Many who claim to follow Christianity may be surprised to know that the Bible does not teach there is a supernatural devil or satan who opposes God and tempts men and women to sin. This idea is of pagan origin and was introduced into the early church.
Most who claim to be Christian would be surprised to hear that the Bible does not teach that man has an immortal soul.
This belief (which originated in paganism) was introduced into the early Christian church by those who adopted the thinking of the Greek philosopher Plato and his doctrine of the inherent immortality of the soul.
The phrase “immortal soul” is nowhere to be found in the Bible. While the words “soul” and “immortal” are mentioned many times throughout the Bible they are never linked together. In fact, “soul” is usually associated with death or dying.
“Soul” in the Bible: “Nephesh” and “Psuche”
In the Old Testament Scriptures, the Hebrew word “nephesh” is translated “soul” in English. It means creature, life or breathing frame, from the verb “to breathe”. In the Old Testament, “nephesh” referring to “soul” is used 754 times and denotes being subject to death, in danger of death and delivered from death.
In the New Testament, the Greek word translated “soul” is “psuche” (meaning breath, to breathe). It occurs 106 times and is also used to denote being subject to death, in danger of death, and delivered from death.
The Greek and Hebrew words for “soul” in the Bible NEVER refer to the immortality of the soul.
Souls can die
“Behold, all souls (Hebrew – nephesh or breathing creature) are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).
“Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul (Greek – psuche or breath) from death…” (James 5:20).
“Every soul (Greek – psuche), which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:23).
The Creation of man
The book of Genesis states that man was made from the dust of the ground:
“And the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Hebrew – nephesh chaiyah or living creature)” (Genesis 2:7).
The Bible tells us that in the beginning, man and all creation were “very good”. Mortality and death were not present at Creation but were God’s punishment for sin (see Genesis 3). This is confirmed in the New Testament:
“Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
The Bible’s record of these events does not mention a part of man such as an immortal soul which continues to live after death. In fact, Bible teaching is clear that like all animals, man has been created from the dust, has the same breath of life, and is destined to return to dust again:
“For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast …. All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again” (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20).
“He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).
The state of the dead
The Bible describes death as a sleep; the awakening from sleep is also used as a figure of resurrection from the dead:
“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” (Daniel 12:2).
The Bible constantly teaches that man has no conscious existence in death:
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten ….. There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10).
“For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave, who shall give Thee thanks?” (Psalm 6:5).
What hope, then, is there for man if death ends his existence in any form for ever? The Bible gives us the solution in offering a hope of redemption from death and bodily resurrection.
Redemption from death through Jesus Christ
Salvation (or to be saved from death) is held out in the Bible through Jesus Christ. While death entered because of man’s sin in Eden, Jesus is the saviour (the “seed” or descendant of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15), through whom men can be saved from death. This is the great theme of the Bible:
“Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Bible teaching about resurrection
The Bible consistently points to bodily resurrection and the granting of immortality as the hope for mankind:
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25, 26).
“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” (Daniel 12:2).
“For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished … But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:16-18, 20).
Paul said “Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question” (Acts 23:6).
“Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).
Baptism into Christ
Belief of the Bible’s true message (the Gospel) and baptism into Christ, coupled with a continued obedience to God’s commands, is the way by which we can hope to be saved from eternal death.
Jesus taught “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved (from death); but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5).
The Bible’s true teaching obscured
Wherever men have carefully studied the Bible, they have been forced to the conclusion that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is not taught in its pages. Men such as Tyndale and Martin Luther and many others have admitted that it is a doctrine of philosophy, but not a doctrine to be found in the Bible.
A belief in the immortality of the soul makes it difficult to correctly understand the great promises God holds out of a future immortal life to be enjoyed by the faithful on earth during Christ’s reign and beyond:
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5; Psalms 37:11).
“ …. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9).
“And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:27).
Eternal life is described by Paul as the “gift of God”, obtainable through Christ alone (Romans 6:23). But it is a gift granted only to those who have patiently continued to serve God while they seek for it: