Do You Have an Immortal Soul?
The world around us is filled with all sorts of religions and religious beliefs. If you choose any topic to discuss or research, you quickly find yourself overwhelmed by a mountain of differing opinions, ideas, and philosophies. If you decide you want answers to some of the basic questions of life, like “What is the nature of man?”, you will find yourself engaged in some mind-boggling reading as you try to understand the writings of the great philosophers and theologians. Yet, with all the disagreement, you find that there is a basic belief that the majority of world religions subscribe to. Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and many Eastern religions all believe that man has an immortal soul and that, as the pagan philosopher Plato wrote, “… death is merely the separation of the soul and body” (Plato, Phaedo). Eastern religions believe in the past eternity of the soul and that the soul migrates to different living forms over time. Mainstream Christians believe that the soul leaves the body at death. Then, it either goes to heaven to be rewarded or is off to hell for some hopping up and down in the flames. It seems that no one ever considers that if this soul is some immortal spirit, it would hardly experience pain from a physical fire.
What is the truth? Does man have an immortal soul? If not, where did this idea come from? Just what does the Bible have to say about the question?
Source: The Garden
First, let’s take a brief look at the source of this idea. This idea had its beginning back in the Garden of Eden. The serpent, Satan, came to the Garden to deceive Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:2-4
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die…”
We see in this incident the foundation of the world’s religious ideas based on Satan’s basic philosophy. Two foundational doctrines of this world’s religious systems can be noted: disobedience to God’s commandments and a belief in the immortality of man or the immortality of the soul. Satan challenged the idea that man would die for disobedience to the commands of God. He planted the seed of doubt in the minds of Adam and Eve when he told them they would not die. He lured them into believing that the commands of God were vain and of no effect and that there was no penalty for disobedience. Religions based on Satan’s philosophy either disregard the Law of God altogether or teach that it has been done away with.
His statement that “you will not surely die” has become the basis of a cardinal doctrine in most world religions. In the centuries after man was kicked out of the Garden, humans developed religious beliefs and philosophies based on Satan’s revelation, not God’s. The Greek philosopher, Plato, blended pagan Babylonian and Egyptian beliefs into his teaching that man is composed of body and soul. He believed that the soul was immortal. The doctrine of immortality of the soul was not a belief of the Israelites or Jews who were given the Holy Scriptures. Some Jews began to accept this belief around 100 BC as they came under increasing influence from the Greek world. Plato’s philosophy was widely accepted and was incorporated into some Jewish thought – indicating that they left the teachings of the scriptures and instead relied on philosophy of men. A few hundred years after the beginning of Christianity, the immortality of the soul became fixed Catholic dogma. Anyone not subscribing to this belief was deemed a heretic. Today, many mainstream Christians think that anyone who does not believe in the immortality of the soul is not really Christian. Most of the world’s religions have this false teaching in one form or another. Belief in this doctrine is the underpinning of their views on the afterlife. For instance, the soul must be immortal if an individual is to go to heaven or hell immediately at death.
God’s Revelation
What did God reveal to man about his nature?
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 being [KJV: living soul].
What did He mean? Let’s look at the Hebrew word for soul to learn the Biblical truth on this important topic. The Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh.” Strong’s Concordance tells us that “nephesh” simply means “a breathing creature.” The word is derived from “naphash” which means “to breathe.” “Nephesh” is translated into a variety of English words in the King James Version of the Bible – soul, beast, body, creature, fish, dead, mortally.
OT:5315 nephesh (neh'-fesh); from OT:5314; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): KJV - any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, dead (-ly), desire, [dis-] contented, fish, ghost, greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thyself-), them (your)- selves, slay, soul, tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, would have it. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
OT:5314 naphash (naw-fash'); a primitive root; to breathe; passively, to be breathed upon, i.e. (figuratively) refreshed (as if by a current of air): KJV - (be) refresh selves (-ed). (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Genesis 2:7 indicates that man became a living soul - a living breathing creature – when God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. The clear teaching here is that man did not have some soul, or breathing creature, living in his body. Instead, man became a living breathing creature. Before God breathed into his nostrils, he was a “nephesh” – a creature capable of breathing, who was not yet breathing and not yet living. With the breath of life, he became a living “nephesh.”
A basic understanding of human biology concurs with the meaning of this word. Without breath – specifically, the oxygen that is in the air we breathe - humans cannot live. Oxygen is taken into the bloodstream and is taken to every cell in the body. The Bible says “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus17:11). Without oxygen and blood flowing, we die. Stop the breathing or drain the blood and the living “nephesh” becomes a dead “nephesh.”
Bullinger’s Analysis of Nephesh
Bullinger’s The Companion Bible, Appendix 13 gives a thorough analysis of this Hebrew word. Nephesh appears 754 times in the Old Testament. According to this thorough analysis of every one of those 754 occurrences, we can clearly see that not one refers to some immortal soul living in a human body. Here is some of what Bullinger found.
