IMMORTALITY
OR
RESURRECTION
Subtitled: The Resurrection, Our Only Hope Of Life After
Death
William
Robert West
Church of Christ
Author
of ÒThe Rapture And IsraelÓ
Is
"The Wages Of Sin Death"
Or Is
"The Wages Of Sin Eternal Life
With Torment In Hell"
An
Immortal Soul and the Doctrine of Hell
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As of 5/17/2012
Foreword
What does the Bible say about an immortal
soul and/or spirit? Together
soul and spirit are used about 1,600 times in the Bible, but not one time is
immortal ever used in the same verse with either one, Òimmortality soul or
spirit,Ó Òdeathless or never dying soul or spiritÓ is not in the Bible, not
even in the King James Version. Immortal and immortality is not in the Old
Testament, the promise of immortality is given to no one. In the New Testament,
immortal is used only one time in the New Testament, immortality is used five
times, all by Paul. What does he say?
Why are we to "seek for immortality" if we are born immortal? Why will we "put on immortality" if the
only part of us that will ever be immortal has been immortal from birth (or
before birth)? The fact that a person
must "seek for...immortality"
and immortality must be "put
on" at the resurrection is conclusive proof that a person does not now
have it. If Romans 2:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:53 teaches nothing more, it
teaches that no part of a person now possess immortality. Not one passage in the Bible says anyone is now immortal; if no one is
now immortal, no one can now have a soul that is now immortal. The immortal
soul theology is from pagan philosophy, if all have a deathless soul, and we
are told that this deathless soul is the only part of a person that will ever
be immortal, and it is already immortal, the resurrection is made to be
useless.
There are only two
views that are commonly believed about what will happen to mankind after death.
View one: The belief
that everyone has a soul in them that will live forever and cannot die makes it
not possible for death to be the wages of sin. If a person has something in
them that deathless it would not be
subject to the wages of sin, which is death, and it could not ever be destroyed; it would be born with eternal life and could
never die, therefore, it could not be resurrected from the dead. This view
has two major divisions.
1. That all
mankind has a "soul" that cannot ever die or be destroyed, but for
most of mankind God will forever torment this part of a person they call
"soul."
2. Universalism:
that all mankind has a "soul" that cannot ever die or be destroyed,
everyone has something in them that will live forever but it will be saved. If
it (the immortal soul) is not saved in this lifetime it will be saved after
death.
View two: The wages of
sin is death, and the lost will die the second death, they do not now have eternal life and never will, those who do
not belong to Christ will forever be destroyed after their judgment. Those who
do not believe this view gave it the name "annihilation." This name
is not in the Bible, but what it means is eternal destruction, nevertheless, I
think it best not to call Bible teaching by a name not in the Bible.
Most Protestant Premillennialists believe the lost will be
totally destroyed but there are three Premillennial views that are common in
Protestant churches on how or where the lost will be destroyed.
1. Many Protestant
Premillennialists believe that the destruction of the lost will be on this
earth and the saved will forever live on this earth; no person will ever be in
Heaven. Many believe the Valley of Gehenna will be restored and the lost will
literally be burn to ashes in it.
2. Some Protestant
Premillennialists believe that the saved will be with Christ in Heaven, not on
earth after the thousand years, the second death will be the end of the lost,
but they are not literally burned to ashes on this earth in the restored Valley
of Gehenna.
3. Some Protestant
Premillennialists believe the wages of sin is eternal life with torment for the
soul that cannot die, which puts them in the camp of those that believe death
is not the wages of sin.
If we have either a
soul or a spirit that is now immortal and can never die or be dead, how could
there be a resurrection of the dead? Do you believe in the resurrection of the
dead? If yes, what do you believe will be resurrected; will your dead body be
raised from the dead, or do you believe a soul that is not dead will be raised
from the dead? When I first begin this study I was surprised and made to
tremble at how few believed in the resurrection and how many there are that do
not really know what they believe about it. Many believe some part of
themselves will instantly be transited from this world to Heaven or Hell at
death without a resurrection before the resurrection and Judgment Day and
before the second coming of Christ, but when they are asked what is the reason
for the resurrection, they not only do not know but have never really thought
about it. Death is looked at as being a doorway to life in another form, that
death is not really death, and there is nowhere in their thoughts or in their
faith for a resurrection for their theology says no one is really dead. The
resurrection has been removed from the faith of many by today's theology that says
some immortal part of a person will go to Heaven at the moment of death. But is there any life after death before
the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead? Paul said it
will be at the resurrection that, "This
mortal must put on immortality," but if we have a soul that is now
immortal then what is it that is now mortal that will put on immortality at the
resurrection?
-------------------------------------------------------
Table
of Contents
AN
IMMORTAL SOUL OR RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
The
Resurrection, Our Only Hope Of Life After Death
By William West
Chapter
one: The nature of man - what is man?
Chapter two: Life or Death
Chapter
three: The reinterpretations of the great
doctrines of the Bible
Chapter
four: From where came Hell, from man
or God?
á
Unquenchable
fire
á
Old Testament
history of Gehenna
á
Gehenna used by
Christ on four occasions
á
The vanishing
Hell
á
Twenty-four plus
version of Hell
o Twelve plus Protestant versions of Hell
o Eight other versions of Hell
o Three Catholic versions of Hell
Chapter five: Sheol, Hades, and
Tartarus
Chapter six: The thirty-one Hell
passages
Chapter
seven: A strange and unexplainable silence of the
Old Testament on punishment and life after death, life, death, torment,
destruction, destroy, perish, die, and end
Chapter
eight: Figurative language, metaphors, and
symbolical passage
á
Part one:
The rich man
á
Part two:
The symbolic pictures in Revelation
á
Part
three: The forever and ever of the King James Version
á
Part four:
The destruction of Israel, Matthew 24
o
A. D. 70
doctrine
o
Day of the
Lord
Chapter
nine: Universalist: The "age lasting"
Hell
Chapter
ten: The results of attributing evil Pagan
teachings to God.
Chapter eleven: Historical
proof of
the changing of the teaching of the Bible.
Appendix one
----------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER ONE
What Is Man?
What
is a man? Is a person born with an immortal soul, or do the saved put on
immortality at the resurrection? Is a person a three part being, an animal body
with both a soul and a spirit that will live without the body? This is one of
the most important questions of all time. It has more influence on our
conception of our nature, our view of life in this world, and our view of life
after death than any other question.
Soul in the Old Testament is translated
from nehphesh, StrongÕs Hebrew word
#5315—Òa breathing creatureÓ A study of the way it is translated in the
King James and how other translation differ greatly from the King James reveals
facts that are far different that the belief of most about what the soul is and
facts that most will find upsetting. Nehphesh is used in the Old Testament
about 870 times and is translated soul only about 473 times in the King James
and in
the New International Version (2010
updated version) only 72 out about 870 times it is used.
Nehphesh is
translated in the King James Version into about 40 words, one Hebrew word is
translated (or mistranslated) into nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
etc.
In all 870 times this
word is used it is associated with the activity of a living being, including
dying, and it never implies anything about life after the death of the living
being. None of the 870 times are an immortal, immaterial, inter something
in a person that has no substance; souls (nehpheshs) are the living being
(persons, animals, or any living thing) that can die, be killed, or is already be
dead.
Soul (nehphesh) as it is used in the Bible - although its use is often
hid from the English readers by the way it was translated or mistranslated.
(1) Genesis 1:20 "The moving creature that has life" (soul–nehphesh,
used referring to animals, StrongÕs
Hebrew word #5315—Òa breathing creatureÓ). Footnote in the King James
Version–"The moving creature
that has soul." American
Standard Version–"Let the
waters swarm with swarms of living
creatures" (soul–nehphesh).
If ÒsoulÓ were an
immortal "immaterial, invisible part
of man" (W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament
Words), why is this Hebrew word that is translated soul also translated "living creature" when it is
speaking of animals in Genesis 1:21; 1:24; 2:19; 9:10; 9:12; 9:15; 9:16 when
the same Hebrew word (nehphesh) is translated "living soul" in Genesis 2:7 when it is speaking of a
person? In the Hebrew, if this word were an immaterial, immortal part of a
person, it would also be an immaterial, immortal part of animals.
(2) Genesis 1:21 "living
creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to all life in the water), "And
God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature (soul–nehphesh) that moves wherewith the water swarmed.Ó
(3) Genesis 1:24 "living
creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals, all life on the land), "And
God said, Let the earth bring forth living
creatures (soul–nehphesh)
after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth." In
Genesis 1:21-24 every living thing on earth, whether in the water or on land,
every thing that has life is a nehphesh, a living being; all sea life, all land
life, and mankind are a nehphesh, a living being, not inherent indestructible
immortality beings, not an immortal deathless Òsoul.Ó
(4) Genesis 1:30 "life"
(soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals),
"And to every beast of the earth,
and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps upon the earth,
wherein there is life"
(soul–nehphesh); animals are "a
living soul."
ALL FOUR TIMES THAT SOUL (nehphesh) IS USED IN
GENESIS ONE IT IS USED REFERRING TO ANIMALS StrongÕs Hebrew word
#5315—Òa breathing creature, i.e. animal.Ó NOT TO A PERSON. ANIMALS WERE SOULS, LIVING BEINGS, BEFORE ANY MAN
EXISTED; BUT IT LOOKS AS IF THE TRANSLATORS DELIBERATELY HID THE FACT THAT IT
IS THE SAME WORD THAT THEY SOMETIMES TRANSLATED SOUL.
á
SOUL WHEN IT IS SPEAKING OF PEOPLE
á
LIVING CREATURES WHEN IT THE SAME WORD IS SPEAKING OF ANIMALS
"Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with
swarms of living souls (soul–nehpheshs), and
let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.' And God
created the great sea monsters, and every living
soul (soul-nehphesh) that
moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird
after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, 'Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply
on the earth.' And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Then
God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living
souls (soul–nehpheshs) after
their kind: cattle and creeping thing and beasts of the earth after their
kind'; and it was so...and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of
the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life (soul–nehphesh), I
have given every green herb for meat" (Genesis 1:20-30). ÒLiving
creatures" (soul–nehphesh)
is used to describe all living things on earth, people, animals, birds, and fish, not eternal life
or some immaterial invisible part of a person that is eternal. If a person
being a soul (nehphesh–a living being) makes that person be either
immortal or in the image of God, then it makes animals, birds, and fish being a
soul (nehphesh–a living being) also be immortal and in the image of God.
(5) Genesis 2:7 "A
living soul" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to a person, StrongÕs Hebrew word
#5315—Òa breathing creatureÓ) The
first time the King James Version translated nehphesh into "soul," most other translations did not agree with it,
not even the New King James Version. "Man
became a living being" New King James Version.
á
ÒA living creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:20
á
ÒA living creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:21
á
ÒA living creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:24
á
ÒWherein there is life" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:30
á
ÒA living soul" (nehphesh) Genesis 2:7 "Man
became a living being" New
King James Version
o
It is obvious that the translators of the King James Version
translated according to a preconceived opinion in an attempt make persons have
immortality but keep animals from having souls; they made a distinction in
animals and men, a distinction that dose not exist in the Hebrew Bible.
o
Genesis 2:7 Man became:
¤
ÒA living soul" King James Version
¤
"A living being" New King James Version, American Standard Version, New American
Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New
International Version, Amplified Version, The New American Bible.
¤
"A living person" New Century Version, The Living Bible, New Living Translation.
¤
"A living creature" The Revised English Bible, Young's Literal Translation.
¤
"Life" Contemporary English Version.
ÒIn the day that YOU eat from it YOU shall
surely dieÓ (Genesis 2:17). Adam would
die, not an immortal, immaterial, deathless soul would die. In Genesis 3:19 a
clear statement on what dies, ÒBy the
sweat of YOUR face YOU shall eat bread, till YOU return to the ground, because
from it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return.Ó ÒIt is
appointed for MEN to die once and after this comes judgmentÓ (Hebrews
9:27). It is the PERSON that will die and be resurrected from the dead, not a
soul that cannot die, therefore, cannot be resurrected from the dead, not a spiritual
death.
Although this passage is repeatedly used
to prove man has an immortal soul that animals do not have, most translations other
than the King James apply it to the living breathing being or person, not to an
invisible inter deathless part of a person. Adam being spoken of as a "living being" (nehphesh StrongÕs
Hebrew word #5315—Òa breathing creatureÓ) proves he was mortal, not immortal, just as all "living beings" (nehphesh) fish, birds, animals, are
mortal, not immortal. How can this be one of the proof texts used to prove Adam
was made with an immortal soul? If it proves Adam had an immortal soul then it
proves that fish have an immortal soul that cannot die.
It is importance to
understand that it is being said that both animals and mankind are a soul
(are living beings) not that animals or mankind have a soul (have a
part, an immortal, invisible, no substitute something in them that cannot die).
Many assume Genesis is saying only mankind has souls but animals do not. Because
of what most have been taught, without realizing it they read into this that
only mankind has a soul that is an immortal, invisible, no substitutes
something that cannot die. This causes them to believe that only this
immortal part of them self will be saved (more on this at the end of this
chapter).
THE BREATH OF LIFE: Some have switched
from the soul being the immortal part of a person to the spirit being the
immortal part of a person that animals do not have. ÒThen the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathe into
his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living beingÓ The phrase
Òbreath of lifeÓ that was
breathed into man in Genesis 2:7 is the same Hebrew Òbreath of lifeÓ in Genesis 7:21-22 that is in the nostrils of
birds, cattle, men and beasts; the Òbreath
of lifeÓ in animals is the same Òbreath
of lifeÓ that is in persons. The Òbreath
of lifeÓ (1) is not a immortal spirit, (2) is not a immortal soul that men now have but animals do not have; it
does not say that the Òbreath of lifeÓ
God breathed into Adam was an immortal deathless spirit or soul and his
immortality was passed on to all mankind; the breathless body that God made
from the earth is what became a living breathing being when the Òbreath of lifeÓ was breathed into the
breathless body. God did not tell Adam he had a body that was made from the
earth but the real Adam was made of something not from the earth; how can
anyone not see that the Òbreath of lifeÓ
in an earthly body of a man or of an animal cannot be changed into an immortal
spirit?
á
ÒBreathed into his nostrils
the breath of life (nshahmah)Ó man (Genesis 2:7)
á
ÒAll in whose nostrils was the breath of life (nshahmah)Ó both man and animals have the same Òbreath of life (nshahmah)Ó (Genesis 7:22)
á
ÒSaved alive nothing that breaths (nshahmah)Ó both men and animals (Deuteronomy
20:16). ÒBreath of lifeÓ and ÒbreathsÓ are the same in the Hebrew, both are Ònshahmah,Ó but who knows
why the translators choose to make them different in the English Bible.
á
ÒUtterly destroyed all that
breaths (nshahmah)Ó both men and animals (Joshua
10:40)
á
ÒThere was not any left to breaths (nshahmah)Ó both men and animals (Joshua
11:11)
á
ÒNeither left they any to breaths (nshahmah)Ó both men and animals (Joshua
11:14)
o
Does an immortal immaterial deathless soul or spirit breathe, or
die when breathing stops?
(6)
Genesis 2:19 "living creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals), "Every beast...every
bird...whatsoever the man called every living
creature (soul–nehphesh),
that was the name thereof"
(7)
Genesis 9:4 "life" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals)
(8)
Genesis 9:5 "lives" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to man)
(9)
Genesis 9:5 "life" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to man)
(10)
Genesis 9:10 "living creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals)
(11)
Genesis 9:12 "living creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals)
(12)
Genesis 9:15 "living creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to
man and animals)
(13)
Genesis 9:16 "living creature" (soul–nehphesh, used referring to
man and animals)
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A
birdÕs eye view of the translation of nehphesh in the first nine chapters
1.
ÒMoving creature that has life" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:20 - animals
2.
ÒA living creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:21- animals
3.
ÒA living creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 1:24 - animals
4.
ÒWherein there is life" (soul - nehphesh) Genesis 1:30 - animals
5.
ÒA living soul" (nehphesh) Genesis 2:7 - man
6.
ÒA living creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 2:19 – animals
7.
ÒLife" (nehphesh) Genesis 9:4 - animals
8.
ÒLivesÓ (nehphesh) Genesis 9:5 - man
9.
ÒLife" (nehphesh) Genesis 9:5 - man
10.
ÒLiving creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 9:10 - animals
11.
ÒLiving creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 9:12 - animals
12.
ÒLiving creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 9:15 - man and animals
13.
ÒLiving creature" (nehphesh) Genesis 9:16 - man and animals
This is an example of
men attempting to cover up the truth when it is contradictory to their
theology. It takes a lot of preconceived theology to make nehphesh be an
immaterial invisible no substance part of a man that is now immortal that is
not in animals when it is not deliberately hid as it is in the King James
Version.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In Genesis 9:4-16 the same word is used
for both man and animals seven times in the same passage.
To animals five
times, to man four times
á
Three times to
animals alone
á
Two times to
animals and man together
á
Two times to
man alone
"But flesh with the LIFE (#1.
Soul–nehphesh, used referring
to animals) thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat. And surely your
blood, the blood of your LIVES (#2.
soul–nehphesh, used referring
to man), will I require; at the hand of
every beast will I require it: and at the hand of men, even at the hand of
every man's brother, will I require the LIFE
(#3. soul–nehphesh, used
referring to man) of man. Whoso sheds
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made He
men. And you, be you fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the
earth, and multiply therein. And God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him,
saying, and I, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed
after you; and every LIVING CREATURE
(#4. soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals) that is with you, of
the fowl, and the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all
that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my
covenant with you; neither shall the waters of a flood cut off all flesh be any
more; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God
said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and
every LIVING CREATURE (#5. soul–nehphesh, used referring to animals) that is with you, for perpetual generation: I do set my bow in the
cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it
shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be
seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you
and every LIVING CREATURE (#6. soul–nehphesh, used referring to
man and animals) of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy
all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I
may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every LIVING CREATURE (#7. soul–nehphesh,
used referring to man and animals) of all flesh that is upon the earth."
All four times that soul (nehphesh) is
used in Genesis 1; it is referring to animals, not to a person. IN TEN OF THE
FIRST THIRTEEN TIMES SOUL (NEHPHESH) IS USED IT IS USED REFERRING TO ANIMALS,
but the King James Version hides this by using different words, and most who
read the King James Version never know it. Nehphesh
is translated "soul" only
one time of the first thirteen times it is used in the King James Version; but
it is not translated "soul"
in any of the first thirteen times it is used in the New King James Version,
New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, or New
International Version. Mankind has the
same soul (life–nehphesh) as the other "living creatures." He does not differ from other living
creatures (soul–nehphesh) by having a soul (nehphesh) that cannot die.
His dominion over other living creatures (other nehpheshs–souls) is not
his nehphesh.
Mike Willis said
expositors have generally appealed to Genesis 2:7 to prove that all men are
born with and now have immortal spirits. However, in 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul
has clearly expounded the meaning of the Hebrew words nehphesh, chayyah. "The living soul" of Genesis 2:7 is
the natural body of this passage. He said this corresponds with the book of
Genesis itself because the same construction is used in Genesis 1:24 to
describe animals. When Moses recorded that God breathed into man's nostrils the
breath of life and he became a living soul, what the writer of Genesis was
saying was that the dust of the earth began to have animal life and does not
prove that a person has an immortal spirit (soul); rather it states that a
person has animal life. All men possess animal life through Adam. A Commentary
On Paul's First Epistle To the Corinthians, Page 578, 1979. For one who knows
the Bible as he does and believes a person has an immortal soul, yet says, the
living soul of Genesis 2:7 is the natural body, proves beyond doubt that a
living soul is not an immortal inter part of a person. ÒThe first man Adam became a living soulÉthe first man is of the earth,
earthyÓ (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).
Guy N. Woods said the
first time the word soul is used in Genesis 1:20 it is from the Hebrew nehphesh
where it is assigned to fish, birds, and creeping things. He said it is clear
that the soul in these passages does not refer to anything peculiar to the
constitution of man, but it signifies, as its usage denotes, and the lexicons
affirm, any creature that breathes. "What Is The Soul Of Man," Gospel
Advocate, 1985, Number 21.
Adam Clarke: "Nephesh
clayyah; a general term to express all creatures endued with animal life,
in any of its infinitely varied gradations, from the half reasoning elephant
down to the stupid potto, or lower still, to the polype, which seems equally to
share the vegetable and animal life."
In
the first nine chapters of Genesis soul (nehphesh—StrongÕs Hebrew word #5315—Òa breathing creatureÓ) is
used more often with reference to animals than it is with reference to persons; it is
the animal life, which both a person and animals have in common. How did the translators know when it changed to an invisible inter
immortal part of a person, which animals do not have?
Note: both man
and animals are souls, living beings. We are a soul, not have a soul. If we have a
soul, have a living being in us, then we are one living being with another
living being living in us, a living being living in another living being. The doctrine that we have a soul living
in us, and it is only this immortal deathless part of us that will be saved or
tormented forever is the foundation of many of the errors that have divided the
churches. That we are a soul (we are
a living being), not we have a soul (not
have a living being living in us) is one of the most fundamental and most
misunderstood teaching in the bible.
(14)
Genesis 12:5 "And the people (soul–nehphesh) whom they had acquired" New King
James Version ("soul" in
King James Version.)
(15)
Genesis 12:13 "That I (soul–nehphesh) may live because of you" New King
James Version ("soul" in
King James Version.) Do you wonder why this was translated, ÒThat I
may liveÓ and not ÒThat my soul may live?Ó
(16)
Genesis 14:21 "Give me the persons (soul–nehphesh) and take the goods" King James
Version. Can anyone give immortal souls to another person?
(17)
Genesis 17:14 "That person (soul–nehphesh) shall be cut off" New King James
Version.
(18)
Genesis 19:17 "Escape for your life (soul–nehphesh)"
King James Version.
(19)
Genesis 19:19 "Saving my life (soul–nehphesh)"
King James Version.
In
the first nineteen times nehphesh is used it is translated ÒsoulÓ
¤
Only three times in the
King James Version
¤
None in the New King James
Version
¤
None in the New American Standard
Version
¤
None in the New Revised
Standard Version
¤
None in the New
International Version.
(20)
Genesis 19:20 "That my life (soul–nehphesh) may be saved" New American
Standard Version (Translated soul for the fourth time in the King James Version
and first time in the New King James Version). Do you wonder how did the
translators of the New King James Version did not think this word means ÒsoulÓ
in the nineteen times it was used before this, but changed their minds this
time?
(21)
Genesis 23:8 "If it be your mind (soul–nehphesh)"
King James Version
(22)
Genesis 27:4 "So that I (soul–nehphesh) may bless you before I die" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"So that I (nehphesh) may bless you
before I die" Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version
á
"So that I (nehphesh) may give you my
blessing before I die" New International Version
á
"So that I (nehphesh) may give you my
blessing before I die" Revised English Bible
á
"To give you my (nehphesh) blessing before I
die" Amplified Bible
á
"That I (nehphesh) may give you my
special blessing before I die" New American Bible
á
"Then I (nehphesh) will bless you
before I die" New Century Version
á
"Then I (nehphesh) will pronounce
the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die" New
Living Translation
á
"I (nehphesh) want to eat it
once more and give you by blessing before I die" Contemporary English
Version
á
"That I (nehphesh) may eat of it, (preparatory)
to giving you (as my first-born) my blessing before I die" Amplified
Bible
á
"That my soul (nehphesh) may bless thee
before I die" King James Version. How would Isaac's son know if he
were blessed by an "immaterial
invisible" no substance part of a person that he could not see? By
this time, hundreds of years after Genesis 1:1, the King James translators must
have been desperate to be able to put "soul" into the Bible.
Up to Genesis
27:4 for hundreds of years nehphesh is translated soul:
á
Only four times out of twenty-two in the King James Version.
á
Only one time out of twenty-two in the New King James Version.
á
None in The New International Version and most others translations.
Nehphesh has been
used 21 times before the New King James Version used "soul" for the
first time, but even then the translators of many versions have chosen not to
translate it "soul." In Genesis
"nehphesh" is not an immortal "immaterial,
invisible part of man," but it is the life, living creature, living
being, any living thing, whether animals, fish, or man. If the translators had
continued to translate nehphesh as life, living creature, living being, or
person, as they did in the first twenty-one times it is used, there may not be
the divisions there are today. Why did they not translate nehphesh into soul in
the first part of the Bible that covers hundreds of years? Maybe because they
thought it would have made animals have souls, and they did not believe animals
could have souls. I find it difficult to see how anyone could not call
their honesty into question for it is undeniable that they put their belief
over the word of God and deliberately hid the truth from their readers;
deliberately hid the truth from you.
(23)
Genesis 32:30 "My life (soul–nehphesh) is preserved" King James Version.
Most translations use "life" in this passage for an immortal soul could
not perish and would not need to be preserved.
(24) Genesis 34:3
(25) Genesis 34:8
(26) Genesis 35:18
(27)
Genesis 36:6 "All the persons (nehphesh) of his house" King James Version
(28) Genesis 37:21 "Let
us not kill him (nehphesh)"
King James Version. It was observe to the translators that they could not translate
this nehphesh into soul, after all in immortal soul could not be killed.
(29)
Job 12:10 "In whose hand is the soul (soul–nehphesh, used
referring to animals) of every living thing, and the breath of all
mankind." "The life of
every living thing" New American Standard Bible
(30)
Job 41:21 "His breath (soul–nehphesh, used referring to an animal, possibly a crocodile)"
(31)
Isaiah 19:10 "All that make sluices
and ponds for fish (soul–nehphesh,
used referring to animals, fish)"
King James Version. Although nehphesh is in the Hebrew, many translations seems
not to know what to do with it and just took it out or completely changed it
for they did not want a soul to be in a pond.
(32)
Jeremiah 2:24 "A wild ass used to
the wilderness, that snuffed up the wind in
her (soul–nehphesh, used referring to an animal) desire"
(33)
Proverbs 27:7 ÒThe full soul (nehphesh) loathes an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul (nehphesh)" ever bitter thing is sweet.Ó How could
the translators think an immaterial something could be full or could be hungry
for honey?
á
ÒA sated man (nehphesh) loathes
honey, but to a famished man (nehphesh)
any bitter thing is sweetÓ New
American Standard Bible.
á
ÒHe (nehphesh) who is full
loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweetÓ New
International Version. ÒNehpheshÓ is in the Hebrew two times but one of the two
it was left out in the New International Version.
(34)
Numbers 31:28 "And levy a tribute
unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul (nehphesh–used
referring to man and animals) of five hundred, both of the persons, and of
the beeves, and of the asses and of the sheep." Of about 870 times
ÒnepheshÓ is in the Old Testament this and Job 12:10 are the only passages
where the King James translators translated ÒnepheshÓ as ÒsoulÓ when it has
reference to animals and is maybe that the only reason they did this time is
that it has equal reference to people as it does to animals and they had no
choice.
"So carefully has the translation of nehphesh been guarded in relation to
animals as 'souls,' that we can't help but wonder if it were not done
intentionally to conceal the fact that animals are souls as well as men."
David J. Heinizman, "Man Became A Living Soul"
(35
to 870) It would be to long to quote all the 870 times the Hebrew word nehphesh
is in the Old Testament with just over one-half being translated "soul,"
about
473 times in King James Version.
Not
once do any of them imply anything about life beyond the grave or about the
soul being immortal. Nehphesh is translated soul is in the New International
Version Old Testament only 72 times out of the 870 times it is used, according
to this translation, 798 times nehphesh was not a Òsoul.Ó
1.
Life about 122 times
2.
Person about 26 times
3.
Mind about 15 times
4.
Heart about 15 times
5.
Personal pronouns 44 + times (yourselves,
themselves, her, me, he, his, himself)
6.
All others, about 200 times (man, creature,
living being, own, any, living thing, lives, the dead, dead body, kills, slays,
slay him, mortally, discontented, ghost, breath, will, appetite, hearty desire,
desire, pleasure, lust, deadly, fish). All
870 times have one thing in common, they are all associated with the activity
of a living being, including dying, and it never implies anything about life
after the death of the living being, they are all speaking of living beings
that will die, not of an immortal deathless something in a living being. None
of the 870 times are an immortal inter part of a person; they are a living
being that can die, be killed, or be dead.
Nehphesh is always associated with the activity of earthly breathing beings,
both of person(s) and animal(s). It never implies anything about life beyond
the grave. IT IS NEVER TRANSLATED "SPIRIT."
Although nehphesh—StrongÕs Hebrew word #5315—Òa breathing creatureÓ is translated into about thirty-five words,
thirty-four all have reference only to a mortal being, animal, or person, none
to an Òimmaterial invisible part of a person.Ó
1.
How could nehphesh be a mortal breathing creature in thirty-four
of the words into which it is translated?
2.
And in only one of the thirty-five words it is an immortal
something that does not breath and that does not include animals? Is it because this is the only word that they could use to put the
Pagan immortal soul into the Bible, but were not able to translate it into an
immortal invisible something most of the times it was used?
Can one word be
rightly translated this way? How could the translators know when to change this
word was a mortal being and when the same word was an immortal being? No one reading some of the English
translations of the Bible would have any way of knowing that all these words
are translations (or mistranslations) of only one word. Did the translators
do so because they wanted to make a person be an "immortal being,"
and more than a "living creatures?" In almost one half of the times
nehphesh is used in the Old Testament, even the King James translators could
not translate it "soul." When the all-knowing God used just one word,
why did the translators use many words and change it as they wished to from a
noun to pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.? Did they think that for all the years from Adam unto Christ, God
thought people could understand just one word, but now about forty words are
needed to translate that one word? If one word were all that was needed from
Adam unto the translation of the King James Version, why would God's one word
not be enough today? Do the translators think they have improved the Hebrew Old
Testament by changing the one word that God used into about thirty-five words
and from a noun to about all parts of speech? The use of many words came when
the Catholic Church brought in unconditional immortality, and they had to get
it into the Bible. The Hebrew manuscripts still have just one word–nehphesh,
which was the one word God inspired. Were the translators inspired to change it
to many words?
Nehphesh is
translated soul far fewer times in
the New American Standard Version and in most other translations, including the
New King James Version, than it is in the King James Version. Were they going
as far as they dared to in correcting the King James Version?
The way soul is understood and used today in
English (an inter undying part of a person)
makes putting the word soul in a
translation for the English people today be a false and deliberately misleading
translation for it makes it where today's
English reader cannot know what God said, and will understand only what the
prejudiced outlook the translators wanted their readers to understand who they
know would understand the word soul only
as it is used today. Without much study of Bible words, which most Bible
reader will never do, they cannot know what God said to them when they read the
word soul and will think that the somewhat
prejudice outlook of the translator is the word of God. God's word has been
deliberately replaced with the teaching of man (Matthew 15:9) in a way that
will have more influence on our conception of what our nature is and the nature
of all living beings than any other question.
THE ÒSOULÓ
AND ÒEATING OF BLOODÓ
Is the immortal "soul" (nehphesh) in the blood? Is a part of a person that many say it lives after the death of
the body in the blood of both men and animals? (Leviticus 17:10-15) In only six
verses nehphesh is used ten times but the translators concealed this from their
reads by translating nehphesh as both life and soul, always life the four times
it was speaking of animals, and soul the six times it was speaking of a person;
does this not show their reluctance to let us see what God said to us?
The same word translated soul six times
and life four times in the King James Version
á
Used referring to animals four
times—nehphesh translated life four times
á
Used referring to man six
times—nehphesh translated soul six times
"I will even set my face against that
SOUL (person–nehphesh,
used referring to man) that eats blood,
and will cut him off from among his people. For the LIFE (soul–nehphesh,
used referring to animals) of the flesh is in the blood: and I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your SOULS: (nehphesh, used referring to
man) for it is the blood that makes an
atonement for the SOUL (nehphesh,
used referring to man). Therefore I said
unto the children of Israel, no SOUL
(nehphesh, used referring to man) of
you shall eat blood...For it is the LIFE
(soul–nehphesh, used referring
to animals) of all flesh; the blood of it is for the LIFE (soul–nehphesh,
used referring to animals) thereof; therefore I said unto the children
of Israel, no SOUL (nehphesh,
used referring to man) shall eat the
blood of no manner of flesh: for the LIFE (soul-nehphesh,
used referring to animals) of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever
eats it shall be cut off. And every SOUL
(nehphesh, used referring to man) that
eats that which died of itself...he shall wash his clothes, and bath himself in
water" In this passage, the King James Version translated the same
word "soul" six times when it used referring to man and
"life" four times when it used referring to animals. Can anyone not
see how the translators picked when they wanted "nehphesh" to be
"soul" and when they wanted "nehphesh" to be
"life"? They could not let an immortal soul be in the blood nor could
they let animals have an immortal soul. Their theology said a man had to have a
soul, but an animal could not, and they were not willing that their reader see
that the word "nehphesh" is used referring to both, and that both do
not have a soul but are a soul.
The vanishing use of soul in Leviticus 17:10-15
Leviticus 17:10-15
New Revised Standard Version, "If
anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any
blood, I will set my face against that PERSON
(nehphesh) who eats blood, and will
cut that PERSON (nehphesh) off from the people. For the LIFE (nehphesh) of the flesh is in the blood; and I have
given it to you for making atonement for your LIVES (nehphesh) on the
altar, for, as LIFE, (nehphesh) it is the blood that makes atonement.
Therefore I have said to the people of Israel: No PERSON (nehphesh) among
you shall eat blood...For the LIFE (nehphesh) of every creature-its blood is its LIFE; (nehphesh) therefore I have said to the people of
Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the LIFE (nehphesh) of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off. All PERSONS, (nehphesh) citizens or aliens, who eat what dies of
itself...shall wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water"
Leviticus 17:10-15
New International Version, "Any
Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood-I will set my face
against that PERSON (nehphesh) who eats blood and will cut HIM (nehphesh) off from his people. For the LIFE
(nehphesh) of a creature is in
the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for YOURSELVES (nehphesh) on the altar; it is the blood that makes
atonements for one's LIFE (nehphesh). Therefore I say to the Israelites, 'None
of YOU (nehphesh) may eat blood, nor may an alien living
among you eat blood'...because the LIFE (nehphesh) of every creature is its blood. That is why
I have said to the Israelites, You must not eat the blood of any creature,
because the LIFE (nehphesh) of every creature is its blood; anyone who
eats it must be cut off. ANYONE (nehphesh), whether native-born or alien, who eats
anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe
with water'."
Ashley S. Johnson, founder
and president of the Johnson Bible College: ÒGenerally the world ÔsoulÕ in the ordinary
version should be life,Ó ÒThe
Resurrection And The Future Life,Ó Page 336, 1913, Knoxville Lithographing
Company.
MAN "BECAME A LIVING BEING" Genesis 1:26 "Then God
said, 'Let Us make MAN in Our
image,'" not "Let Us make a soul in Our Image and put this soul
in MAN unto the death of the MAN it is in." Genesis 2:7 "Then the Lord formed MAN of dust from the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; (not breathed into the body
an immortal undying no substance soul, but breathed into ÒmanÓ the breath of
life, which both men and animals have),
and MAN became a living being."
Not a body + an immortal soul, but "a
living being." Not two beings, a body being (a person) with an-inter invisible
soul being living in the person. How can the breath of life in your nose (breathing)
be an immortal something that dose not breathe? The same ÒmanÓ that was created Òin
the image of GodÓ is the same ÒmanÓ
that was created Òmale and femaleÓ It
is ÒmanÓ that was created Òmale and femaleÓ that is in the Òimage of God,Ó not an immaterial
something in Òman.Ó
The body of dust + the breath of life = a
living soul (a living being-nehphesh),
Genesis 2:7. The breath of life without the body would not be a person or
animal. The breath of life without the body would not be an immortal living
being, not a nehphesh. All living creatures, whether they
are animals or sea-dwelling creatures, are souls (nehpheshs–living
beings).
God
formed Man,
not merely the body of man; it was man that was formed from the dust of the
ground. Man is in the image of God; it is MAN, not an invisible something in man that has no substance that
is in the image of God. After Adam was put out of the garden he was still in
the image of God, mankind is still in the image of God. If Adam was created
innate immortal what was the purpose of the tree of life? If Adam had an
immortal soul that was created not subject to death then the tree of life could
have had no purpose; an immortal soul would live forever with or without it; if
Adam had a deathless soul, his deathless soul would not have died if he did or
did not eat of the tree of life; it was Adam that could and did die for eating
of the tree, not a deathless soul.
The Bible says, "Man became a living
soul" is changed to, "Man was given a soul" or ÒMan had a soul put in him.Ó There is a
world of difference in a person being a living soul and a person having
a soul. Both man and animals are a living soul, neither one have
a soul. If the breath of life in his nostrils in Genesis 2:7 makes a person
have an immortal part (spirit) living in him or her that cannot die, then "all in whose nostrils was the breath
of the spirit of life" in Genesis 7:22 would also prove all beasts,
birds, and fish have an immortal part (soul) living in them that cannot die.
GOD IS A
SOUL (Not God has a soul)
1. ÒMoreover,
I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul (nehphesh) will not reject youÓ
(Leviticus 26:11).
2. ÒI then
will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your
remains on the remains of your idols; for My soul (nehphesh) shall abhor youÓ
(Leviticus 26:30).
á
I know of
no one that believes God has Òan invisible, no substanceÓ something in Him that
can exist apart from Him. His soul (nehphesh) is
His person, His being—life, not an immortal soul living in the immortal
God, just as the soul of a person or animal is the life (the living being) of
the person or animal, not an immortal being in them.
ANIMALS ARE
"SOULS" nehphesh–living creature
Animals ARE souls–a living being, not
animals HAVE souls–an immaterial, invisible, no substance, deathless
something. In Genesis 1:20; 1:21;
1:24; 1:30, most translations try to hide this. WHY? Why is it "living creature" when used
referring to animals and "soul"
when used referring to a person? There is no excuse or defense for it. It is a
deliberate attempt by the translators, who did not believe God's word as it is,
to mislead; all Bible teachers should point this out to all they teach (James
3:1). If "the living soul" (nehphesh)
is the immortal part of a person, then bugs, all sea creatures, all birds, and
all animals have an immortal soul. In Genesis "Living soul" is used more of these creatures than it is of
man.
Passages
in which soul (nehphesh) is speaking of animals being souls but is deliberately
hid from the English readers that the word nehphesh—souls is used.
Many believe, "The living soul" in Genesis 2:7 is the one distinctive
thing that makes a person different from an animal, but if this makes a person
have an immortal soul in them, there is no way around all living things having
immortal souls in them. In these
passages bugs, birds, fish, persons, are all a nehphesh, a "living beings,"
not a deathless, immaterial something.
John T. Willis: "The last two lines
of verse 7 affirm that a person's life is God-given. God enables a person to
breathe, and thus, to be alive, as he does other creatures (see Genesis 7:22).
Some have tried to justify a threefold division of man into flesh (or body), soul,
and spirit from Genesis 2:7. They equate dust
with flesh or body, breath with
spirit, and insist that the last phrase of the verse must be translated as 'a
living soul.' However, this understanding reads more into the biblical text
than it really says. (1) The Hebrew words for 'flesh' or 'body' and 'spirit' do
not occur in this passage. (2) The Hebrew expression nehphesh chayyah, which
some insist on translating 'a living soul,' is used of fish and marine life in
Genesis 1:30; and beasts and birds in 2:19. If 'soul' means the eternal part
of a person or the sum total of man's 'body' and 'spirit' in Genesis 2:7, it
must mean the eternal part of a fish
or the sum total of a fish's 'body' and 'spirit' in Genesis 1:20, 21; etc.
(3) The flow of the context in Genesis 2:7 indicates that the word translated being in RSV (nehphesh) means the whole person.
