Do we have an immortal soul?
by Richard A. Wiedenheft
Creation of Man
The first chapter of Genesis reveals that man was specially created by God in His very own image and likeness:
"Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness... So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26-27).
Man was shaped in the image of God, but he was not composed of the same substance as God. God is spirit; God is immortal; He possesses self-inherent eternal life. Man, on the other hand, was formed from the elements of the earth as an inert, physical corpse of organic matter lying on the ground - until God breathed into him the breath of life. At that point man became a "living soul" (Genesis 2:27).
The precise nature of a "living soul" is at the heart of the discussion about what man is. To modern, orthodox Christian ears, the word "soul" denotes something that is immortal and conscious after death, something that goes to heaven or hell. But the Biblical usage of the word is quite different.
Living Souls
The Hebrew expression translated "living soul" in Genesis 2:7 is nephesh; it is used in several other places in Genesis 1 and 2 as well as throughout the Old Testament and in many of these passages it refers to animals. The Englishmen who translated the King James Version of the Bible rendered nephesh as "living creature" in Genesis 1:21 where it refers to sea animals; they rendered it "living creature" in verse 24 where it refers to land animals. In verse 30, this same Hebrew expression is used to describe all living things on the earth. In Genesis 2:19, Adam was asked to name every "living creature"— again, the Hebrew expression is nephesh. So, when we are told that Adam became a "living soul" we are not informed that he was given any inherent immortality or a soul (in the modern sense of the word).
Mortal Man
Every indication in the Old Testament is that, of and by himself, man is mortal creature, subject to decay and death; indeed, God told Adam after he had sinned,
"for dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19).
There is no reference here to a conscious, immortal soul going to heaven or hell or limbo when the body goes to the grave. Rather, the indication is that when the body returns to the dust, the conscious man, the "living soul", ceases to exist. Of course, it was not long before Satan appeared on the scene contradicting God's warning about sin and its deadly consequences. Tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit he said,
"You will not surely die...For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5).
In a sense, the modern concepts of the immortal soul and reincarnation convey the same idea - that man is inherently immortal - that he won't really die. Ezekiel stated just the opposite:
"...the soul that sins, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).
So, whatever a soul is, in the Old Testament sense of the word, it can die. Solomon, the wisest king of Israel, wrote about the fate of humans,
"As it is with the good man, so with the sinner...The same destiny overtakes all...For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten" (Ecclesiastes 9:2-5).
To be sure, Solomon, was writing from a human, temporal perspective - in a very melancholy mood at that; nevertheless, he corroborated the statements of Genesis that death is the cessation of conscious life. The Psalmist wrote that the dead do not praise God, that they
"go down to silence" (Psalm 115:17; compare with Psalm 6:5; 1 46:4).
The idea that death is merely a separation of a conscious, immortal soul from the body came not from the Bible but from Greek philosophy. Notice what Plato wrote in Phaedo:
"The soul whose inseparable attitude is life will never admit of life's opposite, death. Thus the soul is shown to be immortal, and since immortal, indestructible... we believe there is such a thing as death? To be sure. And is this anything but the separation of the soul and body?...being dead is the attainment of this separation when the soul exists in herself and separate from the body, and the body is parted from the soul. That is death... death is merely the separation of the soul and body".
An interesting philosophy— very much in harmony with the modern concept of the soul; but it is nowhere taught in the Old Testament. Even modern theologians who believe in the immortality of the soul admit frankly that it is not taught in the Bible. Consider what The New Catholic Encyclopedia has to say about the Hebrew word nephesh or nepes:
"Nepes comes from an original root...to breathe, and...thence, breath of life. Since breath distinguishes the living from the dead, nepes is used in regard to both animals and humans... After death, the nepes goes to Sheol rest, [Hebrew word for grave]. The above summary indicates that there is no dichotomy of body and soul in the Old Testament... other words in the Old Testament such as spirit, flesh, and heart also signify the human person and differ only as various aspects of the same being. The notion of the soul surviving after death is not readily discernible in the Bible. The concept of the human soul itself is not the same in the Old Testament as it is in Greek and modern philosophy... The soul in the Old Testament means not a part of man, but the whole man - man as a living being" (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, art. "Soul, Human, Immortality of").
