IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 154, 25 March 1939, Page 8 (Supplement)

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL

Doctrine Held Not Biblical CHRISTENDOM’S BELIEF DISCUSSED “The Immortal Soul —a Delusion,’ was the subject spoken upon last Sunday evening in the 1.0.0. F. Hall. Allen Street, Wellington. . In commencing, the speaker said that, though the doctrine of the immortality of the soul was field by practically the whole of Christendom, it was not a Bible doctrine. It was really a perpetuation of the old lie of the seipent in the garden of Eden. The word of God to Adam was that, if disobedient. be would "surely die’ (Gen. 2:17). The lie of the serpent, in contrast, was, “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). and that, in effect, was exactly what Christendom said by its doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Christendom s belief was aptly expressed by the poet, Longfellow, "There is no death what seems so is transition," and so we have the immortal soul with its transition at death to heaven, hell, or purgatory. These doctrines, -however, are certainly not taught in the Bible. The Creation of Man.

In presenting Bible-teaching concernin'’’ the nature of man. attention was first directed to the God-inspired record of the creation of man. What was written concerning the creation had been endorsed by Christ and Paul (John 5:46-47, Acts 24:14). and, therefore, every confidence could be imposed in the words of Gen. 2:7, “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.” There was no support in this record for the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. True it was that, in Gen. 2:7, oue found the words “soul" and “breath” (spirit), but it was explained that the Hebrew originals, “nephesh’’ for soul and “neshamah” for breath, were used indiscriminately in the Scriptures in relation to both the human and animal creation. “Nephesh,” the Hebrew for soul, in Gen. 2:7 was rendered, “living creature” in Gen. 1:21, Gem 2:19, Lev. 11:46. etc., and in these places the. reference was to the animal creation Furthermore, it was shown that the Bible frequently spoke of the soul dying (Eze. 18:4, Psa. 78:50), and being “utterly destroyed” (Josh. 11:11, Josh. 10.39, Acts 3:23), which .would clearly prove that the word “soul” did not imply or indicate immortality. The Bible also spoke of ‘‘souls’’ being born (Gen. 46 :IS. Gen. 46:26, Ex. 1:5), eating and drinking (Deut. 12:20, Lev. 17.10), etc. Coming next to the word “breath” in Gen. 2:7, the Hebrew original was “neshamah.” and the same original occurred in Gen. 7 :22, but the latter quotation embraced the entire animal creation as well as flic human. It was also explained that the Hebrew word, “Rauch.” frequently translated “breath,” as in Ecc. 3:19, was also translated “spirit,” as in Ecc. 12:7. If, therefore, the word “breath” was substituted for “spirit.” it would be seen that, in such passages as Ecc. 12:7, no support would 'be found for the immortality of the soul. It would be noted that in Ecc. 3:19, “ruach.” translated “breath,” included the animal creation It would be seen, therefore, that, according to the Bible, both the human and animal creation were animated by the “breath of life,” that the human and animal creation were “living souls” or “living creatures,” that a “soul” could be born, eat and drink, die, be utterly destroyed, etc., from which it followed that the “soul” of the Bible could not be the immortal soul of orthodox belief. In continuing, reference was made to the fall of man. The Lord God had indicated that death would be the punish-

ment for sin—“ln the day that thou eatest thereof dying, thou shalt die” (Gen. 2:17). Adam sinned, and so the sentence was passed as recorded in Gen. 3:17-24, and, therefore, Adam eventually died (Gen. 5:5). The Apostle Paul, when making reference to these facts, had said, "Wherefore, as by one man siu entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Roms. 5:12), and so it also was written, “In, Adam all die” (I Cor. 15:22), which meant that all the posterity of Adam had inherited the sentence of death. As had been shown, death was a punishment for sin, and the Scriptures revealed that it was a real punishment, even the cessation of life, for "the dead know not anything” (Ecc. 9:5, Psa. 6:5, I’sa. llo:17, Psa. 146:4). Consequently, the Bible spoke of death as an "enemy" (I Cor. 15:26), whereas- if the doctrine of the immortality of the soul were true, death would be a friend if it meant a "transition” from earth to heaven. From what bad been advanced, it was contended that man, by nature, was essentially mortal (Job. 4:17, Roms. 5:12, I Cor. 15:53), that in death his body returned to dust and his breath (spirit) returned to God who gave it, and man (the living soul or creature), became as before birth—non-existent. The Truth About Immortality. In continuing, it was submitted that, though no reference was made in the Bible to an immortal soiil. the Bible certainly spoke of immortality—eternal life. Eternal life was a ."gift” (Roms. 6:23), offered to fallen man by his Creator on conditions made known by Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15-16). Thus, eternal life was not a present possession, but was referred to in th?- Scriptures as that which God had promised (I John 2:25), and consequently the believer could live "in hope" (Titus 1 :2, Titus 3 :7, Roms. S :24-25) of receiving it. But how could the "gift” of eternal life be received and the believer's hope realized if, as had been shown, man was mortal, subject to death, and, when dead, was really dead? The answer was to be found in Bible-teaching concerning the resurrection of the dead. The Scriptures revealed that Jesus Christ was "the resurrection and the life” (John 11 :25), that He had “the keys of the grave (hades), and of death” (Rev. 1 :18), and so He declared that “The gates of the grave (hades) would not prevail against His Church” (Matt. 16:18). Therefore, the Bible taught that, at Christ’s second coming (an event now imminent), “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some, to everlasting life” (Dan. 12:2, I These. 4:16). Then, after resurrection, and after appearing before the judgment seat of Christ, would the accepted believers receive immortality— God's gift of eternal life. Their mortal bodies would be "changed” (Phil. 3:21), they would become possessed of powerfulimmortal, physical bodies (I Cor. 15:5154), woulc] be equal unto the angels (Luke 20:36), and thereby become, as Jesus Christ became, after His resurrection from tlie dead (I John 3:2, Luke 24:36-43). It was then shown that those who had thus been redeemed from mortality would inherit and rule in the Kingdom of God. which Christ would establish upon earth at His return (II Tim. 4:1, Matt. 6:10, Rev. 11 .-15. Dan. 2:44, Matt. 25:34, Dan. 7 :27), and thereby in them would be fulfilled the inspired words of Rev. 5:9-10, “Thou (Jesus), hast redeemed us to : God by Thy blood . . . and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests, and we shall reign on the earth.”

tn conclusion, the speaker emphasized the fact that what had been advance’’ was the “sound doctrine” of the Bible. The Apostle Paul, however, had declared by the Spirit that, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine . . . they shall turn away their ears from' the truth and shall be turned unto fables” (II Tim. 4:3-4). The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, together with other doctrines held in Christendom, proved that Paul’s God-inspired words had been fulfilled.