THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL NOT PROVED BY SCRIPTURE.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3829, 6 April 1881, Page 1

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL NOT PROVED BY SCRIPTURE.

(To the Editor of the EveningJStar.) Sis,—ln attempting to prove the dogma of man's immortality from Scripture, the Rer. Mr Neill has altogether failed in his attempt. We want Bible truths, not Platonic dreamings and unless this doctrine is found to be clearly stated in the Bible, it cannot bo accepted. The quotation of a few texts from the old Testament, ir; proof of this immortality, instead of helping to establish this theory, only shows its absurdity. The first text given is this, " The Lord God formed man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath o£ life, and man became a living soul (creature.)" To say that the breath is the immortal part of man avails nothing, as it is evident that the man made of earth became a living soul simply by the impartation of the animating principle, the breath of the spirit of lives, the universal principle of all animal life, which principle is said to be in the nostrils of every creature. "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them : as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast, for all is vanity. All go unto one place : all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again—Eccles. iii., 19. Again, the fact of Enoch being alive in some other sphere, does not help to establish the dogma, as the dullest mind can see that this man became exempt from the penalty of sin, but he underwent a change similar to that which shall take place on those who are found to be Christ's at his second coming. The language of David in the 16th Psalm is that of prophecy, and relates especially to the-Christ which was to come. Peter, in the 2nd of Acts, applies it directly to Christ, while at the same time he tells them that the patriarch David is not ascended into heaven, but is dead and buried, and that his sepulchre was with them to that%ay. The prophet Isaiah, in* the 26th chapter, speaks of future resurrection, not the immortality of the soul. Turning to the New Testament, and looking at the arguments taken there* from to prove man's inherent immortality, we shall find them equally weak and untrustworthy. It will be well for those who profess to expound Bible teaching to know that that wonderful text that every preacher delights to define, has received its proper rendering in the new translation. I refer to the words of Christ, when He said, " What shall it profit a man if he gains the world and lose his soul [life] ; or what shall a man give in exchange for his life." Again, we are told to fear Him who is "Able to destroy both soul and body in hell," and in Psalms (cxlv., 20). " But all the wicked will He destroy." Our conclusion is that God means what He says. But we are told by modern theologians that the soul cannot be destroyed.—l am, &0., Smskeb After Tbttth.