The author's emphasis is on the gift of life" "The Living Word
Commentary On the Old Testament - Genesis" Page 103-104, Sweet Publishing
Company, 1979, Church of Christ.
Erdmann Dictionary of
the Bible: "Far from referring simply to one aspect of a person, 'soul'
refers to the whole person" Page 1245.
Holman Bible Dictionary: "A human
being is a totality of being, not a combination of various parts and impulses. According to the Old Testament
understanding, a person is not a body, which happens to possess a soul.
Instead, a person is a living soul...Because of God's breath of life; the
man became 'a living being' (Gen. 2:7). A person thus is a complete totality,
made up of human flesh, spirit (best understood as "the life-force'), and
nephesh (best understood as "the total self' but often translated as
'soul')" Page 61.
International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia: "There is not dualism in the sense of separation, as
though there could be full man either as body alone or as soul alone...together
they make up the one man" Volume 1, Page 134.
Hastings
Bible Dictionary: ÒSoul is throughout the great part of the Bible simply the
equivalent of ÔlifeÕ embodied in living creature.Ó
T.
Pierce Brown: "A consideration of EVERY passage in which these terms are
used leads us to the consideration that the term 'soul' is a term that was
applied in the Bible to every being that normally has sensory capacities
(life), whether or not they have that capacity when the term is used referring
to them. For example, one might see a body of a dead person and say, 'That poor
soul is dead.' The Bible uses the term that way, even as we do, and it has
nothing at all to do with the immorality or mortality of the soul. It simply
means that the PERSON (the one who HAD life-soul-sensory capacity) is
dead." "Soul and Spirit" Gospel Advocate, June 14, 1979, Church
of Christ.
(1)
Nehphesh (soul): When nehphesh is
used referring only to animals is
translated nine different ways in the King James Version.
(2)
Nehphesh (soul): When it is used
referring to BOTH Animals and Man is translated in three different
ways.
1.
Creature (soul–nehphesh) Genesis 9:15; 9:16
2.
The life (soul–nehphesh) Leviticus 17:11; 17:14
3.
Soul (soul–nehphesh) Numbers 31:28
(3)
Nehphesh (soul): When it has the
animal appetites and desires of Man
is translated in five different ways, (1) pleasure, (2) lust, (3) appetite, (3)
and greedy (5) Soul.
1. Translated pleasure (soul–nehphesh) Deuteronomy 23:24
2.
Translated lust
(soul–nehphesh) Psalm
78:18
3.
Translated appetite
(soul–nehphesh)
Proverbs 23:2. Ecclesiastes 6:7
4. Translated greedy (soul–nehphesh) Isaiah 56:11
5.
Translated soul
(Nehphesh) 13 things the "soul" (person) does
1.
The soul dried away Numbers 11:6
2.
The soul lusts Deuteronomy 12:15; 12:21; 14:26
3.
The soul longs to eat flesh Deuteronomy 12:20
4.
The soul lusts after Deuteronomy 12:20
5.
The soul desires Deuteronomy 14:26; 1 Samuel 2:16
6.
The soul loathes Deuteronomy 21:5
7.
The soul refused Job 6:7
8.
The soul abhorred Job 33:20; Psalm 107:18
9.
The soul hunger Proverbs 6:30
10.
The soul satisfying Proverbs 13:25
11.
The soul empty Isaiah 29:8
12.
The soul has appetite Isaiah 29:8
13.
The soul desired figs Micah 7:1
THE SOUL (PERSON-NEHPHESH) CAN BE HUNGRY,
HAVE
AN APPETITE, BE THIRSTY, EAT MEAT
"Men
do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself (soul–nehphesh) when he is hungry" (Proverbs 6:30).
An example of how well the translators hid the fact that this is
the same word that they translated soul in other places when they did not want
you to see it.
"I will set my
face against that soul (soul–nehphesh) that eats
blood, and will cut him off from among his people" (Leviticus 17:10).
"And you shall
say, I will eat flesh, because your soul
(soul–nehphesh) desires to
eat flesh; you may eat flesh, after all the desire of your soul (soul–nehphesh)"
(Deuteronomy 12:20).
"And it shall be
as when a hungry man dreams and, behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his soul (soul–nehphesh) is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams,
and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul (soul-nehphesh) has appetite" (Isaiah 29:8).
SOUL IS THE LIFE, NOT AN IMMORTAL SOMETHING
ÒYou shall
not eat flesh with its life (soul–nehphesh)Ó (Genesis 9:4)
ÒFor
the life (soul– nehphesh) of the
fleshÓ (Leviticus 17:11; 17:14)
ÒThose
who seek my life (soul–nehphesh)Ó (Psalm 38:12)
ÒFor
those who sought the ChildÕs life (soul–psukee) are deadÕ
(Matthew 2:20)
Many more passage that show that both
nehphesh and are the life of the person or animal, not in immortal something
that has itÕs own life and lives after the person is dead.
IF A SOUL CAN DIE
IT
CANNOT BE IMMORTAL
Can whatever is intended by the Hebrew
word "nehphesh" die? The Bible says over 320 times that the nehphesh
(soul):
1.
Can die
2.
Can be killed
by man
3.
Or that it is
already dead
If it can die, then
whatever "nehphesh" is translated into IS something that can die. If
the many words that "nehphesh" is translated into is something that
can die, then the soul cannot be immortal, and it can die. To say that
"nehphesh" (soul) is immortal and cannot die makes the Bible be wrong
repeatedly. If the soul (nehphesh) is immortal and cannot die, the writers of
the Bible did not know it.
SOULS CAN
DIE, CAN BE DEAD
(1). Souls (nehpheshs) can die Numbers 23:10, Ezekiel 18:4, 20, Joshua 11:11. "They smote (killed) all the souls (nehphesh)Ó
King James Version. ÒAnd they struck
every person (nehpheshs) who was in it with the edge of the sword,
utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathedÓ New American
Standard Bible. Can an immortal soul can die or be utterly destroy? Not only does the Bible not say the soul is
immortal, it denies it by saying often that the soul can die or be killed or is
already dead.
(2). Souls (nehpheshs) can be murdered. Deuteronomy 12:23; Numbers 35:11-15.
(3). Souls (nehpheshs) can be killed Leviticus 24:17. An immortal soul can be killed? "Kills any person" (soul-nehphesh) Numbers 35:11, 15, 30, 31
(4) ÒLet us not take his lifeÓ (soul-nehphesh) Genesis 37:21
(5). Souls (nehpheshs) can be smote with the sword and utterly destroyed Joshua 11:11
(6). Souls (nehpheshs) can be slain. An immortal soul can be slain? Deuteronomy 27:25
(7). Souls (nehpheshs) can be destroyed. An immortal soul can be destroyed? Leviticus
23:30
(8). Souls (nehpheshs) can be taken away 1 Kings 19:4
(9). Souls (nehpheshs) can be sought to kill it Jeremiah 44:30
(10). Souls (nehpheshs) cannot be kept alive. An immortal soul that cannot die but it
cannot be kept alive? Psalm 22:29
(11). Souls (nehpheshs) have blood and can bleed. "The blood of the souls of the
poor" Jeremiah 2:34
(12). "Let us not take his life (soul–nehphesh)" Genesis 37:21
(13). "Life
(soul–nehphesh) for life (soul–nehphesh) Immortal soul for immortal soul?" Exodus 21:23
(14). "Any dead body (soul–nehphesh)" Leviticus 21:11
(15). "That
person (soul–nehphesh) will I destroy" Leviticus 23:30
(16). "And
if a man takes the life (soul–nehphesh) of any human
being" Leviticus 24:17. Does anyone believe a person can take an
immortal soul of any human being?
(17). "And
he that smites any man mortally shall be put to death. And he that smites a
beast mortally shall make it good, life (soul–nehphesh) for life (soul nehphesh) (soul for soul?)" Leviticus 24:18
(18). "Because of a dead person (soul–nehphesh)"
Numbers 5:2
(19). "He
shall not go near to a dead person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 6:6
(20). "Because of a dead person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 6:11
(21). "Unclean
because of the dead person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 9:6, 7
(23). "Because of a dead person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 9:10
(23). "The
one who touches the corpse of any person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 19:11
(24). "Anyone
who touches a corpse, the body (soul–nehphesh) of a man who has
died" Numbers 19:13. How could anyone touch the corpse of something
that has no substance and cannot die? ÒAnd
the soul (nehphesh)" that touches itÓ (Numbers 19:22). By
todayÕs definition of soul, (1) an immaterial something is dead and touched by
man (2) and an immaterial soul touches a dead person.
(25). "Whosoever
has killed any person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 31:19
(26). "The
manslayer who has killed any person (soul–nehphesh)"
Numbers 35:11
(27). "Anyone
who kills a person (soul–nehphesh) unintentionally may flee there" Numbers 35:15
(28). "If anyone kills a person (soul–nehphesh)" Numbers 35:30
(29). "And take his life (soul–nehphesh)"
Deuteronomy 19:6
(30). "And strikes him so that he
(soul–nehphesh) dies" Deuteronomy 19:11
(31). "Life (soul-nehphesh)
for life
(soul–nehphesh), eye for eye,
tooth for tooth" Deuteronomy 19:21
(32). "A
man rises against his neighbor and murders
him (soul-nehphesh)"
Deuteronomy 22:26
(33). "Cursed be he who takes a bride to slay
an innocent person (soul–nehphesh)" Deuteronomy 27:25
(34). "And deliver our lives (souls–nehpheshs) from death" Joshua 2:13
(35). "Our
life (soul–nehphesh) for yours"
Joshua 2:13. Not, ÒOur immortal souls for your immortal soulsÓ
(36). "And
they smote all the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were therein
with the edge of the sword, utterly
destroying them; there were none left that breathed" Joshua 11:11
(37). "He
utterly destroyed them and all the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were therein; he left none remaining" Joshua 10:28
(38). "And
he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were therein; he left none remaining in it" Joshua 10:30
(39). "And
all the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were
therein" Joshua 10:32
(40). "And
all the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were therein
he utterly destroyed that day"
Joshua 10:35
(41). "But
he utterly destroyed it, and all the
souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were
therein" Joshua 10:37.
(42). "And
he captured it and its king and all its cities, and they smote them with the
edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed
all the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that were
therein" Joshua 10:39. Can immortal souls be utterly destroyed with
the sword?
(43). "Who kills any person (soul–nehphesh)" Joshua 20:9. Not, ÒWho kills any immortal soul
that cannot be killedÓ
(44). "That kills any person (soul–nehphesh)" Joshua 20:3
(45). "That
his soul (soul–nehphesh) was vexed to death" Judges 16:16 "annoyed
to death" New American Standard Version. We say, "He worried
me to dead"
(46). "Let
me (soul–nehphesh) die" Judges 16:30. "Let my soul that cannot die, die
anyway?"
(47). "And
you lose your life (soul–nehphesh), with the lives (souls–nehphesh) of your
household" Judges 18:25
(48). "If
you do not save your life (soul–nehphesh) tonight" 1
Samuel 19:11
(49). "The
death of all the persons (souls–nehpheshs) of your father's
house" 1 Samuel 22:22
(50). "He
that seeks my life (soul–nehphesh) seeks your life (soul–nehphesh)" 1 Samuel 22:23
(51). "He is seeking my life (soul–nehphesh)" 1 Samuel 20:1
(52). "And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life (soul–nehphesh)" 1 Samuel 23:15
(53). "You
are lying in wait for my soul (soul–nehphesh) to take it"
1 Samuel 24:11
(54). "To
pursue you and to seek your soul (soul–nehphesh1 Samuel 25:29 also 2 Samuel 4:8, 16:11, 1 Kings 19:10,
14, Psalm 35:4, 38:12, 35:13, 40:14, 40:15, Jeremiah 40:14, 40:15
(55). "Deliver
him that smote his brother, that we may
kill him for the life (soul–nehphesh) of his brother
whom he slew" 2 Samuel 14:7
(56). "Who
today have saved your life (soul–nehphesh) and the lives (souls-nehpheshs) of your sons and daughter, the lives (soul–nehphesh) of your wives, and
the lives (souls-nehpheshs) of your
concubines" 2 Samuel 19:5
(57). "Have
you asked for the life (soul–nehphesh) of your
enemies" 1 Kings 3:11
(58). "Prolong
my life (soul–nehphesh)" Job 6:11. Prolong the life of an immortal soul?
(59). "For
himself that he might die, and said,
It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life
(soul-nehphesh)" 1 Kings 19:4
(60). "A
man that is laden with the blood of any
person (soul–nehphesh) shall flee unto
the pit; let no man stay him" Proverbs 28:17
(61). "The
blood of the souls (souls–nehpheshs) of the innocent poor" Jeremiah 2:34. An immaterial, invisible,
part of a person that has no substance had blood!
(62). "Ammon
has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take
your life (soul-nehphesh)...wherefore should he take your
life (soul–nehphesh)" Jeremiah 40:14-15
(63). "To slay the souls (souls–nehpheshs) that should not die and to save the souls (souls–nehpheshs) alive that should not live"
Ezekiel 13:19
(64). "The soul (soul–nehphesh) who sins will die"
Ezekiel 18:4
(65). Ezekiel 18:20
This is a person dying (being put to death)
for a sin under the Old Testament law, but is almost always used referring to a
part of a person that cannot die by those who believe a soul cannot die. When this is misapply to some inter part of
a person, as is often is, then this is an undeniable statement that their
immortal inter part of a person that they say cannot die will die if it sins;
and that the soul will not have everlasting life with torment. This is
definitely not what they wanted, but what they made in their attempt to make
the soul immortal. If "soul"
means "an immortal inter part of a person that cannot die," then
James said, "Shall save an immortal inter part of man, which cannot die,
from death" James 5:20. This theology makes nonsense of the Bible.
The divine sentence, "The soul that sins, it shall die" has been revised to
say, "The soul that sins, it shall live eternally in torment." Not
only must this be changed from "die"
to "eternal life" but after making the change then torment must be
added; Òthe soul that sins, it shall live forever being eternally torment by
God.Ó To make it teach what many want it to teach, first, God's word must be
changed and then added to.
ÒShall
dieÓ in verse four is in contrast to Òshall
surely liveÓ in verse nine. It is life or death of a living person under
the Law that is being spoken of, not two kinds of life after death.
(66).
"By shedding blood and destroying lives (souls–nehpheshs)" Ezekiel 22:27.
(67).
"Like a roaring lion ravening
the prey: they have devoured souls (souls–nehpheshs)" Ezekiel 22:25.
(68) ÒIn
whose hand is the life (soul–nehphesh) of every living thing" (Job 12:10).
ÒThe soul
of every living thingÓ King James Version.
(69).
"He did not spare their soul (nehphesh) from death, but gave over their life to the
plague, and smote all the firstborn in Egypt" (Psalm 78:50).
(70).
IN OVER 320 (over one third) OF THE ABOUT 870 TIMES THAT SOUL (nehphesh) IS
USED:
á
The soul is
already dead
á
The soul can
die, can be killed
á
The soul can be
sought to be killed
á
The soul can be
affected
á
The soul can be
smote
á
The soul can be
cut off
á
The soul can be
murdered
á
The soul can be
delivered from death
á
The soul can be
buried
In most of these passages
the translators of the King James and other translations have hidden from the
readers that the very thing they believe to be immortal and cannot die does die
by translating "nehphesh" into "life,"
"person" and many other words, but even in the King James Version
there are many passages which say souls (nehpheshs) can and do die. Some more of the many passages:
á
"We feared
greatly for our soul (nehphesh) because of you" (Joshua 9:24).
á
"All the
men who were seeking your soul (nehphesh) are dead" (Exodus 4:19).
á
They had to flee to save their souls (nehphesh) (2 King 7:7), or their
souls (nehphesh) would be utterly
destroyed "with the edge of the
sword" or other weapons (Joshua 10:27; 10:30; 10:32; 10:35, 10:37;
10:39).
á
Not only could their souls (nehphesh) be killed
by their enemies, but their souls (nehphesh) could also die for lack of food (Lamentations
1:11; Numbers 11:6).
á
Also, Genesis 9:4; 9:5; 12:13; 17:14; 19:17;
19:19; 19:20; 32:30; 32:31; 35:18; 37:21; Exodus 21:23; 30:12; 30:15; 31:14;
Leviticus 7:18; 7:20; 7:21 7:27; 17:11; 17:12; 17:14; 19:8; 21:1; 21:11; 22:3;
24:17; 24:18; Numbers 5:2; 6:6; 9:6; 9:7; 9:10; 9:18; 19:11; 19:13; 19:20;
23:10; 31:19; 35:11; 35:15; 35:30; 35:31; Deuteronomy 12:23; Joshua 2:13;
11:11; 20:3; 20:9; Judges 5:28; 12:3; 16:16; 18:25; Ruth; 4:15; 1 Samuel 1:19;
1: 20; 1:23; 23:15; 23:20; 25:29; 28:9; 28:21; 2 Samuel 4:8; 14:7; 16:11; 19:5;
19:6; 1 Kings 1:12; 1:29; 3:11; 17:21; 17:22; 19:10; 19:14; 20:32; 2 Kings
1:13; 19:24; 1 Chronicles 11:19; 2 Chronicles 11:11; Esther 7:7; Job 13:14;
30:16; 33:18; 33:22; 36:14; Psalm 7:2; 17:13; 22:20; 22:21; 22:29: 22:30;
31:13; 33:19; 35:4; 35:17; 38:12; 38:13; 70:2; 70:3; 71:10; Proverbs 1:19;
7:23; 12:10; 13:3; 23:14; Isaiah 10:18; 43:4; Jeremiah 2:34; 4:30; 34:20-21;
38:2; 38:16; 39:18; 40:15; 44:30; 45:5; 49:37; Ezekiel 17:17; 18:4; 18:20;
18:27; 22:25; 22:27; Jonah 4:3; 4:6.
Summary:
The "nehphesh (soul)" of the
Old Testament is an earthly being, man, animal, or sea creature, both living
and dead. It can die, it can be dead, be killed, be sought to kill, be smote,
die from a lack of food or water, be cut off, be murdered, be delivered from
death, be born, live, sorrow, eat, drink water, desire, be discontented, be
grieved, be bound with a bond, be affected, loathes, lust, have anguish, etc. Not
one of the about 870 times that nehphesh is used does it have reference to an
invisible, immaterial part of a person that has no substance and cannot die. Nehphesh in the Old Testament
and psukee in the New Testament are together used about 967 times with over
one-third being associated with the death of the soul (person). Some
(nehpheshs–souls) are dead. Some are dying. Some are in fear of death. Some
have those who are trying to kill them. Some are saved from death, etc. On the other hand, in the 976 times soul is
used, not one time is the soul said to be deathless or immortal.
In about thirty-two
passages souls (nehpheshs) are spoken of as being killed by man ÒAnd he that kills any (nehphesh) man shall surely be put to death. And he that
kills a (nehphesh) beast shall make it good; beast (nehphesh) for beast
(nehphesh)Ó Leviticus 25:17-18. Nehphesh–soul
is used four times in the Hebrew but because of the bias of the translators not
one time in the King James Version. They changed soul into beast to
deliberately hide from their readers that animals the same as men are
souls—living beings that can die. (See Joshua 10:28; 30; 32;
35; 37; 39; Deuteronomy 27:25; Leviticus 24:17-18).
In about thirteen
passages souls (nehpheshs) of men
are said to be actually dead (see Numbers 6:6; Leviticus 21:11). In many of
these passages, the King James Version and others translated nehphesh as life
or body; and the English reader cannot see that animals are souls (are living creatures), and that
man kills souls of both men and animals, and sometimes souls are actually dead. Under
the Law anyone that touched a dead body was unclean. ÒDead bodyÓ (nehphesh) Leviticus
21:11 ÒDead bodyÓ (nehphesh) Numbers 6:6. Corpses are dead souls and anyone
who came in contact with a dead soul was unclean.
Most of the times when
it is translated "soul,"
even those who believe in a part of a person that lives after death and before
the resurrection says it is not used to mean an immortal part of a person. The whole
person dies unto the resurrection (Ezekiel 18:20; Psalm 22:29; 33:18-19;
Matthew 10:28; Matthew 16:26; James 5:20). Not just the person's body.
This clearly shows
that the meaning of the Hebrew word nehphesh is something that is not immortal
and that it can die or that it already is dead. There is no other word in the
Bible which could be translated into Plato's immortal soul; therefore, the
translators had to use this one and hide, the best they could, the fact that
nehphesh can and does die.
Of the hundreds of
times Nehphesh is used in the Old Testament only five are used in the same
passage as sheol. Of these five the Kings James Version sheol is translated
Hell three times (Psalm 16:10; 86:13; Proverbs 23:14). The other two they had
to translate grave (Psalm 30:3; 89:48). In all five the nehphesh (soul–life) is delivered from or brought up from sheol (grave). What is
said in all five is as far from todayÕs teaching on Hell as it is possible to
be. The New International Version translates sheol into grave in all five
passages, nehphesh into, (1) me, (2) himself, (3) me, (4) me, (5) and soul.
The only way for the
translators to hide that the nehphesh of the Old Testament can die, bleed, be
dead was by rightly translating it as something mortal in many passages. In
most translations nehphesh is sometimes translated to be immortal, often in the
same passages where it is also translated to be mortal. How could it be known
when it was mortal and when it was immortal? The only answer is that the
translators were trying to put PlatoÕs immortal soul in the Bible by
mistranslating when they could but found nehphesh many times would not make
sense if translated into something immortal and deathless.
Not one time is
nehphesh an immortal something but it is translated mortally in the King James
Version. ÒAnd smite him mortally
(nehphesh)Ó (Deuteronomy19:11).
==================================
The Companion Bible, Appendix 13 says nehphesh (life-soul) is
used:
===============================
Just one of the many
examples of the absurdity of the translations of nehphesh in the King James
Version with the meaning of "soul" as it is used today, an invisible,
no substance something in a person that no one has ever seen or can see and it
is immortal and cannot die. "For
mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul (nehphesh) take counsel
together" (Psalm 70:10). How could anyone lay in wait (ambush) for an
undying invisible inter part of a person that no one can see and how could
anyone kill something that cannot die even if they could see it?
"Deliver
my soul" (nehphesh) Psalm
17:13 in today's English would be "Save my life" (nehphesh).
Many more times "soul"
(nehphesh) would only make sense if translated "life." To apply today's meaning, "an undying invisible inter part of man" makes many
passages be total nonsense. Today's meaning of "soul" is very different from the meaning of nehphesh in
Biblical times, which makes "soul"
be a mistranslation. When anyone reads the Bible and reads "soul" and knows only what the word "soul" means today, they cannot understand what God said.
Many English translations use "soul"
and "person"
interchangeable. The Revised Standard uses "person"
frequently where the King James used "soul."
The problem is that most English readers would not know that when they say a "person" died, that they are
hiding the fact that "person" (soul-nehphesh) is the
same word that is translated "soul"
in many places. Why did some translators do this? Was it because they did not
believe an immortal "soul"
can die, but a person can die? If the "soul" (soul-nehphesh) dies, it
would not be immortal; therefore, they were forced to use "person" or "life"
in many places to hide the fact from you that the nehphesh can die. The truth is that they were trying to put
"soul" with today's meaning in the Bible despite the fact that it is
not. If they had been consistent in translating, they would not have been
able to add the doctrine of an undying soul in the Bible.
"The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself (soul-nehphesh)"
(Jeremiah 51:14). By His own being or person. God "could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself (psukee-soul)"
(Hebrews 6:13). Not even the King James translators wanted God to have an
invisible inter part that would live after the rest of Him was dead. God's
nehphesh and man's nehphesh are their being, person, not just an invisible something
in either God or a person.
All the Old Testament words, which are
translated life, spirit, breath, or soul, are all used referring to both
persons and animals. Every word that is used to prove a person has an
immortal soul or an immortal spirit would also prove all breathing creatures have
an in immortal soul if they proved a person does.
(1) Nehphesh/soul-life: It is used to describe all living beings.
(2) Nshahmah: Is
also used to describe all living being/breath
of life: All living things that breathes (Used 24 times).
á
Used to describe
man "Breathed into his
nostrils the BREATH of life" Genesis 2:7; 1 Kings 17:17; Job 27:3.
á
Used to
describe man and animals, both man and animals have the same nshahmah (breath
of life-spirit).
á
"All in whose nostrils was the BREATH (nshahmah) of the spirit of
life, of all that was on the dry land, died" Genesis 7:22. All living being, man, and animals.
á
"But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah your God
gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that BREATHS (nshahmah)"
Deuteronomy 20:16. All living being, both man and
animals.
á
"So Joshua smote all the land, the hill-country, and the
South, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none
remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that BREATHED (nshahmah)" Joshua 10:40. All living being, both man and animals that had life (nshahmah)
were killed.
á
"And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge
of the sword, utterly destroying them; there were none left that BREATHED (nshahmah)" Joshua 11:11. All living
being, both man and animals.
á
Also, Joshua 11:14; 1 Kings
15:29; Job 34:14; Psalm 150:6
Not one of the 24 times nshahmah is used
says anything about a part of a person that is immortal. As nahahmah is translated
in the New International Version.
1.
Genesis 2:7 ÒBreathed into his
nostrils the breath (nshahmuh) of lifeÓ
2.
Genesis 7:22 ÒEverything on dry land that had the breath of life (nshahmuh) in
its nostrils diedÓ
3.
Deuteronomy 20:16 ÒDo not leave alive anything that
breathes (nshahmuh)Ó
4.
Joshua 10:40 ÒHe totally destroyed all who breathed
(nshahmuh)Ó
5.
Joshua 11:11 ÒThey totally destroyed them, not sparing anything that breathed (nshahmuh)Ó
6.
Joshua 11:14 ÒBut all the people they put to the sword until they completely
destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed
(nshahmuh)Ó
7.
2 Samuel 22:16 ÒAt the blast of breath
(nshahmuh) from his nostrilsÓ
8.
1 Kings 15:29 ÒHe did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed (nshahmuh), but destroyed them allÓ
9.
1 Kings 17:17 ÒHe grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing (nshahmuh)Ó
10. Job
4:9 (Hebrew dualism in Job—the same thing said in two different ways)
a.
ÒAt
the breath (ruach) of
God they are destroyed:
b.
At
the blast
(nshahmuh) of his anger they perishÓ
11.
Job 26:4
a.
ÒWho
has helped you utter these words?
b.
And
whose spirit
(nshahmuh) spoke from your mouth?Ó
12.
Job 27:3
a.
ÒAs
long as I have life (ruach)
within me,
b.
The
breath
(nshahmuh) of God in my nostrilsÓ
13.
Job 32:8
a.
ÒBut
it is the spirit (ruach)
in a man,
b.
The
breath
(nshahmuh) of the AlmightyÓ
14. Job
33:4
a.
ÒThe
Spirit of God made me;
b.
The breath
(nshahmuh) of the Almighty gives me lifeÓ
15.
Job 34:14-15 ÒIf it was his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath (nshahmuh),
á
All
mankind would perish together
á
And
man would return to the dustÓ
16.
Job 37:10
a.
ÒThe
tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds.
b.
The
breath
(nshahmuh) of God produces ice, and the
broad waters become frozenÓ
17. Psalm
18:15 ÒO Lord, at the blast (nshahmuh) of breath from your nostrilsÓ
18.
Psalm 150:6 ÒLet everything that has breath
(nshahmuh) praise the LordÓ
19. Proverbs
20:27 ÒThe lamp of the Lord searches the spirit (nshahmuh) of a man; it searches out his inmost beingÓ
20. Isaiah
2:22 ÒStop trusting in man, who has but a
breath (nshahmuh) in his nostrilsÓ
21. Isaiah
30:33 ÒThe breath (nshahmuh) of the
Lord, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablazeÓ
22. Isaiah
42:5 ÒWho gives breath (nshahmuh) to its
people, and life to those who walk on itÓ
23.
Isaiah 57:16 ÒThe breath (nshahmuh) of man that I have created.Ó ÒSpiritÓ in
King James Version
24. Daniel
10:17 ÒMy strength is gone and I can
hardly breathe (nshahmuh)Ó
(3)
Ruach/spirit-breath: Is used
of:
á
God (Exodus 15:8; 2 Samuel
22:16; Isaiah 4:4)
á
Spirit of the Lord (Zephaniah 4:6)
á
Heavenly being (Psalm 104:4)
(4) Ruach/spirit-breath: Is also used to describe all earthly living beings.
Ruach and
nshahmuh have very near if not the same meaning. Both are used in Hebrew dualism in Job three times as two ways of
saying the same thing.
ÒAll in whose nostrils was the breath (nshahmuh)
of the spirit of life, diedÓ (Genesis
7:22).
"To destroy all flesh in
which is the breath (ruach) of life"
(Genesis 6:17).
The above is an example of the many times
the two seem to be used interchangeable but only when it is the breath of a
living being that is being spoken of. Nshahmuh is limited to the air or breath
of the mouth of any breathing being; ruach also means any breathing being but
has a must broader use in that it is used of wind and any air movement. Neither
the breath (nshahmuh) of a person, or
the breath (ruach) of a person is not an immortal entity added to the person
that has life in itself apart from the person any more then the breath (nshahmuh) of God, or the breath (ruach) of God is
an entity that has life in itself apart from God.
Ruach is
translated sixteen different ways
In the
King James Version
Of about 389 times
ruach is used in the Old Testament it is translated wind about 90 times, breath
28 times, blast 4 times, air, windy, tempest, whirlwind, tempest, and breath.
Both ruach and nshahmuh are basically translated with the same words, both have
something to do with the breath or air without which there would be no life; in
Genesis 2:7 it was when God breathed into AdamÕs nostrils the breath of life (nshahmah) that Adam became a living being.
á
BREATH (ruach-spirit)
á
ÒAll in whose nostrils was the BREATH (ruach) of lifeÓ (Genesis 6:17;
7:15).
á
"By the BREATH (ruach) of his mouth" (Genesis 6:17; Psalm
104:29, Job 15:30).
á
"By the BREATH (ruach-spirit)
of his mouth" (Job 15:30).
á
"All in whose nostrils was the BREATH (ruach-spirit) of
life" (Genesis 7:22).
á
"To destroy all flesh in which is the BREATH (ruach-spirit) of
life" (Genesis 6:17).
á
"So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in
which was the BREATH (ruach-spirit) of life" (Genesis 7:15).
á
"No BREATH (ruach-spirit)
in them" (Jeremiah 10:14). Why
not, "No SPIRIT (ruach-spirit) in them" or "Takes away their
SPIRIT (ruach-spirit)" (Psalm 104:29)? How did the translators know when
the same word was wind, breath, spirit, blast, air, mind, courage, cool, or
anger? How are those who read their
translation to know that these are all the same word in the Hebrew? Idols
are described as not having breath (ruach) (Habakkuk 2:19).
á
"Every goldsmith...his molten images are deceitful, and there
is no BREATH (ruach-spirit) in them" (Jeremiah 51:17).
á
"Takes away their BREATH (ruach-spirit)"
(Psalm 104:29).
á
"As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the
same BREATH (ruach-spirit) and there is no advantage for man over beast" (Ecclesiastes
3:19).
á
WIND (ruach-spirit)
á
"God made a WIND (ruach-spirit)
to pass over" (Genesis 8:1).
á
"Like the chaff, which the WIND (ruach-spirit) drives"
(Psalm 1:4).
á
"You did blow with your WIND (ruach-spirit)" (Exodus 15:10).
á
"Clouds and WIND (ruach-spirit)
without rain" (Proverbs 25:14).
á
"My escape from the WINDY (ruach-spirit)
storm" (Psalm 55:8).
á
"A WHIRLWIND (ruach-spirit)
came out of the north" (Ezekiel
1:4).
á
"A destroying WIND (ruach-spirit)"
(Jeremiah 51:1).
á
"A strong WIND (ruach-spirit)"
(Job 8:2).
á
"An horrible TEMPEST (ruach-spirit)"
(Psalm 11:6).
á
"You shall scatter in the WIND (ruach-spirit)" (Ezekiel 5:2).
á
"An east WIND (ruach-spirit)" (Exodus 10:13).
á
"A mighty strong west WIND (ruach-spirit)"
(Exodus 10:19).
á
Psalm 1:4, Exodus 15:10
á
WINDY ÒMy escape from the WINDY (ruach) stormÓ (Psalm 55:8).
á
WHIRLWIND ÒA WHIRLWIND
(ruach) came out of the north" (Ezekiel 1:4).
á
TEMPEST ÒAn horrible TEMPEST
(ruach)" (Psalm 116).
á
SPIRIT (ruach-spirit).
Why was the same word translated
ÒBy the BREATH (ruach) of his mouthÓ (Job 15:30), and then
ÒAnd the SPIRIT (ruach) of God in my nostrilsÓ(Job 27:3)?
Were they saying God has an Òimmaterial
invisibleÓ (Vine) something in Him that can exist after His death as we are
told that mankind his? There is no possible way that the translators could have known when the
same word (ruach) was breath and when it was an immortal deathless something;
the two meaning are nothing alike. ÒYou
take away their breath (ruach), they die, and return to their dust. You send
forth your spirit (ruach), they are created: and you renew the face
of the earthÓ (Psalm 105:29-30). The spirit as it is used today cannot die;
therefore, this ruach could not be translated spirit, but when the earth is
renewed by new life, the translated give this new life a spirit (ruach), not
just breath (ruach).
á
Holman
Christian Standard Bible ÒWhen
You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath (ruach), they
die and return to the dust. When You send Your breath (ruach), they are created,
and You renew the face of the earth.Ó
á
Amplified
Bible ÒWhen You hide Your face, they are troubled and dismayed; when You
take away their breath (ruach),
they die and return to their dust. When You send forth Your Spirit and
give them breath (ruach),
they are created, and You replenish the face of the ground.Ó
á
Common
English Bible ÒBut when you hide your face, they
are terrified; when you take away their breath
(ruach), they die and return to dust. When
you let loose your breath (ruach), they
are created, and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.Ó
á
New
Century Version ÒWhen you turn away from them, they
become frightened. When you take away their breath (ruach), they die and turn to
dust. When you breathe (ruach)
on them, they are created, and you make the land new again.Ó
á
Holman
Christian Standard Bible ÒWhen You hide Your face, they are
terrified; when You take away their breath
(ruach), they die and return to the dust.
When You send Your breath (ruach),
they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.Ó
Does the
number of times ÒSpiritÓ is used in the difference translations show the
scholars that translated them were easing away from the King James Version?
á
236
times in King James Version
á
221
times in New American Standard Bible
á
193
times in New International Version
á
167
times in New Living Translation
á
79
times in Contemporary English Version
á
131
times in The Message
á
ÒAnd the SPIRIT (ruach) of God in my
nostrilsÓ (Job 27:3).
á
"SPIRIT (ruach) of God" (Genesis 1:2).
á
"And the SPIRIT (ruach) shall return unto God" (Ecclesiastes
12:7).
á
"And the SPIRIT (ruach) of the beast that
goes downward" (Ecclesiastes 3:21).
SPIRIT (ruach-spirit)
in passages that has reference to attitude, behavior, thinking, disposition,
mood, or temperament. As ÒA happy disposition,Ó Ògood attitudeÓ or Òbad mood.Ó I
do not believe many if any will say these passages are speaking of in immortal,
no substance something that has it own life even after the body of the person
it is in is dead.
á
"A lying SPIRIT (ruach)"
(1 Kings 22:23).
á
"The SPIRIT (ruach) of jealousy
came" (Genesis 1:2; 41:8, Numbers 5:14; 5:30).
á
ÒThe SPIRIT (ruach) of heavinessÓ
(Isaiah 61:3).
á
"The SPIRIT (ruach) of jealousy came" (Numbers 5:30).
á
"Because he had another SPIRIT (ruach)" (Numbers 14:24).
á
"The SPIRIT (ruach) entered into me" (Ezekiel 2:2; 3:24).
á
ÒNeither was there SPIRIT (ruach) in themÓ (Joshua 5:1).
á
"And a new SPIRIT (ruach) will I put within you" (Ezekiel
36:26).
á
"God hardened his SPIRIT (ruach)"
(Deuteronomy 2:30).
á
"Anguish of SPIRIT (ruach)"
(Exodus 6:9).
á
"SPIRIT (ruach) of wisdom" (Exodus 28:3).
á
"Joshua...was filled with the SPIRIT (ruach) of wisdom"
(Deuteronomy 34:9).
á
"Sorrowful SPIRIT (ruach)"
(2 Samuel 1:15).
á
"Why is your SPIRIT (ruach) so sad" (1 Kings 21:5).
á
"SPIRIT (ruach) was troubled" (Genesis
41:8).
á
"The sacrifices of God are a broken SPIRIT (ruach)" (Psalm 51:7).
á
"Hasty of SPIRIT (ruach)"
(Proverbs 14.29).
á
ÒBy sorrow of the heart the SPIRIT (ruach) is brokenÓ (Proverbs
15:13).
á
"An haughty SPIRIT (ruach)"
(Proverbs 16:18).
á
"An humble SPIRIT (Proverbs
16:19).
W. E. Vine, ÒVineÕs Complete Expository
Dictionary,Ó pages 240-241 gives nine ways spirit-ruach is used in the Old
Testament.
1.
First, this word means ÒbreathÓÉ
2.
Second, this word can be used
with emphasis on the invisible, intangible, fleeting quality of airÉ
3.
Third, ruach can mean, ÒwindÓÉ
4.
Fourth, the wind represents
directionÉ
5.
Fifth, ruach frequently represents
the element of life in a man, his natural ÒspiritÓ: ÒAnd all flesh died that moved upon the earthÉAll in whose nostrils
was the breath of life.Ó (Gen. 7:21-22). In these verses the animals have a
ÒspiritÓ (cf. Ps. 104:29)ÉAll the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but
the Lord weigheth the spirits (NASB, ÒmotivesÓ).
6.
Sixth, ruach is often used of
á
A manÕs mind-set, disposition, or ÒtemperÓ: ÒBlessed is the man unto
whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guileÓ
(Ps. 32:2). In Ezek. 13:3 the word is used of oneÕs mind or thinking: ÒWoe unto the foolish prophets, that follow
their own spirit, and have seen nothingÓ (cf. Prov. 29:11).
á
Ruach can represent particular dispositions, as it does in Josh. 2:11: ÒAnd
as soon as we had heard this things, out hearts did melt, neither did there
remain any more courage in any man, because of youÉÓ (cf. Josh. 5:1; Job
15:12).
á
Another disposition represented by this word is ÒtemperÓ: ÒIf the spirit (temper)
of the ruler rise up against thee, leave
not thy placeÉÓ (Eccl. 10:4). David prayed that God would Òrestore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
and uphold me with the free SpiritÓ (Ps. 51:12). In this verse Òjoy of salvationÓ and Òfree SpiritÓ are parallel and;
therefore, synonymous terms. Therefore, ÒspiritÓ
refers to oneÕs inner disposition, just as ÒjoyÓ
refers to an inner emotion.
7.
Seventh, the Bible often speaks
of GodÕs ÒSpirit.Ó
8.
Eight, the non-material beings
(angels) in heaven are sometimes called Òspirits.Ó
9.
Nine, the ÒspiritÓ may also be used of that which enables a man to do a
particular job of that which represents the essence of a quality of manÉ
á
Just as in the New Testament,
when spirit is used in reference to a person, it is the disposition of the
persons mind or thinking.
á
BLAST ÒAnd
at the blast (ruach)" of Thy (God) nostrils the waters were piled upÓ (Exodus
15:8). "BLASH (ruach-spirit) of your
nostrils" (2 Kings 19:7). Also
2 Samuel 22:6.
á
AIR "That
no AIR (ruach-spirit) can come between them" (Job 41:16;
41:8).
