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Saturday, November 22, 2014

 

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THE BIBLE MEANING OF "SOUL"


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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].

 


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