. They base their assumption on the thesis that human thoughts reside in the biological brain itself. In sharp contrast, the Bible teaches that the THOUGHTS come from the HEART (SOUL) in man, and not from the biological, physical, brain...
Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The soul resides in the physical brain, but the spirit and soul are NOT a part of the brain. This is evidenced by the fact that the Bible tells us not to fear man who can destroy the body; but to fear God Who can destroy the body and soul and spirit in Hell. Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
The Greek meaning of the heart is a person's sub-consciousness, not the muscle in our chest that pumps blood. Our heart is the seat of our conscience. A thought enters into our mind, but what we decide to dwell upon is stored in our heart. The Bible teaches us how to live right in 2nd Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” When a bad thought enters our mind, the Bible teaches for us to arrest that thought, bring it into captivity, and make it conform to obedience to Christ. That's why David prayed in Psalms 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” David had allowed his heart to become dirty over time. Americans have some of the dirtiest hearts in the world, because of sin. TV is saturated with filth. It's gotten so bad that on New Year's Eve 2012 that Kathy Griffin bent over and kissed Anderson Cooper's crotch on national television.
Hebrews 4:12 teaches that the Bible can pierce even between the soul and spirit, discerning the THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART!!! Alcor and the Cryonic Institute can preserve the human brain in cryonic suspension, which in reality is a mortuary service. They say that it's not, but in my humble opinion that's exactly what it is. They remove the blood and flush the bloodstream with a special fluid that removes 60% of all the body's moisture. That sounds like a form of embalmment to me. I think cryonics is akin to putting a body in a freezer and leaving it there in storage. It's like a mausoleum where the dead are stored.
The Human Body is the Temple of God's Holy Spirit if You Are Saved
The Bible teaches that the Christian's BODY is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God....
1st Corinthians 3:16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
The Spirit of God lives in you ONLY if you have been born-again by faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for your sins. Romans 8:9 teaches that the Spirit of Christ (i.e., the Holy Spirit) lives in every Christian believer. Ephesians 2:1-2 says that we are all DEAD spiritually from birth, because of the sin-nature. That's why each and every person needs to be born anew by the Spirit of God (John 3:5-7). NO ONE can enter into God's kingdom unless they become born-again by faith in the gospel.
The Bible teaches that when our earthly body is no longer inhabitable, as Christians we have another home in Heaven. ...
2nd Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Contrary to what false prophets teach, not everyone goes to Heaven. Jesus said, “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!” If you admit that you are a sinner, and receive as full-payment what Jesus did on the cross to pay for your sins, believing that He was buried and three days later arose from the dead, then you are saved eternally. It's that simple! If we DIE IN THE LORD we go to Heaven (Revelation 14:13). However, when an unsaved person DIES IN THEIR SINS without Christ (John 8:24), their spirit and soul goes straight to Hell immediately and forever as did the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9 warns that Christ-rejecters go to the Lake of Fire. I hope to see you in Heaven in eternity.
The human body is the tabernacle of the soul and spirit, and as I've showed you, is also the temple of the Holy Spirit if you are saved. Either way, when the body is dead, the soul and spirit cannot live there anymore. So all the bodies and heads that are dead, frozen in suspended animation in cryonic facilities around the world, cannot house the soul and spirit anymore. A body that is in a coma is still alive. The heart is beating. The body is warm. The blood is flowing. In sharp contrast, a decapitated brain stored in liquid nitrogen is DEAD biologically. There is no life. Leviticus 17:11 in the Old Testament says that the life of the flesh is in the blood, which I'll explain next. Since the blood is gone and can no longer flow, delivering oxygen and nutrients to keep the brain alive, the person's life has ended, they are dead permanently. A dead brain cannot be resuscitated in the future.
Here are some of the most popular cryonics companies...
NAME LOCATION INCORPORATED Alcor Life Extension Foundation Scottsdale, Arizona 1972 American Cryonics Society Cupertino, California 1969 Cryonics Institute Clinton Township, Michigan 1976 EUCrio Braga, Portugal 2010 KrioRus Alabychevo, Russia 2005 Suspended Animation, Inc Boynton Beach, Florida 2002 Trans Time, Inc. San Leandro, California 1972 SOURCE: Cryonics Institute
The Life of the Flesh is in the BLOOD
Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona is one of the most popular cryonics companies, incorporated as a 501c3 charity organization. The company was recently featured by Walt Disney on the History Channel. Alcor presently has over 1,000 human bodies in cryonic suspension, frozen in hope of being revived at some future time when technology advances. Baseball player Ted Williams is one of their most famous clients. The brain in particular is delicately preserved, which Alcor believes to be the boundary between life and death. The Bible disagrees, which I'll get to after this quote...
