Now we reach what perhaps may be termed the climax of the subject--the soul's relation to death. The term "immortal soul" expresses one side of the argument. "Immortal" means "not subject to death." That is the stand of Plato and orthodox Christendom.

Let us look at what GOD says. Now it would have been quite possible for the Scriptures never to have mentioned soul in connection with death. Many other terms and expressions could have been used. So that when we find that in nearly 300 places (one-third of the total uses of the word) souls are described as being mortal, subject to death, from which they can be saved and delivered, it is quite clear that God is taking special pains to give us correct ideas on this subject, and remove all excuse for believing in "immortal souls" after the manner of the unenlightened heathen. Examples of this are:

• Psa. 22:20: "Deliver my soul (nephash) from the sword..."
• Jer. 38:17: "If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the King of Babylon's princes, then thy soul (nephesh) shall live..."
• 1st Sam. 19:11: "If thou save not thy life (nephesh--soul) tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain."
• 1st Kings 19:10: "...they seek my life (nephesh) to take it."
• Esther 7:7: "Haman stood up to make request for his life (nephesh)..."
• Psa. 22:29: "...none can keep alive his own soul (nephesh)."

One out of every three occurrences of the word are of this character--referring to its mortality and liability to death. How could the immortal soul theory be more strikingly disproved? The most prominent fact regarding the soul that is forced upon our attention throughout is its frailty and danger of destruction. Upon this is based the one great lesson of Scripture:

"Hear, and your soul (nephesh) shall live" (Isa. 55:3).

Let us go further. In 32 passages, souls (nephesh) are spoken of as being KILLED BY MAN. Examples are:

Josh. 10:28: "Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, and all the souls (nephesh) that were therein..."

This is repeated in verses 30, 32, 35, 37, and 39.

Deut. 27:25: "Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person (nephesh--soul)."

Let us look particularly at Lev. 24:17-18. The Authorized Version reads:

"...he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast."

In the original, nephesh occurs here four times, as follows:

"He that smiteth the nephesh (soul) of a man, shall surely be put to death. And he that smiteth the nephesh (soul) of a beast shall make it good; nephesh for nephesh."

Here again the translators have, by inconsistent and biassed translation, obscured another clear divine lesson in the meaning of nephesh, or "soul."

One more step, and then we are as far away from the immortal soul theory as it is possible to be--in 13 places souls (nephesh) are said to be actually DEAD.

Examples are:

Num. 6:6: "...he shall come at no dead body (nephesh)."

Lev. 21:11: "Neither shall he go in to any dead body (nephesh)..."

These are parts of the Mosaic regulations concerning uncleanness and defilement by contact with corpses.

All references quoted so far have been from the Old Testament. That is the foundation of the New, and the word "soul" occurs in the Old seven times as often as in the New. It is ignoring the foundation work of the Old Testament that has prevented so many from understanding the New.

The Bible is one single, indivisible unit. It cannot be broken up and a part cast aside. Only when it is regarded as one equally inspired and equally divine book can it be properly understood. God has varied His commands at different times to different people, but statements of FACT and TRUTH never change from beginning to end.

"Soul" in the New Testament cannot be considered apart from soul in the Old. Considering them together, we find them in complete harmony. As in the Old, so in the New, "soul" is used of animals; it is spoken of as dying; it is used for the mind, the heart, the appetite and the emotions.

Whenever speakers in the New Testament quote from passages in the Old containing the Hebrew word nephesh, they use the Greek word psuche. One outstanding example will illustrate this. In 1st Cor. 15, beginning at verse 42, Paul makes a contrast between corruption and incorruption, weakness and power, mortality and immortality. Then (verse 44) he says:

"There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body."

The word "natural" here is psuchikos--soulish, from psuche--soul. He continues, verse 45:

"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul (psuche)..."

He is quoting Gen. 2:7 which we have considered. In verse 46, he calls this living soul, "that which is natural." In verse 47, he calls it "of the earth, earthy." In verse 50, he calls it "flesh and blood" and "corruption." Paul's conception of soul fits perfectly with what we have already discovered.

Similarly souls are applied to animals, and souls die, in the New Testament just as in the Old. In Rev. 8:9, we read:

"And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life (psuche --soul), died..."

Rev. 16:3: "...every living soul (psuche) died in the sea."

And "soul" is used for natural life and function, as in the Old. In Matt. 6:25, Jesus says:

"...Take NO THOUGHT for your life (psuche--soul), what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink..."