In the whole of the Old Testament there is simply no support for the idea that a conscious immortal soul goes to heaven or hell (or some other place) at death. Rather, all indications are that conscious life ceases until the time of a future resurrection - as the prophet Daniel recorded
"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2).
"As for you (Daniel), go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance" (Daniel 12:13).
Both verses compare death to a sleep, an unconscious state, which is to continue until the time of the resurrection.
The "Soul" in the New Testament
In the New Testament, the word "soul" is translated from the Greek psuche which is virtually equivalent to the Hebrew nephesh. There is no indication that the soul of the New Testament continues in a conscious state following death. Rather, the evidence is that psuche, like nephesh, refers to a living mortal being who can die. Consider several verses.
Mark wrote that Jesus came to
"...give his life [psuche] as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
Isaiah had written that Jesus
"...poured out his life [nephesh] unto death" (Isaiah 53:12)
Clearly Jesus' nephesh or psuche was given up, it was poured out, it ceased to exist; it was not merely separated from His body as Greek philosophy would have one believe. John, in the book of Revelation wrote that when the second angel poured out his bowl,
"...every living thing [psuche] in the sea died" (Revelation 16:3).
Consider the following statement from The New Catholic Encyclopedia:
"The soul in the Old Testament means not a part of man, but the whole man as a living being. Similarly in the New Testament, it signifies human life: the life of an individual conscious object" (Matthew 2:20-6:25; Luke 12:22,23; 14:26; John 10:11,15,17; John 13:37; Acts 27:10,22; Philippians 2:30; 1Thessalonians 2:8).
"Recent exegetes... have maintained that the New Testament does not teach the immortality of the soul in the Hellenistic sense of survival of an immortal principle after death" (The New Catholic Encyclopedia art. Soul, Human, Immortality of, In The Bible).
Eternal Life Is God's Gift
The Greek concept of the immortal soul assumes that individuals already possess eternal life - that the only question is where this eternal life is spent after death. In stark contrast, many Bible passages portray immortality strictly as a gift to be given by God. Paul refers directly to the fact that God alone has immortality (1Timothy 6:16). In a well-known statement to the Romans, Paul insists that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. In other words, the normal consequences of sin is death; but immortality, the opposite of death, is something that man does not have of and by himself; it comes only as a gift from God (Romans 6:23). "He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life" (Romans 2:6). According to this verse immortality is something we seek after, not something we already have.
John echoes Paul's statement.
"And this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this Life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1John 5:11-12; compare with 1John 3:14-15).
Jesus, referring to Himself, prayed to the Father just before He was crucified,
"For you granted him (Jesus) authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:2-3).
If man is inherently immortal and his life continues eternally beyond the death of the body, these passages don't make sense - unless, of course, one redefines death as separation of soul and body, a definition not supported in the Bible. If, however, death is the absence of life and consciousness, these statements make very good sense.
Death Compared to Sleep
Throughout the Bible, death is compared to sleep. Notice a couple of Jesus' statements:
"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going to wake him up" (John 11:11).
"The girl is not dead, but asleep "(Matthew 9:24).
Matthew records that at the time of Jesus' death,
". . . 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" (Matthew 27:52,53).
If these saints were already experiencing the bliss of heaven, it would have been cruel to bring them back to frail human existence to live and then die again; but if they were truly asleep, unconscious, it would have been a blessing to them and to all who were witnessed to by their new lives.
The Apostle Paul referred to dead Christians as sleeping until awakened by the last trump at the resurrection (1Corinthians 15:51 and 1Thessalonians 4:14;5:10). Daniel wrote of both believers and nonbelievers as sleeping - until they are resurrected:
"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2).
Notice that the focus is on the resurrection - not on a reward in heaven or punishment in hell experienced by a conscious immortal soul at death.
A Spiritual Element In Man?
What then is man? To be sure he is a special, glorious creation, made in the very image of God— with the potential of living for eternity in God's kingdom. Certainly, there is a dimension of his being that separates him from animals - it is a spiritual dimension, a capacity to understand spiritual, eternal, godly things. Several passages of the Bible indicate what might be called a "spirit in man"— a spiritual ingredient that makes a man human, that turns an animal brain into a human mind, that gives him the capacity to reason and plan and to consider spiritual questions. Paul refers to a "man's spirit" in 1Corinthians 2:1 1. Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, wrote
"...the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Perhaps this "spirit in man" is what the Holy Spirit unites with when a person experiences conversion.