“Alcor seeks to prevent loss of information within the brain that encodes memory and personal identity, which is the true boundary between life and death.”
The boundary between life and death is the presence of the soul, which is dependent upon the blood for sustenance. The soul is housed within the brain. You can have your arms and legs amputated, even have organs swapped out, like your heart; but the soul resides in the brain. You cannot have your brain swapped out. It is impossible. Even when the brain is damaged and a person goes into a coma, as long as the physical body is still functioning, that person's soul is present. Some people have a lobotomy and their brain function slows, because the brain has been damaged and can no longer affect the body 100%. The brain controls every part of the body through the nervous system...
IGNORANT DOCTORS: Since I started having neck problems (horrible chronic toothache-like neck pain and ripping tension) since 2004, I have received comments from many dozens of doctors, surgeons and nurses. I have had a few nurses and even two neurosurgeons tell me that the pain in my legs is not related to my neck. I can tell you 100% confidently that they are WRONG. Even 2 of the 8 neurosurgeons I've seen were wrong. They've never had a damaged spinal cord. They arrogantly think they are as gods because of their medical degree, but I know first hand that a damaged spinal cord in the neck CAN DEFINITELY affect your legs and toes. When my right thumb and fingers feel shooting pain down my arm, I also have the same razorblade-like shooting pain extending down my leg into my right toes. My right arm and leg feel half asleep all the time. If my leg falls asleep, I can walk on it because I can't feel it by 50%. It all comes from my neck. An MRI showed that my back is fine (thank God). The brain function controls the entire body and it all goes through the neck. Even some neurosurgeons (their specialty) don't understand how the body works. I know because I have first-hand experience.
Some people's bodies are kept alive on machines, but the brain is still in tact, functioning, and that person is very much present in spirit and soul and alive. The Bible teaches in Ecclesiastes 12:7 that man's spirit returns to God at the time of death. It is God alone Who gives man his spirit...
Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Animals have a soul, as do people; but animals do NOT have a spirit. The soul is comprised of three parts: 1) a MIND to think, 2) a HEART to feel, 3) a WILL to decide. Animals have a mind to think, a heart to feel and a will to decide; but animals do NOT have a spirit that can fellowship with God, compose a musical piece or write a book. Only mankind is created in the image of God and has the capacity to worship, praise and make moral decisions. Animals survive by beastly instinct; whereas God created man to live by moral standards as outlined in His holy Scriptures. God gives life. The life of the flesh is the blood, but spirit is who we are. The spirit lives in the soul, and the soul lives in the body.
The Bible teaches that the life of the flesh is in THE BLOOD...
Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
It is the blood that carries precious oxygen and vital nutrients throughout the human body to sustain life. When there is a blockage of the arteries, a stroke results if blood is blocked to the brain and a heart-attack if the heart. Leukemia is cancer of the blood cells. Our blood is the life of our flesh. Worry and stress release impurities into the blood stream, causing 90% of all diseases and illness.
Perhaps this explains why it is the precious BLOOD of Jesus Christ that cleanses all of our sins away (1st John 1:7; 1st Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 1:5). The blood is critically important to God, and should be to us too. In giving His blood, Jesus gave His very life, for the life is in the blood. False prophets like John MacArthur trod underfoot the precious blood of the Son of God, making it an unholy (common) thing. Jesus' blood is no more special and precious to John MacArthur than the spare tire on your vehicle or the can opener in your kitchen. MacArthur teaches that Jesus' blood soaked into the ground at Calvary and stayed there. R.B. Thieme Jr. teaches the same garbage theology, denying the efficacy (power) of the blood of Jesus to cleanse away our sins. In the corrupt minds of these two men, it is only Jesus' death that saves. Please read, The Blood of Jesus is In Heaven On the Mercy Seat!
The Blood Applied In Heaven | The Importance Of The Blood
Death comes when the earthly body (which the Bible calls a “tabernacle” (tent) in 2nd Corinthians 5:1) can no longer circulate the blood adequately. When the arteries clog, the organs fail or our kidneys that filter the blood fail, we die. The Bible teaches TWO distinct deaths, that is, 1) the first death, which is separation of soul and spirit from our fleshly body; 2) the second death, which is the separation of one's body, soul and spirit from God forever (Revelation 21:8). Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Evidently, special bodies are given by God to the wicked who go to Hell, to withstand the high temperatures of the fire and brimstone. As you just read, God casts the soul AND BODY of the unsaved into the Lake of Fire. Please, before it is too late, get saved NOW if you've never been born-again. You Need HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!
