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What Does the Bible Say About the "Immortal Soul"?

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What Does the Bible Say About the "Immortal Soul"?

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What happens to us after we die? Where are our loved ones who have passed on? Will we ever see them again?

Everyone needs to know that life has purpose, that death isn't the permanent end of our existence. The most common Christian belief regarding the afterlife is that people possess souls and at death their consciousness in the form of that soul departs from the body and heads for heaven or hell.

Most religions teach some form of life after death. The ancient Egyptians, for example, practiced elaborate ceremonies to prepare the pharaohs for their next life. They constructed massive pyramids and other elaborate tombs filled with luxuries the deceased were assumed to need in the hereafter.

In some civilizations when a ruler died others who had accompanied and served him in his life were put to death so they could immediately serve him in the afterlife. Wives and other relatives, servants, sometimes even household pets joined him in death and a supposed entrance into a new life on the other side.

Belief in the immortality of the soul was an important aspect of ancient thought espoused by the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Plato, in Phaedo, presents Socrates' explanation of death: "Is it not the separation of soul and body? And to be dead is the completion of this; when the soul exists in herself, and is released from the body and body is released from the soul, what is this but death?" (Five Great Dialogues, Classics Club edition, 1969, p. 93).

Socrates explained that the immortal soul, once freed from the body, is rewarded according to good deeds or punished for evil. Socrates lived ca. 470-399 B.C., so his view of the soul predated Christianity.

Plato (ca. 428-348 B.C.) saw man's existence as divided into the material and spiritual, or "Ideal," realms. "Plato reasoned that the soul, being eternal, must have had a pre-existence in the ideal world where it learned about the eternal Ideals" (William S. Sahakian, History of Philosophy, 1968, p. 56). In Plato's reasoning, man is meant to attain goodness and return to the Ideal through the experiences of the transmigration of the soul. Thus secular philosophies sanction the idea of the immortal soul, even though the Bible does not. Believe it or not, God's Word teaches something entirely different.

History of a Controversial Teaching

The doctrine of the immortal soul caused much controversy in the early Catholic Church.

Origen (ca. 185-254) was the first person to attempt to organize Christian doctrine into a systematic theology. He was an admirer of Plato and believed in the immortality of the soul and that it would depart to an everlasting reward or everlasting punishment at death.

In Origen De Principiis he wrote: "... The soul, having a substance and life of its own, shall after its departure from the world, be rewarded according to its deserts, being destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness, if its actions shall have procured this for it, or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments, if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it down to this ..." (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, 1995, p. 240).

Origen taught that human souls existed before the body but are imprisoned in the physical world as a form of punishment. Physical life, he reasoned, is a purification process to return humans to a spiritual state.

Later Augustine (354-430) tackled the problem of the immortality of the soul and death. For Augustine death meant the destruction of the body, but the conscious soul would continue to live in either a blissful state with God or an agonizing state of separation from God.

In The City of God he wrote that the soul "is therefore called immortal, because in a sense, it does not cease to live and to feel; while the body is called mortal because it can be forsaken of all life, and cannot by itself live at all. The death, then, of the soul, takes place when God forsakes it, as the death of the body when the soul forsakes it" (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, 1995, p. 245.)

The influences of pagan Platonic philosophy on Origen and Augustine are profound. Richard Tarnas, in his best-seller The Passion of the Western Mind, points to this influence: "... It was Augustine's formulation of Christian Platonism that was to permeate virtually all of medieval Christian thought in the West. So enthusiastic was the Christian integration of the Greek spirit that Socrates and Plato were frequently regarded as divinely inspired pre-Christian saints ..." (1991, p. 103).

Centuries later Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274) crystallized the doctrine of the immortal soul in The Summa Theologica. He taught that the soul is a conscious intellect and will and cannot be destroyed.

A few centuries later the leaders of the Protestant Reformation generally accepted these traditional views, so they became entrenched in traditional Protestant teaching.

The immortality of the soul is foundational in Western thought, both philosophical and religious. Belief in going to heaven or hell depends on it. But does the Bible teach that death is the separation of body and soul or that the soul is immortal?