á
MIND "A fool utters all his MIND (ruach-spirit)Ó
(Genesis
26:35, Proverbs 29:11).
á
COURAGE "Neither
did there remain any more COURAGE (ruach-spirit)
in them" (Joshua 5:1).
á
COOL "Walking
in the garden in the COOL (ruach-spirit)
of the day" (Genesis 3:8).
á
ANGER "Their
ANGER (ruach-spirit) was abated" (Judges 8:3).
á
SIDE (Jeremiah 52:23; Ezekiel 42:16; 42:17;
42:18; 42:19; Òside windÓ in footnote).
á
QUARTERS (ruach-spirit)
(1
Chronicles 9:24).
á
SPIRITUAL (ruach-spirit)
(Hosea
9:7).
á
VAIN (ruach-spirit)
(Job 15:2; 16:3).
Why did the
translators translate the word "ruach"
into "spirit" in one place
and "blast" or "wind" in others? The meaning of "spirit" as it was used in 1611 and today, an immortality
no substance something in a person is not a thirty-first cousin to "wind" or "breath," etc., yet the translators, at will, translated
the same word into many words things that have meaning that are worlds apart.
If the same word has two completely different meanings:
1.
One meaning that had reference to the mortal person or animal.
2.
And another meaning that had reference to the immortal part of a
person that animals do not have.
How could the Hebrew people know when it
was one and when it was the other? How could the translators know? They could
not. They had to put their
theology into the Bible even if they could not be consistent. How could anyone
read the Kings James Version and know that anger, cool, courage, air, mind,
breath, wind, blast, and spirit are the same thing? Most English reader today
would not know that "wind"
and "spirit" are all
indiscriminately translated from the same word and almost without exception
today's reader would understand "spirit"
to be an immortal soul, but would never understand "wind" to be an immortal soul. Those who do not read
Hebrew are misled by such indiscriminately translations.
Summary:
Nehphesh, nshahmah, and ruach are
something that both a person and an animal have in common and are something
that can and does die. Both an animal and a man are a soul, a living being of this earth. Neither animals nor a
person has a soul, an immortal inter
part that cannot die and will live after the death of the animal or person it
is in.
How
nehphesh and psukee are translated in seven different versions and in different
verses.
| K.J.V. |
N.K.J.V. | N.A.S.V. | R.S.V.
|
Gen 1:20 | creatures | creatures | creatures | creatures |
Gen 2:7 | soul | living being| living
being| living being|
Gen 9:5 | life | life |
life
| life |
Mt
16:25-26|life & soul | life
& soul | life & soul | life 4 times|
Acts 3:23 | soul | soul |
soul
| soul |
1 Cor15:45 | soul |
living being| soul | living
being|
1 Pet 3:20 | souls |
soul
| persons
| persons |
Rev 16:3 | soul | creature | living thing| living
thing|
-----------------------------------------------------
| N.R.S.V. |
N.I.V.
|Robert Young|
Gen 1:20 | creatures | creatures | creature |
Gen 2:7 | living being| living being |living
being-creature|
Gen 9:5 | life | life
| life |
Mt 16:25-26| life 4 times| life &
soul | soul |
Acts 3:23 | everyone
| anyone | soul |
1 Cor15:45 | living being| living being
| creature |
1 Pet 3:20 | persons | people | soul |
Rev 16:3 | living thing| living thing | soul |
Nephesh and psukee are used over 976 times. The King James Version
translated them soul about half of the time, other translations much less.
King James Version
(1611) 498 times
New King James Version (1982) 341 times
The New King
James Version has soul 157 times less then the King James Version.
New American Standard Version (1960) 289 times
New International Version (1987) 136
times
New International Version Updated (2010) 95 times
The New
International Version 2010 Update took soul out of the New International
Version 41 times. It used soul only 95 out of over 976 times.
TodayÕs New International Version (1996) 41 times
English Standard Version (2001)
296 times
Amplified Bible
(1987)
190 times
Holman Christian Standard Bible (1999) 58 times
New Century Version
(1987) 35 times
Contemporary Revised English Bible
(1995) 26 times
GodÕs Word Translation (1995) 110 times
Worldwide English New Testament (1995) 12
times
Christian Bible New Testament (1995)
0 times
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: Is the use of the English
word "soul" as a translation of psukee dying? Of the 106 times psukee is used it is translated soul only:
King James Version
(1611) 58 times
American Standard Version (1901) 56 times
New American Standard Version (1960) 47 times
New Revised Standard
(1946) 33 times
New International Version (1978) 25 times
New International Version Updated (2010) 22 times
36 times less than the King James Version
The Christian Bible
(1991) 0 times
Contemporary English Version (1995) 13 times
Holman Christian Standard Bible (1999) 23 times
Worldwide English Version (2006) 8
times
It is those who are
members of churches that believe a person has an immortal soul that are little
by little taking the word "soul" out of the Bible. Why is soul being used less in the newer
translations? The translators knew "soul" is an English word that did
not then exist as the word is used today and is not a translation of nehphesh
or psukee; at the time the Bible was written neither nehphesh nor psukee had the meaning that the English word
ÒsoulÓ has today.
A few of the many
examples that show why the numbers above are difficult in difficult
translations.
Numbers 29:7
Joshua 11:11
Judges 16:16
Numbers 30:2
Numbers 15:30
Acts 15:24-26 is an
example of how the translation of psukee was changed even in the same passage
by the translators when it would not fit in with their belief about an immortal
soul. ÒSince we have heard that some of our
number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words,
unsettling your souls (psukee),
it seemed good to us, having become of
one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men
who have risked their lives (psukee) for the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ.Ó They risked their earthly life, not a deathless
soul.
á
ÒCertain persons who have gone out from us, though
with no instruction from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled
your minds (psukee)Éwho
has risked their lives (psukee)Ó New revised Standard Version.
á
ÒAnd disturbed you, troubling your minds (psukee)
by what they saidÉmen who have risked
their lives (psukee)
for the name of our Lord Jesus ChristÓ New
International Version.
á
ÒWe have heard that some of out group have come to
you and said things that trouble (psukee)É and upset you (psukee)Ó New Century
Version.
A bird's eye view (below)
of the way psukee is translated in four versions shows that it is a living
being, not an immortal no substance something. The translators wanted to put
their immortal soul in the Bible, but they had a problem for if they had
uniformly translated psukee into "soul," in some passages their
immortal soul would have been subject to death and in other passages it would
be dead.
(1) King James (2) New
Revised Standard (3) American Standard (4) New International
Matthew 2:20 |(1) LIFE|(2) LIFE |(3) LIFE|(4) LIFE
Matthew 6:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 6:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 10:28 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Matthew 10:28 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Matthew 10:39 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 10:39 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 11:29 | souls | souls | souls | souls
Matthew 12:18 | soul | soul | soul | I
Matthew 16:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 16:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 16:26 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Matthew 16:26 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Matthew 20:28 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 22:37 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Matthew 26:38 | soul | I | soul | soul
Mark 3:4 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 8:35 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 8:35 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 8:36 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Mark 8:37 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Mark 10:45 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 12:30 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Mark 12:33 | soul | HEART | HEART | HEART
Mark 14:34 | soul | I | soul | soul
Luke 1:46 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Luke 2:35 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Luke 6:9 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 9:24 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 9:24 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 9:56 | LIVES | | | LIFE
Luke 10:27 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Luke 12:19 | soul | soul | soul | MYSELF
Luke 12:19 | soul | soul | soul | LIFE
Luke 12:20 | soul | LIFE | soul | LIFE
Luke 12:22 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 12:23 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 14:26 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 17:33 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 21:19 | soul | souls | souls | YOURSELVES
John 10:11 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 10:15 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 10:17 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 10:24 | US | US | US | US
John 12:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 12"25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 12:27 | soul | soul | soul | HEART
John 13:37 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 13:38 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 15:13 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Acts 2:27 | soul | soul | soul | ME
Acts 2:31 | soul | FLESH | FLESH | BODY
Acts 2:41 | souls |
PERSONS | souls | .
Acts 2:43 | soul | EVERYONE| soul | EVERYONE
Acts 3:23 | soul | EVERYONE| soul | ANYONE
Acts 4:32 | soul | soul | soul | MIND
Acts 7:14 | souls | ALL | souls | ALL
Acts 14:2 | MINDS | MINDS | souls | MINDS
Acts 14:22 | souls | souls | souls | DISCIPLES
Acts 15:24 | souls | MINDS | souls | MINDS
Acts 15:26 | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES
Acts 20:10 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | ALIVE
Acts 20:24 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Acts 27:10 | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES
Acts 27:22 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | YOU
Acts 27:37 | souls | PERSONS | souls | US
Romans 2:9 | soul | EVERYONE| soul
| BEING
Romans 11:3 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | ME
Romans 13:1 | soul | PERSON | soul | EVERYONE
Romans 16:4 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIVES
1 Cor. 15:45 | soul | BEING | soul | BEING
2 Cor. 1:23 | soul | ME | soul | .
2 Cor. 12:15 | YOU | YOU | souls | YOU
Ephesians 6:6 | HEART | HEAT | HEART | HEART
Philippians 1:27| MIND | MIND | soul | MEN
Philippians 2:30| LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Colossians 3:23
|HEARTILY|YOURSELVES|HEARTILY|HEART
1 Thess.
2:8 | souls | SELVES | souls | LIVES
1 Thess.
5:23 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Hebrews 4 12 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Hebrews 6:19 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Hebrews 10:38 | soul | soul | soul | I
Hebrews 10:39 | soul | SAVED | soul | SAVED
Hebrews 12:3 | MINDS | HEART | souls | HEART
Hebrews 13:17 | souls | souls | souls | YOU
James 1:21 | souls | souls | souls | YOU
James 5:20 | soul | soul | soul | HIM
1 Peter 1:9 | souls | souls | souls | souls
1 Peter 1:22 | souls | souls | souls |
YOURSELVES
1 Peter 2:11 | soul | soul | soul | soul
1 Peter 2:25 | souls | souls | souls | souls
1 Peter 3:20 | souls |
PERSONS | souls | PEOPLE
1 Peter 4:19 | souls |THEMSELVES
|souls | THEMSELVES
2 Peter 2:8 | soul | soul | soul | soul
2 Peter 2:14 | souls | souls | souls |
UNSTABLE
1 John 3:16 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
1 John 3:16 | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES
3 John 2 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Revelation 6:9 | souls | souls | souls | souls
Revelation 8:9 | LIFE |CREATURES| LIFE | CREATURES
Revelation 12:11| LIVES | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Revelation 16:3 | soul | THING | soul | THING
Revelation 18:13| souls |HUMAN LIVES |souls| souls
Revelation 18:14| soul | soul | soul | YOU
Revelation 20:4 | souls | souls | souls | souls
All the words used in the four translations (life, lives,
yourself, yourselves, us, mind, minds, you, I, him, heart, heartily, everyone,
persons, disciples, creatures, all, me, flesh, being, anyone, alive, and man), all have a reference to the human person,
not to a no substance inter part of a person.
SOUL (PSUKEE) IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Psukee is used 106
times and is the only word translated soul in the New Testament (translated
soul only 58 of the 106 times it is used in the King James Version) and psukee is
the same word in Greek as nehphesh is in Hebrew. Both can and do die.
á
"Lose his life" Matthew 10:39
á
"Save a soul from death" James 5:20
á
ÒWill save him from deathÓ New International Version, salvation is
from death, not from Hell
á
"To save life or to destroy it" James 4:12
In Old English, soul,
like ghost and charity, might have been a good translation then, but not today.
Most of the times nehphesh and psukee are translated "soul," even those who believe a person is two beings in
one have to admit it is referring only to the earthly person, earthly life, or earthly
being; but today the English word "soul"
has come to mean an inter unseen part of a person, which will live after the
person is dead. Therefore, when those
who do not know this read the Bible, they are misled when psukee is translated "soul." No word in the
Bible means "an immortal inter part of a person that cannot die."
Which one is it, a
mortal being that can die, or an immortal being that cannot die? If there were
a part of a person called "immortal soul" that could not die, it is
strange that both the Old Testament and the New Testament repeatedly speak of
the death of this soul that cannot die.
Psukee is translated "soul" and "life" interchangeably, and sometimes
in the same verse; Matthew 16:25-26 where the same word is inconsistently
translated two times "soul,"
and two times "life" in the
King James Version; but corrected in the American Standard Version and most
other versions where all four times the same word is translated "life."
á
"In exchange for his life." The parallel passage in Luke 9:25 says, "and lose or forfeit his
own self" American Standard Version. "Yet lose...his very self"
New International Version. "Lose...themselves" New Revised
Standard Version.
Human language could
not be any clearer that Christ is speaking of the whole of a person, and not
just some internal unseen part of a person. If the immortal soul doctrine were
true, a person could not lose his soul if his soul can never die.
In the King James
Version in the same sentence the same word (psukee) is translated two words
that have completely different meaning (Matthew 16:25-26).
á
Life
(psukee) the animal life that will die.
á
Soul
(psukee) with the Platonic beliefs of the translators of an immortal soul that cannot die.
Also
in Luke 12:19-23 the same word, psukee, is translated both (1) something that
cannot die and (2) something that cannot keep form dying.
á
Three
times something that cannot die.
á
Two times
something that cannot keep from dying.
How could the
translators know the same word in the same sentence has two completely
different and opposing meaning? It was nothing more than a determination to put
their Platonic theology into the Bible where it was not at any cost. In Mark
3:4 Jesus asked the Pharisees, ÒIs it
lawfulÉto save a psukee, or to kill?Ó The psukee is something that can be saved from death or killed, not an
immortal something that is deathless; they did not dare translate it soul in
this passage.
The immortality doctrine
make the Bible contradict itself, for the Bible says repeatedly that the
nehphesh (Old Testament) psukee (New Testament) can die and never says a person
has a part that is called "soul"
that is immortal. Christ "laid down
His LIFE (psukee-life or soul) for
us, and we ought to lay down our LIVES (psukee-life or soul) for the brethren" 1 John 3:16.
"To give His LIFE (psukee-life
or soul) a ransom for many"
Matthew 20:28.
á
James 5:20 "Shall save a SOUL (psukee-life
or soul) FROM DEATH" King James
Version. If a person has a "SOUL" that cannot die, how
can it be saved from death?
á
James 5:20 "Will save HIM (psukee-life or soul) FROM DEATH" New International Version.
PSUKEE: A MORTAL BEING OR AN IMMORTAL
BEING? Psukee is translated life,
strength, us, he, heart, heartily, you, and mind. These all have a reference to
this life and not to a soul that has no substance. How could the same word mean
a mortal being some of the time and an immortal inter part of a mortal being
some of the time? How would the translators know when it was one and when it
was the other?
Psukee (life) is the natural life from
Adam. It is the physical life
common to all living creatures and is never said to be eternal. All living
creatures (animals, fish, man) by natural birth have psukee (life) from birth
to death. It is never coupled with the adjective eternal or everlasting. The only word that is translated soul in
the New Testament is translated soul only about one-half of the times it is
used. Psukee is applied to the life of animals two times
in the New Testament.
1.
ÒAnd there died the third part of the creatures
which were in the sea, even they that had life
(psukee)Ó (Revelation 8:9).
2.
ÒAnd the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became
blood as of a dead man; and every living
soul (psukee) died, even the things that were in the seaÓ (Revelation 16:3).
Zoee (life) (Strong's word 2227, ÒZoopoico...make alive, give life, quickenÓ) is a gift of life from Christ to those
that believe, the life He gives only to those who are His. No one is born with
it and the lost never have it. It refers the life given by Christ only to
believes in all but about ten of about one hundred thirty times it is used. "The first man Adam become a living
soul (psukee-living being), the last Adam became a life-giving spirit"
(1 Corinthians 15:45). All living being have psukee life, only those who are
born again have zoee (life) in Christ. See Zoee life in chapter two, Life or
Death.
PASSAGES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
THAT HAS "PSUKEE" IN THEN
The many words the
translators used to translate "psukee" are both nouns and pronouns,
it refer to (1) God (2) to a person (3) or to an animal, not to an immortal no
subject part of God, a person or an animal. The person or animal is sometimes
dying and is sometimes dead. This one word, which is a common noun, but it is
translated into many nouns, it is changed into a proper noun, and often is
changed to a pronoun, then translated by many pronouns just as
"nehphesh" is in the Old Testament. The different translations do not
agree on when it should be changed from a common or proper noun or to a
pronoun.
(1) IN FIFTY
OF THE ONE-HUNDARD SIX TIMES
IN WHICH
PSUKEE (soul) IS USED IT MEANS LIFE,
AND IT
CAN DIE, BE KILLED, PERISH, OR BE DESTROYED.
(1) Matthew
2:20 "Arise and take the young child
and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought
the young child's LIFE (life-soul-psukee)."
There is no doubt that they wanted to kill the child's body, not some inter
part of him. No immortal "soul" in this passage.
(2-3) Matthew 6:25 "Therefore,
I say unto you, be not anxious for your LIFE
(life-soul-psukee), what you
shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put
on. Is not the LIFE (life-soul-psukee) more than the food, and the body than the
raiment?" It is the earthly person in the image of Adam that eats and
drinks, not an immortal part of a person. A person's life is more than what he
or she has to put on the body.
á
ÒBe not anxious for your LIFE
(life-soul-psukee), what you shall eat.Ó It is the body that eats, not an immaterial
soul.
á
ÒIs not the LIFE (life-soul-psukee) more
than the food, and the body than the raiment?" It is the body that
puts on clothing, not an immaterial soul.
o
It is our lives that need food,
our bodies that need cloths to be worm, not an immortal soul.
(4-5) Matthew 10:28 "And be not afraid of them that kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul
(life-soul-psukee): but rather
fear him who is able to destroy both soul (life-soul-psukee) and body in hell (Gehenna)." See notes on this in chapter four. If psukee is an immortal soul,
then God can destroy this immortal soul. There
is no stronger way in which to say God can and will destroy it. He is to be
feared by those of the world because He will. There would be no reason to fear
Him if He could not, or if He will not destroy the Psukee-soul or life. I find it strange that one of the most
used passages to prove the soul cannot be destroyed says God can destroy it. See "Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:5 God is
able to destroy (Apollumi) both soul and body in Gehenna" in chapter four
and "proves more than they
want" also in chapter four. Not even God could destroy the soul if it
is immortal and can never die for if He could, then it would not be immortal
and it could die.
(6-7-8-9) Matthew 10:39 "For whosoever would save his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his
LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for my sake shall find it. 26 For what
shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his LIFE (life-soul-psukee)? Or what shall a man give in exchange for
his LIFE (life-soul-psukee)?" The King James Version has the same word (psukee)
translated "life" two times and "soul" two times. What made
them think Christ used the same word in the same passage with two different
meaning? In today's English, the meaning of "soul" and
"life" are not even close to being the same, yet they were translated
from the same Hebrew word in the same sentence.
(10-11-12-13) Mark 8:35 "For whosoever would save his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his
LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for my sake and the gospel's shall save it.
36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his LIFE (life-soul-psukee)? 37 For what should a man give in exchange
for his LIFE" (life-soul-psukee)? The life that is prolonged for a little
while by denying Christ will be lost, but the life that is loss by being
faithful to Christ will be saved at the judgment.
(14-15) Luke 9:24-25 "For whosoever would save his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his
LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for my sake, the same shall save it. For
what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self?" Psukee is translated
"soul" and "life" interchangeably in the Bible, and
sometimes in the same verse. In the King James Version the same word is
inconsistently translated two times "soul," and two times
"life" but corrected in the American Standard Version and most others
where all four times the same word is translated "life." "In
exchange for his life."
á
"And lose or forfeit
his own self" American Standard Version.
á
"Yet lose...his very self"
New International Version.
á
"Lose...themselves?" New Revised Standard Version.
Human language could not be any clearer
that Christ is speaking of the whole person, and not just some internal unseen
part of a person. Luke avoids using
the word psukee (soul) in Luke 12:4-5. Why? His Gentile readers might have
understood the word the way it was used by the Greeks of that time; therefore,
he used a word that means the whole person, and not the Greek soul that the
Greeks believe would be reincarnated.
(16) Matthew 20:28 "Even
as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) a
ransom for many."
Mark
10:45 "For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life
(life-soul-psukee) a ransom
for many."
(17) Mark 3:4 "And he said unto them, is it lawful on
the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a LIFE (life-soul-psukee),
or to kill? But they held their peace."
(18) Luke 6:9 "And Jesus said unto them, I ask you,
Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a LIFE (life-soul-psukee), or to destroy it?"
"Kill" and "destroy" are used interchangeably. The
translators would not translate psukee into "soul" in this passage
for it would then say the soul could be killed or destroyed.
(19) Luke 9:56 "For the Son of man is not come to
destroy men's LIVES (life-soul-psukee), but to save them. And they went to another
village" King James Version. This is not in the American Standard
Version, and others for it is not in many Greek Manuscripts, but there is
nothing about an immortal part of a person in it.
(20-21-22-23) Luke 12:19-23 "And I will say to my soul (life-soul-psukee), Soul
(life-soul-psukee), you have much
goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God
said unto him, You foolish one, this night is your soul (life-soul-psukee) required of you; and the things which you
have prepared, whose shall they be? 21 So is he that lays up treasure for
himself, and is not rich toward God. 22 And he said unto his disciples,
therefore, I say unto you, be not anxious for your LIFE (life-soul-psukee),
what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. 23 For the LIFE (life-soul-psukee) is more than the food, and the body than
the raiment." In this passage they found it necessary to translate
psukee into both soul and life, for the soul cannot eat or use a raiment. "You fool! This very night your LIFE (life-soul-psukee) is being demanded of you" New
Revised Standard Version. His life (psukee) was demanded. "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are
not rich toward God." It will be their life (psukee) that will be demanded of them. Nothing is said about
an immortal part of a person that will be forever tormented. In this passage
psukee does the things that only this earthly body can do, things that an
immortal no substance soul could not do. "And
I will say to my soul (psukee), Soul (psukee), you have
much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink" (Luke 12:19). An immortal no substance soul
could not use the much earthly goods laid up for many years. Can anyone not see
how foolish this passage would be if it were speaking of an immortal soul that
has no body and no substance but was using the earthly goods it has lain up?
Can a soul that has no earthly body eat, drink, or use any earthly goods?
á
"And I'll say to myself (psukee),
'You (psukee) have plenty of good things laid up for many years'" New
International Version.
á
"I will say to myself
(psukee), 'You (psukee) have plenty of good things laid by'" The Revised English
Bible.
á
Then I can say to myself (psukee), 'I (psukee) have enough good things stored'" New Century Version.
(24) Luke 14:26 "If any man comes unto me, and hate not
his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters,
yea, and his own LIFE (life-soul-psukee) also, he cannot be my disciple."
(25-26) Luke 17:33 "Whosoever shall seek to gain his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his
LIFE (soul-psukee) shall preserve
it."
(27-28-29) John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd: the good
shepherd lays down his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for the sheep. 12 He that is a hireling,
and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholds the wolf coming, and
leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters (them):
13 (he flees) because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep. 14 I am
the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, 15 even as the
Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one
flock, one shepherd. 17 Therefore, the Father loves me, because I lay down my LIFE (life-soul-psukee), that
I may take it again." An immortal soul, as taught today cannot die;
therefore, the translators could not say Christ gave up His immortal soul; He
gives His life, not an immortal soul.
(30-31) John 12:25 "He that loves his LIFE (life-soul-psukee)
shall lose it; and he that hates his LIFE
(life-soul-psukee) in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal." Who ever puts this life first shall
lose his life, but who ever put God first shall live after the judgment. Those
who do not put God first will lose their psukee (life). If psukee is an
immortal soul that can never die, it could not be lost.
(32) John 15:13 "Greater
love has no man than this, that a man lay down his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for his friends." Not even those
who believe a person has an immortal soul believe Christ lay down his immoral
soul, they do not believe an immoral soul can be dead. He did lay down His life
for us.
(33-34) John 13:37 "Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot
I follow you even now? I will lay down my LIFE
(life-soul-psukee) for you. 38
Jesus answered, will you lay down your LIFE (life-soul-psukee) for me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, the cock shall not crow, till
you have denied me thrice." "Lay down" means "to give
up," "to die." It was Peter that was to give up his life (psukee)
for Christ. If psukee is an immortal soul that can never die, Peter could not
have given it up.
(35) Acts 3:23 "And it shall be, that every soul (life-soul-psukee) that shall not hearken to that prophet,
shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." An immortal soul utterly destroyed! How
could God say any stronger that whatever the psukee is (life-soul-person) can
and will be Òutterly destroyedÓ?
á
"And it will be that everyone (life-soul-psukee)" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"Anyone (life-soul-psukee) who does
not listen to him" New International Version.
á
"For anyone (psukee) who refuses to
listen to that prophet" The Revised English Bible.
(36) Acts 15:24 "Forasmuch as we have heard that certain
who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"Your minds" New
Revised Standard Version.
á
"Troubling your minds"
New International Version.
á
"Unsettled your minds"
The Revised English Bible.
(37) Acts 15:26 "Men that have hazarded their LIVES (life-soul-psukee) for the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ." An immortal part of a person that could not die could not be
hazarded.
(38) Acts 20:9-10 "And there sat in the window a certain young man named Eutychus,
borne down with deep sleep; and as Paul discoursed yet longer, being borne down
by his sleep he fell down from the third story, and was taken up DEAD. And Paul
went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Make you no ado; for his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) is in him." He was dead, but Paul
restored his earthly life that was dead from the fall, not an immortal soul
that the fall could not have killed.
(39) Acts 20:24 "But I hold not my LIFE (life-soul-psukee) of any account as dear unto myself."
The translators would not say he held his immortal soul to be of no account. To
use soul in this passage would not teach what they believed; therefore, they
did not use it.
(40) Acts 27:10 "And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive
that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the lading and
the ship, but also of our LIVES (life-soul-psukee)."
No one will lose an immortal soul in a shipwreck. It can be seen how the
translators picked when they wanted psukee to be a soul and when they wanted it
to be life.
(41) Acts 27:22 "And now I exhort you to be of good
cheer; for there shall be no loss of LIFE
(life-soul-psukee) among
you, but (only of the ship)." This could not be translated souls for
then souls would have been lost just as the ship was lost by a storm, and we
are told by those who believe we have an immortal soul that souls are lost by
sin and they cannot be lost by a storm. Both their life and the ship could have
been lost in this storm but not an immortal soul.
á
ÒBut also of our livesÓ (Greek—psukee) Acts 27:10).
á
ÒThere shall be no lost of lifeÓ (Greek—psukee) Acts 27:22).
á
ÒAnd we were in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen soulsÓ (Greek—psukee) Acts 27:37). ÒPersonsÓ New American Standard Bible and most others.
o
Why was the same word translated ÒlifeÓ and ÒsoulÓ when the translators or those that believe we now have and
immoral soul do not believe them to be the same?
(42) Romans 16:4 "Who for my LIFE (life-soul-psukee)
laid down their own necks."
(43) Romans 11:3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets,
they have dug down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my LIFE (life-soul-psukee)." They
were seeking his earthly life to kill, just as they had the prophets, not
something that did not have any substance, not something that they could not
see or kill.
(44)
Philippians
1:27 "With one mind (life-soul-psukee)
striving together for the faith."
Philippians 2:30 "Because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death, hazarding
his LIFE (life-soul-psukee) to supply that which was lacking in your
service toward me." Did he hazard his immortal soul; and his soul,
which cannot die came nigh unto death even if it could not die?
1 Thessalonians 2:8 "We were well pleased to impart unto you, not the gospel of God
only, but also our own souls (life-soul-psukee)."
They were pleased to impart the gospel to them even at the cost of their own
lives, not impart the gospel to them even at the cost of their immortal souls.
á
"But also our own selves (psukee)" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"But our lives (psukee) as well" New International Version.
á
"Our very lives (psukee)" The New American Bible.
á
"Our very selves (psukee)" The Revised English Bible.
á
"Our own lives (psukee)" New Century Version.
1 Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain
from fleshly lust, which war against the soul
(life-soul-psukee)."
Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of
them that have faith unto the saving of the soul (life-soul-psukee)."
á
ÒWe have the faith to preserve our life (psukee)" The Revised
English Bible.
á
"But among those who have faith and so are saved" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"But of those who believe and are saved" New International Version.
James 5:19-20 "My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one
converts him; 20 let him know, that he who converts a sinner from the error of
his way shall save a soul (life-soul-psukee) from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." If the
sinner is not converted, his soul (psukee) will not be saved from death. Many
read "Hell" ("shall save a soul from Hell") into this in
the place of "death." The only way to get "save a soul from
Hell" into the Bible is by reading Hell in where it is not is.
á
"Will save him (psukee) from death"
New International Version. The whole person will be saved from death, not an
immortal part of the person that could not be dead to be saved from death.
(45-46) 1 John 3:16 "Hereby
know we love, because he laid down his LIFE
(life-soul-psukee) for
us: and we should lay down our LIVES (life-souls-psukee) for the brethren." Can we lay down
our immortal souls for the brethren? Christ lay down His life for us, and we
should be willing to lay down our life for our brethren. If this were an
immortal part of a person, we would be told to do something that it would not
be possible for us to do.
(47) Revelation 6:9
"Souls
(life-soul-psukee)...slain."
(48) Revelation 8:9
"And there died the third part...that had LIFE"
(life-soul-psukee).
(49) Revelation
12:11 "Loved not their LIFE (life-soul-psukee) even unto death."
(50) Revelation
16:3 "Every living soul (life-soul-psukee) died"
(In the sea, all fish died). Can anyone tell me why the translators, who
believed the soul could not die and do not believe fish have a soul, put "ever living soul died" in
this passage? "And every living thing (life-soul-psukee)
in the sea died" New
American Standard Bible.
(51) Revelation
20:4 "The souls (life-soul-psukee)
of them that had been beheaded"
(2)
PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE USED
REFERRING
TO PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY,
THAT IN
SOME WAY CONNECT
THE SPIRIT (pneuma) TO THE HUMAN MIND
1.
Acts 14:2 "And
made their minds (life-soul-psukee) evil affected" King James Version.
The Gentiles were turned against the brothers in this life, not against
immortal inter parts of the brothers.
o "And poisoned their minds (psukee) against the
brothers" New International Version.
2.
"But my mind (pneuma) could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there" (2
Corinthians 2:13) New Revised Standard Version.
3.
Hebrews 12:3
"Lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds (life-soul-psukee)"
King James Version.
4.
"Because
his spirit (pneuma) has been refreshed by you all" (2
Corinthians 7:13).
o "Because his mind (pneuma) has been set at rest by all of you"
New Revised Standard Version.
o "You have all helped to set
his mind (pneuma) completely at
rest" Revised English Bible.
5.
"And that
you be renewed in the spirit (pneuma) of
your mind" (Ephesians 4:23). Even in the theology of today, if the
spirit is an immortal something, what is Òthe
spirit of you mindÓ in which they were to be renewed?
o "To be made new in the attitude (pneuma) of your mind" New International Version.
6.
"And that
you be renewed in the spirit (pneuma) of
your mind" (Ephesians 4:23).
o "To be made new in the attitude (pneuma) of your mind" New
International Version
7.
Matthew 22:37 "And he said unto him, you shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul (life-soul-psukee), and with all your mind." Mark
12:30 "And you shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life-soul-psukee),
and with all your mind, and with all your
strength."
8.
"Blessed
are the poor in spirit (pneuma)" (Matthew
5:3). Poor in a no substance immortal spirit?
9.
Mark 12:33 "And
to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all
the strength (life-soul-psukee) (soul in King James Version), and to love his neighbor as himself, is
more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Luke 10:27 "And he answering said, You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life-soul-psukee),
and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as
thyself."
o In the parallel passages in Mark and Luke, the same word (psukee)
is translated "strength" in one and "soul" in the other.
10.
2 Corinthians 12:15 "Will most gladly spend
and be spent for you (life-soul-psukee)"
King James Version.
"For
though absent in body, I am present in spirit
(pneuma)" (Colossians 2:5). Was his immortal spirit in one
place and his body was in another while he was alive? If so, then the immortal
spirit can leave the body when it wants to and the body can live without it,
but James tells us that the body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26). Was PaulÕs
body dead for a time while his spirit was gone to be at Colossae? No, he was
saying he was with them in his thoughts and heart, not that an immortal spirit
had left his body, went to Colossae, and returned.
11.
Colossians 3: 23 "Whatsoever you do,
work heartily (life-soul-psukee), as unto the Lord." Whatsoever you
do, work soul (pneuma), as unto the Lord?
12.
"Walked we
not in the same spirit (pneuma)? Walked we not in the same steps?" (2
Corinthians 12:18). Did they all have only one immortal soul or spirit?
13.
"Restore
such a one in a spirit (pneuma) of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1).
14.
"May give
unto you a spirit (pneuma) of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:17). Would
they not have already had an immortal soul; if another one were given to them
would they have two?
15.
Ephesians 6:6 "Not in the way of eye service, as men pleasers; but as servants
of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart
(life-soul-psukee)." "Doing the will of God from an immortal
soul"?
16.
"That you
stand fast in one spirit (pneuma)" (Philippians
1:27).
17.
"A meek and
quiet spirit (pneuma)" (1
Peter 3:4).
(3)
PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE
USED
REFERRING A NUMBER OF PEOPLE
In Old English, and
even today souls is used to mean persons or life. A newspaper reporting a
shipwreck in which fifty people drown would say, "Fifty souls were
lost." People were called ÒsoulsÓ about twenty-five times in the King
James.
1. Acts 2:41-43 "They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added (unto
them) in that day about three thousand
souls (psukee-person). And they
continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking
of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul (psukee-every
person): and many wonders and signs were
done through the apostles."
á
"About three thousand
persons (psukee)" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"About three thousand people
(psukee)" Today's English Version.
á
"About three thousand were added to their number" New International Version.
á
"Three thousand were added to the number of believers" Revised English Bible.
á
"About three thousand people
(psukee) were
added to the number of believers" New Century Version.
á
"Three thousand were added that day" New American Bible.
á
"About 3,000 in all" The
Living Bible.
á
"About 3,000 people (psukee) were added" Simple
English Bible.
á
"About three thousand people
(psukee) were added" Good News For Modern Man.
o
Some translations leave psukee
out, just as we would say, "Three thousand persons were saved," or
"Three thousand were saved."
á
"And fear came upon every
soul (life-soul-psukee)." (Acts
2:43 King James Version). "Everyone" New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard
Version, New International Version.
2. Acts 7:14 "And
Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred,
threescore and fifteen souls (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"And all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in
all" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"And his whole family, seventy-five in all" New International Version.
á
"Seventy-five person in
all (psukee)" New American Bible.
á
"Seventy-five person in
all (psukee)" Revised English Bible.
3. Acts 27:37 "And we were in all in the ship two
hundred threescore and sixteen souls (life-soul-psukee)."
Also Acts 27:10; 27:22.
á
"Two hundred seventy-six persons
(psukee)"
New Revised Standard Version.
á
"Two hundred and seventy-six of us (psukee)" Revised English Bible.
4. 1 Peter 3:19-20
"In which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the long
suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing,
wherein few, that is, eight souls (life-soul-psukee), were saved through water."
á
"Eight persons (psukee) were brought safely
through the water" New American Standard Bible.
á
"Eight persons (psukee) were saved through
water" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"In it only a few people
(psukee), eight in all" New International Version.
á
"A few persons (psukee), eight in
all" New American Bible.
5. Matthew 11:29 "You shall find rest unto your souls (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"You will find rest for your lives (psukee)." New Century
Version.
6. Luke 1:46 "And
Mary said, my soul (life-soul-psukee) does magnify the Lord."
7. Luke 2:35 "Yea and a sword shall pierce through
your own soul (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"And you (psukee) too will be pierced
to the heart" Revised English Bible.
8. Luke 21:19 "In
your patience you shall win your souls (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"By standing firm you will save yourselves (psukee)" New International Version.
á
"By patient endurance you will save your lives (psukee)" New American
Bible.
á
"By standing firm you will win yourselves life (psukee)"
Revised English Bible.
9. John 10:24 "The Jews therefore came round about
him, and said unto him, how long do you hold us (life-soul-psukee) in
suspense?" This has a reference to suspense in this life, not to
suspense in life after death; they were being held in suspense then, not after
death.
10. Acts 4:32 "And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and soul (life-soul-psukee)...they had all things common."
They were all united, but were not all one immortal being, not one immortal
soul with many bodies.
11. Acts 14:22
"Confirming the souls (life-soul-psukee)
of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through
many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God."
12. Romans 2:9
"Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul (life-soul-psukee) of man that works evil."
á
"There will be anguish and distress for everyone" (psukee) New Revised Standard
Version.
á
"There will be trouble and distress for every human being (psukee)" New International Version.
á
"Anguish will come upon every man
(psukee)" New American Bible.
á
"For every human being
(psukee)" Revised English Bible.
13. Romans 13:1 "Let every soul (life-soul-psukee) be
in subjection to the higher powers." Every immortal soul subject to
world governments?
á
"Let every person (psukee)" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"Let everyone (psukee)" New American Bible.
á
"Every person (psukee)" Revised English Bible.
14.
1 Corinthians 15:45 "So also it is written, the first man Adam became a living soul (life-soul-psukee). The last Adam (became) a life-giving spirit.
á
"The first man, Adam, became a living being (psukee)" New Revised
Standard Version.
á
"The first man Adam became a living being (psukee)" New
International Version.
á
"Adam, became a living
creature (psukee)" Revised English Bible.
15. 2 Corinthians
1:23 "But I call God for a witness upon
my soul (life-soul-psukee), that to spare you I come no more unto
Corinth."
á
"But I call on God as witness against me (psukee)" New Revised Standard Version.
16. 1 Thessalonians
5:23 "And the God of peace himself
sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul (life-soul-psukee)
and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
17. Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living, and
active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing
of soul (life-soul-psukee) and spirit."
18. Hebrews 6:19 "Which
we have as an anchor of the soul (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"We have that hope as an anchor for our lives" (psukee)" Revised English Bible.
19. Hebrews 13:17 "For they watch in behalf of your souls (life-soul-psukee)
á
"They keep watch over you
(psukee)" New International Version.
20. James 1:21 "Receive with meekness the implanted
word, which is able to save your souls (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"Which can save you (psukee)" New International
Version.
á
"With its power to save you
(psukee)" Revised English Bible.
21. 1 Peter 1:9 "Receiving the end of your faith, (even)
the salvation of (your) souls (life-soul-psukee)."
á
"Your (psukee) salvation"
New American Bible.
22. 1 Peter 1:22 "Seeing you have purified your souls (life-soul-psukee) in your
obedience to the truth."
á
"Now that you have purified yourselves (psukee)" New International
Version.
á
"You have purified yourselves (psukee)" New American Bible.
23. 1 Peter 2:25 "For
you were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and
Bishop of your souls (life-soul-psukee)."
24. 1 Peter 4:19 "Wherefore let them also that suffer
according to the will of God commit their souls
(life-soul-psukee) in well-doing
unto a faithful Creator."
á
"Trust themselves (psukee) to a faithful
Creator" New Revised Standard Version.
á
"Entrust their lives (psukee) to a faithful
Creator" New American Bible.
25. 2 Peter 2:8 "For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing,
vexed (his) righteous soul (life-soul-psukee)
from day to day with (their) lawless
deeds."
á
"Felt himself (psukee) tormented by seeing
and hearing about the lawless deeds." New American Bible.
26. 2 Peter 2:14 "Enticing un-steadfast souls (life-soul-psukee) having a heart exercised in covetousness;
children of cursing."
á
"They seduce the unstable" New International Version.
