PROPOSITION 16.
The Soul Is Not Immortal, But Is the Mortal, Bodily Being Called Man
This proposition gives the primary meaning of soul as used in the Bible; but the word is also used for life and mind, and it is applied to animals as well as to man.
We quote the following from the Emphatic Diaglott:
"The Hebrew word nephesh, of the Old Testament, occurs about 700 times, and is rendered soul 471 times, life and living about 150 times; and the same word is also rendered a man, a person, self, they, me, him, anyone, breath, heart, mind, appetite, the body (dead or alive), lust, creature, and even a beast; for it is 28 times applied to beasts and to every creeping thing. The Greek word psuche of the New Testament corresponds with nephesh of the Old. It occurs 105 times, and is rendered soul 50 times and life 40 times. The same word is also rendered mind, us, you, heart, heartily, and is twice applied to the beasts that perish. Psuchicas, an adjective derived from psuche, occurs 6 times, and is translated natural and sensual; it is properly translated animal in modern translations. Perhaps it may be worthy of notice that in all the 700 times which nephesh occurs, and the 105 times of psuche, not once is the word immortal or immortality or deathless or never-dying found ,in connection as qualifying the term.
Animals Are Called Souls and the Word Soul Is Applied to the Life of the Beasts
Num. 31:28 And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle; one soul of five hundred, of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses and of the sheep.
Gen. 1:20 (The very first place where the word nephesh, the word rendered soul occurs) And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life (nephesh, soul, see margin), and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Gen. 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life (margin living soul) I have given every green herb for meat.
Gen. 2:19 And Adam called (named) every living creature (Hebrew nephesh, soul).
Gen. 9:10 And I will establish my covenant with every living creature (Hebrew nephesh, soul) that is with you of fowl, of cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you. See also verses 15, 16.
Job l2:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Souls Die and Are Destroyed
Josh. 10:28 And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein. See also verses 30, 32, 35, 37, 39.
Judges 16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death.
Job 7:15 So that my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than my life.
Psa. 33:19 To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.
Psa. 78:50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death.
Isa. 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death.
Ezek. 13:10 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live.
Ezek. 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Verse 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
Matt. 20:38 My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.
Jas. 5:20 Let him know-that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death.
Rev. 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.
Souls Destructible and Destroyed
Psa. 35:17 Lord how long wilt thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions.
Psa. 63:0 But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
Acts 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.
In the following testimonies the Hebrew word nephesh and the Greek word psuche, which are so frequently rendered soul, are rendered life. Substitute the word soul for life in the reading of these and it will be seen that, instead of soul being indestructible and immortal, it is the opposite.
Exo. 4:10 Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
Matt. 2:20 For they are dead which sought the young Child’s life.
Mark 3:4 Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill (life or soul)?
Rev. 8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life (soul) died.
Rev. 12:11 And they overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives (souls) unto the death.
Souls Go to and Are Delivered From the Pit, or the Grave
Job 33:18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit (grave) and his life from perishing by the sword. Also verses 28, 30.
Psa. 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (the grave), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psa. 30:3 0 Lord, thou has brought up my soul from the grave; thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit. The pit and the "grave" are here synonymous; also "my soul, and "me" and "I"
Isa. 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me.
Isa. 89:4S What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul (himself) from the hand of the grave?
Isa. 38:17, 18 Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; * * * for the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (grave),…. same word as is translated grave in I Cor. 15:55.
Now, dear reader, by these testimonies you will see that the various ways in which the soul is spoken of in the Bible leaves no room whatever for the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Think a moment. Is it not strange that in all the instances in which the word soul occurs it is never once spoken of as immortal? To find the phrase "immortal soul" you must close your Bible and open theological books; and these will direct you to the words of heathen philosophers as the authors from whom the phrase came. You do not hear popular teachers in our times speaking of souls dying, being destroyed going to the grave and coming out of ,the grave. They say the soul is "never dying", immortal, does not go to the grave and is not delivered from the grave. Take, for instance, the word life in Matt. 6:25, where the Greek word is psuche -- the word which in other places is rendered soul -- and try if you can make it suit the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. It would read, "Take no thought for your (immortal) "soul".
Try it again in Matt. 16:25, 26, of which Dr. Adam Clarks says: "On what authority many have translated the word psuche in the 25th verse "life" and in this 26th verse "soul" I know not." If, as is claimed, that the word psuche means "immortal soul", then these verses would read, "For whosoever will save his immortal soul shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his immortal soul for my sake shall find it" etc.
Ponder over the following questions and see the folly of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul:
Since the Bible speaks of a living man (Gen. 2:7) as a living soul, and a dead man as a dead soul, (Num. 6:6; 9:10) (the word body in these verses is from nephesh), and since Paul defines a living soul to be a natural body (I Cor. 15:44, 45), how can you speak of the soul as immortal, deathless?
The phrase 'living soul" occurs fourteen times in the original Scriptures and twice it is applied to man (Gen. 2:7:I Cor. 15:44); once to fish (Rev. 16:3) and eleven times to the beasts of the field (Gen. 1:20, 21, 24, 30; 2:19; 9:10, 12, 15, 16; Lev. 11:10, 46). In view of this can you persuade yourself that living soul means "immortal soul"?
If the word soul signifies immortality, why is the word immortal added to it by those who use the phrase "immortal soul"? This is the same as if they were to say immortal immortality.
If to have a soul is to have immortality, then the beasts have immortality; for they are said to have souls, as you will see by the verses already quoted and the following:
Num. 31:28; Job 12:10; Prov. 12:10. (The word life is from nephesh, soul.)
Popular teachers say the soul is immortal. They cannot give you their description of man without using the words "immortal soul" and yet Moses, the prophets, Christ and His apostles never used the words in all the nearly one thousand times they use the word soul. Immortal was never a prefix to the word soul with them.
The Bible speaks of soul being born (Exo 12:19);of souls dying Rev. 16:3); of souls being in the grave (Psa. 89:48); of souls being raised from the dead (Acts 2:31); of souls having blood (Jer. 2:34); of souls breathing (Josh. 11:11); of souls being slain with the sword (Josh, 10:28, 29); of souls eating and drinking (Lev. 7:20); Isa. 32:6); of souls committing carnal abominations (Lev. 18:29); of souls expiring (Job 31:39 margin); of souls being burnt with fire (Isa. 47:14 mar-gin); of souls fasting (Psa. 35:13); of souls having flesh (Lev. 17:15, 16); of souls having hands (Lev. 22:6); of souls having mouths (Psa. 103:2,5); of souls having lips (Lev. 5:4); of beasts having souls (Deut. 12:23, Hebrew nephesho; of souls being put in fetters of iron (Psa. 105:18, margin); and of fish having souls (Rev. 8:9, Greek psuche, soul). In view of such Bible descriptions of souls, how is it possible, nay, is it not preposterous, to talk about souls being immortal and immaterial?
Dear reader, you may think that all "great and good men" are against us upon this question, and this may-have weight on your mind, as it has with many; and they say, "O well, if great men believe in the immortality of the soul it is no use for us to deny it, for they ought to know." This is by no means a proper view to take. We must allow God to be true though all may there-by be proved liars. However, to show you that all "great men" have not believed in the doctrine and that some have protested against it, I will reproduce a list of quotations from the "Declaration".