The soul here is clearly that which is supported by eating and drinking. Acts 15:25-26 we read: "...Our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives (psuche) for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In faithfully serving Christ, they certainly could not have been hazarding immortal souls, but they WERE hazarding their scriptural souls--their natural lives and bodies.

The same applies to Paul's words in Acts 20:24: "...neither count I my life (psuche) dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy..."

And Jesus' words (John 10:15): "...I lay down my life (psuche) for the sheep."

And Phil. 2:30: "...for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, NOT REGARDING his life (psuche)..."

In all these, psuche is used in the common sense of natural life, and cannot be harmonized with the immortal soul idea.

Now, as in the Old [Testament], so in the New [Testament], there are a few passages where the use of the word could possibly be made to fit with the immortal soul idea. There are none, of course, that prove or even support this idea--that would be impossible as we can see from the basic meaning and general use of the word---but there are some where it could be read in if the rest is ignored.

The passage most frequently quoted is Matt. 10:28:

"...fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to DESTROY both soul and body in Gehenna."

Now it is rather peculiar at the outset that the one passage most quoted to support the indestructible soul theory is the very one that speaks of the soul being DESTROYED, but, we find that these people do not regard "destroyed" as meaning destroyed, but the opposite--eternally preserved.

And we find further that they do not regard "death" as meaning death, but "eternal LIFE in misery." We can see that with definitions such as this we could make anything prove anything.

We have seen that according to the Scriptures elsewhere, a man can and DOES kill the soul. We have looked at several passages to this effect, and there are many others. The first use of the word in the New Testament (Matt. 2:20) speaks of Herod "seeking the young child's life" (psuche--soul). The first appearance in the gospel of Mark is similar. Jesus says (Mark 3:4): "...is it lawful...on the sabbath...to save life (psuche), or to kill?..."

Paul in Rom. 11:3 quotes Elijah as saying: "...I am left alone, and they seek my life (psuche)."

What is meant here by saying that man cannot kill the soul? Are the Scriptures contradictory? Of course they are not. We must use wisdom to discern them properly. There is no difficulty in understanding what Christ means, if we sincerely seek a scriptural solution. Man can kill the body, but this has no permanent effect on our ultimate existence. To the faithful, this is but a brief sleep [Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 9:24; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4; Deut. 31:16; 2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psa. 13:31 Jer. 51:39, 57; Acts 13:36; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chron. 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Matt. 25:5]. In this sense, the ultimate, eternal sense, man can not kill the soul, or life. But God on the other hand is able to blot us out of existence forever and make all our memory to perish [Deut. 32:39;1 Sam. 2:6; Ecc. 9:4-6; Psa. 31:12; 88:5; Isa. 26:14; Ecc. 8:10].

Now, to sum up the points that have been covered:

1. We have seen that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is admittedly traced to heathen Greek philosophers, and its followers are quite willing to concede that the Bible meaning of soul is something very different.

2. The issue is clear and there is no middle ground--we must choose between Bible teaching and human speculation.

3. The words nephesh and psuche, translated "soul," occur 850 times in the Bible and in not one case is there any suggestion of immortality.

4. The translators have used over 40 words in translation and a glance at this list shows how far different the Bible soul is from the orthodox one.

5. The word is first used of ANIMALS.

6. One-third of all its occurrences speak of it in terms indicating its mortality and subjection to death.

7. It is often spoken of as being killed by man, and it is several times spoken of as actually being dead, and being handled and touched in a dead state.

ANYTHING MORE DIFFERENT FROM THE IMMORTAL SOUL THEORY, IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE.

In Conclusion, let us urge two points of action: FIRST, make a thorough, scriptural examination of the word "soul." The word occurs 850 times. Make the effort to trace them through. Compare them with the general, hazy ideas on the subject. It takes time, but there is no other way. God requires us to work and search.

And SECOND, having determined the facts of what we are--perishing creatures of dust-- investigate God's great offer of what we may become: "...There is a natural (soul) body, and there is a spiritual body." [1 Cor. 15:44].

"...As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." [1 Cor. 15:49].

"...this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality...then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." [1 Cor. 15:53-54].

These glorious words of the Apostle Paul will be fulfilled someday in the great joyful host of the redeemed, as they stand assembled before the judge of all the earth [Rev. 5:9-14; 14:1-5; Gen 18:25; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 2:16; 14:10; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; 1st Pet. 4:5].

For all others it will be: "As the beasts that perish." [Psa. 49:12, 20].

"Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed upon them; ...and their beauty shall consume in the grave..." [Psa. 49514].

Let US choose the path of wisdom and life.

By Bro. Rene Growcott
1966, with Scriptural passages added by Editor