On the other hand, these passages are far from definitive. It's possible Paul was simply referring to "a person's very self, or ego" (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, under pneuma); and Solomon could have been referring to a man's breath. But if there is a spiritual essence in man, and I believe there is, it is not conscious apart from the body. It is not an immortal soul. And regardless of whether a person is a Christian or not, his "spiritual essence" returns to God at death - perhaps waiting like a computer record to be plugged back into a conscious body at the resurrection - thus preserving the personality and character of the individual.
The important fact is that, although man does not possess an immortal soul, he can receive eternal life through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Then he enters the heavenly kingdom of God and receives the promise of eternal life - which will be given when Jesus returns to this earth as King, of kings and Lord of lords.
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Comments (4)
If no immortal soul exists after death, until the final Resurrection at least, then how could Christ tell the thief on the cross that he would be with him, THAT DAY, in paradise? If the soul passes away with the mortal body, then how was it that Christ met with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration? If there is no immortal soul, then why would Paul say that to be absent the body is to be present with Christ?
To address Mr. Blakenship, Let me first state that I rely in the Bible for truth and each time I study in the word, I pray for the Holy Spirit to help me discern the Word. So now lets discuss Luke 23:43 Now I’m walking on eggshells when I offer this observation: there is some degree of human fallibility in Bible translations. How much would your opinion change if the comma was moved from before the word today to after or even removing it altogether? Early Bibles didn’t have many commas and so one was inserted much later. And Jesus said (to the thief) “Verily I say to you today you will be with me in paradise.” Would you treat this verse a little differently? Be open minded when studying verses that show synonyms. (sin=death, death=sleep/unconscious, Hell=Hades=grave, soul=person/“breath of life”=the character of your mind) If your study’s reflect Gods love, great. If it portrays God as an antonym to love than maybe the interpretation is not from God. Lastly, apply this harmonious message to the traditions and doctrines you have been taught and if it doesn’t jive, ditch it. (Is the Godhead a trinity? Is God love? Is God wanting us to be his children? What has God revealed to us about the consequence of sin and the plan to save us?) God Bless you!
In addition to K Brockman's reply:
Furthermore, our Saviour Himself didn't ascend THAT day, but days after. So, how could He have promissed somethig like that to the crucified thief?
Obviously, the comma sits in the wrong place: "Verily I say unto thee To day, shalt thou be with me in paradise"
This is a better evalutation of so-called "soul sleep":
https://www.tektonics.org/qt/sleepy.php
The immortality of the soul, as well as the afterlife have always been the central theme in the Bible and with every civilization throughout the entirety of history, 99% of the humans who ever lived unanimously believe in the immortality of the soul and the afterlife, it is a common revelation from God.
Those who reject the immortality of the soul and the existence of Hell and say absurd nonsense such as soul sleep and annihilationism are dangerous cults like Jehova's Witness and Seven Day Advents which were invented in the 19th century by crazy people that take phrases out of context and use their own fake books that are completely nonsense, this is why everyone hates those cults.
Hell has always been eternal just like Heaven has always been eternal and this has been the central theme throughout the entirety of the Holy Bible and also in all other civilisations throughout history as well, since everyone receives the general revelation of God, the soul of man is immortal and immaterial because mankind is made in the Image of God, death does not equal to existense, people die but they continue to exist forever either, from God's view eternal life is to live in Heaven forever and eternal damnation to suffer in Hell forever.
An innate immortality of the soul is taught nowhere in Scripture.
According to Scripture, everyone born into this world, in Adam, has been banished from any access to “the tree of life” lest they “live forever.” In Genesis, to “live forever” is synonymous with immortality. The day Adam was expelled from the Garden he became mortal and his death was assured. Immortality is impossible without having access to the tree of life and it is only those who are in Christ that will again be granted access to “the tree of life that is in the garden of God.”
“Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God.” Revelation 2:7
“Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates.” Revelation 22:14
It is impossible to argue, without twisting Scripture, that those who are refused access to the tree of life will yet “live forever” albeit in a much-diminished existence, as it would directly contradict what is said in Genesis. Are you suggesting that people will indeed “live forever” despite the fact that they have no access to the “tree of life”?