27. 26. 3 John 2 "Beloved, I pray that in all things
you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul (life-soul-psukee)
prospers."
(4)
PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE
APPLIED
TO GOD OR CHRIST
1. Matthew 12:18 "Behold,
my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul (life-soul-psukee)
is well pleased."
á
"My loved one in whom I
(psukee) delight"
New American Bible.
á
"My beloved, in whom I (psukee) take delight"
Revised English Bible.
2. Matthew 26:38 "Then said he unto them, My soul (life-soul-psukee) is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: abide you here, and watch with
me." Mark 14:34 "And he said unto them, My soul (life-soul-psukee)
is exceeding sorrowful even unto death:
abide you here, and watch."
á
"Then he said to them, 'I (psukee)
am deeply grieved, even to death'" Matthew
26:38 New Revised Standard Version.
á
"My heart (psukee) is nearly broken
with sorrow" New American Bible.
á
"My heart (psukee) is ready to break
with grief" Revised English Bible.
3. Matthew 20:28 "Even
as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life (life-soul-psukee) a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 "For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life
(life-soul-psukee) a ransom for
many."
4. John 10:11-17 "I
am the good shepherd: the good shepherd
lays down his life (life-soul-psukee) for the sheep. He that is a hireling, and
not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholds the wolf coming, and
leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters (them): (he
flees) because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knows
me, and I know the Father; and I lay
down my life (life-soul-psukee) for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one
flock, one shepherd. Therefore, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life (life-soul-psukee), that I may take it again." An
immortal soul, as taught today, cannot die; therefore, the translators could
not say Christ gave up His immortal soul. He gives His life, not an immortal
soul.
5. John 12:27 "Now is my soul (life-soul-psukee) troubled;
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour."
á
"Now my heart is
troubled" New International Version.
6. Acts 2:27 "Because you will not leave my soul (life-soul-psukee) unto
Hades, neither will you give your Holy One to see corruption."
á
"You will not abandon me
(psukee) to the grave" New
International Version.
á
"You will not abandon me
(psukee) to death" Revised English
Bible.
o
Both replaced Òmy soulÓ with ÒmeÓ as a translation of psukee. It was Christ that was in the grave,
not just a part of Him.
7. Acts 2:31 "He foreseeing (this) spoke of the
resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he (life-soul-psukee) left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see
corruption."
á
The same word is translated
"soul" in Acts 2:27 and "he" in Acts 2:31 in the King James
Version.
8. Hebrews 10:38 "But
my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul (life-soul-psukee) has no
pleasure in him." In these passages psukee, which is translate soul or
life, refers to God or Christ.
á
"And if he shrinks back, I
(psukee) will not be pleased with him" New International Version.
á
"And if he draws back I (psukee) take no pleasure
in him" New American Bible.
á
"But if anyone shrinks back, I (psukee) take no pleasure in him" Revised English Bible.
(5)
PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE (soul)
USED IN
SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE
For notes on these
see chapter eight. Those who believe in the Pagan doctrine of an immortal soul
from birth and Hell have no plain easily understood non-figurative statement. That figurative language, metaphors and
symbolic passages must be made into literal statements SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF
THEIR BELIEF, that it is from man and not from God. Figurative language and
parables are made to be superior over plain statements, and clear language must
be made to agree with what is thought to be said in the symbolic language.
1. Revelation 6:9 "And when he opened the fifth seal, I
saw underneath the altar the souls (life-soul-psukee)
of them that had been slain for the word of God." See chapter eight - the
fifth seal - souls under the altar in heaven - a symbolic picture. If this were
literally souls, as the word soul is used today, then immortal souls would have
been slain – put to death.
2. Revelation 8:9 "And there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, (even)
they that had life (life-soul-psukee); and the third part of the ships were destroyed." A third of
the immortal undying souls died? Are immortal souls, as the word is used today,
in the sea? Do fish have an immortal soul?
3. Revelation
12:11
"And they overcame him
because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their life (life-soul-psukee) even
unto death." If this symbolic passage were made literal, it would
say the soul (psukee) does die.
4. Revelation 16:3
"And the second poured out his bowl
into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul (life-soul-psukee) died, (even) the things that were in the sea." If made literal,
this symbolic passage says living souls are the things that are in the sea.
Every "living creature"
fish in the sea are "souls (psukee)"
that died. When will all the fish in the sea literally die?
á
"And every living
thing (psukee) in the sea died" New International Version.
á
"And every creature (psukee) living in the sea
died" New American Bible.
á
"And every living
thing (psukee) in it died" Revised English Bible.
5. Revelation
18:13-14 "And cinnamon, and spice,
and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour,
and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and (merchandise) of horses and chariots and
slaves; and souls (life-soul-psukee) of
men. And the fruits which your soul (life-soul-psukee) lusted
after are gone from thee." If there were an immaterial part of a
person, could it lust after material things? Will immortals soul be slaves in
Heaven or any other place?
á
"Slaves, and human lives (psukee)" Revised English
Bible.
6. Revelation 20:4
"And I saw thrones, and they sat
upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and (I saw) the souls (life-soul-psukee) of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God,
and such as worshiped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the
mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived ("came to
life" New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version), and reigned with Christ a thousand
years." "The rest of the dead lived not until" ("The rest
of the dead did not come to life until" New American Standard Version,
New Revised Standard Version) Revelation 20:5. Some immortal souls "came to life" and some "lived not." If the soul
cannot die, it cannot come to life and if it cannot die, then all souls live
and none can "lived not."
This passage is a real problem when taken literal.
á
Five of the six times psukee is used in
Revelation, is something that can and does die.
1.
Revelation 6:9 "Souls
(life-soul-psukee)...slain."
2.
Revelation 8:9 "And there died the third part...that had life"
(life-soul-psukee).
3.
Revelation 12:11 "Loved not their life (life-soul-psukee)
even unto death."
4.
Revelation 16:3 "Every living soul (life-soul-psukee) died" (In the sea, all fish
died). Can anyone tell me why the translators, who believed the soul could not
die and do not believe fish have a soul, put "ever living soul died" in this passage? "And every living thing (life-soul-psukee) in the sea died" New American Standard Bible.
5.
Revelation 20:4 "The
souls (life-soul-psukee) of them
that had been beheaded"
THE SOUL IS THE EARTHLY IMAGE OF ADAM
A
"LIVING SOUL" IS THE "NATURAL BODY"
Psukikos:
natural (earthly).
The soul or the spirit is not the spiritual body
that we will have after the resurrection.
WE ARE NOW A LIVING SOUL WHICH IS IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM
1 Corinthians 15 (1) NATURAL BODY verse 44,46 | WE NOW HAVE
ADAM
(2) A LIVING SOUL verse 45 | ADAM'S
(3) EARTHLY verse 47 | IMAGE verse 49
WE WILL BE A SPIRITUAL BODY WHICH WILL BE IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST
(1) SPIRITUAL BODY verse 45 | WE
WILL HAVE
CHRIST (2)
LIFE GIVING SPIRIT verse 46 | CHRIST'S
IMAGE
(3) HEAVENLY verse 48 | verse 49
"NATURAL" in verse 46 is
used in place of "A LIVING
SOUL" in verse 45, and ARE THE SAME THING. We now have Adam's image (a living soul–a living being, a natural being of this earth), but we will have the image of Christ (a
spiritual body).
"For our
citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ: who shall fashion anew the
body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His
glory" (Philippians 2:20-21 American Standard Version) "change"
King James Version "transform" New American Standard Version.
"Beloved, now
are we children of God, and it is not
yet made manifest what we shall be (what a
spiritual body is composed of). We know
that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; (have a spiritual
body, be of the same substance) for we
shall see him even as he is" (1 John 3:2).
"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are
given in marriage, but are as angels in Heaven" (Matthew 22:30). "For
when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage; but are as angels in heaven" (Mark 12:26).
The image of Christ,
the spiritual bodies we will have after the resurrection is not an earthly body
in the image of Adam. We are now a soul (living
being) in the image of Adam, but we will not be a soul (living being) in the
image of Adam after the resurrection. All animals are souls (living
beings-Hebrew nehphesh-Greek psukee) but they will never have a spiritual body.
In
commenting on "the natural man"
in 1 Corinthians 2:14, Guy N. Woods said, "...the soulish man, since the
adjective 'natural' translates a form of the Greek word for soul, which may be
expressed in English as psychical. Thus, this usage is supported by etymology
and required by the context. See, especially, Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians
1:18-28 and 2:6-16." Gospel Advocate, 1985, November 21.
"Natural" is translated from "psuchikos."
Psuchikos is the adjective form of psukee and is used six times in the New
Testament.
6.
James 3:15
á
"But it is earthly,
sensual (psuchikos-soulish), devilish" (James 3:15). "Natural" in the New American
Standard Bible, ÒearthlyÓ in the
Living Bible.
á
Amplified Bible
ÔÕThis (superficial) wisdom is not
such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal) (psuchikos-soulish), even devilish
(demoniacal).Ó
á
Contemporary
English Version ÒThat kind of
wisdom doesn't come from above. It is earthly and selfish (psuchikos-soulish), and comes from the devil himself.Ó
á
GODÕS WORD Translation ÒThat kind of wisdom doesnÕt come
from above. It belongs to this world. It is self-centered (psuchikos-soulish), and demonic.Ó
á
Good News
Translation ÒSuch wisdom
does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual (psuchikos-soulish), and demonic.Ó
á
Holman
Christian Standard Bible ÒSuch wisdom
does not come down from above, but is earthly, sensual (psuchikos-soulish), demonic.Ó
á
New Century
Version ÒThat kind of ÔwisdomÕ does not come from God but from the world. It is not spiritual (psuchikos-soulish): it is from the
devil.Ó
á
New
International Version Such ÒWisdom does not come down from heaven but
is earthly, unspiritual (psuchikos-soulish), l, demonic.Ó
á
New Living
Translation ÒFor jealousy
and selfishness are not GodÕs kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual (psuchikos-soulish), l, and
demonic.Ó
á
Worldwide
English (New Testament) ÒGod did not give you wisdom like that. But it
comes from this world. It comes from people
(psuchikos-soulish. It comes from bad spirits.Ó
á
Young's Literal
Translation ÒThis wisdom is not descending from above, but
earthly, physical (psuchikos-soulish), demon-like.Ó
á
Wycliffe Bible ÒFor this wisdom is not from above
coming down, but earthly, and beastly
(psuchikos-soulish), and fiendly.Ó
From the above it is
clear that psuchikos means something of this earth and not something immaterial
and immortal. The adjective form of a noun never has a meaning that is totally
different from the meaning of the noun. Both the noun (psukee) and the
adjective (psuchikos) are the earthly, natural (soulish) person, the image of
Adam. If I believed the psukee (soul) was an immaterial invisible part of a
person, then I would hope no one would ever see its adjective form in the above
six passages.
A living soul, the earthly being in the
image of Adam will be changed to a spiritual body in the image of Christ at the
resurrection.
This change from the
image of Adam's natural soul body to the spiritual body in the image of Christ,
from mortal to immortal, will occur at the Resurrection, not at death. No one now has the spiritual body, not anyone that is
now alive or anyone that is now asleep in Christ.
If a person has a
soul that is now immortal, it cannot be mortal; therefore, it cannot put on
immortality. What do some think is now mortal and will put on immortality? If a
person has a soul that is now immortal, it could only be the body that will put
on immortality. It is the person that will put on immortality at the
resurrection, not a part of a person that was immortal from birth that could
never be mortal. "And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly" (1 Corinthians 15:49). ÒThere
shall be a resurrection both of the
just and unjustÓ (Acts 24:14). When Paul said this many believers had died
but their resurrection was still a thing to come, not something that had
already came at their death.
Summary: a "living
soul" is the earthly body of flesh and blood in the image of Adam, not
the "spiritual body" which
will be in the image of Christ. There is a difference in "a living soul" that we now
are; and a "spiritual body"
that we will be after the resurrection but are not at this time. The "living soul," being, life, or
creature that is in the "image of
Adam" is not the "spiritual
body" ("image of Christ") that we will have. This clearly says after the resurrection,
we will not be a "living soul,"
but changed to a "spiritual
body"; therefore, a "living
soul" and the "spiritual
body" are different things. One ("the
living soulÓ) belongs to this life; the other (a "spiritual body") will belong to life after the
resurrection. They are opposite to each other; a person cannot be both
simultaneously. Many preachers today say, "Save you soul" which is
saying, "Save your 'image of Adam,'" or, "Save your earthly
flesh and blood body." While we are a "living soul," we cannot be a "spiritual body." After the resurrection, when we shall
have been changed to a "spiritual
body," we will no longer be a "living
soul," no longer be an earthly creature in the image of Adam. If the "living
soul" were an immortal part of a person that would live forever, that
person would always have the image of Adam, not the image of Christ. Can anyone
have the image of Adam in Heaven? No. We are now a "living soul" only while we are alive in this world, but
in Heaven we will have a "spiritual
body" and will not be a soul. Adam was, and we now are "a
living soul-being"; but Adam did not, and we do not now have an immortal "spiritual body" (not unto the
resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:53).
á
"It is sown a natural body: it is raised a spiritual
body" ("Greek
physical" body: Footnote in American Standard Version).
á
"It is sown a physical body" (1 Corinthians 15:44). "The
dead shall be raised incorruptible" (1 Corinthians 15:52).
Paul could not have said any stronger that
we will be raised "a spiritual
body" (1 Corinthians 15:44) "incorruptible"
(1 Corinthians 15:52), not with the physical body we now have. The physical
body is the "living soul"
body we now have and it is not the body that will be raised. If we are raised with a body that is a spiritual body and is
incorruptible, we could not at the same time be raised with an earthly body
that is a corruptible body. McCord's translation, printed by Freed-Hardeman
College says, "And the dead shall be raised immortal" (1
Corinthians 15:53). Paul said that at the time those who are asleep in Christ will
be raised incorruptible, that we who are not asleep shall "be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51). All will be raised
from the dead at the resurrection, and those in Christ will have a new body not
of flesh. We will not be a "living soul" after the
resurrection. The "soul" (the
image of Adam), which many say we must save for they think it is the only part
of us that will be in Heaven, will not exist then; therefore, it is not a part
of us that will be in Heaven. It is our whole self that we must save, not just
an "immaterial invisible" inter part of our self. We will not have
the image of Adam, the earthly "living
soul," in heaven. We will not be a soul in the image of Adam as we are
now, but we, will be the same person we now are. How is it that many cannot see
that when they say, "save your soul" they are saying, "keep the
image of Adam" (the earthly body)? Do they want to be raised with an
earthy body in the image of Adam or the spiritual body in the image of Christ? ÒAnd as we have borne the image of the
earthy (now in this life time we are a psukikos–a living being in the
image of the earthy Adam) we
SHALL also bear the image of the heavenlyÓ (1 Corinthians 15:49). We
are born a soul–a living being, but the saved will be resurrected a
spiritual being in the image of Christ and will not have the earthly image of
Adam after the resurrection.
There are many, the
Church of God, many Premillennialists and others that believe the earthly body,
the image of Adam, will be raised and we will live on this earth forever, not
in Heaven, that the earthly body will restored to be like Adam before he
sinned. I know of no passage that says Adam's body was different before and
after he sinned, but even if his body was different the rest of mankind never
had the body Adam had before he sinned; therefore, all but Adam would have to
be raised with a body different from this body we now have. There is a mountain
of writing on how God will be able to restore the same body with the same
particles of matter it now has. All the particles of matter in our bodies are
completely changed every few years; all the matter that has been in the body of
a person that lives to be old would be enough to make many bodies, it would be
a mountain of matter.
T.
P Connelly, in The Connelly Field Debate says, "The resurrection is,
therefore, a reunion of spirit and matter, and this being true, the same
particles of matter in the same body are no more necessary in order to a
reunion, than that the same particles should remain at all times the same here
to perpetuate the union." According
to him it would be the spirit coming back from Heaven or Hell and creating a new
earthly body, not a resurrection of the body a person had when he or she was
living, not a resurrection of anything, not a resurrection of the body we now
have and not a resurrection of a soul that would not be dead. Because the
natural body, the image of Adam, will not be raised, this mountain of writing
is about nothing. I can understand why those in the Church Of God are concerned
about what particles of matter the earthly body will be raised with, but he is
an evangelist in the Christian Church, and I cannot understand why he thinks a
soul which he thinks has no substance and will live forever in Heaven without
this body must come back to earth and make itself a new body, but many who say
they do not believe this body will ever be in Heaven think that at the
resurrection an earthy body must be resurrected even though the earthly body
will never be in Heaven.
Synonyms for
"soul" that are used in 1 Corinthians 15: earth, earthly (dust),
corruption, natural body, mortal, image of Adam, flesh and blood.
How can death be a separation of body and soul when:
Mike Willis
said a spiritual body is not an ethereal body any more than Christ's was a
shadowy, ghostly, ethereal body. But rather, a spiritual body is a body that is
suited for the spiritual world, which God has planned for mankind. He said just
as certainly as there is a natural body, there will also be a spiritual body;
and one is no more uncertain than the other, and just as certainly as we
have a body adapted to life in the world we now live in, so also shall we have
a body that will be adapted to life in the world to come. A Commentary On
Paul's First Epistle To the Corinthians, 1979. He has clearly said the
"spirit" he thinks we now have is not the "spiritual body"
which we shall have in Heaven. The "spirit" could then only be a
shadowy, ghostly, ethereal body, which he said Christ does not have. A
spiritual body is not just a thin air, no substance, ghostly something, but we
know not what. The soul is the natural
body, the image of Adam, a living being; it is the earthy body that will die
and cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
B.
W. Johnson, Author of "People's New Testament With Notes" 1898:
"'So also in the resurrection of the dead.' On earth there was a body
adapted to earthly condition. At death that earthly body was 'sown' or planted
in the earth. 'It is sown in corruption,' or subject, to corruption. 'It is
raised in incorruption...It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual
body.' Our earthly bodies, like that of the earthly Adam, are of earth; the new
body, 'the house not made with hands,' is in the image of the heavenly man, the
glorified body of Jesus Christ, for 'as we have borne the image of the earthly,
(a living soul-living being) so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly.'
Then, to silence forever those who expect a sensual heaven in which they shall
abide in the flesh eternally, he exclaims, 'Now, this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption
inherit incorruption.' This, in its connection, can only have one meaning.
Flesh and blood bodies (a living soul–living being), bodies made
of corruptible earthly materials, are not compatible with a home in the world
of redeemed and glorified spirits. The soul's tenement, if it has one, must be
adapted to the new conditions of being. Are we then denied a body in the future
state? By no means. I may not be able to understand the nature of that body,
because I have never seen such an existence, but I can accept the statements of
the word of God and believe that it is exactly fitted to the happy sphere of
glorified existence. It 'is a building of God,' it is made 'as it has pleased
him,' it is 'a spiritual body,' it is 'incorruptible,' it is 'immortal,' it is
after the image of the heavenly man, and 'our vile bodies (a living soul–living being) are changed into the likeness of his glorified
body.'" Page 413, 1891, "Christ and the Future Life" at: http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/bjohnson/etc/CATFL.HTM
B.
W. Johnson: "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. Gen. 2:7. From
him came our natural life. The last Adam, Christ, of whom Adam was a type. A
quickening spirit. By giving life to the dead, and imparting spiritual
existence. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual. The first Adam came
before the second Adam. The natural body, which proceeds from the first Adam is
our tabernacle first; after this life comes the 'spiritual body,' which the
second Adam gives. The first man is of the earth. Was fashioned out of the
earth, Genesis 2:7. The second man is the Lord who came from heaven. As is the
earthy. All have earthly bodies, like that of Adam. As is the heavenly. When we
are raised to heaven we shall have spiritual bodies like Christ's."
"People's New Testament With Notes" pages 124-125.
Carl Holladay: "To the first Adam, God gave the first physical
body: Adam became a living being (Gen. 2:7). To the second Adam, or the last
Adam, Christ, God gave the first spiritual body. Their essential difference
(and the Greek makes this clear) is that the former was essentially life–receiving, whereas the latter was life–giving. It is this that renders one physical and the other
spiritual. It was the last Adam upon whom, and within whom the Spirit of God
dwelt; by raising him from the dead. God breathed into history a second breath
of life, and vividly confirmed another mode of existence, which wholly
transcended physical life: spiritual life. But, it succeeds the physical
instead of replacing the physical: it is not the spiritual, which is first but
the physical, and then the spiritual. Spiritual life is the hope which the
resurrection of the last Adam confirmed and will eventually provide; it is
inaccessible to those who are still in the physical body" "The First
Letter of Paul to The Corinthians," Page 209, Abilene Christian University
Press.
J.
W. McGarvey: "The life principle of Adam is soul, and he was formed of the
earth: the life principle of Christ is spiritual. He was in heaven (John 1:10
and from thence entered the world and became flesh (John 1:14; 3:13, 21; Phil.
2:6-8; John 1:1-3; Luke 1:35). Now, as the two heads differ, so do the two
families, and each resembles itÕs head; the earthly progeny of Adam having
earthly natures, and the spiritual progeny of Christ having spiritual and
heavenly natures. But in both families the earthly nature come first, and the
spiritual children wait for their manifestation, which is the very thing about
which the apostle has been talking, for it comes when they are raised from the
dead (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2; Rom. 8:22, 23; 2 Cor. 5:1-10)" Standard Bible
Commentary, Page 158, 1916, Standard Publishing Company.
Dr. Lange: "The expression living soul, as used in Genesis, is
often taken to indicate an order of being superior to the brute, and is the
text of many an argument to prove the immortality of the soul. The
incorrectness of this assumption will be readily seen by referring to Genesis
1:20, 21, 24, and elsewhere, in which passages the words translated 'living
soul' are used referring to the entire lower creation. They are used
indifferently of man and beast to express animal life in general; and it is in
this light the apostle uses them as the very course of his argument shows. Adam is spoken of as a living soul, not to
prove his immortality, but rather his mortality" Commentary on 1
Corinthians 15:45.
ELEVEN DEFINITIONS OF "SOUL"
AND
EIGHTEEN DEFINITIONS OF "SPIRIT"
AS GIVEN
BY VINE
"Vine's Complete
Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words" by W. E. Vine is one
of, if not the best and most used and accepted Lexicon in use. Therefore, I
will use his definitions of "soul" and "spirit" as a
standard work that is used to uphold the doctrine of an immortal soul.
HE
USED ONLY 4 PASSAGES TO PROVE AN IMMORTAL SOUL: Of the 106
times psukee is used, he used only 4 of the 106 in (see b and c below) to prove
a person has an immortal soul. The 4 passages he used: Matthew 10:28; Acts
2:27; 2 Corinthians 5:3-4; Revelation 6:9.
HE
USED ONLY 8 PASSAGES TO PROVE
AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT: Of the 288 times spirit-pnuma is used, he used only 8
of the 288 in (see c and d below) to prove a person has an immortal spirit (1) Luke 8:55; (2) Acts 7:59; (3) 1
Corinthians 5:5; (4) James 2:26; (5) 2 Corinthians 5:3-4; (6) Luke 24:37-39;
(7) Hebrews 12:23; (8) 1 Peter 4:6. According to his definitions, both soul and
spirit are both an "immaterial,
invisible part of man" in only 12 times (really 11 as he used 2
Corinthians 5:3-4 in both to prove both soul and spirit are immortal even
thought he says soul and spirit are two entirely difference things) in the 394
times that both soul and spirit are used; according to Vine the other 382 that
are speaking of man are speaking of man as an earthly being, not an immortal
soul or an immortal spirit. Matthew 10:28 says God can destroy the soul-psukee.
In Acts 2:27 the soul (psukee-person) is in the grave un-resurrected. Neither
says anything about an "immaterial,
invisible part of man."
(1) W. E.
Vine on psukee (SOUL) Page 588
THE FOUR PASSAGES VINE USED
TO PROVE A PERSON NOW HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL
He gives ten
definitions of soul. He applies only two (b) and (c) of his definitions to what
he thinks is an immortal soul. All the others of his definitions (a, d, e, f,
g, h, i, and j) are used referring to men and animals, not to an inter being
that lives after the death of the person or animal.
1). Psukee—soul: to mortal man. W. E. Vine lists eight ways that he says "soul"
applies to mortal man.
1.
(a) The natural life of the body (a living
soul-living being)
2.
(d) The seat of
personality...explained as = "own self,"...the seat of the sentient
element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, fells, desires
3. (e) The seat of the sentient element in man,
that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires.
4. (f) The seat of will and purpose
5. (g) The seat of appetite
6. (h) Persons,
individuals..."persons"..."anyone"...of dead
bodies..."dead soul" and of animals
á
The equivalent
of the personal pronoun, used for emphasis and effect: 1st person, 2nd person,
3rd person
7.
(j) An animate creature, human or other.
8.
(k) ÒThe inward
man,Ó the seat of the new life
2).
Psukee—soul: to man. W. E. Vine lists two
ways that "soul" applies to something immortal in man.
1. (b) The
immaterial, invisible part of man,
Matthew 10:28; Acts 2:27. In the first two of his eleven definitions of
soul, he makes the soul be both the
natural body in the image of Adam and "the
immaterial, invisible part of man." This is the common way of most
that believe we have a part that is now immortal. Any passage with
psukee-life-soul must be interpreted in a way that makes psukee be an immortal
part of a person, and this is most of them for only a few can be made to say
what they want them to say.
2. (c) The
disembodied or "unclothed" or "naked" man, 2 Corinthians 5:3-4 and Revelation 6:9. "Disembodied" is not in 2
Corinthians 5:3-4, he added it. He clearly says soul and spirit are two difference
things, yet he applied "naked" to both the soul (psukee) and the
spirit (pneuma), even though he made a distinction in the two. He says, "The language of Heb. 4:12 suggests the
extreme difficulty of distinguishing between the soul and the spirit, alike in
their nature and in their activities. Generally speaking, the spirit may be
recognized as the life principle bestowed on man by God, the soul as the
resulting life constituted in the individual, the body being the material
organism animated by soul and spirit."
1.
"The spirit may be recognized as the life principle bestowed
on man from God"-W. E. Vine.
2.
"The body being the material organism"-W. E. Vine.
3.
"The soul as the resulting life" "(a) The natural
life of the body" - W. E. Vine. Body + breath of
life, spirit = a living being, a soul. This is true of both man and animals.
The spirit–life principle came from God and returns to God (Ecclesiastes
12:7). The soul is the breathing creature whether a person or animal. What does
he think is the immortal part of a
person? The soul or spirit? He seems to say one (soul) at one time and the
other (spirit) at another time.
If the soul (psukee) is "An animate creature, human or
other" how is it that he thinks people have souls but animals do not? He give four passage to prove the ÒsoulÓ is
now immortal, but about forty to prove that the ÒsoulÓ is now mortal, Òthe
natural life of the body,Ó an Òanimate creature, human or other.Ó How could he
know when psukee (soul) is something that is immortal and when the same word,
psukee (soul) sometimes used in the same passage, is something that is mortal?
The four
passages Vine used
To prove
we have an immortal, immaterial soul.
Vine used only four passages to prove a
person has an immortal soul (Matthew 10:28; Acts 2:27; 2 Corinthians 5:3,4;
Revelation 6:9). All the other passages where soul-psukee refers to a person he
applied to the earthly person, not an "immaterial,
invisible part of a man."
(1).
Matthew 10:28: See Gehenna in
chapter four, second occasion.
(2). Acts 2:27: See hades in the New Testament in chapter six.
(3).
2 Corinthian 5:3-4: See number five below on his eight passages on spirit, ÒLonging to be clothed upon with our
habitation which is from heaven.Ó He used this passage to prove we have
both a soul and a spirit and both are an Òimmaterial,
invisible part of a person,Ó but he said the soul and spirit are not the
same immortal being.
(4).
Revelation 6:9: Souls under the altar See
chapter eight, part three. Not one of his four passages has immortal or
immortality in them.
W. E.
VINE ON PNEUMA (SPIRIT)
THE EIGHT
PASSAES VINE USED TO
PROVE A
PERSON NOW HAS AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT
"Pneuma primarily denotes 'the
wind' ('to breathe, blow'); also 'breath.'" W. E. Vine, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old and New
Testament Words, Page 593.
(Note: While they are men who have learned more than most on Bible
words; and we can learn from them, they are still just as human, just as
uninspired as other men are, just as subject to err and be wrong, they are
still men and hold to such things as Calvinism: He says, "Adam died on the day he disobeyed God. Genesis 2:17, and hence
all mankind are born in the same spiritual condition" W. E. Vine, Page
149, New Testament; and like the men who have made translations of the Bible,
their views sometime show up in their work, intentional or unintentional; and
we must not believe there can be no error in even the best lexicon or
translations. They all have some, and no lexicon can be taken as law. McCord
says they can be and are sometimes wrong. See "Lexicons Can Be Wrong"
McCord, Guardian of Truth, Page 448, 1996). In the early translations, one
Greek word would be translated into many English words (an example-apollumi was
translated into eight English words in the King James Version). A Lexicon wrote
later would give all eight English words as the meaning of the one Greek word.
Lexicons sometimes define a Greek word more by the way that word is used in the
English translations than that by the way it was used in the Greek New
Testament, if the English translations translate it 8 or 10 different ways, the
lexicons give 8 or 10 different meanings of the one Greek word. The question is
why did the early translations use many words to translate one word? By being
able to translate one Greek word into many English words gives them the ability
to make any verse not say something they did not want it to say. One word,
nehphesh, is rendered with about forty-four different words in the King James
Old Testament.
W. E. VINE'S EIGHTEEN
WAYS "SPIRIT" IS USED: They
are almost the same as his "soul" - see above. Of the eighteen ways Vine says the Greek word ÒpneumaÓ that is
translated "spirit" is used in the Bible, he says sixteen of them are
not used with reference to an undying
"immaterial, invisible part of man." C and D are the only two of the eighteen different ways he says
spirit is used, which he used to prove a person is a two-fold being, and they
do not do it. None of the eight passages he used say anything about an
immortality soul.
1). Pneuma—spirit: to being not of this
earth, God, Christ, Holy Spirit, angels, and other spirits both clean and
unclean.
1.
(k) The Holy Spirit.
2.
(m) Unclean spirits, demons.
3.
(n) Angels.
2). Pneuma—spirit: to mortal man. W. E. Vine lists thirteen definition of ÒspiritÓ
that makes "spirit" apply to mortal man.
á
Bad: As of
bondage, As of a slave, Stupor, and Timidity
á
Good: As of
adoption, liberty as of a son, Faith, Quietness,
3). Pneuma—spirit: to man. W. E. Vine lists two
definition of "spirit" that is something immortal in man.
W. E. Vine's gives eight
passages in (c) and (d) to prove a person now has in immortal Òspirit.Ó (1) Luke 8:55; (2) Acts 7:59; (3) 1
Corinthians 5:5; (4) James 2:26; (5) 2 Corinthians 5:3-4; (6) Luke 24:37-39; (7)
Hebrews 12:23; (8) 1 Peter 4:6, but he used about sixty-two passages where he
says the same Greek word is something that is now mortal.
á
Eight times his definitions of ÒspiritÓ are something
that is now is immortal.
á
Sixty-two times his definitions of ÒspiritÓ are
something that is now mortal.
(1). W.
E. VINEÕS FIRST PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: Luke 8:55
"And her spirit returned."
W. E. Vine says
pneuma (soul) is "the natural life
of the body," Page 588. It means her life returned. W. E. Vine said, "The spirit may be recognized as the
life principle bestowed on man by God, the soul as the resulting life constituted
in the individual, the body being the material organism animated by soul and
spirit" Page 589. He points out that man as he is now can have no life
without the body. After the resurrection the saved will have a new body. The
lost are not said to put on a new glorious spiritual body (2 Thessalonians
4:23ff, 1 Corinthians 15:43), or to have immortality, which they must have if
they will live forever in torment. Pneuma-spirit is also translated
"life" in Revelation 13:15. Vine
makes a clear distinction between soul and spirit, but says both are an "immaterial, invisible part of
man." Does he think people have two "immaterial, invisible part(s)"? Is this proof that, as
McCord says, "Lexicons Can Be Wrong"? W. E. Vine also applied "A
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens"
(2 Corinthians 5:3-4) to both the soul and the spirit, but he and many others
believes the soul and the spirit are not the same yet say both are Òa house not made with hands.Ó Do we
have two buildings from God for the
two "immaterial, invisible
parts" of a person, (1) one building Ònot made with handsÓ for the spirit, (2) and another building Ònot made with handsÓ for the soul?
According to Vine we do; do you believe him?
(2). W. E. VINEÕS SECOND PASSAGE OF HIS
EIGHT
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: Acts 7:59
"Receive my spirit"
If he were asking for
his spirit to be received at the resurrection, for this is when we will be
received in Heaven, then where is his spirit before the resurrection? For this
to prove Stephen had a spirit that would be alive from death unto the
Resurrection, his spirit would have to be received by God at death. Stephen was
asking God to receive him at the judgment. Those who teach we go to Abraham's
bosom do not believe we are caught up to Heaven immediately at death so why are
they using this to prove what happens to us at death when they do not believe
God receives us into Heaven at the time of our death? To make this teach we
have an immortal soul, which does not die when the body dies, (1) soul and
spirit must be made to be the same thing (2) then contrary to their belief
about Abraham's bosom that no one will be in Heaven before the resurrection;
they send Stephen to Heaven at his death. Is it because there is no real proof,
and scripture must be misused to make it sound as though there is proof, and
even misuse them in a way that is contradictory to their own belief. We are not
told that Stephen went to Heaven or to Abraham's bosom, but we are clearly told
that he "fell asleep" (Acts
7:60), not that he has Ògone to be with the Lord,Ó not told that he is now in
Heaven Òlooking down on usÓ as is often preached today. Maybe they think
Stephen is asleep in Heaven or Abraham's bosom. If the real Stephen were the
spirit, then what was the "he" that
"fell asleep" (Acts 7:60)?
The "he" that fell asleep was
Stephen (the whole person), not just an earthly body that will never be in
Heaven that was asleep while the real Stephen was awake in Heaven. Either Òthe
real StephenÓ "fell asleep"
or he was awake, one or the other but not both.
Stephen said, "Lay not this sin to their charge"
(Acts 7:60). The book of Job was inspired, but the speeches of his three
friends were not inspired, and much in their speeches is not true (Job 42:7;
Job 42:8). See "Job" By Homer Hailey and "Guide to Bible
Study" by J. W. McGarvey. Was Stephen speaking by inspiration, or was Luke
only inspired to write what Stephen said, just as the writer of Job was
inspired to write the uninspired speeches of Job's friends even when it is said
that they spoke not the truth? The question is "what did he ask God to do,
and when was he asking God to do it"? "Lord,
lay not this sin to their charge?" (Acts 7:60). This shows he had love
even to those who were doing him harm as he should, but what he was asking
could not be unless they believed, repented, and were baptized. There is no
other way that God could not lay this sin to their charge, or the death of
Christ would not have been needed. Therefore, God could not do what Stephen was
asking. Stephen was not speaking by inspiration when he said this, for if he
were, he would not have been inspired to ask God to do something He could not
do. Christ said, "Father, into your
hands I commit My spirit: and having said this, He breathed His last" (Luke
23:46). Isaiah 53:12 in the King James Version "because he has poured out his soul unto death," is "because
he poured out Himself to death"
in the New American Standard Version, and "because
He poured out his life unto
death" in the New International Version. Christ gave his life for us,
not a no substance something that according to today's theology could not die
and was alive in "Hell" in the three days that his body was in the
grave. If Christ did not really give up His life, if He were as much alive as
He was before He came to earth there was no resurrection. He did not die for
us. We are still in our sins with no hope.
"For you will not abandon my soul to sheol"
(Psalm 16:10). "Because you will
not abandon me to the grave" New
International Version is quoted in the New Testament, "Because you will not leave My soul unto hades" (Acts 2:27 and 31). "In hell" in the King James Version. Christ gave His life
for our sins. Sheol is the grave. He died our death and went to the grave and
was raised from the grave by the Father. He was not abandon to the grave.
(1).
ÒChrist died for our sinsÓ (1
Corinthians 15:3).
(2).
ÒHe was buriedÓ (1 Corinthians 15:4).
(3). ÒHe has been raised on the third dayÓ (1
Corinthians 15:4).
If
He went to Heaven at the moment of death He could not have been buried for He
would have been alive in Heaven, He could not have been raised on the third day
for He would have been alive in Heaven, not dead and buried in the grave, if He
was alive in Heaven there was no resurrection for He would not have been dead
on the third day. Unconditional immortality completely destroys the
resurrection.
(3). W.
E. VINE'S THIRD PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: I Corinthians 5:5
ÒTo deliver such a
one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved
in the day of the Lord Jesus.Ó The day of the Lord Jesus is the day of His
second coming and the resurrection. Is Vine saying salvation will be given to
any one after the resurrection?
The context of this
passage is disfellowship of the person committing fornication with his fatherÕs
wife. ÒTo deliver such a one unto SatanÓ
is to disfellowship him in hope that he will repent; it is not to literally to
deliver him to Satan; there would be no way that the Corinthians are any one
could literally take any living person to Satan. ÒFor the destruction of the fleshÓ is the destruction of the sinful
desires of this life, not to literally destroy his body. No Christian can
literally destroy the body of another living person and this is not what Paul
was telling them to do. ÒThat the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord JesusÓ is one of PaulÕs Òthings hard to be understoodÓ (1 Peter
3:16). ÒThe day of the Lord JesusÓ is
the day of His second coming, the resurrection, and judgment. Even most of those
who believe we have an immortal soul or an immortal spirit that is different
than the person does not believe either one can be saved at any time after
death, not even on ÒThe day of the Lord Jesus.Ó
It most likely means that he if the person disfellowshiped will be saved from
the second death after the Judgment (Revelation 21:8) if being disfellowshiped
makes him repent before his death.
(4). W.
E. VINEÕS FORTH PASSAGE
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: James 2:26
ÒFor as
the body apart from the spirit is dead,Ó
What does this
passage teach us about the spirit? Only that the body is dead without it.
Nothing more. To teach anything more than this from this passage it must be
read into it.
WHAT THIS PASSAGE DOES NOT SAY.
(5). W. E. VINE'S FIFTH PASSAGE OF HIS
EIGHT
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: 2 Corinthians 5:5
ÒLonging to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from
heavenÓ
He used 2 Corinthians
5:5 to prove a person has an "immaterial,
invisible part of man." In 2 Corinthians 5:3-4 we are unclothed while
we are in the earthly house, but will be clothed in Heaven. Nothing is said in
this about a person being a dual being while in the earthly house. If it were as Vine says, that this clothing
is "a never-dying spirit"
it would not be possible to be unclothed. If this clothing were our spirit, to
be "unclothed" or "naked" would be to not have a
spirit. He added, "disembodied"
to get his immaterial soul, but adds it to both soul and spirit, which he said
are not the same. If all have an immortal soul from birth, not even the lost
could ever be ÒnakedÓ or Òunclothed.Ó If all have an immortal
soul and the Òhouse not made with handsÓ
were this soul, even the lost would have this Òhouse not made with hands,Ó and no one, saved or lost could ever
not have a Òhouse not made with hands,Ó
not now in this life time or at any time after death.
2 Corinthians 5:1-8: (1) ÒFor we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved
(if our earthly body be dead), we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the
heavensÓ (a new immortal body). (2) ÒFor
verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our
habitation which is from heaven (wanting to be with Christ in Heaven
and clothed with our immortal bodies); (3)
if so be that being clothed (with a new spiritual immortal body) we shall not be found naked (not be dead,
not have the life Christ gives to them that obey Him). (4) For indeed we that are in this tabernacle (our
earthly body) do groan, being burdened:
(in this life we have persecutions, sickness, death; but most of all a longing
to be with Christ) not for that we would be unclothed.Ó Not that we
want the sleep of death before we put on immortal life at the resurrection. To
be "unclothed" is not to
have a body, not an earthly or spiritual body from death unto the resurrection.
