A study of God’s Word will show you that nowhere in the entire Bible are the terms “immortal” or “everlasting” linked with the words “soul” or spirit. Instead, the Scriptures state that a soul is mortal, meaning that it dies. (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) Therefore, the Bible calls someone who has died simply a “dead soul.”—Leviticus 21:11. Adam and Eve began to physically die on the day that they ate the fruit. The verse is straight-forward. It means literal death. Their punishment for their sin was the withholding of eternal life. There is no eternal punishment of the wicked. That is not in the Bible. It is Greek myth. Of all classical Greek philosophers, the one who has had the greatest influence on traditional views of Hell is Plato.”—Histoire des enfers (The History of Hell), by Georges Minois, page 50. “From the middle of the 2nd century AD Christians who had some training in Greek philosophy began to feel the need to express their faith in its terms . . . The philosophy that suited them best was Platonism [the teachings of Plato].”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1988), Volume 25, page 890. Now, what does the Bible say? “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, . . . for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, What does this passage reveal about the condition of the dead? Do they suffer in Sheol in order to atone for their errors? No, for they “know nothing.” That is why Job, when suffering terribly because of a severe illness, begged God: “Protect me in hell [Hebrew, Sheol].” (Job 14:13) What meaning would his request have had if Sheol was a place of eternal torment? Hell, in the Biblical sense, is simply the common grave of mankind, where all activity has ceased. What is the origin of the myth? Again. Greek myth. “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.”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1988), Volume 11, page 25. But God’s Word does not teach that. The Bible shows that the soul is the person, not something inside a person. For example, in describing the creation of Adam, the Bible states: “And God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) So Adam was not given a soul; he was a soul. Therefore, “soul” in the Biblical sense refers to the entire living being. If separated from the life force originally given by God, the soul dies.—Genesis 3:19; Ezekiel 18:20. Compare these Bible verses: “And Samson proceeded to say: ‘Let my soul die with the Philistines.’”—Judges 16:30. “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed or to do a bad deed, to save or to kill a soul?”—Mark 3:4. Other scriptures show that souls can be destroyed (Genesis 17:14), slain by the sword (Joshua 10:37), suffocated (Job 7:15), and drowned (Jonah 2:5). Thus, the soul dies. (See also Ecclesiastes 3:19; Matthew 10:28; Acts 3:23). Thus, the bible does not support the idea of an immortal soul. It shows that when a human dies, he returns to the dust and is nonexistent. But God retains the ability to restore him to life, so any hope for future life, through a resurrection, rests with God. (Ecclesiastes 12:7) Regarding 1 Peter 3:18-20, who are referred to by spirits? The specification in the next verse determines this. They were those who had once been disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. Now read 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6. The spirits were disobedient angels, nothing to do with immortal human spirits or souls. Jesus Himself continued as a spirit beyond death. And 1 Timothy 6:16 clearly showed that only Jesus had immortality. Where Scripture does it say that some supposed being inside of humans lives on somewhere else? Dust you are, and to dust you will return. Thats probably as clear as it gets. Ezek. 18:4: The soul that is sinning—it itself will die. - A very simple, black and white statement. If you read the Bible from cover to cover, you will never find the phrase “immortal soul.” The human soul is not a spirit. The teaching of the immortal soul is not a Bible teaching. It is a teaching of Satan and his demons. God hates all religious lies.—Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Timothy 4:1, 2.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 09:58:20 +0000
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