Romans 2:7 says, “To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” Eternal life here is depicted as “glory and honor and immortality.” In other words, only those who seek after “glory and honor and immortality” will receive “glory and honor and immortality.” Obviously, the opposite of immortality is mortality which means a life that comes to an end. If all of mankind were to exist forever, they would already possess immortality, and therefore it would be nonsensical to state that some, as opposed to others, are seeking after it. Yet, traditionalists argue that all people will have immortality, minus the “glory and honor,” whether they seek after it or not. Nowhere in Scripture do we ever find immortality granted to unbelievers. It is simply not possible to reconcile the traditional view with this verse without twisting and redefining words to fit a pre-conceived bias. To interpret death as immortality, as the traditionalist must do, is a gross misinterpretation of words. It is Christ “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” 2 Timothy 1:10. Notice, death in this passage is contrasted with immortality. In other words, death is not having immortality, i.e., not existing forever.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, “And if Christ has not been raised…then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Paul argues here that if there is no resurrection, then Christians who have died have “perished.” He explains perished here as death without any hope of ever coming back to life because absent a resurrection our hope would be limited to this life only. Those who experience the “second death” will indeed perish in the way Paul explains here because for them there is no more hope of a resurrection as they are judged and condemned in the first resurrection (John 5:29).
“The subject of the soul, its nature and immortality, is discussed at great length by Plato in the Phaedon, a dialogue on Immortality, and therein is discussed the question of the literal destruction and extinction of the soul. Plato wrote in Greek, his native tongue, and the Phaedon became the great classic treatise on the subject of Immortality, read, studied and debated throughout the Greek-speaking world during the four hundred years between its writing and the ministry of Christ. Plato's words practically stereotyped the philosophical phraseology of the time. The purpose of the dialogue is to show that in death the soul does not become extinct, that it cannot die, perish, or be destroyed. Modern orthodoxy, therefore, is found ranged with Plato against the Word of God. These words of Plato were known and of fixed meaning in the days of Christ and the apostles. Christ came to reveal the truth. Shall we say that, knowing as He did the meaning of the words used on the subject of the soul, He willfully, and without explanation, took those very words concerning the very same subject, and used them in an altogether contradictory sense! The idea is impossible. With reference to the philosophic usage of apollumi (destroy, destruction), we give the following extract from the Phaedon:-
‘Socrates, having said these things, Cebes answered: I agree Socrates, in the greater part of what you say. But in what relates to the soul men are apt to be incredulous, they fear .... that on the very day of death she may be destroyed and perish .... blown away and perishes immediately on quitting the body, as the many say? That can never be . . . the soul may utterly perish ..... the soul might perish .... if the immortal be also perishable. The soul when attacked by death cannot perish.’
To those who knew these words, who taught them, and argued about them, was sent a ‘teacher from God,’ and standing in their midst He reiterated the fact that Plato was wrong, that the soul could be destroyed, that it would perish. What would any of that day have thought of the suggestion to make such words convey the sense of endless misery, so diametrically opposed to their meaning? As the Greek scholar, Dr. Weymouth, has said, "My mind fails to conceive a grosser misinterpretation of language than when the five or six strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying 'destroy,' or 'destruction,' are explained to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate black as white is nothing to this."
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:25-27, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” If death actually means, as the traditionalists argue, eternal life separated from God, then death would never actually be destroyed but would remain forever which directly contradicts what Paul is saying.
WHAT IF YOU ARE BORN AGAIN, AND 1.) BLASPHEME THE HOLY SPIRIT, BY NOT OBEYING IT'S CONVICTIONS AND FALLING AWAY, 2.) ARE HANDED OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND? IS THAT SOUL WHO HAS TASTED THE CONVICTION, AND LOVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WALKED WITH GOD IN RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, THEN START WILLFULLY SINNING WITHOUT REPENTANCE, WHAT HAPPENS? iT'S UNPARDONABLE. dOES THAT MEAN, "I RECEIVED IMMORTALITY, THE LATER IN LIFE FELL FROM THE FAITH AND BECAME DISOBEDIENT. dOES THAT PERSON STILL HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUT CHOKED AND QUENCHED IT SO BADLY, HE BECOMES REBROBATE, AND IS NOT ENLIGHTENED ANYMORE, WITH A SEARED CONSCIENCE??