To be "unclothed" is to be
asleep without a body waiting to wake up at the resurrection and "put on immortality."
There
are three states that are clearly stated in this passage, not two.
(1)
We are now clothed with the earthly
body, which is the Òearthly house of this
tabernacle.Ó
(2)
We will be unclothed, asleep without
a body (earthly body or heavenly body) from death to the resurrection.
(3)
We long to be clothed (with our
immortal bodies in Heaven) Òbut that we would be clothed upon; that what is mortal may be swallowed up of
life (that this life on earth with out mortal bodies may be replaced with
life in Heaven with an immortal bodies). Now
he that wrought us for this very
thing is God, who gave unto us the
earnest of the Spirit. Being
therefore, always of good courage, and knowing that, while we are at home in the body, (while we are living on this earth)
we are absent from the Lord (not immortal
in Heaven with Christ) (for we walk by faith, not by sight): we are of good courage, I say, and are willing
rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the LordÉFor we must all be made manifest before the
judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the
body.Ó Willing to change this mortal body for an immortal body, and be in
Heaven with Christ after we are before the judgment-seat of Christ. It is not
the "soul" which will be naked after death; it is ÒweÓ the whole person. Those who believe the soul is an inter part
of a person, which will be alive after dead:
á
Believe the same soul we have now.
o
Is the same soul we will have after death.
o
And is the same soul we will have in Heaven; for they believe "the
immaterial, invisible part of man" is just as immortal now as it will
be after the resurrection and judgment; they believe it is just as immortal now
while we are on earth as it will be after we are in Heaven.
The soul being naked after death is not
possible and makes no sense if you believe a person now has the same immortal
soul that person will always have; and that it is only this "immaterial, invisible part of
man" that will live forever in Heaven or Hell. A person being "disembodied"
is not in the Bible, and therefore is a doctrine of man. Vine added, "disembodied," and makes it equal
to "unclothed," or "naked"; it was Paul and the
Corinthians that would be "unclothed,"
or "naked," not an ÒimmaterialÓ part of them; if they are
now alive in Heaven before the resurrection, they would be in Heaven but naked
or unclothed. Paul's words have to be changed to get an immaterial immortal
soul. Most Protestants believe the
soul goes immediately to Heaven or Hell at death; therefore, VineÕs teaching of
a soul being "disembodied" after
death does not fit with what most Protestants believe, it is a total contradiction
to it. The Catholic or the Protestant views do not have any room for an
intermediate "disembodied"
state from death to the resurrection. VineÕs
"disembodied" soul from death to the resurrection is saying they are
both wrong, for most in the mainstream Protestants or Catholics do not believe
there is a "disembodied" state for the soul from death to the
resurrection, but believe that the soul goes instantly to Heaven or Hell at
death with no disembodied state in between death and Heaven. This passage
is just another of the many passages that are an unexplainable passage to
anyone with the Protestant view, but Vine did the best he could even if he has
to be both unorthodox and change the Bible.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 is used to show the "house not made with hands" is
the spirit and it will be conscious before the resurrection. This "longing to be clothed upon with our
habitation that is from Heaven," is longing for our habitation at "the judgment seat" (5:10),
not in this life, or not at our death. If
this "house not made with
hands" were an immortal soul, as those who use this passage to teach
we now have an immortal soul says it is; then we would now have this
immortal soul now living in us, then why would we be "longing to be clothed" with
our "house not made with hands"
when we are now clothed with it, and all, both the saved and the lost,
even those not in Christ have been clothed with the "house not made with hands" from the day of their birth?
Paul
is made to say we are longing to be clothed with that which we are already
clothed with; that with which we have been clothed with from birth. It is not an immortal soul that Paul is
speaking of, but the "house not made
with hands" in Heaven after we stand before the judgment seat of
Christ which we are looking for, not an immaterial invisible part of a person,
which he is somehow trying to prove that we now have. There is
nothing about a "soul" in this passage. "Spirit" has to be
read into this for Paul said nothing about "spirit" in 2 Corinthians
5:1-10.
(1) It is about us now in this life.
(2) And us at the judgment seat.
(3) And then us at home in Heaven.
It is about our
whole person both now and in Heaven, not just an "immaterial, invisible part of man."
OUR MORTAL NATURE NOW OUR
IMMORTAL NATURE AFTER THE
ON EARTH 2 Cor. 5:1-11 RESURRECTION IN HEAVEN after second coming
"The earthly house" "A
building from God-eternal in the heavens"
"Longing to be clothed upon"
"With our habitation that is from Heaven"
"At home in the body" "At home with the
Lord"
"That what is mortal" "May be swallowed
up of life"
"This mortal"
"Must put on immortality" 1 Corinthians 15:53
Paul says nothing about life between death and
the resurrection or about an immortal soul, which as many teach is the same now
as it will be in Heaven. He is comparing this life with life in Heaven. We now
have an earthly house, a mortal soul mode of existence, but will have a
building from God, an immortal spiritual mode of existence. Nothing is said
about any kind of existence from death to the resurrection. "That what is mortal
may be swallowed up of life" (2 Corinthians 5:4). When will this be?
At the resurrection, not instantly at death (1 Corinthians 15:54).
If the "house
not made with hands" were an immortal soul and the lost now have an
immortal soul AS SOME TEACH THEY DO, then the lost would NOW have this "house not made with hands," the
same immortal soul NOW while they are living and will ALWAYS have this "house not made with hands" in
Hell. If the lost do not have
eternal life, they would not know they were in Hell and could not feel any
pain. This teaching of Plato that all now has an immortal soul makes all now
have this house, which is believed to be an "immaterial,
invisible part of man," and no one, lost or saved, need to long for it
for according to this teaching all
now have this "immaterial, invisible
part of man," and all will always have it, but in an attempt to prove
a person now has an immortal soul they use "longing
to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven" when they
say that we are born already clothed with this habitation. Which way is it,
were we born with immortality, or longing to be clothed with immortality?
According to the immortal soul teaching of today that the soul is now
immortal, what is Òmortal that is
swallowed up of life?Ó (2 Corinthians 5:4).
We need to take
care that we do not put an interpretation on any passage that will make it
clash with other passages. It is evident that Paul did not expect the dead in
Christ, those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:1-28), to be with Christ
before the resurrection.
Paul speaks of three states.
á
State 1 –
Life–the earthly house or tabernacle, the present body we now have.
á
State 2 –
Death–the naked or unclothed, the state he did not groan for, asleep in
Christ without a body.
á
State 3 –
Resurrected–a building of God not made with hands eternal in the heavens,
the clothed or resurrected body he wanted.
If, as Vine says, the naked state is the "disembodied" soul in Heaven
during the intermediate state, why does Paul not want to be "found naked"? Did he not want
to be in Heaven without the earthly body in the intermediate state? Did he not
want to be in Heaven with Christ and all the saved unto the Judgment Day? No.
Paul knew that he would not be with Christ unto the Resurrection if Christ did
not return before his death. He knew that there is no life for the dead before
the Resurrection. To be naked or
unclothed is to have no life, not be alive in Heaven or Hell.
The doctrine that the
body is only a dwelling place of an immortal soul that goes to Heaven or Hell
as a "disembodied" soul
without the Òspiritual bodyÓ before
the resurrection and judgment is not found in this passage, but many read it
into it. The passage says nothing about a "soul." Paul used "we" not "our soul."
"But
that WE would be clothed upon that what is mortal may be swallowed up of
life." The context that this
passage is in is speaking of the resurrection from the dead (2 Corinthians 4:14 to 5:10), not on being alive
after death without a body, and having no need of the resurrection.
WHEN WILL WE BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD? If "to be present with
the Lord" is to take up our residence in Heaven immediately at death,
what is the "naked" and
"unclothed" state of verses
3 and 4, and when is it? It is not while Paul was in "this tabernacle" or when he would be clothed in Heaven;
therefore, neither in this life nor in Heaven is when he could be "unclothed." All will be
absent from the body at death (the naked state), but no one will be present
with the Lord in Heaven unto after the second coming of Christ. The intermediate nakedness from death unto
the resurrection is something Paul did not want, something he DID NOT GROAN FOR;
it is death, not any kind of life anyplace. From 1 Thessalonians 4:17 we
learn that after death the only way we will be with the Lord is the
resurrection, not immediately at death without the resurrection.
á
"For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first; (all the dead in Christ shall rise at the same time at the coming
of Christ) them that are alive, that are
left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Both (1) believers that are
dead in Christ and (2) believers that will be alive at His coming will both together be caught up and ever be
with the Lord; this clearly shows that the dead in Christ are not now in Heaven
with the Lord before and without being resurrected from the dead. If they were
now alive in Heaven they would not be Òdead
in Christ,Ó they could not Òrise
first,Ó be resurrected from the dead before those who are alive are Òchanged.Ó It is (1) dead Christians
that will be resurrected (2) and living Christians that will be changed from
mortal to immortal, not (1) dead souls resurrected (2) and living souls changed.
á
ÒWe all shall not sleep but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we (those who are alive when Christ comes) shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortalityÓ (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). Paul is
clearly speaking of this mortal person putting on immortality, not an immortal
soul putting on immortality. An immortal soul is read into this passage when
nothing is said about a soul in it.
á
At our gathering together unto Him at Òthe coming of the LordÓ (2 Thessalonians 2:1)
á
When the Lord shall descend from Heaven with a shout (1
Thessalonians 4:13-17)
á
When Christ who is our life shall be manifest (Colossians 3:4)
Even though Paul know his death was near
he anticipated receiving Òthe crown or
righteousnessÓ to be given to him by the Lord Òon that day,Ó not at his death if he should die before the coming
of the Lord, and that this crown of life would also be given to Òall them that have loved his appearingÓ
Òon that dayÓ (2 Timothy 4:6-8), both
to all that are asleep in Christ and to all that will be alive when He comes.
In the above
passages it is said when we will go to Heaven in such a simple and clear way
that I cannot understand how anyone cannot understand them, or how they could
say, ÒNot true Lord, we are not going to wait unto You come again.Ó If an immaterial no substance soul were alive with the Lord
immediately after death it could not be resurrected from the dead at His
coming; an immortal soul could not Òput
on immortalityÓ at the coming of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Paul says
nothing about a Òsoul,Ó he is speaking of the whole person.
Paul says the same
thing in Romans 8:23-24 and 2 "Corinthians 5:1-2.
Ò Waiting for our adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body" and "longing
to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven" is the
same thing and will be at the resurrection, not at death and says nothing about
a part of an immortal person that will be alive from death unto the
resurrection.
Romans 8:23-24
| 2 Corinthians 5:1-2
But ourselves also, who have the | Who
give unto us the earnest of the
first-fruits of the Spirit | Spirit" See Eph
1:13-14; Rom 8:11
Even we ourselves groan | In this we
groan,
within ourselves
|
.
waiting for our adoption, to | longing to be clothed upon with our
wit, the redemption of our body | habitation which is from heaven
It is our bodies
changed body that will be redeemed, clothed with our habitation from Heaven,
not a soul.
Scott P. Wiley in
"Eternal Torment or Annihilation" makes the grave be the place where
man puts bodies but he says sheol is not the grave but a place under the earth
where God puts the souls of the dead, some in one part of sheol are happy and
some in another part of sheol are in torment, and they are waiting there for
the resurrection. If Paul and all the saved go to be with the Lord at death and
the Lord is in Heaven there is no such place as sheol or hades or if there
where such a place, no one would be in it for they would be with the Lord in
Heaven. If the dead all go to sheol and they are with the Lord, the Lord would
be in sheol under the earth or wherever those who believe sheol is a storehouse
for living souls believe it to be, He would not be in Heaven, not setting on
the right hand of God. Being transported
to Heaven or Hell instantly at death makes all the passages that speak of the
dead being in sheol or hades a lie, and all the passages that speak of the
resurrection of the dead be a lie for those in Heaven could not be dead; and
makes the Bible say one thing in one place and another thing in another place.
COMPANION BIBLE by E.W. Bullinger, on 2 Corinthians 5:8: ÒIt
is little less than a crime for anyone to pick out certain words and frame them
into a sentence, not only disregarding the scope and context, but ignoring the
other words in the verse, and quote the words Ôabsent from the body, present with the LordÕ with the view of
dispensing with the hope of the Resurrection (which is the subject of the whole
passage) as though it were unnecessary; an as though Ôpresent with the LordÕ is obtainable without it.Ó
2 Corinthians
5:1-4
In contemporary English and paraphrased
translated.
NEW LIVING TRANSLATION: ÒFor we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an
eternal body made for us by God
himself and not by human hands. We
grow weary in out present bodies, and
long for the day when we will put on
out heavenly bodies like new
clothing. For WE will not be spirits
without bodies, but WE will put on new heavenly bodies. Our dying bodies
make us groan and sigh, but itÕs not
that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new
bodies so that these dying bodies
will be swallowed up by everlasting life.Ó
THE LIVING BIBLE PARAPHARASED: ÒFor
we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down—we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will
be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself, and not by human
hands. How weary we grow of our
present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when
WE shall have heavenly bodies which we shall put on like new clothes. For we shall not be merely spirits without bodies. These earthly bodies make us grown and sigh, but we wouldnÕt like to think of dying and
having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodes so that these dying bodies will as it were, be swallowed up
by everlasting life.Ó
Comtemporary ENGLISH VERSION: ÒOut bodies
are like tents that we live in here
on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings that someone
has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever. While we are here on earth, we sigh because we want to live in that heavenly home. We want to put it on like clothes and not be naked. These tents we now live in are like a heavy burden,
and we groan, But we donÕs do this just because we want to leave these bodies that will
die. It is because WE want to change
them for bodies that will never die.Ó
NEW CENTURY VERSION: ÒWe
know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be
destroyed. But when this happens, God will have a house for us. It will not be
a house made by human hands; instead, it will be a home in heaven that will
last forever. But now we groan in
this tent. We want God to give us our heavenly home, because it will clothe us
so we will not be naked. While we live in this body, we have burdens,
and we groan. We do not want to be
naked, but want to be clothed with our
heavenly home.Ó
THE SIMPLE ENGLISH
BIBLE: ÒWhen the earthly ÔtentÕ in which we live is destroyed, we know that we have another building which comes from God, a house in the
heavenly worlds, not man-made. It lasts forever. That is why we groan, yearning to be clothed with our heavenly house. Since we will be clothed with a body, we will not be a naked spirit. While we are in out bodies now, we are
groaning because we feel burdened.
That doesnÕt mean we want to die; we only want a new life.Ó
GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN
MAN. THE NEW TESTAMENT IN TODAYÕS ENGLISH VERSION: ÒFor we know that when this
tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn
down, God will have a house in heaven for us
to live in, a house he himself made, which will last for ever. And now we sigh, so great is out desire to have
our home which is in haven put on over us;
for be being clothed with it we
shall not be found without a body.
While we live in this earthly tent we groan with a feeling of oppression;
it is not that we want to get rid of
our earthly body, but that we want
to have the heavenly one (body) put on over us, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.Ó
Summary: This passage
makes the clothing be something that we
do not now have but are longing for, changing this earthly body for our
heavenly body. The teaching of some makes Paul be wrong when he said we are Òlonging to be clothed upon with
our habitation which is from heavenÓ for their teaching says that
we are now clothed with an immortal soul and will always be clothed with it
even if we go to ÒHell.Ó A ÒhabitationÓ is a place to live that we
are longing for, not a soul; we are longing for our habitation, which
we do not now have, will not have at death, will not have unto after the
resurrection.
(6). W. E. VINE'S SIXTH PASSAGE OF HIS
EIGHT
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: Luke
24:37
"Supposed that they beheld a spirit"
The sixth proof that
Vine used to prove a person now has an "immaterial,
invisible part of man" is Luke
24:37-39,"Supposed that they beheld a spirit." This is what
they (as men) thought based on their fear, and was not based on inspiration.
The two parallel account of this says phantom (Matthew 14:26; Mark 6:49).
Strong (Page 1006) says this word is not pneuma (spirit) #4151, but
"phantasma" #5326 (also #5324); "A (mere) show...i.e. specter (a
hunting vision)" When Christ walked on the water is the one time this word
(phantasma) is used in the Bible, and is translated "ghost" in the
American Standard Version and most others. It is translated "a
phantom" by Marshall and in the "Christian Bible." The
"Englishman Greek Concordance," Page 783 says, "Lit. A
phantom." These disciples seem to have believed they were seeing a ghost
or phantom; and like these disciples, some today believe in ghosts, spooks,
haunted houses, and such things. This maybe the only time VineÕs thin air with
no substance ghost or spirit is in the New Testament, and then it was only what
these disciples thought they were seeing, and not what they did see. Spirits,
God, Christ, Angels have a body, and mankind after judgment will have a body,
and are more than just thin air; but not two bodies with two opposite natures both
at the same time. The use of this
passage to prove a person has an immortal soul makes the proof be based on a
lie, on what the disciples thought they were seeing, not on what they did see. Then
what they thought they were seeing, a phantasm or ghost must be changed to say
they were seeing, "The immaterial,
invisible part of man" which W. E. Vine does not seem to know whether
it was an invisible "soul" or an invisible "spirit" they
were seeing, but it was not very invisible for they were seeing it. Christ said to them that He was not a
spirit, not a phantom or ghost, not something that has no body that they
thought they were seeing, that He was flesh and blood. It seems that these
disciples were familiar with the pagan teach that was taught all around Israel
at that time and thought they were seeing such a spirit; Christ simply pointed
out to them that His having flesh and bones was completely inconsistent with
the pagan concept of an immaterial bodiless soul they thought they were seeing.
Why did Vine use an uninspired statement
made by men in fear, who was not seeing what they thought they were seeing to
prove something to be a divine truth? Notice that Vine used it to prove the
very thing that Christ pointed out to them was not true? This passage says absolutely
nothing about a person having an immortal invisible soul that he used it to
prove. Does he think they were inspired to believe a lie and that this lie
becomes truth, but only after he changes this "phantom" to both a
"soul" and a "spirit"? And that this "immaterial, invisible part of man" is just air, and it
has no kind of substance or no body of any kind; and that a spiritual body is
no body at all, with just nothing to it? Yet, V. W. Vine said these disciples
thought they were seeing something that he says is invisible; therefore, could
not be seen. Although what they were seeing was not invisible, he used it to
prove a person has an invisible bodiless part in him. Most who believe a person has an immortal soul do not believe a bodiless
soul that has not flesh and bone can be seen, but will use this to prove these
men were seeing a soul that has no substance, a bodiless soul that they say
cannot be seen.
LUKE 24:27-29 and ACTS 7:59: Two of the
passages, which W. E. Vine used to prove a person has an immortal part, are
uninspired statements. What these disciples thought they were seeing but were
not, and what Stephen was asking that could not be unless they believed in
Christ. (See (2) Acts 7:59 above) Does
this not say something about how weak his proof is?
(7). HIS SEVENTH OF HIS EIGHT THAT W. E.
VINE USED
To prove
the SPIRIT is immortal: Hebrews 12:22-23
"The spirits of just men made perfect"
He used Òthe spirits of just men made perfectÓ to
prove that the spirits of the just dead men are alive in Heaven and were made
perfect at the moment of death. Hebrews 12:22-23 is a list of seven ways the
New Covenant is now better than the
Old Covenant. Paul said they had come,
not will come after death to the spirits of just men made perfect. This was
then, while Paul and the others were alive, it was before death, before the
Resurrection, before the Judgment, before anyone will be in Heaven they had already
come "to the spirits of just men
made perfect" at the time Paul wrote this. We could not have come to the spirits of those made perfect in
Heaven for they are not yet in Heaven. If it did refer to spirits in Heaven
after the Resurrection, they would not have been "made perfect" when Paul was writing this before the
Resurrection.
Seven
ways the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant.
If the
"spirits" of the just dead were now in Heaven, the just dead under
both the Old and New Covenants would be in Heaven and would not prove the New
Covenant to be better than the Old Covenant. It would be out of place in this
list of ways the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. Those who believe all, the saved and the
lost, have souls that are now immortal believe they were just as immortal under
the Law as they now are under the New Covenant, therefore, it would not be a
way the New Covenant is better than the Old.
When and how are the spirits of just man
made perfect? "The spirits of just men made perfect" refers to men made perfect by having their
sins washed away by the blood of Christ. We have had our sins washed away
and have come to have fellowship with others who have been made perfect by
having their sins washed away.
Adam Clarke in his Commentary on Hebrews 12:23: "In several parts
of this epistle teleiov, the just
man, signifies one who has a full knowledge of the Christian system, who is
justified and saved by Christ Jesus; and the teteleiwnemoi are the adult Christians, who are opposed to the nhpioi or babes in knowledge and
grace...The spirits of the just men made perfect, or the righteous perfect, are
the full grown Christians; those who are justified by the blood and sanctified
by the Spirit of Christ. Being come to such, implies that spiritual union which the disciples of Christ have
with each other, and which they possess how far so ever separate; for they are
all joined in one spirit, #Eph 2:18; they are in the unity of the spirit, #Eph
4:3, 4; and of one soul, #Ac 4:32. This is a unity which was never possessed
even by the Jews themselves in their best state; it is peculiar to real
Christianity: (See Heb 12:29)."
There is no way
we could have come to the "spirits" of those in Heaven; if they were
in Heaven, they would be beyond our reach unto we are in Heaven with them. We
would not have come to them.
"And to the spirits of the righteous
made perfect" (New Revised Standard Version). If disembodied spirits
were in Heaven and in any way we had fellowship or communication with us it
would prove Spiritualism, which is forbidden by God. Most all who uses this to
prove we now have an immortal soul do not believe we have any communication
with the dead if they are in Heaven, Hell, the grave, or any other place;
therefore, they do not believe we could have came unto them, but they are
desperately looking for any passage to prove we now have an immaterial,
immortal soul in us and take "And to
the spirits of the righteous made
perfect" out of itÕs contexts.
When this is used to prove that after
death we have a ÒsoulÓ that is
alive and made perfect, it makes the judgment and resurrection be 100% totally
useless. The Òmade perfectÓ in Hebrews 12:23 is something that had happened at
the time Paul said this, not something that will not happen unto after the
resurrection.
á
ÒTo the spirits of just men
made perfect
(telioo)Ó (Hebrews 12:23).
á
ÒHerein is our love made
perfect
(telioo)Ó (1 John 4:17).
á
ÒHe that fears is not made
perfect
(telioo) in loveÓ (1 John 4:18).
á
ÒAnd by works was faith
made perfect
(telioo)Ó (James 2:22).
o
Made perfect is not used to mean we have no sins or cannot sin.
(8) W. E. VINEÕS EIGHT PASSAGE
To prove
the SPIRIT is now immortal: 1 Peter 4:6
ÒFor unto this end was the gospel
preached (past tense) even to the dead (present tense), that they might be
judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the
spiritÓ
The question is (1) who were the dead (2) and when was the gospel preached to
them?
Two views of who were the dead that had
had the Gospel preached to them.
(1) Christians that were alive when the gospel was
preached to them but had died at the time Peter was writing this. They were
alive in the flesh at the time the gospel was preached to them and they
believed, but they were dead (asleep in Christ) at the time Peter wrote this.
See 1 Corinthians 15:12-28.
(2) Those who Òwere dead in your trespasses and sinsÓ (Ephesians
2:1) before the gospel was preached to them. The Gospel was preached to them
when they were dead through their trespasses and sins (past tense) so that they
may live (present tense).
á ÒAnd you did he make alive, when you were dead through your trespasses and sinsÓ (Ephesians 2:1).
á
ÒHe that hears my word, and
believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and has passed out of death into lifeÓ (John 5:24).
Nothing is said about any preaching to any one after
they were physically dead or preaching to souls or spirits. The Gospel is
preached to save; Peter is not saying salvation is being offered to anyone
after they are dead, or that the gospel was preached to anyone after their
death.
SPIRIT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Spirit is translated from the Greek word pnuma. It is the same as ruach in the Old Testament.
á ÒThe Spirit (ruach) of the Lord God is upon meÓ (Isaiah 61:1).
á ÒThe Spirit (pnuma) of the Lord is upon MeÓ (Luke 4:18).
GOD IS SPIRIT
ÒGod is spirit (pnuma)Ó (John 4:24)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
He is spoken of as a distinct person (John 14:26; 15:26; Luke 3:22), a heavenly being; therefore, spirit as is God the Father.
JESUS CHRIST
Before He took on the form of man He was with the Father (John 1:1-17) ÒFor a little while lower than the angelsÓ (Hebrews 2:7). After His resurrection He is now in Heaven, a heavenly being, as the Father and the Holy Spirit (Hebrew 1:1-14) as He was before He took on the form of man.
ANGELS
ÒAre they (angels) not all ministering spirits (pnuma)Ó (Hebrews 1:14). ÒWho makes his angels spirits (ruach)Ó (Psalm 104:4).
DEMONS
ÒA woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit (pnuma)Ó (Mark 7:25).
MANKIND
Mankind are being of this earth, not
heavenly spirit being; we are now in the image of Adam and will not be in the
image of Christ unto the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-49). No one in the
image of Adam (no one who flesh and blood) is ever said to be spirit. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, angels, and demons are spirits, but
men are never called spirits in the Bible and will not be spirits unto after
the resurrection and judgment. Campbell said, ÒNow, as God is spirit, and as man was made in his
image, he too must have a spirit,Ó Popular Lectures And Addresser,Ó page 429. He changes from God being
a spirit to mankind having a spirit,
to mankind being both an earthly being with a heavenly being at the same time.
God does not have a spirit; God is a spirit.
á
ÒFor in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage, but are like angels in heavenÓ (Matthew 22:30); now mankind are not like angels, not spirit
being as angels now are, but are now earthly being. Not unto after the
resurrection will any one be Òas angels
in heavenÓ
1. ÒA spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see that I haveÓ (Luke 24:39). At the time Christ said this He was in the form of
man (Philippians 2:6-11).
2. The natural body we now have will be raised a spiritual body (1 Corinthians
15:42-45). (Matthew 22:30).
How spirit-ruach is used in the New
Testament. W. E. Vine, ÒVineÕs Complete Expository Dictionary,Ó page 593. When ÒspiritÓ
is used in regard to a person it has reference to
attitude, behavior, thinking, disposition, mood, courage, or temperament. As Òa
happy disposition,Ó Ògood attitudeÓ or Òbad mood.Ó
says
spirit-pnuma when it used in regard to man:
1.
(f) The sentient element in
man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desire, Matt. 5:3; 26:41;
Mark 2:8; Luke 1:47, 80; Acts 17:16; 20:22; 1 Cor. 2:11; 5:3, 4; 14: 4, 15;
2Cor. 7:l; cf. Gen. 26:35; Isa. 26:9; Ezek. 13:3 Dan. 7:15.
2.
(g) Purpose, aim, 2
Cor. 12:8; Phil. 1:27; Eph. 4:23; Rev. 19:10; cf. Ezra 1:5; Ps 78:8; Dan. 5:12.
3.
(g) Character, Luke
1:17; Rom. 1:4; cf. Num. 14:24.
4.
(j) Moral qualities and
activities:
a.
Bad, as of bondage, as of a
slave, Rom 8:15; cf. Isa. 61:3.
b.
Stupor, Rom. 11:8; cf. Isa 2910.
c.
Timidity, 2 Tim. 1:7; cf. Josh. 5:1.
d.
Good, as of adoption, i.e.
i.
Liberty as of a son, Rom 8:15; cf.
Ps 51:12.
ii.
Meekness, 1 Cor. 4:21; cf. Prov.
16:19.
iii.
Faith, 2 Cor. 5:13.
iv.
Quietness, 1 Pet. 3:4; cf.
Prov.14:29.
None of these says a person
is a spirit being, but have reference to attitude or behavior of the person.
How spirit-ruach
is used in the Old Testament. W. E. Vine, ÒVineÕs Complete Expository
Dictionary,Ó pages 240-241.
á
A manÕs mind-set, disposition, or ÒtemperÓ: ÒBlessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and
in whose spirit there is no guileÓ (Ps. 32:2). In Ezek. 13:3 the word is used
of oneÕs mind or thinking: ÒWoe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their
own spirit, and have seen nothingÓ (cf. Prov. 29:11).
á
Ruach can represent particular dispositions, as it does in Josh. 2:11: ÒAnd as soon as we had heard this
things, out hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any
man, because of youÉÓ (cf. Josh. 5:1; Job 15:12).
á
Another disposition represented by this word is ÒtemperÓ: ÒIf the spirit (temper) of the ruler rise up against thee, leave
not thy placeÉÓ (Eccl. 10:4). David prayed that God would Òrestore unto me the
joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with the free SpiritÓ (Ps. 51:12). In this
verse Òjoy of salvationÓ and Òfree SpiritÓ are parallel and; therefore,
synonymous terms. Therefore, ÒspiritÓ refers to oneÕs inner disposition, just
as ÒjoyÓ refers to an inner emotion.
Just as in the New Testament, when spirit is used in reference to
a person, it is the disposition of the persons mind or thinking.
Passages which speak
or mood, an attitude, frame of mind, behavior, thinking, disposition, courage,
or temperament of a mortal person(s) in this life time, feeling that we can and
do know about, not an immortal separate conscious entity that we have no way of
knowing if it was troubled, stirred, fervent, or no way of knowing anything
about it feeling or even if it has feeling.
á
ÒHe was troubled in spirit (pnuma)Ó
(John 13:21)
o
ÒJesus was deeply troubledÓ
New International Version
á
ÒThe wisdom and the spirit
(pnuma) by whichÉÓ (Acts 6:10)
á
ÒHis spirit (pnuma)
was stirred in himÓ (Acts 17:16)
o
ÒHe was greatly distressedÓ New International Version
á
ÒPaul was pressed in the spirit (pnuma)Ó
(Acts 18:5)
á
ÒBeing fervent in the spirit (pnuma)Ó
(Acts 18:25)
o
ÒHe spoke with great
fervorÓ
New International Version
á
ÒPaul purposed in the spirit (pnuma)Ó
(Acts 19:21)
o
ÒPaul made up his mindÓ TodayÕs English Version
á
ÒWhom I serve with my
spirit (pnuma)Ó (Romans 1:9)
o
ÒWhom I serve with my whole heartÓ New International Version
á
ÒBut to be spiritually
(pnuma) minded is life and peaceÓ (Romans 8:6)
á
ÒThe spirit (pnuma)
of
bondageÉthe spirit (pnuma)
of adoptionÓ (Romans 8:15)
á
ÒGiven then the spirit
(pnuma) of slumberÓ (Romans 11:8)
á
ÒFervent in spirit (pnuma)Ó (Romans12:11)
á
ÒNot the spirit (pnuma)
of the worldÓ (1 Corinthians 2:12)
á
ÒIn the spirit (pnuma)
of meeknessÓ (1 Corinthians 4:21)
o
ÒWith a gentle spiritÓ New International Version
o
ÒA heart of love and
gentlenessÓ
TodayÕs English Version
á
ÒBeing absent in body but present in spirit (pnuma)Ó (1
Corinthians 5:3)
á
ÒThey have refreshed my
spirit (pnuma)Ó (1 Corinthians 16:18)
á
ÒI had no rest in my spirit
(pnuma)Ó (2 Corinthians 2:13)
o
ÒI still had no peace of mindÓ New International Version
á
ÒWe having the same spirit
(pnuma) of faithÓ (2 Corinthians 4:13)
á
ÒBecause his spirit (pnuma)
was
refreshedÓ (2 Corinthians 7:13)
o
ÒBy all this we are encouragedÓ New International Version
á
ÒWalked we not in the same spirit
(pnuma)?Ó (Corinthians 12:18)
á
ÒGive unto you the spirit
of wisdomÓ (Ephesians 1:17)
á
ÒBe renewed in the spirit
(pnuma) of your mindÓ (Ephesians 4:23)
o
ÒTo be made new in the attitude of your mindsÓ New International Version
á
ÒThat you stand fast in one spirit
(pnuma)Ó (Philippians 1:27)
á
ÒGod has not given us the spirit
(pnuma) of fearÓ (2 Timothy 1:7)
á
ÒOf a meek and quiet spirit
(pnuma)Ó (1 Peter 3:4)
á
ÒFor the spirit of
glory (pnuma)Ó (1 Peter 4:14)
á
ÒThe spirit (pnuma)
of truth, and
the spirit (pnuma)
of errorÓ (1 John 4:6)
THE GREAT CONFUSION: Soul or spirit or both?
Two
terms that comes from different words
And
are not used interchangeable in the Bible
Vine
says they are not the samething
But
both are an Òimmaterial, invisible part
of manÓ
Does a person have an
immortal soul or an immortal spirit that is not subject to death and that has
eternal life without the resurrection? How many immortal parts does a person
have? If two, a soul and a spirit, will both of the immortal parts of a person
always exist as two independent and separate beings? If one, which is the
immortal part of a person, the soul, or the spirit? Vine says they are
different, "Generally speaking the
spirit is the higher, the soul the lower element" (Page 589); yet he
says both are "the immaterial,
invisible part of man" (soul on page 588 and spirit on page 593). Vine
said we have both a higher and a lower "
immaterial, invisible part of man."
Those who believe all
mankind have an Òimmaterial, invisible
part of man" do not seem to know whether it is the "soul" or
the "spirit" that is the "immaterial,
invisible part of man" that will live without the earthly body. When
preachers preach on the soul being immortal, they use passages that speak of
the spirit but say nothing about a soul. There
is much confusion on what part of a person is immortal and will it be the soul
or the spirit that will be in Heaven.
MANY USE SOUL AND SPIRIT INTERCHANGEABLY.
For their belief, the soul and the spirit must be the same. If they were not,
they would be forced to say one or the other is the immortal part of a person,
or that a person has two immortal beings inside of them. When I believed in Hell I could not see there being a separate immortal soul and immortal spirit; I used them interchangeably just as most do now
without realizing it. When some read the spirit
goes back to God, in their mind they see an immortal soul going back to God. Those who believe the soul will take up permanent residence in Heaven at the moment of
death, and many who believe the soul
is in Abraham's bosom and will not be in Heaven unto the judgment day both use
Ecclesiastes 12:7 to prove the soul
(the "immaterial, invisible part of
man") goes back to God in Heaven at death. How could the spirit (the other "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal part
of a person) return unto God at death if it goes to Abraham's bosom or if the
soul of many go to Hell? I have continually been told for years that lost souls
go to Hell at the moment of death. Then how could the soul return to God if it
goes to Hell and only the few souls that are saved will go to Heaven at the
moment of death? How can they not see that they are saying the soul goes to one
place and at the same time they are saying the soul goes to another place?
After Christ had been
dead for three days and after His resurrection He said, "Touch me not for I have not yet ascended to my father" (John
20:17). Many say Christ went to an intermediate place where souls go before the
resurrection but not to Heaven. If there were such an intermediate place, then
the soul or the spirit does not return to God at death. One position is taken
on one passage, and then the same persons shifts to another position on another
passage and are continually shifting their position.
SOUL OR SPIRIT, WHICH ONE IS IMMORTAL?
Any time 1
Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12, etc., comes up in a Bible class, the teacher
has the same problem, the same confusion. What is the difference in soul and
spirit? Which one is immortal? Many never seem to be quite sure which of the
two, the soul, or the spirit they believe to be immortal and not sure if they
are the same, or if they are two entirely different parts of a person. 1 Thessalonians
5:23 does not say what the functions of the body, soul, or spirit is and what
becomes of them at death. It does not say one is mortal and two of them are
immortal and will forever live somewhere. This must be read into it. Whatever
Paul means by the use of the word ÒpreservedÓ
it is apply equally to body, soul, and spirit, the body is ÒpreservedÓ just as the soul and spirit are ÒpreservedÓ; it cannot mean one is immortal and another is not
immortal. He said, ÒThe Lord shall
deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdomÓ (2 Timothy 4:18 King James
Version). It is the whole Paul (ÒmeÓ) that will be preserved, not
just a part of a person, not just a part of Paul, but his whole being.
á
There is
nothing about any part of a person now being immortal in it.
á
There is
nothing about Hell after the judgment in it. This also must be read into it.
SPIRIT HAS TAKEN THE PLACE THAT SOUL DID HAVE
Many
that not long ago believe the soul was the immortal part of man now say not so,
the soul is not immortal but the spirit is. One of the many examples that could
be given is, ÒWhat happens to you when you die?Ó by La Vista Church of Christ
at: http://lavistaachurchofchrist.org/LVanswer/2004/2004-07-20.htm. If you, as many in the LordÕs church have, change
the part of a person they say is immortal from the ÒsoulÓ to the Òspirit,Ó have
they did anymore than change the name of the part of a person they believe is now immortal? Are you not saying we now have immortality and Paul was
wrong? Are they saying, ÒO. K. we were wrong when we taught the pagan doctrine
of an immortal soul, but we are not going to give it up for then we would have
to give up eternal torment, we will change from an Òimmortal soulÓ to an
Òimmortal spirit.Ó Have they not always believed in both an Òimmortal soulÓ and
an Òimmortal spiritÓ?
Those who say the "spirit" is
the "immaterial, invisible part of
man" that is immortal must stop using passages speak of the
"soul" to prove the spirit is immortal if soul and spirit ore not the
samething. "The spirit returns to
God" cannot be used to prove the soul is immortal if they are not the
same; however, many do use this passage to prove a person has an immortal soul.
"Fear him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna" cannot be used to prove the spirit is
immortal if they are not both the same the "immaterial,
invisible part of man" that is immortal, but many do use one to prove
the other, then will use the other to prove the first. Is this what is called
"reasoning in a circle"?
á
Passages, which have "spirit" in them but are used to
prove a person has an immortal soul.
á
Passages, which have "soul" in them but are used to
prove a person has an immortal spirit.
Body, soul-life, and
spirit all are a person as he is now in the image of Adam. All three terms,
body, soul, and spirit are used referring to a living person at the same time.
They are not three parts that can exist without each other. If they were, a
person would have two separate immortal beings in Heaven simultaneously. They
are not three separate beings with opposite natures, with two living within the
other one.
Paul does not say may
your soul be preserved blameless without your body or spirit. He puts the three
together as being inseparable, the whole person, not three separate parts of a
person.
Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all
your soul (psukee – life),
and with all your mind, and with all your strength.Ó
What Jesus is saying is that we are to
love God with all our being, not some immaterial invisible no substance
something that we would have no control over and no way to know whether it
loved God or not. I can know I love God with all my heart and with all my mind,
but if there were an immaterial invisible no substance being in me that will
live after my death, I would have no way to know whether it loved God or not.
The psukee is no more a part of a person that lives after the death of the
person than the heart, mind or strength will live after death. All four are a
person looked at from different points of view while the person is living, not
four parts of a person.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living, and
active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing
of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the
thoughts and intents of the heart."
This passage shows
that the soul and spirit are different things and can be divided, but there is
nothing in it that says the soul, or the spirit is an immortal part of a person
that will exist without the person.
Unlike
animals, God made man in His image with the potential of living forever. The
spirit (ruach-spirit, breath, wind), of
both man and animals returns to God, but one of the differences in persons and
animals is that animals will not be raised from the dead. They are forever
dead, just as a person would be if there were not going to be a resurrection.
After death animals will never again have life just as the loss will never
again have life after the second death. Death is death for both men and
animals. Death is not death for animals and another kind of life for men; it is
death for both. The second death will be death, not another kind of life that
will go on forever.
There are more than 1,600 references to
soul and spirit in the Bible but not a one of them says anything about the soul
or spirit living without the body yet many who say they teach only the Bible
teach it all the time.