The Sacredness of Human Life
I tell you, preserving dead corpses in liquid nitrogen is sacrilegious. The human body is sacred. Americans DON'T respect the sacredness of the human body, nor do they respect the sacredness of marriage. As of 2013 over 55,000,000 human beings have been murdered in their mother's womb by abortion since Roe vs. Wade in 1972. Life is no longer considered sacred. Abortion is commonplace. As if abortion weren't bad enough, the dissected baby body parts have been sold on the market for decades to the highest bidder.
Life is delicate, a gift from God. Man disregards life—killing babies, wiping out animal and fish species from over-fishing and over-hunting, euthanasia of the weak and helpless, poisoning our natural rivers and oceans with pollution, mistreating the elderly, ignoring the homeless, et cetera. As much as America boasts of giving so much aid to foreign countries, our own city streets are saturated with MILLIONS of homeless, tent cities and poverty-stricken families. What a hypocritical nation! One of the woeful sins of the wicked city of Sodom in the Old Testament was having an abundance of food, while they neglected to help the poor. Ezekiel 16:49, “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” WOE UNTO AMERICA!!!
America's smut magazines and Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire have cheapened a woman's body to the level of a commodity for sale. Americans no longer value the sacredness of marriage, nor the value of a promise. People don't hesitate these days to file for divorce. It's largely in part because of television's sexually immoral programming that love, courtship, marriage and family values are no longer held in high esteem as sacred in God's eyes. A culture that doesn't value life is capable of any evil. Americans stopped valuing God's Word in 1963 when the U.S. Supreme Court banned the Bible from our schools. Morality doesn't matter anymore to most people. That's why women dress whorishly, sexual immorality is prevalent and abortion is epidemic. I'd call 4,000 abortion per day on average for the past 40 years an epidemic! It's the silent American holocaust!!! I've said this to say that I don't believe we'd be chopping off heads and freezing them in liquid nitrogen if we respected the sacredness of the human body. That's my opinion.
The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 that a human being dies ONCE, so Biblically there is no possibility of life returning to a dead body once truly dead, unless God wills it. Countless people have died on the operating table, but were then brought back to life. In numerous bizarre situations, people have died and days later were found to be alive. Many people are pronounced dead and sent to the morgue to be chilled, but then are found alive by a loved one up to 24 hours later.
I thought it was strange enough that companies are freezing human bodies for future science in hope of resuscitation; but what really blew me away was when I found Alcor's religious justification for what they are doing. The intent of this article is not to attack anyone; but rather, to shed a Biblical perspective on this delicate matter, and to show Biblically that Alcor's religious claims are wrong.
Life Extension the Bible Way... LIVE FOREVER!!!
Alcor claims that as long as the brain of a human is preserved in liquid nitrogen, the person is NOT DEAD YET! As I have evidenced with the Scriptures (and there are umpteen more Bible passages I could show you), the brain is indeed dead when the blood, warmth and biological life is gone.
My friend, why attempt to preserve a flawed human body that is corruptible, imperfect and inferior? God's way is to change the body, not preserve it in liquid nitrogen. The unsaved world fears the unknown, because they don't have any faith in God and the Word of God. If God intended for our human bodies to live for hundreds of years, then He would have made it so.
Alcor's website attempts to twist the Scriptures around in order to justify cryopreservation of human bodies. They attempt to use the incident of Elisha raising the Shunamite dead son back to life (2nd Kings 4:35) as a precedent for cryonic preservation. However, the Shunamite woman's son hadn't been dead for an extended period of time. Moreover it was a miracle of God in response to Elisha's prayer. There are numerous accounts in the Bible of the dead being brought back to life, even Lazarus who had been DEAD for four days and decay had already began to rot his body, causing it to stink (John 11:39). Yet, Jesus (Who came to earth as the Godhead incarnate, Colossians 2:9) raised Lazarus back to perfect health as before, and he lived out a normal life as far as we know.
God has answered the request of people to live longer on Earth through miraculous means many times. Why, if there is nothing to be gained from living on Earth, would God honor this request so many times? Obviously, there is much good in life on Earth, and the desire to live longer is good in God's eyes.
Alcor is perverting the truth, twisting the Bible to push their business. It is true that many people in the Bible were miraculously granted a life's extension by God. Lazarus was even dead and rotting for four days before the Lord raised him up, healthy. But this is VERY different from cutting off someone's head and preserving it at 320 degrees below zero. Only God can raise the dead. God can raise a loved one without the need for cryonic preservation. If Jesus was able to restore Lazarus' rotting body to good health, then He can certainly give us a new body when He returns at the Rapture. Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” No unbeliever will ever receive a new body like the Lord's perfect body. Unbelievers all go to Hell. I am so glad that I have found the truth and am a born-again Christian. My faith is in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is THE GOSPEL.