Job 12:10 “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” (KJV)
Joshua 10:28 “And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain:” (KJV)
Psalms 16:10 “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol [KJV: hell],…” (NKJV)
Solomon wrote that man’s fleshly existence is similar to animals.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?
New Testament scriptures reveal that only God has immortality (I Timothy 6:16) and that immortality is something we must put on (I Corinthians 15: 53, 54). Christ indicated that soul and body could be destroyed. (Matthew 10)
The scriptures are clear. Man does not have an immortal soul. Instead, when God breathed the breath of life into man, he became a living breathing creature. Knowledge of this essential truth has been a key doctrine of the true Church of God over the centuries and has been one that separates true believers from paganized Christianity. Disproving the false teaching of the immortality of the soul is foundational to gaining a true understanding of the nature of man and God’s plan of salvation.
The Spirit in Man
But if man is not an immortal soul, what is he?
A thorough analysis of Biblical terms shows us that man does not have an immortal soul, but that man is a living breathing creature, just as animals are breathing creatures. The Bible further reveals that “… there is a spirit in man…” (Job 32:8).
1 Corinthians 2:9-16
9 But as it is written:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
That “spirit in man” is not different terminology for an immortal soul concept. The spirit in man is a nonphysical component that requires a living organism to function. The spirit in man plus the human brain forms the human mind, giving the human powers of intellect and personality. The spirit in man has no consciousness of itself. Psalm 146: 4 indicates that at death man’s thoughts perish. The Bible reveals in Ecclesiastes 12:7 that …”the spirit will return to God who gave it”. But, Christ said that “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:13). Peter preached that “… David did not ascend into the heavens, …” (Acts 2:34). All those who have died in the past are dead. They are not floating around in heaven; they are not jumping around in the flames of hell fire; and they are not inhabiting cows or other creatures. The spirit in man has returned to God. For those dead in Christ, God will put that spirit – which is not presently thinking or living – in a spirit body at the resurrection of the dead (I Corinthians 15, I John 3:2). Those awaiting the second resurrection will have the spirit in man put back into a physical body and will be given their first chance to know the truth of God.
The truth of the Bible is filled with hope for all of mankind because God is “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”(2 Peter 3:9). Each person has a time when God will call him or her to the truth. The belief in the immortality of the soul denies the plan of God for mankind. It is in direct opposition to the truth of salvation revealed in the holy days and all that Jesus Christ taught.
It is indeed a blessing to have the understanding that we are not immortal souls. We can look forward to the day when we can free all of mankind from this deception that Satan began preaching in the Garden of Eden.
What is the truth? Does man have an immortal soul? If not, where did this idea come from? Just what does the Bible have to say about the question?
Source: The Garden
First, let’s take a brief look at the source of this idea. This idea had its beginning back in the Garden of Eden. The serpent, Satan, came to the Garden to deceive Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:2-4
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die…”
We see in this incident the foundation of the world’s religious ideas based on Satan’s basic philosophy. Two foundational doctrines of this world’s religious systems can be noted: disobedience to God’s commandments and a belief in the immortality of man or the immortality of the soul. Satan challenged the idea that man would die for disobedience to the commands of God. He planted the seed of doubt in the minds of Adam and Eve when he told them they would not die. He lured them into believing that the commands of God were vain and of no effect and that there was no penalty for disobedience. Religions based on Satan’s philosophy either disregard the Law of God altogether or teach that it has been done away with.
His statement that “you will not surely die” has become the basis of a cardinal doctrine in most world religions. In the centuries after man was kicked out of the Garden, humans developed religious beliefs and philosophies based on Satan’s revelation, not God’s. The Greek philosopher, Plato, blended pagan Babylonian and Egyptian beliefs into his teaching that man is composed of body and soul. He believed that the soul was immortal. The doctrine of immortality of the soul was not a belief of the Israelites or Jews who were given the Holy Scriptures. Some Jews began to accept this belief around 100 BC as they came under increasing influence from the Greek world. Plato’s philosophy was widely accepted and was incorporated into some Jewish thought – indicating that they left the teachings of the scriptures and instead relied on philosophy of men. A few hundred years after the beginning of Christianity, the immortality of the soul became fixed Catholic dogma. Anyone not subscribing to this belief was deemed a heretic. Today, many mainstream Christians think that anyone who does not believe in the immortality of the soul is not really Christian. Most of the world’s religions have this false teaching in one form or another. Belief in this doctrine is the underpinning of their views on the afterlife. For instance, the soul must be immortal if an individual is to go to heaven or hell immediately at death.
God’s Revelation
What did God reveal to man about his nature?
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 being [KJV: living soul].