"May
your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, (may the whole person,
not just an invisible no substance part of a person) without blame at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ."
á
Spirit
preserved entire, when, Òat the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.Ó
á
Soul
preserved entire, when, Òat the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.Ó
á
Body
preserved entire, when, Òat the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.Ó
o This is speaking of the whole person being preserved when Òthis mortal must put on immortalityÓ (1 Corinthians 15:53), a spiritual being
with a spiritual body when mortal earthly body of flesh and blood will not be
preserved.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit (pneuma)" (Matthew 5:3). Are they poor in a no substance
immortal spirit? Spirit and soul are not
used interchangeably, and a passage that has one in it cannot be used to prove
anything about the other one as many do today. Body, soul, spirit: The whole man of Genesis 2:7 and 1
Thessalonians 5:23 "And Jehovah God
formed man of the dust of the ground (body),
and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life (spirit); and man became a living being (soul)." Body + the breath of life
(spirit) = soul-a living being.
PASSAGES IN WHICH "SPIRIT" (pneuma)
IS USED
BY MANY AS IF IT IS THE SAME AS "SOUL" (psukee)
Not one time is any
part of a person said to have an existence after death or to be able to
function without the body neither before or after the resurrection.
(1). THE SPIRITS IN PRISON 1 Peter 3:18-20
Most who uses this to
prove the "spirit" is immortal believe the Protestant version that
lost souls go to Hell instantaneous at death; therefore, to them these
disobedient spirits that were destroyed in the time of Noah for being
disobedient were not destroyed but are now being tormented in Hell. If they were in Hell why did Christ go to
these disobedient spirits?
(1) For what purpose would Christ go into
Hell and preach to only some that were there? To save them; can those in Hell
ever be saved? The very ones who believe there is a Hell and use this passage
to prove the souls of the lost are alive in Hell before the resurrection and
before they are judged also says no that once a person is in Hell he or she can
never get out, can never be saved. Most
Protestants reject the doctrine of Purgatory and say there is no chance of
salvation after death.
(2) What message
would He take them that can never get out of Hell; the time when they could be
saved was past; therefore, the Gospel would do them no good? Would He go to
raise a hope of release that could never be, or to taunt them?
(3) It would mean that Christ
was alive in the three days from His death unto His resurrection; therefore, He
was never dead and could not have been raised from the dead. Any interpretation
that requires that Jesus did not really die on the cross completely destroys
His sacrificial death and resurrection.
(4) It would mean that Christ did not die for our sins; therefore, we
are still in our sins. If a soul is immortal and cannot die, Christ gave only
His earthly body for our sins. He was as much alive in the three days His
earthly body was in the grave as He was before He came to earth and as He was
after the resurrection of His earthly body. Therefore, Christ could not have died for our sins if he were never
dead. If only His earthly body were dead, then He was the same
"spiritual being" with all the power and glory in the three days His
body was in the grave that He is now, or had before He came to earth. There
would have been no difference in Christ (1) when only His earthly body was in
the grave (2) than there is now when He is in Heaven, (3) or in the time before
He came to earth. If His death were not a real death, than what did God gave
when He gives His only Son? Just one human body for three days. Nothing more.
According to today's teaching there was no real sacrifice by God or Christ, no real death or resurrection as He was
not really and in truth dead. Nevertheless, He said, "I am he that lives, and was dead" (Revelation 1:18). ÒI lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it
away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it
down, and I have authority to take it up againÓ
(John 10:17-18). If Christ was alive in the time before His resurrection, how
could He say, ÒI lay down my lifeÓ when
there was never a time He did not have life? If He were alive it would mean
that Jesus did not pour Òout His life
unto deathÓ (Isaiah 53:12). ÒPoured
out Himself to deathÓ New American Standard Bible. Death is the punishment
for sin; a loss of life was the penalty that Christ paid, not eternal life in
torment.
(5) That those who were disobedient in the
days of Noah were more important than all others who were disobedient, and that
Christ went into Hell to preach unto them for those that say the soul is
immortal and does not die, say the lost go directly to "Hell" at
death; therefore, Christ had to go into "Hell" to preach to them.
(6) That these may have been given a
second chance after death but all others will not be.
(7) That God is a respecter of persons
giving some a second chance, but not to all.
(8) ÒBy whichÓ must be
changed to Òwhile He was dead.Ó
(9) It would be a contradiction to the
traditional theology of today that says Christ went to Heaven and took the
theft with Him at the time of His death; a contradiction to the traditional
theology that at the moment of death the immortal spirit returns to God.
(10) Death is repeatedly pictured as being
sleep. Christ is Òthe first fruits of
those who are asleepÓ (1 Corinthians 15:20). If He was never dead He could
not be Òthe first fruits of those who are
asleep.Ó If He was asleep He could not have been awake and preached to
anybody in the three days He was asleep. If
He was Òthe first fruits of those who are
asleepÓ He was not awake in Heaven in the time He was Òasleep,Ó He did not ascend into Heaven unto after His
resurrection (John 20:17), after His sleep in the grave. His death and
resurrection was a pattern of the coming resurrection of those that are saved,
they are now asleep and will not ascend into Heaven unto their resurrection. ÒThe hour is coming in which all that are in
the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the
resurrection of judgmentÓ (John 5:28-29).
"Put to death in the flesh, but made
alive in the spirit" (1 Peter
3:18). Notice carefully what is said. This passage is used to prove there is an
immoral spirit in all that can never die.
á
If it
were speaking of an immoral spirit, that immortal spirit was "made alive," therefore that
immortal soul had to be dead, if it was not dead it could not be Òmade Alive.Ó
á
If "made alive in the spirit" was
not the resurrection of Christ, then the very thing they are trying to prove is
that the spirit cannot die, nevertheless, the deathless spirit was dead and was
"made alive."
á
If Christ was alive and never dead, He could not have been "made alive," but would have
been "kept alive" or "preserved alive" and there could have
been no resurrection. Made
alive: "Quickened by the
spirit" King James Version. "Made
alive by the spirit" New King James Version. Strong's word #2227
"made alive, give life, quicken."
o
Christ said of Himself that He Òwas
dead, and behold, I am alive forevermoreÓ (Revelation 1:18).
o
ÒThey will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third dayÓ (Matthew 17:23).
o
ÒThe Son of Man is to be
delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been
killed, He will rise three days laterÓ (Mark 9:31).
á
If Christ
did not actually die, to say He was not really dead for the three days He was
in the grave is to deny both that He died and that He was raised from the dead;
this would take away all hope and possibility of being saved. Satan has done
his work well.
o
If Christ was not actually dead no ransom was paid (Matthew 20:28).
o
If Christ was not actually dead sins were not taken away (John 1:29).
If
this preaching were by Christ in person, not by Christ through Noah, then the
order was:
To
fit with today's theology Peter's order must be changed to:
The
reason this passage is used is to prove His soul was alive before His
resurrection that it was never dead, but they must change it and make it say
Christ did the preaching after His death and before His resurrection. If they
do not change it, it does not prove what they want it to. If this preaching
were by Christ during the three days He was in the grave, and if the prison
were somewhere other than Hell it would prove that there is somewhere like the
Catholic Purgatory but only for a few of the lost would be in it, but that most
are not in it for those who are using this to prove the soul is immortal
believe all the lost are in Hell.
When was this preaching done? In the days of Noah, or in the three days Christ was in the grave?
This is the whole question, was it:
(1) After they were dead and in Hell when they
could not be saved? Those
who believe the soul of the lost is transported instantly into Hell at death do
not believe any that are in Hell can be saved. According to their belief, all
go to Heaven or Hell at the moment of death; therefore, if Christ went and
preached to them in the three days He was in the grave, He would have had to
preach to them either in Heaven or Hell. Why would He go to Hell and preach to
those who could not be saved? Why do they use this verve? Is it not because
they are desperate for any verse that will prove their immortal soul that they
will give a few a second chance after death to be taken out of Hell if it would
prove a part of a person is now immortal? If Christ went and preached to them
in the three days He was in the grave, Òby whichÓ must be change to Òwhile He
was in the grave but not dead.Ó
(2) Or was it when they were alive and could be
benefited by the preaching? Adam
Clarke said He went and preached by Noah for one hundred and twenty years. The
preaching was done in the days of Noah through Noah, a preacher of
righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), not after the death of Christ. Noah warned them of
the destruction to come if they did not repent. How were they in prison? "His servants you are whom you
obey" (Romans 6:16). "For
of whom a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved" (2 Peter 19). "To open blind eyes, to bring out
prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the
prison" (Isaiah 42:7; also Isaiah 61:1; Psalm 142:7; Luke 4:18; John
8:34-45). Those who obey Satan are in prison to him. Those who would not hear
Christ preaching through Noah were in prison to Satan. "For we also once were...enslaved to various lusts and
pleasures" (Titus 3:3). "For
of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage"
(2 Peter 2:19).
"Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees
answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from you. But he answered
and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and
shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: for as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of
man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew
12:38-40). If Jesus were in the earth, the grave, from His death to His resurrection,
how could He have gone to "Hell" and preached to those in it? I do
not think anyone believes "Hell" is in the grave, but the grave is
where Jesus was at onto His resurrection.
Adam Clarke: ÒÔHe
went and preachedÕ
by the ministry of Noah,
one hundred
and twenty years. Unto the spirits in prison.
The inhabitants
of the antediluvian world,
who, having been disobedient,
and convicted
of the most flagrant transgressions
against God,
were sentenced by his just law
to destruction.
But their punishment
was delayed to see if they would repent;
and the long-suffering of God
waited one hundred
and twenty years, which were granted to them for this purpose; during which
time, as criminals tried and convicted,
they are represented as being in prison
- detained under the arrest of Divine justice,
which waited either for their repentance or the expiration of the respite, that
the punishment
pronounced might be inflictedÓ
ClarkeÕs Commentary on 1 Peter 3:18-20.
Dillard Thurman: ÒI
have heard funeral orations extol the happiness and bliss the departed has instantly
with death; but on checking the New Testament assiduously, I have yet to find a
single promise where the dead go to heaven on instant pass, or have immediate
conscious happiness.Ó Gospel Minutes April 2, 1990, "Notice carefully what
is said. Jesus was put to death in the flesh, and died like any mortal man. But
He was quickened, or made alive by the Spirit. By what Spirit? By the same
Spirit by which He once preached to spirits imprisoned by sin and Satan in the
days of Noah! When did this happen? The passage plainly states it: 'When once
the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.' The word 'when' is an
adverb of time that tells when the action took place: in the days of Noah! The
idea of the Son of God being off on a preaching junket for the three days and
nights that His body was in the tomb is utterly foreign to any Bible teaching!
If false doctrines had not first brought forth this fanciful idea, this passage
would not have been twisted to support the error." Gospel Minutes, Volume
34, Number 5, February 1, 1985, West Freeway church of Christ.
PASSAGES IN WHICH "SOUL" (psukee)
IS USED
AS IF IT IS THE SAME AS "SPIRIT" (pneuma)
(1).
LOSING LIFE (SOUL) or SAVING LIFE (SOUL)
Matthew
16:26; Mark 8:37
Those who believe the
soul to be immortal and cannot die also believe it is the soul that must be
saved or lost. To them, to lose your soul means you will go to Hell; therefore,
to "lose his soul (psukee) for my
sake" means going to Hell for Christ. Their own definition of "lose his soul" is going to
Hell. Do they think anyone will go to Hell for Christ's sake? If
"psukee" means an immortal something in a person that will live
forever in Heaven or Hell and a person loses their soul (psukee) for Christ, going to Hell for Him would be just what
this passage would say they would do. Back when I believed all the lost would
be eternality tormented in Hell by God, this passage was a problem to me; I
believed, as many do, to lose your soul meant you would go to Hell, but the
King James Version undeniable says (1) if your soul went to Hell for Christ you
would save your soul, (2) and that we are to hate our immortal soul.
BY TODAY'S THEOLOGY DOES LOSING THE SOUL
SAVE IT? Christ said, "For whosoever would save his psukee (soul or life) shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his psukee (soul-life) for my sake shall find it. For what shall a
man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his psukee (soul-life)? Or what shall a man give in exchange for
his psukee (soul-life)?" To lose ones life for Christ's sake is to
lose it because of being faithful to Christ, and many did lose their life in
the first century. Those who lose there life for Christ will find eternal
life at the judgment. But, if psukee is
an immortal soul, will some lose their immortal soul because they are faithful
to Christ? In today's theology, "save the soul" is to save it from Hell,
and "lose the soul" is to lose it in Hell. When this passage is used
to prove a person has an immortal "immaterial,
invisible part of man" that will never die, it makes Christ say:
Those who say the
soul is immortal also say we lose it when we sin, and save it when we obey
Christ. If they were right, the only way we could lose our souls for Christ's
sake would be for us to sin. According to them the only possible way to lose
our "immortal soul" is to sin; then did Christ say we were to sin to
save our soul? No, it is life some would lose because they will not sin and are faithful to Christ, not lose some
immaterial, invisible immortal part of them selves because they do sin and are not faithful to Christ. The promise
that the psukee (soul-life) will be saved when it is sacrificed for
Christ makes no sense if the soul is some "immaterial, invisible"
undying part of a person. How could we lose Òour soulÓ for Christ's sake? "He that loves his psukee (life) loses it; and he that hates his psukee (life) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25).
How do they think a person could lose the only part of his or her self that
they say cannot die? When a person has sinned and "lost his soul,"
does that person have a living body with no soul in it? Christ was saying that gaining much would profit us nothing if we lose
our life-our very existence. All who die without being in Christ have lost
their psukee (life), they will not put on immortality at the resurrection; they
will not have eternal life in Heaven. After the judgment and second death, they
will have lost their very existence.
á
The same thing that is saved is the same thing
that will be lost.
á
The person who saves his life by denying Christ.
á
Will lose the same thing, his life at the judgment.
á
It is not the soul that is saved by denying
Christ but life on earth.
á
It is not the soul that will be lost at the
judgment but life in Heaven.
á
John 12:25 said the same, "He that loves his life
(soul-psukee) shall lose it; and he that
hates his life (soul-psukee) in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal."
Those who do not obey
Christ shall lose the very thing that is saved by those who do obey Him-life;
the lost shall die and the saved shall live. No doctrine of the Bible is more plain than the
loss of life in this passage is the lost of our earthly life because of being
faithful to Christ, not eternal life with torment for the sinner; finding life
is to find eternal life at the resurrection, and the person that saves his
earthly life (psukee) by
denying Christ will lose his life at the judgment.
Epaphroditus hazarded
"his psukee (life)" (Philippians
2:30). Judas and Silas have "hazarded
their psukee (lives) for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"
(Acts 15:26-27). They could put their life in danger for the sake of Christ.
Many put their life in danger and lost their life for preaching Christ, but how
could they risk an immortal part of a person that cannot die, and no man can
see it or kill it? Paul says, "But I
hold not my psukee (soul-life) of any account as dear unto myself"
(Acts 20:24). If this psukee is an inter being which has immortality from our
birth, Paul must not have thought it not to be of any account, or not worth
much. Just as have been said about other passages, today's theology that says
psukee means an "immaterial,
invisible part of man" makes these passages be nonsense.
Adam Clarke: "On
what authority many have translated the word psukee in the twenty-fifth verse
life, and in this verse (26) soul I know not; but I am certain it means life in
both places."
(2). "WHAT SHALL A MAN GIVE (not sell)
IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL."
Matthew
16:26; Mark 8:37 This passage is used to show that a person has an undying soul
that is of more value than the entire world, but many will sell their psukee "soul" for very
little. Does it teach this? The American Standard Version and most other
translations, translates "psukee"
into "life,'' not "soul" as the King James
does. A man can give all he has to someone about to take his life to get that
someone to let him live, but he could in no way give anything in exchange for
an immortal inter part of himself which cannot die. Think about this; how could anyone buy or sell an "immaterial,
invisible" immortal part of another person which he cannot see and it can
never die? It would be impossible for anyone to give anything in exchange
for it.
"Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?" When "psukee" is made to be an
inter immortal part of a person that cannot die, then would not giving
something in exchange for it be buying ones way into Heaven? Frequently, in
sermons and invitations, I have heard
"what would a man give in exchange for his life" changed to
"what would a man sell his immortal soul for." To give something in
exchange for something is to buy it, not sell it. "Give" (pay, to
give money or something) is changed to "sell" (to take money). It is
changed to say the opposite of what it does say to make it say what many want
it to say. There is not one word in this verse about a person, or a part of a person
being tormented forever. This passage is
about how a man would pay all he has in exchange for a few more years of life,
but would "forfeit his life"
in Heaven in exchange for the pleasure of sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans
6:23). Do not take the pleasures of sin for a few years in exchange for your
life in Heaven as many do. When it is translated right, as in the American
Standard Version and many others, the word "soul" as it is used in
today's theology is not in this verse.
(3). SOUL REQUIRED Luke 12:19-21
"And I will say to my life
(Greek psukee), life (psukee), you have
much goods lain up for many years: take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. But,
God said unto him, You foolish one, this night is your LIFE (psukee) required of YOU; and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be? So
is he that lies up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
It is not eternal torment that will be required of them but life; life required
of you, not life required of a soul. The New International Version reads, "And I'll say to myself (Greek psukee-life), 'you (Greek psukee-life) have plenty of good things laid up for many
years. Take life easy; eat drink and be merry.' But, God said to him, 'You
fool! This very night your life (Greek
psukee) will be demanded from you. Then
who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with
anyone whom stores up things for himself (puts the world ahead of God) but is not rich toward God." Those
who believe souls are immortal use this to prove there will be life after
death. They say this life must be from the time of death onward and never end,
but it does not say either; life could not be required of a soul that has
eternal life, of a soul that cannot not have life. There will be a resurrection
and judgment of all, not just those in Christ. After the judgment, those who
have laid up treasure for them self on earth, and are not rich toward God,
their life will be required of them. Christ
could not have said any plainer that life (not torment) would be required of
those not rich toward God. It would make no sense if this psukee were an
undying immortal soul. If a person had a soul that was deathless and will live
forever how could life be required of that soul?
"YOUR soul (life-psukee) required of YOU." Who is the "your" and "you"? They could not be the
soul for then it would be saying the "soul" is required of the
"soul." "Your" is
the person whose life will be required. A
Soul, as the word is used today, was never required of anyone. Psukee in
the New Testament is never an undying "immaterial,
invisible part of man." Life will be required of the sinner, not an
undying soul.
(4). God
is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna
Matthew
10:28, Luke 12:5
See
Gehenna in chapter four, second occasion.
(5). Souls under the altar Revelation 6:9
See
chapter eight, part three.
PASSAGES THAT DO NOT HAVE
"SPIRIT"
OR "SOUL" IN THEM
BUT ARE USED TO PROVE A PERSON
NOW HAS AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT /SOUL.
Some passages are
said to "imply" that a person has an immortal soul/spirit but do not
state it. This doctrine is based on what is thought to be implied, not on what
is said; based only on the assumption that there is such a thing an immaterial
invisible no substance something in mankind that is immortal.
(1). THE
THIEF ON THE CROSS Luke 23:43
Did the thief (1) know anything about the
kingdom (2) and know that Christ was to be resurrected when at that time no
others knew, that not even the twelve knew? From
Matthew one to Acts two it was believed that the Christ was to restore the
kingdom to Israel and sit on the throne of David and be a king on this earth.
If this thief was not
speaking of an earthly kingdom of Israel he would have had to know that Christ
was going to be resurrected from the dead and then set up His kingdom when no
one, not even the twelve know.
THE MOCKERY OF JESUS
MOCKERY AT HIS TRIAL BEFORE PILATE "Then
the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the palace, and gathered unto him
the whole band. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and they
platted a crown of thorns and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right
hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of
the Jews! And they spat upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they took
off from him the robe, and put on him his garments, and led him away to crucify
him" (Matthew 27:27-30). "And the soldiers platted a crown of
thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment; and they
came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him with their
hands" (John 19:2-3).
The scarlet robe,
crown of thorns, a reed in His hand and kneeling down before Him was mockery of
His claim to be a king.
"Now it was the Preparation of the Passover: it was about the
sixth hour. And he said unto the Jews, Behold your King! They therefore cried
out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate said unto them, ÔShall I
crucify your King?Õ The chief priests answered, ÔWe have no king but
CaesarÕ" (John 18:14-15). Jesus was the king the Jews were looking for
but He said, "My kingdom is not of
this world" and when He did not restore the earthly kingdom to Israel
as they thought their savior was going to do, they rejected Him and mocked Him.
MOCKERY BY PILATE WHEN CHRIST WAS ON THE
CROSS
"And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was
written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title therefore read
many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of
the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he
said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, ÔWhat I have written I have
writtenÕ" (John 19:19-22). When
Pilate put this on the cross of a man he did not think was a king or who would
ever be a king, it was nothing but mockery by Pilate.
MOCKERY BY THOSE THAT PASSED BY, THE CHIEF
PRIESTS AND THE ROBBERS. Matthew 27:39-48 "And they that passed by railed on him,
wagging their heads, and saying, You that destroyed the temple, and builds it
in three days, save yourself: if you are the Son of God, come down from the
cross. In like manner also the chief
priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others;
himself he cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let him now come down from
the cross, and we will believe on him. He trusted on God; let him deliver him
now, if he desires him: for he said, I am the Son of God. And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the
same reproach. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? And some of them stood there, when they heard it, said, ÔThis man
calls Elijah.Õ And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled
it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. And the rest
said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him."
Mark 15:29-32: "And
they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, ha! You
that destroys the temple, and builds it in three days, save yourself, and come
down from the cross. In like manner also the
chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved
others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come
down from the cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reproached him. And when the
sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth
hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani? Which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calls
Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed,
and gave him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah comes to take
him down."
THIS MOCKERY WAS OVER CHRIST
CLAIMING TO BE KING BY:
MOCKERY BY THE BOTH ROBBERS. "And robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same
reproach" (Matthew 27:44). Matthew and Mark give no details of the
mockery by both robbers saying only that they "cast upon him the same
reproach." Luke tells how they "cast
upon him the same reproach." Just as Pilate did not believe Jesus, who
had never been king over any nation and was about to be put to death, was "THE KING OF THE JEWS," this
robber did not believe the person being put to death with him would ever be a
king and come into His kingdom. "And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also scoffed at him, saying,
He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his
chosen. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, ÔIf you are the King of the Jews, save yourselfÕ. And there was also
a superscription over him, ÔTHIS IS THE
KING OF THE JEWSÕ. And one of the
malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, ÔAre not you the
Christ? Save yourself and usÕ. But the other answered, and rebuking him said,
ÔDo you not even fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has
done nothing amissÕ. And he said, ÔJesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdomÕ. And he said unto him, ÔTruly I say unto you, to-day you shall be with
me in ParadiseÕÕ" (Luke 23:33-38).
WHAT DID
THE THIEF ASK CHRIST TO DO?
CHRIST DID NOT GO TO HEAVEN THAT DAY. When will anyone go to Heaven? Not unto after the judgment. We
must wait for the resurrection and judgment before we will go to Heaven. Did
Christ tell the theft that he would be in Heaven that day? Jesus did not go to
paradise that day. He had said He would
be in the heart of the earth (grave) for three days (Matthew 12:40); ÒFor as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.Ó It was on Friday evening just
before the beginning of the Sabbath day when Christ told the robber that he
would be with Him in Paradise, but on Sunday morning He said, "Touch me not; for I am not yet
ascended unto the Father" (John 20:17). Paul said Christ died, was
buried, and was raised on the third day
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4; see Matthew 12:40). He was dead and in the grave unto
the third day when the Father raised Him.
If Christ was alive and went to Heaven the day He died, what was His
resurrection on the third day? It would be nothing but mockery to say He was
raised from the dead when He was alive in Heaven. Christ said, "No one has ascended into heaven, but
He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man" (John 3:13). If
Moses did not ascend into Heaven at his death and had not ascended at the time
Christ spoke this, how did the robber ascend to Heaven if Moses and David did
not? In an attempt to make a passage say someone went to Heaven at death the
thief has been made to be better than Moses and David? Where was Christ from His death to His resurrection? "He foreseeing this spoke of the
resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his
flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up" (Acts 2:31-32).
This is from Psalm 16:10, "Because
you will not abandon me to the grave (sheol)" New International
Version.
WHICH WAY DO THEY SEND CHRIST? The advocates of an immortal soul
say Christ went both up and down at His death.
WHAT IS NOT SAID:
á
Nothing
is said about the robber believing after he had "reproached him." This is added by those who say they do
not believe in adding to the word of God. I have been
told the robber "could have" heard Christ before this. If he did, he
did not believe for he was still a robber and even after he was on the cross he
mocked Christ ("reproached him"). He may have been one of the many that
could have heard Christ before this, but if he had heard Christ he did not
believe for both robbers were some of the many who mocked Christ. Anyone can prove anything that they want to with a
"could have."
á
Nothing is said about an immortal soul that would
depart from his body and would live on after the death of the person it was in,
but it is almost always changed from the thief asking to be remembered to be
him asking for his immortal soul to be remembered; if it were not changed it
would not prove we now have an immortal soul. The thief was not asking that an
immaterial, bodiless part of him go to Heaven, but he was a man that know he
was dying that day asking a man that he know was also dying that day to remember
him when he became the king of the nation that was putting them to
death—it was nothing but pure mockery.
Christ went to the grave that day, not Heaven. Both Christ and the
robber were in hades - the grave - on "this
day.Ó
FOUR PROBLEMS
1. Christ did not go to Heaven that day, did not tell the thief that
he would be in Heaven that day.
2. It must be assumed that mankind now has immortality and will never
die.
3. It must be assumed that all the saved go to Heaven at the moment
of death, before and without the resurrection and judgment, none to sheol (the
grave) and none to AbrahamÕs bosom.
4. It must be assumed that David did ascend into the heavens (Acts
2:34).
THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE COMMA
The way it is
worded in the Kings James Version makes Christ be asking the thief a question (Òshall thou be with me in paradiseÓ) with
the question mark left out and it ends the question with a period.
As it is in the Kings
James Version and with the Old English changed to today English."
Christ went to the
grave that day. Where is Paradise?
The only other two uses of Paradise in the New Testament are:
(1)
Paul was "caught up into
paradise," which he says is in "the
third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).
(2)
"To him that overcomes, to him will
I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" (Revelation
2:7); the tree of life is in the New Jerusalem (See Revelation 21:1 to 22:5).
Many translations
make Christ be telling the thief they both would be together in paradise
(Heaven?) that day.
With the comma where
it is in most translations, Christ answer to the mockery of the thief was that
he would be with Him that day. That day Christ was in the grave; therefore,
Christ told the thief that he would be in the grave that day. Telling the thief that he was going to die and
be in the grave that day does not sound like an answer the thief would have
received if he had truly repented and was forgiven.
If Christ were telling the thief that he
would be with Him in Heaven it was not on that day; the comma, which is not in the Greek must be moved for both
Christ and the thief went to the grave that day, not to Heaven. "I say unto you to-day, you shall you
be with me in paradise." This would not make the being in paradise be
on that day, not on the day of their death. No one goes to Heaven at death
before the resurrection and judgment. If the thief truly did repent and by "paradise" Christ was telling
the thief that he would be in Heaven with Him, the comma must be put after "today" for Christ or the
thief did not go to Heaven that day.
The Greek, in which
the New Testament was written, did not have chapters or punctuation. Men have
added the punctuation. The oldest manuscripts are all capitals, the words are
not separated, and there is no punctuation. Cardinal Huge de Sancta Caro
divided it into chapters in A. D. 1250. Robert Stevens divided the Bible was
into verses about A. D. 1550. Manutius, a printer of Venice in A. D. 1490,
invented the comma. It was put in the King James Version in A. D. 1611, but it was not used by Luke before it was
invented, therefore, there was no comma in Luke 23:43. There was not a
comma in the whole New Testament. Men put all the punctuation marks in the
Bible we use today, not God. The translators could sometimes make it say what
was consistent with their beliefs by the way they used punctuation. Move the
comma, which was not invented unto 1490 and was added by uninspired men in the
King James Version by man in A. D. 1611, and it does not say when they would be
in paradise.
Dots were put
into the Greek in the ninth century to separate the words. The dots and all later punctuation
of all Greek texts, which has been added after the ninth century is entirely on
human authority.
á
ÒVerily I say
unto you today, ÔYou shall be with me in paradise.ÕÓ The comma was invented in1490 and put in the Bible by men.
"This day" and ÒI
command you todayÓ is a common expression in the Bible to stress the time
of the promise or command. See Genesis 31:18; Exodus 34:11; Deuteronomy 4:26;
4:40; 6:6; 7:11; 8:1; 8:11; 10:13; 11:8; 11:13: 11:18; 30:5.
á
ÒI declare to you this day, that you shall surely perishÓ (Deuteronomy 30:18).
á
ÒWherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the
blood of all manÓ (Acts 20:26 King
James Version).
The
Companion Bible, Appendix 173: "The
interpretation of this verse depends entirely on punctuation, which rests
wholly on human authority, the Greek manuscripts having no punctuation of any
kind till the ninth century, and then it is only a dot in the middle of the
line separating each word."
To put the comma
where the King James Version put it makes Jesus be saying He would be in
paradise that day when He know He would not be in paradise that day. The King
James translators, who believed that everyone will go immediately to Heaven or
Hell at death, punctuated it to makes both Christ and the thief be in Heaven on that very day.
H
Leo Boles: "Evidently Jesus did not mean that this robber would go with
him to heaven that day, as it seems clear from other statements that Jesus did
not go to heaven that day. His day of ascension came about forty days after
that time" A Commentary On The Gospel Of Luke, Page 454, 1954, Gospel
Advocate Company.
Curtis Dickinson: ÒIt may
be asked why translators of most modern version do not place the comma after
the ÔtodayÕ so that the verse will harmonize with other scriptural teaching on
death and resurrection. We might as well ask why they do not translate the
Greek bapitizo as ÔimmerseÕ or diakonos as ÔservantÕ instead of merely
spelling them with English letters. To do so would put the translation at odds
with most denominational doctrine and almost insure it failure to be accepted.Ó
ÒThe WitnessÓ Volume 30, Number 8, 1990.
There is no
grammatical justification for the placement of the comma before "today." Christ or the thief
did not go to Heaven that day. By moving the comma that was added by uninspired
men with a theological prejudice, the conflict with other passages is removed
even if "in paradise" does
mean "in Heaven."
Note: The punctuation
can change the meaning of the same words.
ÒAfter he had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever, set down on
the right hand of God.Ó
ÒAfter he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever set down on
the right hand of God.Ó
Woman, without her man, is
nothing.
Woman, without her, man is
nothing.
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(2). ÒTO DIE IS GAINÓ Philippians 1:21-23
When this passage is
used to prove that a person takes up residence in their permanent abode at once
in Heaven at death, it is taken out of context. Paul says, "So that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole
praetorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the brethren in the
Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the
word of God without fear" (Philippians 1:13-14). His imprisonment was
not a personal gain, but because of it the word of Christ was being preached;
therefore, it was gain to the cause of Christ. In verse 18 it did not matter
the motives, Christ was being preached and he rejoiced. Verse 20 "So now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body, whether by life, or by death." If he lived, he would
preach Christ. If he died, others would be made more bold and preach Christ
because of his death. Verse 21 "For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Death is an enemy (1
Corinthians 15:26). It was not a personal gain for Paul. He knows that if he
died before the coming of Christ he would not be in Heaven unto after the
resurrection and judgment at the second coming of Christ. He knows his death would be a gain for the cause of Christ, that Christ
would be preached because of his death, not a personal gain for himself.
Verse 22 "But if to live in the
flesh, if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know
not" If he lived and preached Christ, or if his death would cause
others to preach Christ, which one would bring the most fruit, he knew not. He is not saying he did not know whether (1)
living in this world was best, (2) or living in Heaven was best; but this is
what he is made to say when this passage is used to prove an immortal soul.
Philippians 1:12-30:
When it became known that Paul was in prison it was gain to the Gospel for it
made others bold to preach the Gospel and others preached the Gospel Òthinking to raise up affliction for me in
my bonds.Ó In the same way Paul is saying his death would be gain to the
cause of Christ just as his being in prison was, not a personal gain. If "To
die is gain," means we go to Heaven when we die, why would Paul say he
did not know if going to Heaven was better than living on earth; why do we go
to a doctor to get well and do all we can to keep from going to Heaven; why do
we pray for each other when one of us is sick; would we not asking God not to
take us to Heaven and are thankful if He does not? The reason we do not
want to die is that death is not a gateway to Heaven, but death is an enemy,
which makes the resurrection be absolute necessity; without it there would be
no life after death for anyone. If death were a gateway to Heaven, we would be
praying, "Lord, do not make us come live up there with You, let us live
down here on earth where Satan can tempt us."
We are repeatedly
told we will be with the Lord at His
coming, not at death (2 Thessalonians 2:1) when He shall appear (Colossians
3:4), yet "To die is gain"
is used to set aside many plain and clear passages and make the entrance to
Heaven be immediately at death, not after the resurrection.
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(3). ÒTO
DEPART AND TO BE WITH THE LORDÓ
Philippians
1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8
Philippians
1:23: ÒBut I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart
and be with Christ.Ó Be with the Lord
at the judgment day, not instantly at death: In the same letter Paul says, "If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians
3:11). Every time Paul discusses life after death he always points to the
resurrection; without it there would be no life after death. He tells the
Thessalonians that we will be with the
lord after the resurrection, "For
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air, and thus we shall always BE
WITH THE LORD" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). It was Paul, ÒIÓ that had a desire to be with the
Lord, not something in Paul that had no substance.
2
Corinthians 5:8: ÒKnowing that he that
raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up
us also with Jesus, and shall present us with youÉare willing to be absent
from the body, and to be at home with the LordÉFor we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ;
that each one may receive the things done in the bodyÓ (2 Corinthians
4:14-5:10). The context 2 Corinthians 5:8 is the resurrection and judgment at
the coming of Christ, not to be in Heaven at the moment of death; it is taken
out of itÕs context and made to contradict it context.
Many passages show
that PaulÕs whole hope of being with Jesus was at the resurrection, not at the
moment of death. "Henceforth there
is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at THAT DAY;
and not to me only, but also to
all them that have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8). Paul clearly
says the time of his death has come, but he will not receive the crown of
righteousness unto the appearing of Christ at the Judgment Day. He will be with
the Lord at the same time all the saved will be, "at that day" the Judgment Day, not at death.
At "his appearing" See 2 Timothy 1:12; 1:18; 4:18; 2
Thessalonians 1:10; Philippians 1:10; 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 5:6. When will
Paul be given "the crown of
righteousness," when Christ comes, not at death? See 1 Peter 5:4. When
will Paul and all the saved be with the Lord, at "His appearing," not at death? "To be with the Lord," says nothing about an "immaterial, invisible part of
man" between death and the resurrection or after the resurrection;
Paul used "me" and "we" not "my soul" or "your soul,"
nothing is said about "your soul" in this passage. "For the Lord himself shall descend for
HeavenÉand so we shall ever be with
the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17); it is after the resurrection that
we
will be with the Lord, not at death. No one has ascended into Heaven but
Christ; therefore, Paul has not ascended to Heaven and is not now in Heaven
with the Lord (John 3:13). Paul died
about two thousand years ago, but like David (Acts 2:29), Paul is not yet in
Heaven with the Lord and will not be unto after the resurrection; therefore,
this passage could not be saying Paul had an immortal, invisible soul that
would go to Heaven and be with the Lord at the time of his death.
To make "with the Lord" mean we go to
Heaven with the Lord at death takes away any need for a resurrection and makes
it useless and foolish. After some had been in Heaven with the Lord for
centuries, why would He send them back to earth to raise them from the dead and
take them back to Heaven when from the day of their death they had been very
much alive in Heaven and were never dead?
There are three major
views on the condition of the dead.
Although this passage
is used as undeniable proof or both 2 and 3 and to set aside the many passages
on the resurrection, this passage is completely silent about where the dead are
before the resurrection and says nothing about a separate conscious entity
being in a person; it was Paul that would die (depart) and Paul the would be
with the Lord, not just something unseen that was in Paul. It is not
implicated, as some say, that Paul was speaking of some immaterial something
that has no substance that would be with the Lord but Paul himself that would
be with the Lord, the whole Paul.
Those who believe the
dead go to hades, some to be with the rich man in torment and some to be in "Abraham's bosom" also use "be with the Lord" when they
are trying to prove men now have an immortal soul, but in doing so they do not
seen to be able to see that they are making all go to Heaven or Hell at death
and; therefore, they have made going to hades at death impossible. We could not
be in "Abraham's bosom" and
in Heaven with the Lord both at the same time. When they need to, they make
hades be "the grave" for the body to be in; and when they need to,
they make it be "Abraham's
bosom" for the "soul" to live in. How do they know when it
should be one, and when it should be the other? In trying to make Paul and
Stephen be conscious after death, they are both put directly in heaven at death
before and without the Judgment Day; sometimes even by those who do not believe
anyone is now in Heaven.
We need to be very
careful not to make Paul say something he did not say (2 Peter 3:16). "To be with the Lord," but
where and when will we be with the Lord? Not in our permanent abode in Heaven
at death, for we will not be there unto after the judgment. If we go to Heaven
or Hell at death, this would mean that the final judgment takes place
immediately at death, for God would have to decide our destiny then; therefore,
God would have made the final judgment before the Judgment Day, before the
coming of Christ.
Jesus said, "And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3). Many say,
"Not so Lord, we will be with you in Heaven, Your second coming and the
resurrection will not be needed for we will be alive with You in Heaven."
But Paul said, ÒFor our citizenship is in
heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble
state into conformity with the body of His gloryÓ (Philippians 3:20-21). It is us who will be transformed, not just
a part of us that is now just as immortal as it will always be and will not
need to be transformed, and this part of us will not wait for the Lord Jesus to
come again, but immediately go to Heaven to be with Him at death. Both the how
and when Paul or anyone will be with the Lord is stated in no uncertain terms
in many passages
Living Christians
need not sorrow as the rest who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There are
four points in this passage.
Why did Paul say he had a desire to depart? He lived a life of
suffering, toil, and trials (2 Corinthians 11:23-33) and like Job, he
understood death would be a relief from pain; and he knew that from the
standpoint of the person that departs it will be as if he or she is with the
Lord the next moment for we will know nothing of the time between death and the
resurrection, that time will seem as if it was only a moment for both the
person that has be asleep for thousands of years and for the person that has
just fallen asleep. The dead in Christ are asleep and have not ascended into
Heaven, not even David or Paul, only Christ is now in Heaven, ÒBut now has Christ been raised from the
dead, the first-fruits of them that ARE
ASLEEPÉin Christ shall all be made
alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are ChristÕs at His comingÓ
(1 Corinthians 15:20-23). To those who are asleep there is no awareness of
time; it will be as if we are with the Lord in only a moment. For us, there is
no life after death unto the resurrection and never would be life without a
resurrection of the dead.
Analus is used in the New Testament only two times.
1. "When he will RETURN (Greek-analus) from the wedding" Luke 12:36.
2. ÒHaving a desire to DEPART (Greek-analus), and to be with the
Lord"
Philippians 1:23.
"To
depart" or "Will return,"
which one does analus means? The
article ÒtheÓ is in the Greek before analus but was not put in most English
translations.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(4) IN THE BODY OR OUT OF THE BODY (2
Corinthians 12:1-2)
"But I will come to visions
and revelations of the Lord" Paul
had not died at the time he wrote this, therefore, there are only two
possibilities.
(1)
"That
he had seen a VISION (optasia) in the temple" (Luke
1:2).
(2)
"They
had also seen a VISION (optasia) of angels" (Luke
24:23).
