Before we delve into this interesting topic, we need to define our terms in order to better communicate.
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
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Immortal
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Mortal
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Immortality
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Mortality
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Soul is NOT Soul IS
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Scope of the "Immortal Soul" Doctrine
If there is one false doctrine in churches today that is most prominent and most destructive, it is that of the "immortal soul." This spurious doctrine is not only perverse in and of itself, but it manifests itself in other non-scriptural concepts and beliefs including:
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- a place called "heaven" for rewarding deceased godly persons
- a place called "hell" for punishing deceased wicked persons forever
- supernatural spirit beings called "demons", "devils", and "ghosts"
- exorcism (evicting demons or other spiritual entities from people)
- incarnation (supernatural spirit beings residing in human bodies)
The "Immortal Soul" Doctrine Raises Questions
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Many people think the Bible says we have an immortal soul "destined immediately upon death, for heaven, hell, or purgatory." What does God's Word say?
What Does the Bible Say About "Soul"?
- 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 [nephesh].
- Genesis 1:20-21; "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature [nephesh, soul] that has life [nephseh, soul] and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature [nephesh, soul] that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
- Genesis 1:29-30; "And God said 'Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yield seeds to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul [nephesh] I have given every green herb for meat:' and it was so."
- Ezekiel 18:4; "The soul [nephesh] that sinneth, it shall die."
- Numbers 31:28; "And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul [nephesh] of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:..."
- I Peter 3:20; "...while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls [psuche] were saved by water."
- Acts 27:37 states "And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls [psuche] ..."
- Matthew 16:26 states "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? [psuche] or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul [psuche] ?"
Hebrew "Nephesh" equates to Greek "Psuche"
When quoting the Old Testament, the New Testament uses the Greek psuche for the Hebrew nephesh.
Genesis 2:7 states, "...and man became a living soul." [nephesh]
I Corinthians 15:45; "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul." [psuche]
From these two verses we can see that the Greek word "psuche" (soul) was used to express the meaning of the Hebrew "nephesh" (soul).
Genesis 2:7 states, "...and man became a living soul." [nephesh]
I Corinthians 15:45; "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul." [psuche]
From these two verses we can see that the Greek word "psuche" (soul) was used to express the meaning of the Hebrew "nephesh" (soul).
When referring to doing something with one’s whole soul, it means to do it with one’s whole being, wholeheartedly, or with one’s whole life. In some contexts, these words can be used to refer to the desire or appetite of a living creature. They can also refer to a dead person or a dead body.
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The Hebrew word "ne'phesh", translated "soul", means "a creature that breathes" (is alive). It does NOT mean a separate invisible entity that lives inside a person that is immortal (cannot die). Genesis 3:19 states, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." |
Scriptural References to Death as "Sleep"
- Daniel 12:2; "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16; "But I would not have you be ignorant, bretheran, 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. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that which we are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
- Deuteronomy 31:16 God told Moses, "thou shalt sleep with thy fathers."
- II Samuel 7:12 God tells David, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers... ."
- I Kings 2:10 says, "so David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David."
- Job 7:21, Job says, "... for now shall I sleep in the dust... ."
Origin of the Pagan "Immoral Soul" Myth
"Zoroastrianism"
According to the Encyclopdia of Death and Dying, immortality of the soul or afterlife is one of the seven main precepts which forms the basis of the Zoroastrianism religion.
The Gathads (Zoroastrian holy writing) describes the main constituents of a human being as body (Tanu) and soul (Urvan), which live for only a limited time in the world. At the time of death, the body transforms (or perishes) and the soul goes on to live its second existence.
(The following information is from the Zoroaster promoters.)
The Gathads (Zoroastrian holy writing) describes the main constituents of a human being as body (Tanu) and soul (Urvan), which live for only a limited time in the world. At the time of death, the body transforms (or perishes) and the soul goes on to live its second existence.
(The following information is from the Zoroaster promoters.)
Note how similar today's church teachings compare to Zoroastrianism beliefs.
"Greek Philosophy"
According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica (1988) "The early Christian philosophers adopted the Greek concept of the soul's immortality and thought of the soul as being created by God and infused into the body at conception."
Herodotus, a Greek historian of the fifth century B.C., said that the Egyptians were “the first of mankind who have defended the immortality of the soul.” Other ancient cultures, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians also toyed with the idea of the immortal soul. By the time Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East in 332 B.C., Greek philosophers had popularized the teaching, and it soon spread throughout the Greek Empire. You will not find any Bible text that uses the expression “immortal soul”.
Herodotus, a Greek historian of the fifth century B.C., said that the Egyptians were “the first of mankind who have defended the immortality of the soul.” Other ancient cultures, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians also toyed with the idea of the immortal soul. By the time Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East in 332 B.C., Greek philosophers had popularized the teaching, and it soon spread throughout the Greek Empire. You will not find any Bible text that uses the expression “immortal soul”.
In the first century BC., two prominent Jewish sects, the Essenes and the Pharisees, taught that the soul survives the body at death. The Jewish Encyclopedia says: “The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the philosophy of Plato.” Plato saw man's existence as divided into the material (physical body) and spiritual (eternal soul). Greek philosopher Socrates explained that the "immortal soul", once freed from the body, is rewarded according to good deeds or punished for evil. Likewise, first-century Jewish historian Josephus attributed the teaching, not to the Holy Scriptures, but to “the belief of the sons of Greece,” which he viewed as a collection of tales by their mythologists.
As the influence of Greek culture continued to expand, professed Christians adopted this pagan teaching. According to historian Jona Lendering, “Plato’s hypothesis that our soul was once in a better place and now lives in a fallen world made it easy to combine platonic philosophy and Christianity.” Thus, the pagan doctrine of the immortal soul was absorbed into the “Christian” church and became a fundamental part of its beliefs.
As the influence of Greek culture continued to expand, professed Christians adopted this pagan teaching. According to historian Jona Lendering, “Plato’s hypothesis that our soul was once in a better place and now lives in a fallen world made it easy to combine platonic philosophy and Christianity.” Thus, the pagan doctrine of the immortal soul was absorbed into the “Christian” church and became a fundamental part of its beliefs.
"We are influenced always more or less by the Greek, platonic idea that the body dies, yet the soul is immortal. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness and is nowhere found in the Old Testament." International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1960, Vol. 2, p 812, "Death".)
"The immortality of man was one of the foundational creeds of the philosophical religion of Platonism that was in part adopted by the Christian Church" (Werner Jaeger, "The Greek Ideas of Immortality", Harvard Theological Review, Volume LII, July 1959, Number 3)
Our more in depth study on the Immortal Soul Doctrine can be found in The Kingdom Bible Studies (lessons 11 through 15), at benwilliamslibrary.com.
The following video is a fun, yet clear, explanation about what happens when people die. Kindly note this disclaimer however. It does give some reference to Satan and demons. But we all know "Satan" = adversary - right? So kindly sift though that part and know we will ignore those particular statements. The rest of the video is well done and worth watching. Turn up your volume and double click on the arrow in the middle of the screen to start the video. Enjoy!
Bob & Mary Lou Becker - {contact us by using the form at the bottom of our Home Page}