A Look At The “Book Of Life”
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
A querist asks, “Is the “book of life” an actual physical book, or a representation of some sort of list (or metaphysical thing such as God’s tally sheet), or is it figurative?”
In E.W. Bullinger’s book entitled, “Figures Of Speech Used In The Bible” (pg. 871, 893 – Also see the online version), there is a figure of speech called “Anthropopatheia” (see definition under the letter “L”). This figure is used of the ascription of human passions, actions, or attributes to God. One of those figures attributed to God is the “Book of Life” (cf. Exodus 32:32-33; Psalm 56:8; Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1; Malachi 3:16; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:12; Revelation 20:15).
After careful study, this writer concludes that the “Book of Life” is simply a figure of speech used in the Bible, attributed to God. Since God is omniscient (1 John 3:20), knowing the hearts of men (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10; Revelation 2:23), He would “know” those who qualify for the “Book of Life” or “eternal life” as well as those who qualify for “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46; cf. Revelation 20:12; Revelation 20:15).
An additional commentary by Brother Burton Coffman is provided (Note his comments under Hebrews 12:23 regarding “The Book Of Life”).
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- The Book of Life
- God’s Library