Hebrew Understanding of the Soul

The Hebrew word translated "soul" in the Old Testament is nephesh, which simply means "a breathing creature." Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words defines nephesh as "the essence of life, the act of breathing, taking breath ... The problem with the English term 'soul' is that no actual equivalent of the term or the idea behind it is represented in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew system of thought does not include the combination or opposition of the 'body' and 'soul' which are really Greek and Latin in origin" (1985, p. 237-238, emphasis added).

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible makes this comment on nephesh: "The word 'soul' in English, though it has to some extent naturalized the Hebrew idiom, frequently carries with it overtones, ultimately coming from philosophical Greek (Platonism) and from Orphism and Gnosticism which are absent in 'nephesh.' In the OT it never means the immortal soul, but it is essentially the life principle, or the living being, or the self as the subject of appetite, and emotion, occasionally of volition" (Vol. 4, 1962, "Soul," emphasis added).

That nephesh doesn't refer to an immortal soul can be seen in the way the word is used in the Old Testament. It is translated "soul" or "being" in reference to man in Genesis 2:7, but also to animals by being translated "creature" in Genesis 1:24. Nephesh is translated "body" in Leviticus 21:11 in reference to a human corpse.

The Hebrew Scriptures state plainly that, rather than possess immortality, the soul can and does die. "The soul [nephesh] who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20).

The Old Testament describes the dead as going to sheol, translated into English as "hell," "pit" or "grave." Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 describes sheol as a place of unconsciousness: "For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished ..."

King David laments that death extinguishes a relationship with God. "For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?" (Psalm 6:5).

The immortal-soul concept isn't part of the Old Testament, but it began to make inroads into Jewish thought as Jews came in contact with Greek culture. In the first century the Jewish philosopher Philo taught a Platonic concept: "... The death of a man is the separation of his soul from his body ..." (The Works of Philo, translated by C.D. Yonge, 1993, p. 37). Philo followed the Hellenistic view that the soul is freed upon death to an everlasting life of virtue or evil.

The Apostles' View

In the New Testament the Greek word translated "soul" is psuche, which is also translated "life."

In Psalm 16:10 David uses nephesh ("soul") to claim that the "Holy One," or Messiah, wouldn't be left in sheol, the grave. Peter quotes this verse in Acts 2:27, using the Greek psuche for the Hebrew nephesh (notice verses 25-31).

Like nephesh, psuche refers to human "souls" (Acts 2:41) and for animals (it is translated "life" in the King James Version of Revelation 8:9 and Revelation 16:3). Jesus declared that God can destroy man's psuche, or "soul" (Matthew 10:28).

If the Old Testament describes death as an unconscious state, how does the New Testament describe it?

No one wrote more about this subject than the apostle Paul. He describes death as "sleep" (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Many people are surprised to find that the term immortal soul appears nowhere in the Bible. However, though the Scriptures do not speak of the soul as being immortal, they have much to say about immortality. For example: "You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15).

Paul told the members of the congregation in Rome to "seek" immortality (Romans 2:5-7). He taught Christians at Corinth that they must be changed and "put on" immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). Paul proclaimed that only God and His Son possess immortality (1 Timothy 6:12-16) and that eternal life is a "gift" from God (Romans 6:23).

The most powerful words come from Jesus Himself: "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40).

True Origin of Immortal-soul Teaching

We've seen in this brief look at the supposedly immortal soul that the Bible teaches no such concept. The idea filtered into Western thought through Greek philosophy. Its origins are older than Athens, in fact as old as man.

The concept of the immortal soul was introduced into man's thinking at the earliest beginnings of human history. God told the first human beings, Adam and Eve, that if they sinned they would die and return to the dust from which He had created them (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:19). Satan, the embodiment of evil, the powerful entity who opposes God, assured them they wouldn't die (verses 1-5).