What did He mean? Let’s look at the Hebrew word for soul to learn the Biblical truth on this important topic. The Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh.” Strong’s Concordance tells us that “nephesh” simply means “a breathing creature.” The word is derived from “naphash” which means “to breathe.” “Nephesh” is translated into a variety of English words in the King James Version of the Bible – soul, beast, body, creature, fish, dead, mortally.
OT:5315 nephesh (neh'-fesh); from OT:5314; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): KJV - any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, dead (-ly), desire, [dis-] contented, fish, ghost, greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thyself-), them (your)- selves, slay, soul, tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, would have it. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
OT:5314 naphash (naw-fash'); a primitive root; to breathe; passively, to be breathed upon, i.e. (figuratively) refreshed (as if by a current of air): KJV - (be) refresh selves (-ed). (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Genesis 2:7 indicates that man became a living soul - a living breathing creature – when God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. The clear teaching here is that man did not have some soul, or breathing creature, living in his body. Instead, man became a living breathing creature. Before God breathed into his nostrils, he was a “nephesh” – a creature capable of breathing, who was not yet breathing and not yet living. With the breath of life, he became a living “nephesh.”
A basic understanding of human biology concurs with the meaning of this word. Without breath – specifically, the oxygen that is in the air we breathe - humans cannot live. Oxygen is taken into the bloodstream and is taken to every cell in the body. The Bible says “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus17:11). Without oxygen and blood flowing, we die. Stop the breathing or drain the blood and the living “nephesh” becomes a dead “nephesh.”
Bullinger’s Analysis of Nephesh
Bullinger’s The Companion Bible, Appendix 13 gives a thorough analysis of this Hebrew word. Nephesh appears 754 times in the Old Testament. According to this thorough analysis of every one of those 754 occurrences, we can clearly see that not one refers to some immortal soul living in a human body. Here is some of what Bullinger found.
- Nephesh is used of lower animals only in 22 passages
Job 12:10 “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” (KJV)
- Nephesh is used of man possessing appetites and desires in 22 passages.
- Nephesh is used of man as being a) “cut off” by God, or b) slain or killed by man in 54 passages
Joshua 10:28 “And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain:” (KJV)
- Nephesh is used of man as being mortal, subject to death of various kinds…in 243 passages
- Nephesh is spoken of as going to a place in 13 passages
Psalms 16:10 “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol [KJV: hell],…” (NKJV)
Solomon wrote that man’s fleshly existence is similar to animals.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?
New Testament scriptures reveal that only God has immortality (I Timothy 6:16) and that immortality is something we must put on (I Corinthians 15: 53, 54). Christ indicated that soul and body could be destroyed. (Matthew 10)
The scriptures are clear. Man does not have an immortal soul. Instead, when God breathed the breath of life into man, he became a living breathing creature. Knowledge of this essential truth has been a key doctrine of the true Church of God over the centuries and has been one that separates true believers from paganized Christianity. Disproving the false teaching of the immortality of the soul is foundational to gaining a true understanding of the nature of man and God’s plan of salvation.
The Spirit in Man
But if man is not an immortal soul, what is he?
A thorough analysis of Biblical terms shows us that man does not have an immortal soul, but that man is a living breathing creature, just as animals are breathing creatures. The Bible further reveals that “… there is a spirit in man…” (Job 32:8).
1 Corinthians 2:9-16
9 But as it is written:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
That “spirit in man” is not different terminology for an immortal soul concept. The spirit in man is a nonphysical component that requires a living organism to function. The spirit in man plus the human brain forms the human mind, giving the human powers of intellect and personality. The spirit in man has no consciousness of itself. Psalm 146: 4 indicates that at death man’s thoughts perish. The Bible reveals in Ecclesiastes 12:7 that …”the spirit will return to God who gave it”. But, Christ said that “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:13). Peter preached that “… David did not ascend into the heavens, …” (Acts 2:34). All those who have died in the past are dead. They are not floating around in heaven; they are not jumping around in the flames of hell fire; and they are not inhabiting cows or other creatures. The spirit in man has returned to God. For those dead in Christ, God will put that spirit – which is not presently thinking or living – in a spirit body at the resurrection of the dead (I Corinthians 15, I John 3:2). Those awaiting the second resurrection will have the spirit in man put back into a physical body and will be given their first chance to know the truth of God.
The truth of the Bible is filled with hope for all of mankind because God is “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”(2 Peter 3:9). Each person has a time when God will call him or her to the truth. The belief in the immortality of the soul denies the plan of God for mankind. It is in direct opposition to the truth of salvation revealed in the holy days and all that Jesus Christ taught.
It is indeed a blessing to have the understanding that we are not immortal souls. We can look forward to the day when we can free all of mankind from this deception that Satan began preaching in the Garden of Eden.
posted by Manuel at 10:35 PM
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