Code by Fab
Soul's immortality - a deceit, yes!
This
one was inspired by a discussion on the "immortality of the soul".
Most people tend to confuse "soul" ("nepesh" in
Hebrew) and "spirit" ("ruach"), but the Bible is
very plain on this and makes a clear distinction between them:
1 Thessalonians 5:23: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify
you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be guarded completely,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah."
Man is a tri-unity then.
Some Eastern religions talk about the immortality of the soul or the
transmigration of the soul. These are erroneous usages of words regarding
subjects which are explained clearly in the Word of God.
Not only do men have a soul, but every beast also has a living soul.
This remains true while a man or an animal is alive. Note that the word
"life" in the following verses is the same word as "soul".
Genesis 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 (soul)"
Genesis 1: 20: "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life (soul)"
When an animal has soul life, it has movement -- there is breath-life. In the following verses, the word "creature" is the same word used for "soul".
Genesis 1: 21: "And God created great whales, and every living creature (soul)"
Genesis 1: 24: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature (soul)"
Ecclesiastes 12:7: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
Moreover, the Bible also asserts very plainly that "the soul that sins, it shall die":
Ezekiel 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 sins, it shall die."
The Church today is not logical on this issue because they usually teach that the soul and spirit go back to God. The soul simply perishes when a person dies. The soul exists only when you are alive. The soul is that which gives you breath-life. Your soul-life ceases to exist when you take your last breath and this is, of course, true for animals as well.
I looked in the Tanach for the expression "immortality of the soul" (10 letters in Hebrew, if one uses the shorter spelling). ABD indicated 0 occurrences were expected and 1 was actually found. It was not extendable but I noticed 2 interesting terms adjacent to it on the same string of letters, running exactly parrallel and separated by 5 letters, "an error!" and "a deceit, yes!":