Satan slyly injected into Eve's consciousness the notion that God was lying and that she and her husband would not die, thus ingraining the unscriptural teaching of the immortality of the soul into human thought. Satan has since deceived the world on this important understanding as well as many other biblical truths (Revelation 12:9). Much of the world, including millions of people in religions outside of traditional Christianity, are convinced they have—or are—immortal souls and hope they will go to a happy place or state of being immediately after they die.

The Biblical Answer to Death

Yet the Bible plainly teaches that the dead lie in the grave and know nothing, think no thoughts, have no emotions, possess no consciousness. Does this mean death, the cessation of life, is final, the end of everything?

The Bible answers this question too. Although mankind is physical, subject to death, the good news is that God promises a resurrection to eternal life to everyone who repents, worships God and accepts Jesus as the Messiah and His sacrifice. The first resurrection to immortality will take place when Christ returns to establish God's Kingdom on this earth.

Later will come another resurrection—to physical life—for people who had never had a relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ. They, too, will gain the opportunity for immortality. The true final answer is not death but resurrection. 

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Comments

  • hhaga

    What a thoughtful article! Truly, if the immortality of the soul were true and taught in scripture, it would make Satan the truth teller and God the liar. "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. 3:4) were the words of the Deceiver. Yet, I have heard pastors say from the pulpit, "we don't really die, we just go to the good place or the bad place." From childhood I was taught that death was as sleep and we were mortal. I mention this because being aware of this difference made me very observant. I can tell you that I was exposed to the notion of floating off to heaven (and sometimes hell) immediately after death THOUSANDS of times through media (now 42). The falsity is imprinted strongly into the minds of people of all beliefs. That said, I believe Christians MUST come to a biblical understanding of the mortality of the soul, and more specifically to a biblical understanding of what it is that returns to God at death; our breath, not our intelligence. Christians are in danger of falling for "signs and lying wonders" because of a false belief that allows for spiritualism to be embraced. Such was Saul's sin that lead to his demise; consorting with a 'familiar spirit'.

  • Gary Petty

    Thank you for your response. I'm glad to see a lot of discussion about this article.

  • Lahunken

    There is no immortality of the souls of the unsaved in the King James Bible, or in the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures. Rather, there are several verses pronouncing the mortality of the souls of the unsaved. The Funk & Wagnalls dictionary officially says the word "perish" means "to cease to exist". At the heart of established religion is the psychedelic experience: Normal people are only using 10% brain use. The MRI's show it. Clouds of light, indicating brain use, float around in the brain indicating temporary regions used, but, the total volume of these clouds is directly proportional to percentage of brain use. People with 50% to 100% brain use are catatonic, body switching backward and forward in time. Virtually secretly the psychiatric profession defines more than 10% brain use "psychotic". Back in the twentieth century psychiatry locked up anyone they caught "psychotic" in their mental hospital gulags. LSD can wake up the brain all the way to 100% brain use. People can't handle anything above 50% brain use, for every thought manifests as reality: and 20% to 50% brain usually terrifies most people. Vagal stimulation is as effective as LSD. &/ limited to 1200 characters.

  • rwp_47
    Saying that "the spirit" that sins will die is incorrect. Nowhere does the bible show spirit to die. Also, while its generally taught that "nephesh" means life - I've noticed a number of things that would suggest otherwise. For instance, Gen.:2:7 it says man became a "living soul". If soul means life then why place living in front of it? It gives the impression that soul isn't life ... suggesting that soul in & of itself is non-living. In fact the bible talks about a "dead soul" (an oxymoron?). So again, the impression is the soul would exist but not be a living thing. Like a computer with software installed but not turned on. Neither the computer nor the software functions without power (i.e., the power to live - spirit). To function it must be imbued with power (just as one's body must be imbued with spirit to be alive). Just as James says (James:2:26 - "For as the body without the spirit is dead,"). And as Jesus says (John:6:63 - "It is the spirit that quickeneth ... the words I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."). So from this perspective spirit is life - not soul. Soul seems to be more like sentient-ness (self awareness and feeling).
  • Andre Mouton

    Soul is an English word that does not adequately describe the word Nephesh. Soul does not mean life, nephesh means life but more specifically, the proper meaning of nephesh is "a living creature." So in Gen 2:7 it says; And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (man became a living breathing creature.)