The History Channel interviewed one of the administrators at a cryopreservation company, who called cryonics a RELIGION. I thought that was very interesting. It's a religion alright, because it holds the belief that the soul is being preserved in a cryopreserved brain. It is religion because Alcor claims to delay a person's death by cryopreservation. There are a few creepy episodes of The Outer Limits which feature cryonics. One is titled Lithia, and another The Refuge. It's creepy. Only God can raise the dead. Frozen brains are dead. All cell activity has stopped. No thinking can ever be restored. The soul is forever gone, never to return. God gives the spirit in man (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Hebrews 10:31 warns that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Are you ready to meet your Maker? Have you been born-again?
The bodies of some dead saints were brought back to life while Jesus hung on the cross (Matthew 27:52-54), and they walked through Jerusalem as the sun was darkened (Luke 23:44) and there was a great earthquake (Matthew 27:52-54), convincing many that Jesus was truly the Son of God. ...
Matthew 27:52-53, “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
The Bible doesn't tell us how long the saints had been dead prior to being raised. Notice that only the righteous were able to come back, not the wicked. Furthermore, it was GOD Who chose to revive the dead, and NOT MAN. Only God can raise the dead.
The Bible doesn't tell us what happened to those saints who were raised up while Christ was on the cross. Did they go back to the grave? Did they live out another life? Personally, I think God simply resurrected their bodies to walk through the city, but they didn't have their souls or spirit back. I think it was just the physical body walking by God's power as a witness that Jesus was indeed the true Son of God. There's no Scriptural evidence that those raised bodies of the saints spoke with anyone. I believe this because the Bible teaches that Jesus was the FIRSTFRUITS OF THEM THAT SLEPT. 1st Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” That means no one was ever raised up prior to Jesus' resurrection. So I think the raised up saints were only in a bodily sense, not their souls returning from the dead. The Bible says that they appeared to many people. This incident was a bonafied 100% MIRACLE OF GOD!!! The Bible only says in Matthew 27:52-53 that their BODIES arose. This is NOT the Rapture (the first resurrection, Revelation 20:6). Alcor admits that they are NOT attempting nor hoping for a miracle; but rather, it is all strictly science. It's mad science in my humble opinion.
The greatest resurrection of the dead will be at the Pretribulation Rapture when every saint's body throughout history will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and caught up to meet with the Lord in the air (1st Corinthians 15:50-54; 1st Thessalonians 4:17-18). The Bible plainly teaches that every born-again believer throughout history will receive an INCORRUPTIBLE BODY...
1st Corinthians 15:51-54, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
So if you want to live forever, why not do it God's way according to the Bible...
John 3:16, “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.”
So in view of John 3:16, Philippians 3:21 and 1st Corinthians 15:51-54, only a fool would pass up God's free offer of eternal life. Man can live forever, even with a new body that is completely incorruptible. Our new glorified body won't ever get sick, become tired or need surgery. Yet, unbelievers would rather have their decapitated head stored in liquid nitrogen in hopes of being revived one day. That's insane! You can have your head frozen if you want, but I'm going to trust upon the Lord to raise me up as He promised by faith.
John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
I am not trying to be unkind to anyone. Death is a frightening thing for many people. The unsaved world places the utmost importance on this temporal, earthly, life; but as Christians we place our priority on the life to come in eternity. This is why Colossians 3:1-3 tells us to set our affections of things above, where the Lord is seated on the right-hand of the Father. The Bible tells us not to sorrow without hope as the unsaved world. As born-again believers we are a part of God's family, having the Spirit of Christ in us (1st John 4:4; Romans 8:9). We have a HOPE as Christians, the hope of being resurrected by the Lord, just as He was raised up. Notice that we will reunite with our saved loved ones at the Rapture...
1st Thessalonians 4:13-14, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
Only a fool would reject God's awesome plan of salvation and all the blessings and promises He has made to all Christian believers. Most people in this sinful world are partying away, rebelling against the gospel, hellbound in their sins. Jesus foretold that in the end times the world would once again return to the apostasy of the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). All people want to do these days is eat, drink, romance and party. It will all come to a sudden end. The Bible teaches that man's average lifespan is 70 years. Life is so short. Contrary to Alcor's bogus theology that God meant for man to be cryopreserved for up to a thousand years and beyond, the Bible says that we can expect to live 70 years on average, but there is no guarantee that we'll be alive tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1).
Psalms 90:10, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
Scientists have developed a non-invasive brain-computer interface
FDA Okays Another Brain-Stimulating Implant for the Masses
New technology too advanced for own good
Implantable chip's medical dangers