(3)
"Disobedient
unto the heavenly VISION" (optasia) (Acts 26:19).
(4)
And in this passage, "I will come to VISIONS (optasia) and revelations" (2
Corinthians 12:1). A vision, which is something like a dream, cannot be used to
prove Paul or anyone has either an immortal soul or an
immortal spirit.
EITHER WAY: If Paul were taken to Heaven or if this was a vision.
1.
This says
nothing about an Òimmaterial invisible
part of man,Ó nothing about a soul or a spirit.
2.
Or
nothing about anything that will be after death before the resurrection, this
was when Paul was still alive, not after his death.
Those who use this to
prove a person has an immortal soul must say they know what Paul said he did
not know. They must say only a part of Paul, his "soul" but not his
body went to Heaven, and that this was not a vision. How could anyone know this
when Paul did not? According to the common view, when the soul leaves the body,
the body is dead, and death is the separation of body and soul. Therefore, if a
part of Paul called "soul" separated from the body and went to the
third Heaven; his body was on the earth separated from this soul; therefore,
dead. According to the belief that death is only a separation of the body and
soul, Paul would have been dead and his soul coming back to his body would have
to be a resurrection from the dead. According to this teaching, his dead body
was on earth and his soul was in Heaven separated from his body, he died and
was raised from the dead and did not know it. We are told that "out of the body" means Paul's
soul went to paradise and left his corpse on the earth; therefore, Paul was
dead according to their own definition of death. Who can believe Paul was dead
and resurrected and did not know it?
Summary: First ADDED, then CHANGED. First "psukee (life, soul, living being)" must
be ADDED into this passage when it
is not in it, then the ADDED psukee
must be CHANGED into an immortal
being. Theology had to go on a long trip to put what they wanted into this.
There is nothing in this passage about the intermediate time from death unto
the resurrection; but that a part of a person called "soul" is alive
in the intermediate time from death to the resurrection is what they are trying
to prove with it. Paul was speaking
about a vision that had happened fourteen years before (2 Corinthians 12:1),
not a death, and there is nothing in this passage (1) about a soul or a spirit,
(2) nothing about death (3) or nothing about anything that will be after death.
How could this possibly be used to prove Paul or anyone has a soul that is
immortal that cannot die; therefore, cannot be resurrected from the dead?
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(5). THE BELIEF OF THE PHARISEES AND OF
THE SADDUCEES
WHOSE WIFE SHALL SHE BE
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB Luke 20:27-38
There is much
conflict and confusion in what has been written about the beliefs of both the
Pharisee and the Sadducees. Below is a brief outline of their beliefs, which is
in agreement with most writers.
THE
SADDUCEES believed in a strict following of the Law and believed that the
Law said nothing about an immortal soul, or about the resurrection of the dead.
See (6). "The God of Abraham" next in this chapter.
THE PHARISEES were originated
in the time of the Maccabees and probably died out soon after A. D. 70. A
belief in some kind of resurrection was established among some of the Jews in
the time of Christ, but was not believed by most; but the teaching of Christ in
Mark 12:26-27 on anyone having eternal life and immortality in Heaven after
death was new to them (2 Timothy 1:10). The Pharisees seem to have believed
much of Rabbinic Judaism, mostly writings that were written between the
Testaments that were influenced by Greek pagan teaching. Some form of an
immortal soul was believed by the Greeks and is in some of the Rabbinical
writings. The Pharisees did believe in both the resurrection of the dead, and
in spirits and angels (Acts 23:8) and they did believe the teaching of eternal
life was found in the Scriptures and searched the scriptures for proof (John
5:39), but what kind of life and where did that believe it would it be; what
did they believe about the resurrection? The only resurrections in the Old
Testament Scriptures that they searched were resurrections of earthly body back
to a mortal life that was no different from the mortal life of those who had
not been resurrected; the seven men and the wife were physically breathing
people and the Pharisees believed that would be the same when resurrected with
the same earthly things, marriage, need for food, sleep, etc. The New Testament
teaching of a resurrection to immortality in Heaven was unknown to them. Christ
abolished death, and "brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10-11);
something brought to light is made visible, something that was not seen but now
can be seen. A resurrection to immortality was unknown in the Old Testament,
something not brought to light, not seen; therefore, how could the Pharisees or
anyone have known about something God had not made know? They looked for the
Christ to restore Israel as a great nation and to set on the throne of David in
Jerusalem, not a Christ that would be killed and resurrected and set on His
throne in Heaven over a kingdom not of this world. They may have thought
Abraham, David, and others would be resurrected as mortals in the restored
Israel under the savior they looked for, but even the prophecies of the Old
Testament about Christ (Acts 2:25) were not understood to be a resurrection to
immortality or to life in Heaven for they thought their savior would be a
person just as David was who would save the nation of Israel and would
literally set on the throne of David in Jerusalem. Whatever they believed about a resurrection, it could not have been
the resurrection to eternal life in Heaven, which was not known about before
Christ. A resurrection and judgment of all, and eternal life in Heaven for
believers after death was unknown to them. They had many traditions and were
rebuked for making the Law void by their traditions. Jesus said to them, "You hypocrites, well did Isaiah
prophesy of you, saying, this people honors my with their lips; but their heart
is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the
precept of men" (Matthew 15:7-9). Much of the teaching of Christ was a
rebuke to them about their beliefs. See Matthew 19.
a.
ÒBut as touching the dead,
that they are raisedÓ Mark 12:26.
b. ÒBut that the dead are raisedÓ Luke 20:37.
c.
ÒBut as touching the
resurrection of the deadÓ Matthew 22:31.
a.
The subject was the resurrection, that there will be a
resurrection, not an immortal soul that could not be resurrected.
b. ÒBut as touching the deadÓ--not a deathless soul that was never dead, that was
already alive in Heaven or Hell without the resurrection. If Abraham kept on
living, if only his body was dead but the real Abraham was alive anyplace then
he could not have been resurrected from the undead; a living soul could not be
resurrected from the dead.
"In the
resurrection; therefore, whose wife shall she be of the seven?" (Matthew
22:28. Notice the question or the answer did not mention an intermediate state. Although there were resurrections of
the earthly body back to life just as it was before the death of the person
resurrected in the Old Testament, there is nothing of a resurrection to
immortality life with a spiritual body without the earthly body. The fact that
they thought that if there were a resurrection she would have to be the wife of
one of the seven points out that they were thinking of a resurrection of an
earthly mortal body with life on this earth as it is now with husbands, wives,
and children. This reply by Christ is one of, if not the first suggestion of a
resurrection that will not be a resurrection back to a mortal life. This was a
new teaching of Christ that was not known about before He brought it
(immortality) to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10); therefore,
immortality could not have been known about by the Pharisees.
"The sons of
this world (aion-age) marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are
accounted worthy to attain to that world (aion-age), and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die
any more; for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God" (Luke
20:34-36). Jesus is speaking of life in two different ages, in this age where
there is marriage and death, and life in an age (Heaven) where there is no
marriage or death. The Pharisees view of the resurrection seems to be a resurrection
to life as it now is in this age. Christians, while living on this
earth, are (1) not immortal, (2) not deathless, (3) not spirits, (4) not equal
unto the angels, (5) they do marry.
Today most that are called Jews believe
more like the Sadducees did, and do not believe the Old Testament says anything
about an immortal soul or anything about anyone going to Heaven at anytime
after death; they do not believe their savior had come, and believed when he
did come he would restore Israel as a nation.
Alexander Campbell:
"1. That before the Captivity, and the Macedonian and Roman conquests, the
Jews observed the most profound silence upon the state of the deceased, as to
their happiness or misery. They spoke of it simply as a place of silence,
darkness, and inactivity. 2. But after the Hebrews mingled with the Greeks and
Romans, they insensibly aided into their use of terms, and adopted some of
their ideas on such subjects as those on which their oracles were silent."
Appendix to "The Living Oracles," page 59, 1826, Gospel Advocate
Company.
The belief of the Greeks was reincarnation
back to some kind of earthly life that would die again and be reincarnated over
and over with little or nothing being remembered about any of the earlier
lives, not even what kind of plaints or animals they may have been in past
lives; they had no conception of eternal life in Heaven that was made known by
Christ.
The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. "On that day there came to him
Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection" (Matthew
22:23). To prove there was no
resurrection they tried to trick Jesus with a question that would prove there
was not. The point of His answer was to prove there is to be a resurrection,
not to prove anything about the state of the dead before the resurrection.
There is nothing in their question or in ChristÕs answer about a disembodied
soul or spirit that is alive before the resurrection. Christ was asked, "The woman also died...in the resurrection; therefore, whose
wife of them shall she be" (Luke 20:33)? They did not ask whose wife
she would be at death but in the resurrection; they seem to think that those
who believed in the resurrection thought it would be a resurrection to life on
this earth as it now is, their question was not who now has her disembodied
spirit in the intermediate state. Christ said to them, "but they that are
accounted worthy to attain to that world (aion-age) and the resurrection from the dead...but that THE DEAD ARE RAISED" (Luke 20:35-37), "But as touching the
resurrection of the dead" (Matthew
22:31). "For when they shall rise from the dead...But as
touching the dead, that they are raised" (Mark 12:25-26).
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(6). THE GOD OF ABRAHAM
Matthew
22:32 ÒBut as touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
ÔI am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living.ÕÓ Christ was proving to the
Sadducees that there will be a resurrection, not that Abraham was alive at the
time He was saying this; at that time Abraham was not alive in Heaven, Hell, in
AbrahamÕs bosom, or alive any other place. If
the dead are living in a disembodied state, for God to say he was the God of
Abraham would not prove there will be a resurrection, but would prove one was
not needed. If Abraham were not dead, Christ could not have used Abraham to
prove the dead will be raised. The dead must be dead to be raised; a living
Abraham would not need to be raised, would not need a resurrection to make him
alive. The whole point Christ was making
is that there will be a resurrection, not that none are dead to be resurrected.
Not that a disembodied spirit is the only part of a person that will be in
Heaven or Hell, and this immaterial part of a person is now alive in Heaven or
Hell while his or her dead body is in the grave. If a disembodied part of Abraham
were alive anywhere it would make his resurrection impossible. A resurrection
of those who are living would be an empty show, a fraud, not a resurrection. The
belief of many says, "Not so Christ, I was born immortal and cannot die;
therefore, I cannot be dead or raised from the dead"? This theology
destroys the Biblical doctrine of the resurrection.
1. Either Abraham was dead and will be resurrected.
2. Or Abraham was alive and he cannot be resurrected.
1. It could not be both; he could not be resurrected if he was alive.
If Abraham were
alive, as many teach he was, then he was never asleep. Many believe we have an
immortal part of us that can never be dead, but despite the fact this soul is
alive it is going be resurrected from the dead so that it can be in Heaven even
thought it is already alive in Heaven before the resurrection. Paul said of
Able, "He being dead"
(Hebrews 11:4), if language has any meaning, Abel was dead, not alive at the
time Paul said this. "For
David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption"
(Acts 13:36); if David were living (awake) at this time, if only his body was
in the tomb, Peter had no point or argument; what Peter said had no meaning.
1.
Christ was not in the grave
at that time He was visible for all to see.
á
David was in the grave.
2.
Christ did not see
corruption.
o David did.
3.
Christ ascended into Heaven.
á
David has not ascended into
Heaven and will not unto the resurrection.
"From the day that the fathers fell
asleep" (2 Peter 3:4) shows that
Abraham and David are still asleep, along with all other's that "are fallen asleep" (1
Corinthians 15:6). To say that Abraham has been raised is to say the
resurrection is past, and Christ was not the "first fruits" (2 Corinthians 15:20), or the "first born" (Colossians 1:18,
Revelation 1:5). To say that an immortal part of Abraham was never dead is to
make a resurrection impossible. The resurrection at the coming of Christ is the
subject, and nothing is said about what will be between death and the
resurrection. "For none of us live
to himself, and none die to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the
Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or
die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he
might be Lord of both the dead and the
living" (Romans 14:7-9).
How could Christ be Lord of the dead if no one is dead?
Although Exodus 3:6
is constantly quoted to prove the dead Abraham was not dead there is nothing in
it that says Abraham was alive in Heaven at that time, but on the other hand
the use of this passage by Christ to prove there will be a resurrection proves
beyond any doubt that the dead are not now conscious, are not now alive before
and without the resurrection.
This
passage cannot prove both that:
á
The
dead are alive without the resurrection.
á
That
there will be a resurrection of the dead.
Christ used it to
prove there will be a resurrection; thereby proving Abraham did not have a
departed spirit that was alive without the resurrection. The Òresurrection of the deadÓ was the issue
of the Sadducees; nothing is said about departed spirits being alive in Heaven
or Hell without the resurrection. It was Òas
touching the resurrection of the deadÓ that Jesus quotes ÒI am the God of AbrahamÉHe is not the God
of the dead but of the livingÓ (Matthew 22:31-32), and His conclusion is
that there will be a resurrection of the dead. Without the resurrection there
is no life after death.
ÒFor David, after he
had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid
among his fathers, and underwent decay: but He whom God raised did not undergo
decayÓ (Acts 13:36-37). After the resurrection and ascension of Christ
Peter said, ÒFor David ascended not into
the heavensÓ (Acts 2:34); David is asleep and will be unto the
resurrection, he has not ascended yet,
no one but Christ has. John 3:13 clearly and undeniable said, ÒNo one has ascended into heaven, but he
that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.Ó None
of the Old Testament saints went to Heaven at death and were not in Heaven at
that time, not even Abraham or David were in Heaven. John wrote this years
after Jesus had ascended to Heaven when Jesus was in Heaven; this is believe by
many to be a parenthetical statement (words put in as a note of explanation) by
John after Christ had ascended back to Heaven in Acts 2, which would make John
be saying years after the ascension that no one, not even the Old Testament
saints were in Heaven. When Jesus ascended in Acts 1:9 He was alone, none of
the Old Testament saints accompanied Him and none were in Heaven before Him.
Summary: If the dead are
more alive than when they were living, it both takes away the need for a
resurrection and made it impossible. Christ's
argument that there will be a resurrection is totally destroyed. When this passage is used to prove the dead
are not dead but are conscious then it would proves that there is no
resurrection. If the dead are now alive then how would His answer prove there
would be a resurrection, and what would be the need of one? This is a serious
problem for those who teach unconditionally immortality. IT CANNOT BE TAUGHT
THAT THE DEAD ARE MORE ALIVE THAN THE LIVING WITHOUT DESTROYING THE BIBLICAL
DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION. If Abraham, David, Job, and other saints are
alive in Heaven, death has already been destroyed. Death would have been
destroyed for all at death, not at Christ's second coming; and even those in
the Old Testament would have had life, eternal life, without the death of
Christ and without the resurrection and judgment. Take away the fact that
Abraham was dead, which is the very thing that those who say a person is born
immortal and can never die are trying to do; and you take away the point of
Christ's argument, and make Him be saying just so many words that say nothing.
Christ's argument, that there will be a resurrection, requires that Abraham is
dead at the time Christ made the argument. Abraham being alive would have
requires that he never died or that his resurrection was past before the death
and resurrection of Christ. When did it happen? The resurrection of Christ,
Abraham, or anyone requires that they be dead at the time of the resurrection
for they could not be resurrected if they were alive. How could anyone think
that a coming back of the living from Heaven is a resurrection of the dead? If
David were not still in the tomb then he had been raised the same as Christ,
but before Christ; therefore, Christ was not the first fruit. Today's theology
has changed this to read, "But that the dead are not dead to be
raised," or "But that the
separated are not dead to be raised." If
He were saying Abraham is alive now, He would be denying the point He was
making, that there will be a resurrection, for Abraham could not be raised if
he were alive. If Abraham were alive at that time then Luke 20:27-38 proves
that there will not and cannot be a resurrection. This passage teaches a "resurrection of the dead,"
not "no one is dead to be resurrected from the dead."
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(7). THE TRANSFIGURATION: A RESURRECTION
or A VISION?
Matthew
17:1-9, Mark 9:2-9.
A VISION: Christ said it was a vision. "Tell the vision to no man" (Matthew 17:9). Moses and Elijah
("Elias" in the King James Version) were seen with Christ and then
were gone, leaving only Christ. Vision (Greek-horama) is used in the New
Testament twelve times, and in the King James Version it is always translated
"vision" except in Acts 7:31 where it is translated "the
sight." This is not the Greek word "optasia" that is translated
"vision" in 2 Corinthians 12:1.
1.
"Tell the vision (Greek-horama)
to no man" Matthew 17:9
2. "He wondered at the sight (Greek-horama)" Acts
7:31
3.
"To him said the Lord in a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 9:10
4 "And
has seen in a vision (Greek-horama) a man" Acts 9:12
5 "He saw in a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 10:3
6 "What
this vision (Greek-horama)
which he had seen might mean"
Acts 10:17
7 "While
Peter thought on the vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 10:19
8 "And
in a trance I saw a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 11:5
9 "But
thought he was seeing a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 12:9
10 "A
vision (Greek-horama)
appeared to Paul in the night"
Acts 16:9
11 "And
after he had seen the vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 16:10
12 "To
Paul in the night by a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 18:9
If this were a vision, no argument can be
taken from it for the existence of disembodied souls for Moses and Elijah were
only seen in a vision. Those
who believe in unconditional immortality MUST
reinterpret this into bringing a soul that was alive in Heaven and came back
from Heaven to earth, and that:
á
Despite
the fact that Christ said no man had ascended to Heaven, Moses and Elijah had
ascended to Heaven.
á
Despite
the fact that nothing is said about where Moses and Elijah were before the
vision or after it.
á
Despite
the fact that nothing is said about them having come down from Heaven. That
they were in Heaven must be added to what is said, if not added it would not
prove anything about a soul, or anything about where that soul was.
They must say to
Christ, "No it is not a vision of Moses, but the real Moses has been alive
in Heaven and came back from Heaven." It is not said or implied that Moses
was in Heaven and came back to earth, or that he was alive anyplace without the
resurrection. We are told that this was
a vision. "Tell the vision to no
man" (Matthew 17:9). It being a vision proves they were not called
back from Heaven; it does not prove that there was an immaterial, invisible
part of them that is now alive anywhere; if Moses and Elijah were alive and
in Heaven Christ could not have been the first fruits.
A RESURRECTION: (1) If Moses and Elijah were really there, then
Matthew was wrong when he called it a vision. (2) If it were a resurrection, it
was a resurrection like Lazarus and other resurrections in the Bible then it would
prove Moses was really dead before this resurrection, it would prove he was not
alive and that he had to be resurrected to be there. If Moses were alive and immortal, he would have been brought back from
Heaven; he would not have needed to be raised from the dead. For this passage
to teach a person now has an "immaterial,
invisible part of man" it must be proved that this was not a
vision or a resurrection of the dead, but a bringing back of the living Moses
from Heaven. Would the apostles be able to see an "immaterial, invisible" disembodied spirits that had no
human body? It had to be a vision or a resurrection for the apostles to be able
to see them. If they were alive in the flesh, they had to be brought back from
the dead just as Lazarus and others were. . All resurrections in the Bible,
other than of Christ, were only temporary restoring of the earthly life just as
it was before death, and those who were raised from the dead did not put on
immortality as those in Christ will at the resurrection (1 Corinthians
15:50-54). Just as Lazarus was brought back in his earthly body to a mortal
life, they were resurrected back to a mortal life and still in a mortal body
and were not like the resurrection of Christ, or like the resurrection of the
saved at the coming of Christ. They were
all raised mortals subject to death and all died again. Not one of them is
still alive today. Not one of them was raised immortal. In any of these
temporary resurrections, not one thing is said about what will be after our
death or after the resurrection. If God raised one or ten thousand back to an
earthly body, it would not effect the resurrection of all at the coming of
Christ and would not in any way prove a person is now mortal or immortal. These
earthly resurrections of mortal bodies say nothing about the resurrection at
the coming of Christ when the saved will put on immortality. From the
resurrections of Lazarus and others back to the mortal earthly body if there
were no other revelation about the resurrection we would not know anything
about those in Christ that are going to be raised immortal on the Resurrection
Day.
Summary: Either way, if the transfiguration were
a resurrection or a vision, it does not prove that a person is now mortal or
immortal. The reason for this vision or resurrection was to show that we are
not to hear the law and the prophets, but to
"hear you him." Christ is now the one who has "All authority" (Matthew
28:18). If any of the resurrections in the Old or New Testament were a
resurrection to immortality, Christ could not have been "the first-fruits of them that are asleep" (1 Corinthians
15:20-23). How can death be changed to
life in Heaven without a resurrection?
THE DEATH OF LAZARUS: In John 11 is
the account of the death of Lazarus and his restoration to life on this earth. When Jesus arrived, the sister of Lazarus
said, "Lord, if You had been here,
my brother had not died." Did Jesus comfort her by saying her brother
was a good person and was now happy in Heaven with other saints and angels and
would never again have pain and he was much better off than when he was in this
world but He was going to take Lazarus out of Heaven and bring him back to this
world; this is the way of today's theology but is not found in the Bible. His
reply was, "Your brother shall rise
again." Martha declared her faith in the resurrection as was taught by
Jesus by saying, "I know that he
shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day" showing she did
not believe he was then alive and in Heaven. Paul says the same when he
says that those in Christ who have fallen asleep have perished if the dead are
not raised (1 Corinthians 15:14-20). If they were forever alive in Heaven, they
would not have perished if there were no resurrection. Today's teaching is not
found in the Bible and makes a lie of the Biblical teaching. Those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" will
be asleep unto the resurrection and without it they will forever be asleep. "And this is the will of him that sent
me, that of all that which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day"
(John 6:39). God could not have told us any clearer where we will be after
death. In many churches PlatoÕs
philosophy of an immortal soul that can never be dead has replaced the Bible
teaching of the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ.
MANY BODIES OF THE SAINTS: In Matthew 27:52 the resurrection of
many of the saints is sometimes used to prove the existence of immaterial
entities.
á
They were
asleep before this resurrection, before Òthe
tombs were opened,Ó not in Heaven, Hell, or AbrahamÕs bosom. THEY CAME FROM THE TOMBS, NOT FROM HEAVEN.
Coming from the tombs is positive proof that they were not in Heaven and that
it was earthly bodies that was resurrected, not immortal souls or spirits.
á
Nothing is
said about these ÒbodiesÓ ascending
to Heaven after they were resurrected.
á
This says Òthe tombs were openedÓ and bodies came
out of the graves, it say nothing about immortal souls that according to the
immortal soul doctrine would not have been in the tombs but would have to come
from Heaven or Hell.
á
Their
resurrection was not unto eternal life, this was before the resurrection of
Christ who was the Òfirst fruitsÓ (1
Corinthians 15:20). If this or any resurrection were to eternal life in Heaven
Christ would not have been the Òfirst fruits.Ó
á
This was
before any one will put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:54; Romans 2:7). These
resurrected saints were earthly being with ÒbodiesÓ
that were seen just as Lazarus was, not immortal, immaterial, invisible souls
or spirits.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(8). GOD WILL BRING
WITH CHRIST 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17
This is often used to
prove those who have died are now in Heaven, and Christ will bring them back
when He comes for the judgment. This passage is about the resurrection at the
coming of Christ and it says not a word about an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is now alive
before the resurrection, and it says nothing about a place called Hell. "For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so them also that fallen asleep (are dead) in Jesus will God bring with him. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left
unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede (go before) them that are fallen asleep."
There are three point in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
This passage is a plain statement that
there will be a resurrection, and it is opposed to the theory that no one is
really dead. Both cannot be true. It is clearly said that they Òare asleepÓ not awake in Heaven. ÒAnd I will raise him up at the last dayÓ (John 6:40).
"The dead in Christ shall
rise first." Those who are asleep will wake up first.
1. How could
they wake up if they are not asleep?
2. How could
they rise from the dead if they are not dead?
3. How could
they meet the Lord in the air if they were coming with Him from Heaven?
Paul
says nothing about immortal souls, but persons.
Those who believe we
have an "immaterial, invisible part
of man" that is now immortal take the resurrection out of this passage
and makes it be about:
"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I
would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I come again,
and will receive you unto Myself that where I am, there you may be also"
(John 14:2-3). Those who teach we have a soul that goes directly to Heaven at
death believe that souls are now in the place where Christ has gone to prepare
before He comes to receive them and have made the coming of Christ, the
resurrection, and the judgment useless. Those who preach at funerals often say
our loved ones are now with the Lord in Heaven. This is a contradiction of
Paul's detailed account of what will happen at the resurrection.
Two
views:
The
first view makes many problems.
Although "soul sleeping" and
"annihilation" are often confused and thought to be the same, the two are totally different.
á
"Soul
sleeping" is the belief that a person now has an invisible, deathless, immaterial something living in
them that will never die, but from the death of the body unto the resurrection
that immortal immaterial part of a person is "asleep," not
"annihilated," and only the sleeping immortal, no substance soul will
awake at the judgment to eternal life in Heaven or Hell.
á
Annihilation is the belief
that Òthe wages of sin is deathÓ not
eternal life in torment; after annihilation no part of a person is asleep, no
part of a person will ever wake up. Annihilation is an unbiblical way
of saying "the wages of sin is
death," that all of a person will be annihilated after the judgment. Those who believe "the wages of sin is death" do not believe in "soul
sleeping" although they are often falsely accused of it. It is the
person that is asleep from death unto the resurrection and not just an
immaterial part of a person that, according to those that teach this doctrine
of a deathless no substance something in a person cannot be asleep.
o If, as many
that believe in the immortal soul doctrine teach, that at death it is the
person that dies, but the soul never dies and it is the soul only that will
ever be in Heaven or Hell, then this doctrine makes the person go out of
existence at death and only an immaterial, invisible, no substance soul will
ever exist after the death of the person. It is not you that will be in Heaven
but something in you that you can not see and that your know nothing about, not
what it thinks, not what it looks like, something that you do not now know anything
about and you never will know any thing about it, something that you can not
know if it is in you or if it were not in you, something that the Bible tells
you nothing about.
The
second view solves these problems.
Christ will be coming from Heaven with His
"holy ones," the angels,
not dead saints that are not dead. "Behold, the Lord comes with many
thousands of His holy (hagios) ones" (Jude 14 New American Standard
Version). "Saints" in the
King James Version is from "hagios," which is the same word that is
translated "holy" 93 times in the "Holy
(hagios) Spirit." Those who
come with Christ from Heaven are the holy angels, not those who are asleep in
Christ. "When the Son of Man
shall come in his glory, and all the holy (hagios) angels with Him"
(Matthew 25:31, King James Version). "When
he comes in the glory of his father with the holy (hagios) angels" (Mark
8:38). "For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel" (1
Thessalonians 4:16). "The Son of man
shall send forth his angels" (Matthew 13:41). "At the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints
(hagios-holy)" (1 Thessalonians 3:13), "holy ones" New International Version; both Jude 14 and 1
Thessalonians 3:13 use "hagios.Ó
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(9). "EVERYONE WHO LIVES
AND
BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE" John 11:26
This passage is used
to prove that all men now have an immortal
"immaterial, invisible part of man" that can never die, but when
it is so used, it makes a problem for them. Christ is clearly saying ONLY those that believe on Him "shall never die," therefore,
those that do not believe on Him SHALL DIE. If all have immortality from
birth and can never die, what was He saying? This passage makes "never die" be conditional on
believing on Christ, not on a never dying
"immaterial, invisible part of man" that is read into it. It is
used to prove all unconditionally have an immortal soul and can never die, even
those who do not believe on Him will never die. Those who believe on Him die a
physical death, just as those who do not believe on Him. In what way do those
who believe never die? Their name is in the book of life and there will be a
resurrection when they will "put on
immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:54). Their resurrection and their
eternal life are so sure that it is counted as if they now have it. They will
not die the second death which all that do not believe will die.
Summary: According to
today's theology, when this is read, as many read it, "He that has the Son
has an immortal soul that shall never die," then it must also be read,
"He that has not the Son has an immortal soul that shall never die"
for today's theology says all now have an immortal soul that shall never die if
they believe or if they do not believe. Even
though eternal life and never dying is conditional on believing Christ,
theology says not so, all are now immortal and have eternal life and can never
die, and those that do not believe on Christ Òshall never die.Ó
Passages
that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are
used to prove both
(10) INNER MAN AND OUTER MAN
ÒTherefore we do not lose heart, but
though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by
dayÓ (2 Corinthians 4:16). Paul
is simply saying the inner spiritual life of a Christian is renewed dally even
thought the body is growing old. New Christians are babes in Christ (1 Peter
2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:1, but they grow and Òleaving
the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto
perfectionÓ (Hebrews 6:1, also Ephesians 3:26-17; Galatians 2:20). A
Christian must grow stronger in the Lord even though the body is dying; a new
Christian may have a young body but be a baby in Christ, but as the years pass
he or she will have a body that is decaying but will be becoming a mature
Christian. Man is used in the sense of person; to be politically correct we
would have to say, ÒOur outer he or she is decaying, yet our inner he or she is
being renewed day by day.Ó If the Òouter
manÓ is the person, and the Òinner
manÓ is the soul, it would make the soul be a totally separate he or she
(person) than the outer he or she; there would be us (the outer man or person)
that is dying and another person (the inner man or person--soul) that is
growing. They must be badly in need of something to prove their immortal soul
to make it be another he or she that needs to be renewed daily. If the inner
man were a soul, as this passage is used to prove, what would it mean to renew
an immortal soul? Would it be to make it more immortal, or to a make a saved
soul more saved? J. W. McGarvey on this passage said, ÒThe apostle knew that
the transfiguration described at 3:18 was perfecting itself daily,Ó Standard
Bible Commentary on Corinthians, 1916.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul
in them
But are
used to prove both
(11) WHAT IS ETERNAL?
THE PUNISHMENT
OR THE PUNISHING? MATTHEW 25:46
The argument made
often is that the punishment must
last as long as the life, but this
does not say what the punishment is. It is a question of whether the punishment
is an eternal life with torment, or
eternal death. It is supposed by many that punishment can
only be conscious suffering and their conditioning makes them read an eternal
life of torment into it although we are told repeatedly that punishment will be
death, destruction, perish, die, lost, etc.; but never that the punishment will
be to be tormented by God forever. Nothing could be a more eternal punishment
than a death from which there will never be a resurrection. There are many
kinds of punishment, but from Matthew 25 all we can say is that there will be
punishment, but nothing more or less than punishment. To say Matthew 25 says
where or what the punishment will be is to say more than it says and;
therefore, is adding to what God said; ÒKolasisÓ simply means punishment,
whatever the punishment is, whether the punishment is eternal torment, eternal
death, or whatever is not defined. To
know what the punishment will be we must go to other passages, to say as many
do that the punishment in this passage is eternal torment, it is undeniable
that they are saying what is not said in it. God's word must say what the
punishment is, and it nowhere says God will be tormenting people forever. His
word says, ÒThe wages of sin is death,Ó
not eternal life with torment. If a person were put to death for a crime but
could be restored to life after one year, his punishment would end after one
year. If he were never restored to life,
his punishment would never end; it would be eternal punishment but not eternal
torment.
á
If he were restored to life after one year—his punishment
would only be for one year.
á
If he were restored to life after one hundred years—his
punishment would only be for one hundred years.
á
If he were never restored to life—his punishment would be
endless, eternal punishment; the punishment will last as long as the death,
unless he was restored to life his punishment would be eternal punishment just
as the life of those in Heaven is eternal life.
The Scripture clearly says that the punishment
is death, the wages of sin (Romans 6:23). Paul clearly says what the
everlasting punishment is, "even
eternal destruction" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Christ contrasts "eternal life" for the saved
with "eternal punishment"
for the lost. "Life" or "eternal life" is promised to
the saved repeatedly (See chapter two: Life
and death), but life is never
promised to the lost. It will be "death"
for them (Romans 6:23; James 1:15). "They
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29), not to a
resurrection of eternal life for those that have done evil. In Revelation
21:3-8 the saved are given the fountain of the water of life freely but the lost
shall have there part in the lake of fire which is the second death, life for
the saved, death (not eternal life in torment) for the lost. Christ said, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they
are burnt" (John 15:6). The
punishment is not to be forever dying, or is not forever living separated from
God; but it is forever being dead. The punishment for sin is death (Roman 6:23;
James 1:15) and the punishment of death is just as eternal as the life.
Punishment can have many forms, but because of the conditioning of some
(through their red glasses), they can see only fire and torment in Hell of a
deathless soul. We do not torment our children when we punish them do we? The
concept of Hell is not from the Bible. The name or the place is not in it, and
unto it is clearly shown that there shall be such a place, it cannot be said
that this punishment is going to be eternal life in "Hell;" or shown
that Òthe wages of sinÓ is not death,
that there will be any kind of life anyplace after the second death. After the
judgment there is much said about the saved; they will be in the image of
Christ; they will be immortal and have incorruption. But, there is nothing said
about the lost, not what image they will have, not where they will be, or
anything at all except that they will be dead (the second death). There is not
a passage in the Bible that says the lost will be raised immortal or
imperishable, but many that say they will be as stubble, tares, dry branches,
will be destroyed. Those who read the Bible with their Hell fire and damnation
glasses on see Hell in Matthew 25:46, and on every page of the Bible.
Matthew
25:46 may be the #1 proof text for Hell.
á
The name Hell is not in it.
á
Today's concept of Hell, a
place after the judgment where God will cruelly torment forever is not in it.
á
It says that the lost will
have a punishment that will be forever, but nothing is said about what the
punishment will be or where it will be, yet it is continuously misused to teach
what (torment), and where (Hell) the punishment will be.
Before
anyone could possibly see "Hell" in this passage:
1.
A place called "Hell" must be assumed.
2.
Then accepted as a fact.
3.
Then God must be made into the most cruel, sadistic, and fiendish
being there is, far surpassing even Satan in cruelty.
There is not one word
in Matthew 25:46 about where or what the punishment will be. Other texts say it
is death, perish, destroyed, lost, and end. It does not say the punishment is
eternal torment after the Judgment Day is over. To teach that Matthew 25:46
says the punishment is an eternal life of torment in Hell, as many do, is
adding to it.
Some traditionalists
say annihilation (death) is not punishment. They believe that "by no stretch of the imagination can the punishment spoken
of in Matthew 25:46 be defined as an end of consciousness, for if actual
suffering is lacking, then so is punishment." To say
death would not be eternal punishment because there is no eternal consciousness
torment is not valid for saying punishment must be torment simply begs the
whole question. Where does Matthew 25:46 say anything about suffering; (1) the
punishment must be changed to
eternal suffering (2) and a place added
to have anyone suffering in Hell. If death row is not punishment, then why is
the death sentence the worse punishment a person can get, for worse than life
in prison; and how is being on death row considered by those on it to be in the
worst part of a prison; why is the death penalty strongly opposed as being too
cruel in this country if death is not an eternal punishment or if death is too
mild a punishment for sinners at the judgment day? What would those on death row say if someone told them death is not a
punishment? Throughout all of history, death has been thought of as being
the worst punishment there is. Why would most on death row love to get off it
and have the punishment of life in prison instead of death? They are told they
are not fit to live, and their punishment is to be death. For the sinner to
stand before God on the judgment day and be told he is not fit to live and will
be punished with the second death is the worst kind of punishment. Most fear
death more than pain and will do all they can to live a little longer even if
it is in pain. Life is our most precious possession; death is the worse
punishment because it takes everything from a person and deprives of all the
life and joy a person would have had, and the second death will deprive of
eternal life and joy in Heaven, of an eternity of ceaseless years of joy beyond
any joy we can now even dream of, it is
an infinite punishment in that it takes an infinite amount of life and joy from
a person. We cannot vision all the joy that will be in Heaven for all
eternity; therefore, we cannot know how much death will take from them. It is
much more than we can know before the judgment. Death is a much greater punishment than any person can now imagine, and
the second death will be an eternal punishment. Those who teach Hell must make
them selves and all others believe death is not a punishment, therefore, there
must be endless life in Hell being tormented by God. When a lost person
comes to the judgment, he may see that the saved will have an eternal life of
joy and bliss in a place of indescribable glory and to know that all this could
have been his, but for him there will be only the blackness and darkness of
nothing. And some say this is not punishment! To say death is not punishment
and there is no punishment if there is no torment of a consciousness soul is to
make a statement that all thinking persons know is not the truth.
Summary: Whatever the punishment is in Matthew
25:46, it is the same punishment as Romans 6:16; 6:23; 8:6; Revelation 21:8;
James 5:22; 2 Peter 2:1; 2:6; 3:7; Philippians 1:28; 3:19; 2 Corinthians 7:10;
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Matthew 3:12; 13:40; John 3:16, etc. The Bible does not
teach one kind of punishment in one verse and another in another verse. It does
not teach the punishment is everlasting life with torment in one verse and
death in another verse. It comes down to the question of,
A passage, which does not say what the
punishment is, it cannot override the many passages that do say what it is.
From Matthew 25:46 alone, no one can say what the punishment will be. Just that
it will be after the judgment and will be forever. The only way to know what is
the punishment of Matthew 25:46 is to go to other passages that do say how God
is going to punish the lost. THAT A PASSAGE WHICH DOES NOT SAY WHAT THE
PUNISHMENT WILL BE IS THE #1 PROOF TEXT FOR HELL SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THE PROOF.
Can they deny that they are going beyond what the Bible says when they say what
the punishment of Matthew 25:56 will be, and that they are adding eternal life
in Hell when it is not there?
Is the only difference in what the punishment will be? Robert A.
Peterson, a strong believer in Hell, says, the Old Testament judgments, the
Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptian plagues and the
crossing of the Red Sea, and the captivities of Israel, the punishment of Sodom
and Gomorrah was the loss of human life. Page 23-24. Then on page 26, he says
the punishments described in them are consistently earthly and temporal,
resulting in physical death. None of these passages speak of life after death
or eternal destinies, but Annihilationist err, for their belief would entail
cessation of existence at death, not the resurrection and punishment of the
wicked. "Hell On Trial" P & R Publishing. The New Testament used
them as a type of God's judgment after the resurrection. He says they resulted
in physical death. Peterson, Page 26. If the result of the judgment is not death, but an everlasting life of torment, then the types are not
true for the types of the Old Testament do not show eternal life with punishment; but they would be true if death is the end. The New Testament
writers used the Old Testament types to show the destruction of (death), not
the torment of the lost. He errs in that he does not give God the power to
raise the dead for judgment and punishment if the punishment is to be death.
God will raise and judge them and just as His judgments in the Old Testament
resulted "in death," so will His judgment at the resurrection be a
second death. His statement that Annihilationist err because they believe the
first death to be the end of those not in Christ and the lost will not be
raised for judgment may possibly be true of some Annihilationist (none that I
know of), but it is not true of most. Most believe the Bible teaching that all
the dead will be raised for the judgment, then for those not in Christ there
will be the second death from which there will never be a resurrection. Did
Robert A. Peterson just make a make believe man of hay or stubble so that he
could pull down his stubble Annihilationist? The only difference is in what the punishment will be after the
judgment. Believers in Hell believe the punishment, the wages of sin will
be "everlasting life with torment." Those who believe in Hell often
argue as if they think that those who oppose Hell do not believe in the
resurrection, the judgment, or punishment. They know that if they call
Annihilationist do believe in the resurrection, judgment and punishment they
have loss much of their argument for
then the only question is what will the punishment be and there is no question
that the Bible says it is death. In much of his book he does as many, he
assumes that those who do not believe in "Hell" do not believe the
lost will be raised for judgment, and he assumes that there is a Hell and that
Hell is its name; then he unjustly puts this name into the mouth of Christ.