  • Lena VanAusdle

    Hi @rwp_47 actually, Ezekiel 18:, 20 states that the "soul (person) that sins shall die." The soul is not immortal.

  • Jo Helen Cox
    What a wonderful discussion! This is just one more of the many intrusions of Greek philosophy that continues to blind Christianity. We must “Get the Greek OUT” of our theology, before we can truly see who God is. For example: Genesis 1 says God created things and then called those things “good.” No biblical writer ever called the creation perfect or Adam immortal. Not one word hints at a major change from what was to what we see today. And yet, everyone reads the stories as perfection lost with a disgusted God who boots humans out of the garden. Without perfection, the creation remains as the Creator envisioned it. God came to Adam and Eve, told them the consequences of their action, taught them to make clothes, and separated them from the tree of life. Eve had free will to desire before she touched the fruit. Instead of DNA changing physical death, this action brought on the second death. Through it all, God was and is in total control. **Link removed to comply with comment policy**
  • KARS
    It took me awhile to understand this. 1 Cor. 15:42-55(v.45-48); John 3:31-36; 1 Tim. 1:17
  • REVV
    Man... I had NEVER even thought about it... I had just assumed that EVERYBODY believed that the the soul was eternal... whether it's going to heaven or not... Like... I thought it was one of those very few things that ALL "Christian groups" agreed on!!... I guess I'm going to have to re-evaluate... Lord help me!!
  • Jerrypd1
    Hi all you fellow truth seekers, I too have always struggled with the concept of "everyone is going to live forever somewhere." First of all, that means EVERYONE already has eternal life and therefore kills the excitement of receiving the "gift of eternal life", i.e., what's the point? Also I agree with Harold Eberle in his enlightening book, Hell, God's Justice, God's Mercy, that if we REALLY believed people would suffer eternally for their earthly sins then we couldn't even sleep or rest until we begged everyone to accept Christ! (That is, if we had a heart at all) He,along w/many other verses uses 1 & 2 Tim to point out that God alone has immortality and it comes only via the Gospel. He also uses Mt. 10:28 to show God can/wil destroy BOTH body & soul in Hell. Another point he makes is that the place and the fires are indeed eternal. But that does not mean an individual's suffering is eternal. This false doctrine has done more to cripple the concept of a fair, loving, and gracious God than any other. And it seekd to scare people into loving God, which cannot be done! Old ideas die hard! May God open the eyes of those seeking truth!
  • James Kelley

    Yes but we ARE told to fear G-D and why would Christ Jesus say everlasting "contempt? " where there torment rises from the lake of fire forever? I've heard people argue its "aeon" or "age" but theres another Greek word that starts with an "A" and I forget. Now. In 2019. They (science" are changing there story. And all scripture "God breathed?" Why in the book of Enoch immortal wicked souls fall with the fallen Angels? Enoch is older than scripture and surely is included in the bible
    I think in Jude? How did Samuel get summoned by King Saul if his spirit didn't die?

  • rwp_47
    Hi .. Baker_Chick What about the idea of tormenting the devil for ever and ever (Rev:20:10)? "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire ... and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Clearly that's biblical. Is it just a problem if it happens to people ... but not really a problem if it just happens to fallen angels?
  • changdds6@gmail.com

    The original word context " for ever and ever" is mistranslated. It can be used in three ways.
    1. for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity
    2. the worlds, universe
    3. period of time, age
    It seems the third one would fit the bible more effectively then the first.
    1 Timothy 6:16 states, "who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen."
    God even said in Genesis, "Unless they eat from the tree of life and live for ever..." None of us has eaten from the tree of life until we reach heaven. Those who go to hell will not be able to eat from the tree of life, thus will perish ( consumed by fire). In Ezekiel 28:18,19, Satan will be turned into ashes and exist no more. Also the unrighteous in Malachi 4:1-3 ".“For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven,
    And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
    And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
    Says the Lord of hosts,
    “That will leave them neither root nor branch...
    You shall trample the wicked,
    For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.

  • pabebe

    because angels and Satan are spirit beings. human beings and creatures of this physical world have different DNA or composition of existence, we are fallen nature, that's why it doesnt make sense you separate the body and soul when both are in fallen state. we will only attain immortal or glorified body when Christ returns to give it to us, where some to eternal life, and some to eternal damnation together with Satan and his demons.

  • emme
    I have enjoyed reading this article and comments. Hopefully, I am not reasking this: can you please help me understand the meaning/intent of Mat 10:28? "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Specifically...I understand that soul and body are often used interchangeably, so why use both in this passage? Thank you.
  • JOAN FITLER
    Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I knew you.I made you a prophet to the nations" Sounds like God knew Jeremiahs immortal soul. The body/flesh returns to the dust.
  • pabebe

    that's not the ending of the story. cause on the Last Days, the Second Coming of Christ, the dead will all rise and put on an immortal body, where some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation. is that not a bit of contradictory, why you need to be Resurrected when you already have an immortal soul?

  • Malachi 3_16-18
    Search4Truth, Yes, we get our truth from Jesus Christ (Jn 17:17). But in seeking it, we may have to set aside some long-held, popular beliefs. We also need to put related verses together when there’s any question. The Bible says there is no knowledge in the grave (Eccl 9:10 & also verse 5), so when Jesus calls out to the dead, it’s at that very instant they are raised up to life and regain consciousness, so they are able to hear His voice. Our spirit, which is a record of our character, returns to God at death (Eccl 12:7), but doesn’t consciously live on. See this link: http://www.ucg.org/doctrinal-beliefs/spirit-man-not-immortal-soul/ The punishment of the wicked is eternal only in the sense that they forever cease to exist. They become ashes (Mal 4:3). For further details, check out the link below: http://www.ucg.org/booklet/heaven-and-hell-what-does-bible-really-teach/will-loving-god-punish-people-forever-hell/ The righteous don’t go to heaven upon death. They remain in the grave until resurrected, as the verses you quoted – and others – tell us (Jn 3:13; Acts 2:34). Here’s further explanation: http://www.ucg.org/doctrinal-beliefs/will-i-go-heaven-when-i-die/
  • rwp_47
    Page 3: What is destroyed is the "algorithm of free moral agency" God created that makes that soul "us" (our fingerprint, if you will, is removed from it and it is no longer us). Our being is terminated (meaning our right to God's soul that he has graciously given to us so that we may "be" is terminated). God can then either reabsorb it or create another more worthy individual, or whatever. All that live - live because God is sharing his life (his own being) - "his soul" with them. All soul is God's and is immortal. Only our right to our piece of his soul that gives us "being" is conditional. If we are not destroyed in Gehenna then our immortality is no longer conditional ... we become an immortal soul outright (for example, Abraham is an immortal soul ... he just hasn't been awakened yet). When our body dies in this life ... the soul sleeps until God awakens it at a resurrection. But the actual soul is interminable ... because its God's. So when we die (that is, when our bodies die) the soul sleeps unconsciously ... awaiting a resurrection to conscious life again.
  • rwp_47
    Page 2: The reason soul is immortal is because all soul comes directly from God who shares his immortal soul with us. He takes a portion of his soul and forms a new independent sentient being from it (just as he did with Adam (Gen. 2:7)). The right that he has given us to that piece of his soul (our right "to be") is however dependent on God's good pleasure. And for that reason, though the soul itself is immortal, our right to it (which gives us "being")is presently conditional. So in that sense our soul is conditionally immortal. This notion that a portion of God's soul is given shouldn't be surprising; as he does the same kind of thing with his spirit. He provides a "down payment" of his Holy Spirit to his saints. While scriptures such as Eze:18:4 state the soul that sins shall die - it doesn't state how, when, where it happens, nor does it state if it dies naturally or not. Matthew:10:28 does. If our right to exist is terminated, it is terminated by God alone in Gehenna. Its an execution. Even then however the soul itself is not destroyed because it is God's soul (all soul is his soul and ultimately belongs to him). page 3 follows:
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