A more basic question than what the punishment will be after the
resurrection is "what is the resurrection?" If he is right, that
there is that a part of a person that NOW
has immortality and there is no death for this part of a person, then there
cannot be a resurrection for the soul, and his belief makes him be the one that
does not believe in the resurrection that he falsely says those he calls
Annihilationist do believe in. Will what he falsely calls the resurrection be
only a bringing of those who are alive in Heaven and Hell; therefore already
judged, back to earth for a second judgment, or will the resurrection be a
raising the dead that are really dead and bringing them back to life? On page
68 Peterson says God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the lost,
but to rescue them from Hell. This is a typical example of the way Hell is
added to the Bible. The Bible is changed to read the way they want it to read
and Hell is added where it is not. How could he know the lost shall be rescued
from Hell? Is he saying the lost will be rescued from Hell before their death,
or the lost will be rescued from Hell after they are in Hell? Does he have a
revelation that is not in the Bible? There is no revelation in the Bible that
says the lost are rescued from Hell, but there is much revelation that says the
lost are saved from death. "Let him
know that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death" (James 5:20). Salvation is from death, the wages of sin
(Romans 6:23) not from an everlasting life of torment. "God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in him Son. He
that has the Son has the life; he that has not the Son of God has not the
life" (1 John 5:11-12).
E. D. Slough, evangelist, church of Christ: ÒThe word ÔPUNISHMENTÕ is
not a puzzling word. One of the most familiar terms in the English language. Do
you know its meaning? Just think a moment and try to define it. The Dictionary
tells us it is the infliction of PENALTY for an offence. IS IT? If the teacher
tells the pupil she will ÔpunishÕ him a question would spring up in his mind,
WHAT WAY? Even the child knows there are many ways to punish. Though our theologians, after losing sight
of the definition of the word, at last give it but one idea, that of misery.
Cunning enough, indeed, to separate it from its primary meaning in the New
Testament. As if death inflicted for sin was not a punishment. If it is a
recompense of the some nature, WHAT IS THE NATURE, HOW SEVERE? The term punishment
as a retaliation for offence, NEVER DEFINES THE NATURE OF THE INFLICTION TO BE
EXECUTEE. It only announces the fact that a judicial penalty is due, without
revealing the severity of it. Punishment, retaliation, recompense, penalty, are
synonymous words, and may be used interchangeably. So if the Lord had said,
ÔThese shall go into everlasting recompenseÕ or penalty, or retaliation, we
would still be forced to seek other scriptures to learn WHAT KIND OF RECOMPENSE
IS MEANT. We are told there can be no punishment without pain. I deny the
assertion. I challenge the reader to search the Old Testament for the hundreds
of instances where the infliction of death was the penalty for crimes. And that
it was inflicted to satisfy the offence regardless of the pain accompanying it.
Punishment lasts so long as its results last, and where death has been
administered for the satisfaction of crime, THE PUNISMENT CONTINUES TILL LIFE
IS RESTORED, AND IF NEVER RESTORED, IT IS AN EVERLSATING PUNISHMENT. Lost of
property, loss of liberty, loss of life, may all be meted out to the
transgressors under the label of punishment. And death as the capital
punishment, legalized on the statutes of all civilized nations of the world, is
the highest punishment man can inflict—or so recognized,—being the
deprivation of life, the first source of all pleasures and enjoyments, and
recognized as being forfeited for certain crimes.Ó ÒThe Indictment Of Eternal
Torment—The Self-negation Of A Monstrous Doctrine,Ó Page 196-197, F. L.
Rowe, Publisher, 1914.
Summary: There is no way that those who believe all
are born immortal could really believe in the resurrection or in the need for
it. By teaching that all are born with an immortal part that can never die the
resurrection is denied and made not possible. The two are not compatible and
both cannot be true. Satan has done his work well.
ETERNAL
ETERNAL JUDGMENT Hebrews 6:2. The judgment will be in one "day" at the second coming of
Christ and is not being judged forever without end; but a judgment in which the
results will last for eternity. Eternal is not describing a judging that has no
end. Eternal has reference to the result of the judgment, not to the act of
judging. The judging will end, but its result will never end. The punishment is
after the judging. Will it take God all eternity to do the judging? If so, He
will never get to the punishment, it would require two eternities, one eternity
that would never end for the judgment and a second eternity for the punishment
after the first eternity ended. Whether the punishment is, Hell or death will
not matter if God never gets past the judging. It is the result of the judgment, an endlessly binding verdict that
will never be changed that is eternal, not the judging.
ETERNAL REDEMPTION Hebrews 9:12, and ETERNAL SALVATION Hebrews 5:9. Not redemption or a saving that goes
on without end, but saving once that will be for eternity. The time of
salvation ends. God will not be savings those in Heaven for eternity. The redemption will not be going on
forever, but the results of the redemption will be with out end. Those that
are saved are forever saved, forever redeemed, not forever being redeemed;
their salvation is without an end. Even those who believe in Hell believe those
in Heaven are redeemed, not being eternally redeemed; and those they believe to
be in Hell can never be redeemed.
ETERNAL SIN (Mark 3:29) is a sin, which will be committed in this
lifetime, and not endless sinning that will be being committed through out all
eternity without end in Hell after the judgment. It is a sin that the result (death: the wages of sin) is a death from
which there will never be a resurrection.
ETERNAL FIRE (Jude 7) is not a fire that is still burning Sodom and
Gomorrah and will be burning these cities from now on, but the results of the
fire; the total destruction of these cities will have no end. These cities are
not still burning, but the results of the fire were their eternal destruction. The fact that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered
the vengeance of "eternal fire"
shows that the results are eternal, not the fire was eternal and that it is
still burning today and will burning these cities for eternity. The fire
that destroyed Sodom has long since gone out but their destruction remains and
will always remain, and their eternal destruction is set forth as an example of
"eternal fire" that will
eternally destroy the wicked just as it eternally completely destroyed these
cities. Although it is continuous used
to prove ÒHell fire,Ó this fire was not in Hell, but was a fire on this earth
that could be seen by all that were in that place on earth; there is no
reference in it to Hell, or to an eternal life of suffering in fire; it has
reference to Òdestroyed them that
believed notÓ (Jude 5) just as Sodom was eternality destroyed.
ETERNAL DESTRUCTION 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and ETERNAL PUNISHMENT Matthew 25:46. Is this a destruction that will
be bit by bit, but will take forever? No. It is destruction that the results
will be final and eternal; a destruction that never destroys would not be
destruction for destruction would never take place if the destroying were never
completed. An everlasting process of destroying would never be destruction.
Death, the wages of sin, is eternal punishment, but not eternal punishing; the
death will be a permanent death, not forever dying but never dead. Eternal
destruction and eternal punishment are speaking of the permanent results of
both, a destruction and a punishment that will last forever, and is not
describing the duration of the destroying, that it will take forever; not
describing a destruction that the destroying will go on forever but never be
destroyed. There will never be a resurrection
from the second death; it is an eternal destruction. Those who teach that a
person has a soul that can never be destroyed make God be forever destroying
but never able to completely destroy the lost. Unconditional immoralists
believe God made them destruction proof, and even He cannot destroy them, but
nevertheless He will be trying to destroy them by burning them for all
eternity. It is complete destruction
that is eternal, not eternally destroying but never destroyed. If the
destroying never ended it could not be called eternal destruction for there
would be eternal destroying but as long as the destroying was going on there
never could be destruction; if the destroying was ever completed the
destruction would be a complete destruction, past tense, not on going present
tense destroying.
The Bible does not say the lost will
receive eternal punishing, eternal destroying, eternal dying, eternal
perishing, but eternal punishment is death, destruction. There is a vast
difference in Òeternal punishmentÓ and the change to Òeternal punishingÓ that
must be made to make it teach eternal torment.
None of the above is an endless processes
that will go on forever, but rather they have a permanent result; the result of
salvation is being eternally saved, not eternally being saved.
(12). ÒREADY TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEADÓ 1 Peter 4:5
Christ will be ready
to judge those who are living at the time of His coming, and those who have
died before He comes. Nothing is said about a spirit or soul in this verse.
Nothing is said about any of the dead being alive and having immortality before
the resurrection. Before the resurrection the dead will be dead, not more alive
than when they were alive.
OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES THAT ARE USED TO PROVE
A PERSON HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL and/or SPIRIT AT BIRTH
This doctrine,
"That man cannot die," made it necessity for evil people to have an
endless existence, and this existence has been made into endless torment in a
place that has been given the name Hell; but where did this doctrine or this
name came from? The Bible says, "This mortal must put on immortality"
1 Corinthians 15:53. How can we put on that which we now have on? A person cannot be both mortal and immortal
at the same time.
(1). MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE Genesis 1:27
Most probably the #1
proof text for immortality at birth. The argument is that God is immortal. A
man is in God's image. Therefore, a man must also be immortal. This argument
would make:
When God made a man,
He did not give him all His characteristics. God is omnipotent (almighty) and
omniscient (all knowing). A man is not almighty or all knowing although he is
in God's image, but God is both; it does not prove that a person is immortal
anymore than it proves a person is almighty. Animals are "living souls" (Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30, 2:19) just as
persons are "living souls,"
but animals were not created in the image of God; it is not the "living soul" that makes a
person be in the image of God. It is obvious that immortality, not subject to
death, is not the way man is in "image
of God," and it is only assumed to be even when the Bible specifically
says otherwise. We now seek immortality (Romans 2:7) and will put on
immortality at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:53-54), but we are not now
immortal; nor do we now have an immaterial invisible part of us that has no
substance which is now as immortal as it will ever be. This argument gives the
impression that the person making it thinks God has only one attribute;
therefore, if a person is in the image of God, that person must also be just as
immortal as God is.
A man is to rule
(have authority) over all that God has put under him just as God rules over
all. It maybe that man's authority over all the earth, which none of the other
created being of the earth have, is the way man is in the image of God; the two
are without any doubt spoken of in the same context. Mankind rules over all
created beings on earth in a finite way as God does in an infinite way.
Christians "have put on the new man
that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created
him" (Colossians 3:10, See Romans 3:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49; Ephesians
4:24).
(2). THE
BREATH OF LIFE (Genesis 2)
The breath of life is
used to prove God breathed into a person an immortal soul, which He did not
give to lower animals. The fact is overlooked that the same writer applies the same expression to both a person and
animals, also to fish and birds. "So
they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life...And all flesh that
moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming
that the swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry
land, all in whose nostrils was the
breath of the spirit of life, died" (Genesis 7:15-22 New American
Standard Bible, also Ecclesiastes 3:19-20).
á
The reverse of Genesis 2:7 "His breath (ruach-spirit) goes forth, he
returns to his earth; in that very day his
thoughts perish" Psalm 146:4. All
personal pronouns are of the earthly person.
á
His breath
(ruach-spirit)
á
He returns to his earth
á
His thoughts perish
"Stop regarding man, whose breath
of life is in his nostrils" (Isaiah 2:22). It is difficult to
understand how anyone can find an immortal soul in this. It is the body that
has breath, and that breath is in its nostrils. Do they think the immortal soul
is nothing but breath in the nostrils of man? As long as the "breath of life" is in his
nostrils, a person has "life."
When the "breath of life"
is no longer in his nostrils, he no longer has "life." Instead of saying mankind is immortal and;
therefore, cannot be destroyed, this is speaking of the frail and perishable nature
of a person that their life depends on the breath in the nostrils.
It is even more
difficult to understand how anyone can find an immortal soul that cannot die in
this when it plainly says, "And all
mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, DIED." Beasts and man both have the breath of life, and both died. Did souls that cannot die,
die? The breath of life is not a living, thinking, conscious entity that
survives death and lives without the body. "Then
the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground (the body without
breath was a lifeless person that could not think, see, speak, or feel) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life (lives, plural in the Hebrew) and
man (the thing that was made of dust) became
a living being (nehphesh)." Not "A
living being" was put into the thing made of dust.
(3). A LIVING BEING Genesis 2:7
See "USE OF SOUL
(NEHPHESH) IN THE OLD TESTAMENT" in the first part of this chapter. All
living beings are a living being (soul—nehphesh). The argument of many
seems to be that God made man out of the elements He had created, then
super-added a living being to the man making him a dual being. It does not say
God made a being living and then put another living being in the first one. It
says God made the man and then put life into him. According to Plato a soul was
put into the prison house of the body at birth and freed from it at death;
while in the prison house of man, the soul uses its eyes to see, its ears to
hear, and uses all the body. If it were a living being that was put into the
body, before it was put into the body, could it see, hear, etc., before without
the eyes and ears of the body, and can it do so after it leaves the body? If
the ÒsoulÓ was not capable of performing these functions without the body, how
can it do so after the death of the body? The
body God made became a living being when God breathed into itÕs nostrils the
breath of life and when the breath of life leaves the body, it becomes a
lifeless body. It was life that was given to the body, not an immortal living
being imprisoned in it that was better off without the body in which it was
imprisoned.
(4). "YOU SURELY SHALL NOT DIE"
(Genesis 3)
WHERE DID THE IDEA OF
AN IMMORTAL SOUL ORIGINATE? Not from the first lie as many believe. Adam and
Eve were told, "You (not your soul) shall
not eat of it; neither shall you
(not your soul) touch it lest you (not your soul) die." Satan said, "You
(not your soul) shall not surely
die." Satan lie is taught in most creeds—that all men kind are
born with an Òimmortal soulÓ that Òsurely
shall not die,Ó but the ÒyouÓ has
been changed to Òyour soul.Ó Adam and Eve were not told their "souls"
would die. They, not their
"soul" were sent out of the Garden of Eden "lest he (not his
soul) put forth his (not his soul) hand
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." Not their "immaterial,
invisible" soul that cannot die but must eat to lives forever.
ÒIt
is a perpetuation, in principle, of the SerpentÕs lie and is diametrically
opposed to the Word of God. It is, like the serpent, very subtle, because it
superficially gives the impression of accepting the true facts of death by
agreeing that the body is dead, but in actual fact it is a deceit because it is
believed that the body is not the real person at all and that therefore, in
death, the real person is not dead at all, but still lives on in another form
and stateÓ Barry C. Hodson.
1.
There is not one word about a soul in Genesis chapter three, but
this chapter is used to prove a person has an immortal soul that cannot die
2.
There is not one word about "Hell" in Genesis chapter
three, but this chapter is also used to prove an eternal life of torment in
Hell.
ÒThen the Lord God formed man
of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living beingÓ (Genesis 2:7). The warning for
eating of the tree was "YOU (ÒmanÓ) shall surely die.Ó
God's sentence for eating of the tree was "to
dust YOU shall return" (not
your soul shall return to dust, or your soul shall be eternality tormented). In
God's statement to Adam, the personal pronouns "you" and
"your" are used about fifteen times (it varies in different
translations). "Then to Adam He
said, 'Because YOU have listened to
the voice of YOUR wife, and have
eaten from the tree about which I commanded YOU, saying, YOU shall
not eat from it; cursed is the ground because of YOU; in toil YOU shall
eat of it all the days of YOUR life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for YOU;
and YOU shall eat the plants of the
field; by the sweat of YOUR face YOU shall eat bread, till YOU return to the ground, because from
it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return" (New
American Standard Version). The "YOU"
is Adam that had to work to live, would sweet, and would die, not just an
immaterial, invisible part of Adam. Those who use this passage to teach a
person has an immortal soul pick one of the many of the "YOU'S" and say only this one is an
immortal part of Adam but say nothing of the others and hope you do not see the
others for their immortal "immaterial,
invisible part of man" cannot eat, will not return to the ground, does
not sweat, etc.; the YOU that eat is the
same YOU that died; there is nothing obscure or vague in this statement,
language could not be more definite. This passage is used to teach the
doctrine of an immortal soul (nehphesh) even though it says nothing of a soul
(nehphesh) or immortality, and at the same time, death, which is in the
passage, is removed and it is made not to exist. Why would an immortal, immaterial soul that cannot die have any need of
the tree of life to live? Why do many think God would tell Adam he would
die if God know Adam was immortal and could not die, and why would God take the
tree of life from him Òlest he eat and
live foreverÓ if God know Adam had an Òimmortal soulÓ that was the only
part of him that would live forever, and his Òimmortal soulÓ would live forever
without the tree of life?
In ÒYOU
shall surely DIE,Ó die is from
mooth, StrongÕs world 4191, and it is used repeatedly through out the Old
Testament with reference to the death of mankind, animals, fish, etc., but
never means eternal life with torment. It is ÒYOUÓ Adam that would ÒDIEÓ
just as animals and fish die, not some part of Adam that could not die that
would LIVE some place separated from
God.
ÒSurely
dieÓ is used 21 times in the
King James Version and it always means to die a physical death (Genesis 2:17;
3:4; 20:7; Numbers 22:23; Judges 13:22; 1 Samuel 14:39; 14:44; 20:31; 22:16; 2
Samuel 12:5; 12:14; 1 Kings 2:37; 2:42; 2 Kings 1:4; 1:6; 1:16; 8:10; Ezekiel
3:18; 18:13; 33:8; 33:14). The opposite, ÒSurely
liveÓ is used a number of times and like Òsurely dieÓ was always physical life that would Òsurely live.Ó
á
ÒHe will surely live,
he shall not dieÓ (Ezekiel 33:15; Also
Ezekiel 3:21; 18:9; 18:17; 18:19; 18:21; 18:28; 33:13; 33:16).
á
ÒShall surely be put to
deathÓ is used many times (Exodus
19:20; 21:12; 21:15; 21:16; 21:17; 31:14; 31:15; Leviticus 20:2; 20:9; 20:10;
20:11; 20:12; 20:13; 20:15; 20:16; 20:27; 24:16; 2417; 27:20; Numbers 35:16;
35:17; 35:18; 35:21; 35:31).
á
All
three, Òsurely die,Ó Òsurely live,Ó
and Òsurely be put to deathÓ are
always speaking of life or death of the body, not of a deathless soul that
could not Òsurely die,Ó that could
not Òsurely be put to death.Ó
It was a real tree
with a real earthly fruit that a real person with a real earthly hand that was
told HE would die if HE eats, and a real earthly person that
was put out of a real garden lest HE
(not his soul) put forth HIS hand
(not his soul's hand), and take also of the real tree of life by eating the
fruit HE would have had in the same
hand HE put forth (not his soul
eating), and live forever. To what did
living depend on eating of the tree of life, to Adam, or to an "immaterial, invisible" immortal
part of Adam that could not die even if it did not eat? Would it not be a
contradiction to say Adam had an immortal soul that could not die and must live
forever, but it depended on eating of the tree of life to live, or that the
soul that could not die would die if it did not eat of the tree of life? Yet,
we are told that all, even Adam, have an immortal soul that will live forever,
and this deathless soul has no need of the tree of life, and that this
deathless part of a person is the only part of a person that will ever live
forever; therefore, what could the tree of life give to Adam's deathless soul
that it did not already have? Nothing. According to this doctrine, AdamÕs
deathless soul did not lose itÕs deathless when Adam eat of the tree. This
doctrine makes the flaming sword useless to keep Adam from the tree of life so
that he may eat and live forever, for it makes Adam live forever if he eats or
if he does not eat.
1. God placed Adam in the garden and gave him access to the tree of
life to sustain his life; his life was dependent on his having access to this
tree, not on his being created with unconditional immortality and not subject
to death.
2. Adam was removed from the tree of life Òlest he eat and live foreverÓ; his life depended on his eating of
the tree before he sinned. He was not remade, not recreated with a different
body; he had the same body before and after he was put out of the garden, just
did not have access to the tree of life.
It was Adam that God said would die if he ate, not an immortal soul that
cannot die. It was Satan that told Adam he would not die if he did eat. God
says nothing about Adam
having an immortal deathless soul that could not die.
"You
shall surely die" is far
from saying, "When you die, a part of you will live and suffer eternal
torment" but this is read into it. Was Adam created mortal or immoral? If
immortal, how could he be threatened with death when he could not die? If he
were immortal, he would be death-proof; therefore, God's sentence of death if
he eats would have been a lie.
á
When God
said, Adam shall Òsurely dieÓ He is
saying Adam was mortal.
á
When
Satan said Adam shall Ònot surely dieÓ he
is saying Adam is immortal and cannot die.
"It is appointed unto man to die, and
after this comes the judgment"
(Hebrews 9:27). Not just part of a person, not only the body of the man. This
is changed to read only your outer shell, and not the real YOU shall die. "In the
day YOU eat thereof YOU shall surely die" is not,
"After the death of your body, your soul, a part of you, shall be eternity
alive in Hell and tormented by God" but this is what many read into it.
Some say this is not physical death but a spiritual death. Then where did
physical death come from? What death was passed unto ALL men (Romans 5:12)? Is it appointed for a man to die, or changed
to be it is appointed for only a part of a man to die?
"The first man is of the earth,
earthy" (1 Corinthians 15:47;
Ecclesiastes 3:20).
Was this sentence of death given to an
immortal soul that cannot die; if it is immortal how could any kind of death
sentence be given to it, how could it not live forever? It could not be subject
to death. It would not matter if Adam ate or did not eat for his immaterial
invisible immortal soul could not die. In the fall of Adam and his sentence,
nothing is said about an immortal soul. It was Adam that sinned, Adam that
died; and it was through Adam that death came into the world and passed unto
all men, not death passed to all immortal souls (1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans
5:12-14). The penalty to Adam and all his seed is death, not eternal life in
Hell. There will be a resurrection from the death that came into the world from
Adam's sin.
Today's preachers would tell Adam that he
was going to Hell for his sin, but God said not one word about Hell.
"Die" has been changed to "Hell." "Death" has
been changed to "life with torment." Satan said, "You surely shall not die." Satan added
the "not" and many have changed his "you shall not" to "your
soul shall not die" to make a person now have an "immaterial invisible" immortal soul that shall not die.
For a person to have
an immortal soul two kinds of life and two kinds of death must be read into
Genesis 2 with one of the deaths not being a death at all, but eternal life
with torment. Look in your concordance and you will see that "Spiritual
life" or "spiritual death" which is read into this is not in the
Bible. It is argued that Adam did not die physically that day; therefore,
"spiritual death" was Adam's penalty for eating. If this were true,
why did he ever die a physical death, and how did physical death come into the
world? In the Hebrew the penalty was "dying
YOU shall die." It was the "living being" (Genesis 2:7)
begin dying that day, not an immortal soul that cannot die but was told that it
would die anyway. Death came into the world through Adam and all die (1
Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12-21). "And
inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes
judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The death that came into the world by Adam's
sin is the same death that he died for eating, a physical death. "By the sweat of your face YOU shall eat bread, till YOU return to the ground, because
from it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return" (Genesis 2:19). It was not the
death of Adam's "soul," an inward immortal never dying part of Adam
that could not die that would return to the ground from which it was made. Adam
could not have understood that YOU was only his body, and that only a part of
the YOU would die, but the rest of the YOU would not die but would live forever
in torment unless he had a revelation from God to tell him a part of him was
deathless. There is no such revelation recorded in Genesis although it is
repeatedly read into it today. Adam's undying soul theory is based on the
silence recorded in Genesis two and three.
Edward White: "No word is said either before the fall, or on the
approach of the Judge, or afterwards, of Adam's possession of a deathless soul,
when his mortal integer was broken up;—not a word is uttered in the
divine comment on the curse, of an eternity of misery to be endured by the soul
after dissolution of the Man. Indeed, that notion seems to deserve little else
than the scorn, which Locke bestows upon it. It is the gratuitous invention of
theologians who have forfeited the claim to be listened to in that matter by
their perverse departure from the record.Ó Life In Christ, Page 212, 1878.
A
definition of death from the Bible, "Till YOU return to the ground, because from
it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return."
Without the resurrection, all of ÒyouÓ
would forever remain dust. But, God's definition of death cannot be believed by
any that believe the soul is immortal; they tell us that by, ÒYou shall die,Ó God really means Òspiritually death,Ó not to really
die and return to the ground. The tradition of many makes changing the Bible a
must; how many times have we been told that ÒYou shall surely dieÓ means Òyour soul, not you shall surely die
spiritually?Ó There is no suggestion that only a part of Adam would die and a
part of him would never die; it was ÒyouÓ not a part of ÒyouÓ
shall die, not your body shall die, but the real ÒyouÓ can never die.
Another use of "you shall
surely die" (the same words in the Hebrew). Solomon told Shimei to
"Build yourself a house in
Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. For on the day
you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that you shall surely die" (1
Kings 2:37). He did go out of Jerusalem, and he did die just as Adam did but
not on the very day he went out; their death was sealed and made certain on
that day. ÒSurely dieÓ is used 19
times in the Old Testament to mean the death of the person, not a Òspiritual
death.Ó Genesis 2:27; 3:4; 20:7; Numbers 26:65; Judges 13:32; 1 Samuel 14:39;
14:44; 20:31; 22:16; 2 Samuel 12:14; 1 Kings 2:37; 2:42; 2 Kings 1:4; 8:10;
Jeremiah 26:8; Ezekiel 3:18; 18:13; 33:8; 33:14.
If Hell were Adam's sentence: "Die" must be changed into
an eternal life for a part of Adam but not his body. If Hell was Adam's
sentence then God was unclear in His warning and unclear in the sentence. What
was the penalty God give in Genesis 3:9-24?
How can anyone get Hell out of this sentence? There is not one word
about an immortal, immaterial part of a person in it and not one word about
Hell or torment after death in it. There is nothing about anything after death
in it. The penalty for eating of the forbidden tree ended when they returned to
the ground.
What is the death that came into the world
and passed unto all through Adam's sin?
John Locke: "It seems
a strange way of understanding a law which requires the plainest and direct
words, that by death should be meant eternal life in misery...I must confess
that by death, here, I can understand nothing but a ceasing to be, the losing
of all actions of life and sense. Such a death came upon Adam and all his
posterity, by his first disobedience in paradise, under which death they should
have lain forever had it not been for the redemption by Jesus Christ,"
"Reasonableness of Christianity," Volume 6, page 3, 1695.
The "soul" as it is used today will live forever if it
eats of this fruit or does not eat of it, and the teaching is that not even God
can keep it from living forever. If God had made men with unconditional
immortality, would it have done any good to put him out of the garden to keep
him from eating of the tree of life to live forever? If Adam were made with an
immortal undying part, he would have lived forever and could not have died even
if he did not eat of the tree of life.
Adam and Eve passed
from a state in the garden where they had access to the tree of life, where it
was possible for them to live forever, to a state where it was impossible for
them not to die. The day they did eat was the beginning of the dying process ("Dying you shall die"). There
is nothing in this about a person being a dual being with an immortal soul, but
most read it into this. It was the whole person as he was then, which would
have lived forever if he had eaten of the tree of life. It was the whole
person, not just some inter part of a person, which God said would die. How could an "immaterial
invisible" part of a person eat of a visible material tree? Satan's
lie was that they, not some inter
part of them, would not die. The presence of the "tree of life" in Eden indicates that immortality was
conditional on eating of that tree. To prevent the possibility of being able to
"live forever" (Genesis
3:22) God put a barrier to the garden when Adam was put out of Eden and the
dying process began. It would have been nonsense for God to prevent access to
the tree of life if the real Adam, if there were an inter-person that was
immortal and would live forever with or without the tree of life.
The New JOHN GILL Exposition of the Entire Bible: "For in the day
thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die; or in dying, die; which denotes the
certainty of it...man became at once a mortal creature, who otherwise
continuing in a state of innocence, and by eating of the tree of life, if he
was allowed to do, would have lived an immortal life; of the eating of which
tree, by sinning he was debarred, his natural life not now to be continued
long, at least not forever; he was immediately arraigned, tried, and condemned
to death, was found guilty of it, and became obnoxious to it, and death at once
began to work in him; sin sowed the seeds of it in his body, and a train of
miseries, afflictions, and diseases, began to appear, which at length issued in
death."
YOUNG'S Literal Translation Genesis 2:17: "For in the day of thine eating of it - dying thou dost die."
ADAM CLARKE: "Thou shall surely die. Literally, a death thou shall
die; or, dying thou shall die-from that moment thou shall become mortal, and
shall continue in a dying state till thou die. This we find literally
accomplished; every moment of man's life may be considered as an act of
dying." On Genesis 2:7: ÒFrom that moment thou shall become mortal, and
shall continue in a dying state till thou die.Ó
JOHN WESLEY: "Thou shall die—That is, thou shalt lose all the
happiness thou hast either in possession or prospect; and thou shalt become
liable to death, and all the miseries that preface and attend it. This was
threatened as the immediate consequence of sin."
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL: ÒAdam died at the end of nine hundred and thirty
years after his creation, and that this was threatened in the words, ÔIn the
day thou eatest thereof DYING THOU SHALL DIE.ÕÓ Campbell Skinner Debate On
Everlasting Punishment, page 118, College Press, 1840.
A
DOUBLE CHANCE: First change: Adam's death must be changed to be a
"separation," not death. Second change: Then his
"separation" must be made to be an eternal life of torment in Hell. "For as in Adam all die" (1
Corinthians 15:22). If death = separation, and separation = Hell, then all go
to Hell for "in Adam all die."
(5). "IN MY FLESH SHALL I SEE GOD"
Job 19:25-27
See chapter seven, "IN MY FLESH SHALL I SEE GOD"
(6). "SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT" Daniel 12:2
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Who has this "contempt"? "Then they shall go
forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me for their (corpses) worm shall not die, and
their (corpses) fire shall not be
quenched: and they (corpses) shall
be an abhorrence to all
mankind" (Isaiah 66:24). The antecedent of these three pronouns is
Òcorpses.Ó Strong says both contempt
and abhorrence are from the same
Hebrew word. Strong's word # 1860, "To repulse, an object of aversion,
abhorring, contempt." Contempt and abhorrence are the way others think
about, ÒThe corpses of the men who have
transgressed against Me.Ó It does not say they will forever be conscious or
in torment, is says nothing about torment, but that others will forever have
shame and contempt for them. It is the
contempt that is said to be everlasting, not that the corpses of dead persons
are everlasting. Torment is read into this in an attempt to put Hell in it.
How does "everlasting contempt"
by "all mankind" become
"everlasting torment" by God? Where is there anything about God
forever tormenting those in "Hell" in this passage?
"And many of them that
sleep" is not the same "All that are in the tombs shall hear
his voice, and shall come forth" (John 5:28). When this passage is
kept in the context of Daniel 11 and 12, Daniel is not speaking of the
resurrection at the coming of Christ, but seems to be speaking of a time of
restoration of Israel when many
would return to God just as Ezekiel pictured the dead bones as a resurrection
of the dead (37:11-14) was speaking of a restoration of Israel as a nation when
many did return to God. See Isaiah 52:1-2; 26:5.
"Ezekiel's prophecy referred to a spiritual resurrection of the
Jews in Babylon and their return to Judea; for Jehovah added, 'Son of man these
bones are the whole house of Israel'" Homer Hailey, A Commentary on
Daniel, Page 243, 2001, Nevada Publications.
"The belief in the resurrection
was nationalistic rather than individualistic" "Afterlife and
Eschatology" at MyJewishLearning.com. Israel believed God would restore
(resurrect) the nation when it sinned and turned back to God but not in the resurrection
of the dead individuals.
Daniel chapter 11 and 12 are about Israel coming out of the
captivity and being restored as a nation. If
Daniel 12:2 were speaking of the resurrection and judgment at the second coming
of Christ, there could not be a bigger conflict with the orthodoxy teaching
that all go to Heaven or Hell at the moment of death. How could those in Heaven
be asleep "in the dust of the
ground"? How could those in Heaven "awake"?
How could an immortal soul that now has everlasting life and cannot die (which
some tell us is the only part of a person that will live in Heaven or Hell), which soul cannot sleep the sleep of
death, how could it awake from the dust of the ground if that immortal soul was
alive and awake in Heaven or Hell and it was not asleep in the dust of the
ground? Orthodox teaches that long before
the resurrection and judgment day the saved are in Heaven and have everlasting
life. The Abraham's bosom version would also in conflict with it.
Kenny Boles in
ÒThe Life to Come,Ó page 276 says this prophecy of Daniel is the first and only
clear declaration of the resurrection in all of the Old Testament. Only by
taking verse 12 out of context can it be make to be speaking of the
Resurrection and then it makes the problem of only some of the dead being
resurrected, which would be an undeniable contradiction to what is said of the
Resurrection in the New Testament, that all the dead, not ÒsomeÓ of the dead will be resurrected (John 5:28).
(7).
PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW A SOUL IN HELL
IS THE SPIRIT THAT RETURNED TO GOD?
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Some of my
brothers in Christ, who believe in "Abraham's bosom," and that no one
will be in Heaven or Hell unto after the judgment, use this and other
scriptures to prove the soul or spirit, the only part of a person they think
will ever be in Heaven, goes to Heaven at death.
In
there own words: "And I wondered why my dear brother did not see the verse
just preceding it, which says, 'And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Where was Jesus? Stephen saw him alive
at the right hand of God. Where could Jesus receive his spirit? He could
receive his spirit only where he was. Where does the spirit go? Eccl. 12:7,
'Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return
unto God who give it.' That immortal principle of the human family that never
dies. So they killed the body of Stephen, but Stephen prayed for the Lord to
receive his spirit where he was." L. S. White, Russell-White Debate, Page
51, 1912, F. L. Rowe Publisher.
When he answered his own question of where is Stephen now before
the resurrection, he said Stephen is now in Heaven; therefore, he is saying
Stephen is not now in "Abraham's bosom" unto the resurrection.
Sometimes Stephen is said to be in ÒAbrahamÕs bosomÓ and sometimes the same
preachers will say Stephen is now in Heaven. I think where they put Stephen
depends on what they are trying to prove at that time.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 says the bodies of all returned to
the earth and the spirit (ruach) of all returned to God. Can my brothers not
see that if the only part of a person he believe is immortal and is the only
part of a person he believe will be saved or lost, if this is the part that
goes back to God who gives it, He has
all, both the saved and the unsaved, going back to God in Heaven at the time of
death? What happened to his "Hell?" He is saying no one goes to Hell
at death and no one goes to AbrahamÕs bosom at death for all, that both the saved
and the lost return to God. What happened to "Abraham's bosom,"
the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, the judgment, and the second
death? If no one goes to Heaven at death, which is what those who believe in
"Abraham's bosom" believe, how is it that this immortal part of a
person, which will not go to Heaven unto after the judgment but it will go back
to God at death? "Do not all go to
one place?" (Ecclesiastes 6:6). The whole chapter of Ecclesiastes 12
is speaking to all mankind, not just to the saved. All are admonished to remember God in their youth before the evil
days of old age, then all shall
return to dust and the spirit of all
shall return to God. No reference is made to their being good or evil at the
time of their death. If the spirit of all goes back to God at death is an
immortal soul, then the immortal soul of no one will not go to Hell. There is nothing in the spirit returning to
God that makes those who are saved any different from those who are not saved;
the spirit of all returns to God, yet, those who use this to prove a person has
an immortal soul say, "No, Solomon was wrong. The spirit of the lost does
not return to God at death, some says it goes to Hell at death and others says
it goes the bad side of hades at death."
The three places where the ÒsoulÓ is sent at
death by those that believe we now have an immortal deathless soul.
1.
At death does the spirit or the soul of the lost go to
Hell?
2.
At death does the spirit or the soul of the lost go to
the bad side of hades (AbrahamÕs bosom)?
3.
At death does the spirit or the soul of all, the lost and
the saved return to God?
Has the zeal to prove Plato's immortal soul, which needs no
resurrection, blinded him so he does not see that he is going both ways at the
same time? He believes that after the soul is freed from the body by death (as
Plato put it, freed from its earthly prison) that it is just as alive as it
will ever be, and when a person dies, he believes that person has everything
that is ever going to be dead, already dead; and everything that will be alive
after the resurrection is already alive and immortal from birth, the soul, the
only part of a person that he believes will ever be immortal he believes is
just as alive and just as immortal before death as it will be after death.
The Hebrew word
translated ÒspiritÓ in Ecclesiastes 12:7 is from Ruach, not from nehphesh which
is the word that some of the times it is used it is translated Òsoul.Ó Ruach is
translated breath, wind, spirit, etc., but never translated Òsoul.Ó
It is the breath of life (Genesis 2:7) that came from God and made both man and
beast Òliving beingsÓ and that
returns to God. In Ecclesiastes 11:4 it is, ÒHe
who watches the wind (ruach).Ó If Ecclesiastes
12:7 did prove that a person has an immortal soul that returns to God in
Heaven, then it proves that the same immortal souls preexisted with God in
Heaven as a rational, intelligent, thinking being before the birth of the body.
By misusing this verse to prove a person now has something in them that is now immortal
and it is this immortal something in a person goes back to God at death then it
would prove more than they want to prove. If the spirit that returns to God is
an inward part of a person that is immortal, and it came from God, this inward
immortal thinking being had to preexist in Heaven with God before the person
was born. Most do not want preexistence
before birth of ALL, neither do they want ALL,
both the saved and the lost going back to Heaven unto second coming of Christ;
but if their view were right, that the spirit is an immortal inter part of a
person that came from God at birth and them returns to God at death, there
would be no way around it. The incorrect
use of this passage to prove a person is born with an immortal soul undeniably
implies the preexistence of that soul, that it existed in Heaven a living being
before the birth of the person, and that at death all souls, the saved and
the unsaved and also the souls of animals leave the person or animal it was put
in and returns to God who is in Heaven, back to where it was before the person
or animal was born. Whatever came from God, whether it was life, or a living
intelligent being that was in Heaven is what returns to God. It does not say
that what came from God was a created intelligent living being (as are the
angels) that was in Heaven, but that is what is inferred by the doctrine that person
has an immortal soul or an immortal spirit in him or her that returns to God at
death.
It
would prove:
If the spirits that came from God is
manÕs immortal souls then:
á
Birth is changed to be only a moving day from Heaven to earth for a
soul that preexisted in Heaven before birth.
á
Death is changed to be only a moving day from earth to Heaven or Hell
for a soul that preexisted in Heaven but had moved to earth.
á
From the second coming onward: For many Protestants nothing happens; the saved are brought from
Heaven only to return to Heaven where they were before the second coming and
the lost are brought from Hell only to return to Hell where they were before
the second coming. Both the saved, and the unsaved would have to be judged at
death to know whether they would go to Heaven or Hell. They say they believe in
the resurrection and the judgment day, but by their teaching they deny both the
Day of Judgment and the Resurrection by making both impossible.
á
Both the saved and the lost
preexisted in Heaven but most of them will never
return to Heaven after the judgment.
According to the teaching of many, this
immortal soul was a living, conscious, thinking being before it came from God,
(1) It existed in Heaven as a living,
thinking being,
OR
(2) Whatever came from God was not an
immortal, thinking soul that we are told that all have.
It is the "spirit," not "an
immortal soul" that returns to God.
What is the spirit that existed before the birth of the person? "Then the Lord God formed a man of the
dust from the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man (the body of dust) became a living being (a
soul-nehphesh." - Genesis 2:7). A body made of dust + the spirit, the
breath of life from God (Genesis 2:7) = a soul, a living creature whether it is
a person or an animal. The spirit (breath of life) all life comes from God the
only source of life whether the life of a person or the life or an animal and
returns to God. When the life returns to God, the body returns to dust and we
will have no work, device, knowledge, or wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:10) unto the
resurrection when life comes from God. All life is from God.
If the
spirits that came from God is manÕs immortal soul then:
á
Then all immortal souls of both the saved and the lost return to
God at death (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
á
But David did not ascend Òinto
HeavenÓ (Acts 2:34; 2:29).
o
Would not this make the immortal soul or immortal spirit that came
from God and had returned to God that had been in David be some kind of being
that was in David but was not David? That this being is now in Heaven but David
is not in Heaven?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 is
the reverse of the process in Genesis 2:7.
Today's
theology tells us two conflicting things
The way Ecclesiastes
12:7 is misused to prove a person has an immortal part that cannot die makes
this passage prove: