Conditional Immortality
By Miles Grant
List of Distinguished Men who Believe in Conditional Immortality (55-33) Testimony of Noted Scientific Men (56-33). Samuel Drew's Definition of the Soul (59-34). Various Statements about the Soul (60 to 66-35 to 49). What Does the Bible Teach? (66-50). The Meaning of Nephesh (68 to 73-58 to 71). Meaning of Nephesh and Psuche (68 to 85-58 to 108.) Voice of Hebrew and Greek Lexicographers in Relation to the Meaning of Soul and Spirit (85 to 89-108 to 118). Pagan Views of the: Soul (89 to 94-118 to 128). Testimony of Scholars Concerning the Meaning of Soul (94 to 104-128 to 180). Examination of Objections Made Against the Doctrine of Conditional Immortality (104 to 110-180 to 186). Classification of the Various Renderings of Nephesh and Psuche (110 to 123-80 to 189).
Conditional Immortality is a term used to express the belief that only holy persons will live eternally. It is claimed by its supporters that the Sacred Scriptures cannot be harmonized with any other position. Referring to this subject, says Edward White, of London, ex-chairman of the great Congregational Union of England and Wales: "It is the one form of evangelical faith, which seems likely to win the sympathy of modern Europe.... Some of the very greatest of men are lending their sanction to the movement." "It is espoused with ever increasing energy by evangelical scholars in all parts of the world." [1]
Among these he mentions Dr. Weymouth, head master of Mill Hill School, one of the best Greek scholars in the country; the late Dr. Mortimer, head master of the City School; the dean of Peterborough, the late professor of Hebrew at Cambridge; Dr. J. Parker, of the City Temple, London; J; B. Heard, M. A., author of The Tripartite Nature of Man; Dr. R. W. Dale; Hugh Stowell Brown; Prof. G. G. Stokes, F. R. S., president of the Royal Society, and mathematical professor in Cambridge University; Prof. P. G. Tait, considered the first mathematical reasoner in Scotland; Prof. Barlow, of Dublin; Prof. Stevenson, of Hottingham; Prof. Barrett, of Royal College of Science in Dublin; and a long list of Christian medical men in all parts of the country.
Among American writers may be named the late Dr. Horace Bushnell, Hartford, Ct.; Prof. C. F. Hudson, Cambridge, Mass.; Dr. Huntington, Worcester, Mass.; Dr. Leonard Woolsey, New Haven, Ct.; and many other eminent men, including Mr. Skefsrud, missionary to India, one of the greatest linguists in Asia, speaking nearly twenty languages; W. A. Hobbs, an experienced missionary at Calcutta, who writes that it is astonishing how this view of divine truth commends itself to the almost instant appreciation of the unprejudiced native Christian mind.
1. Homiletic Monthly, England, Mar. 1885.
In Paris the doctrine is held by M. Bastide, head of the French Religious Tract Society; Prof. Sebatier, of the Protestant college, one of the foremost theological scholars of France; Dr. Meyer, theological professor at Montauban; Dr. Petavel, professor of theology at Geneva; Rothe, Olshausen, and other distinguished Germans; Prof. Gess, of Breslaw, who was the theological tutor of Dr. Godet, Neuchatel; and Prof. Schultz, of Gottingen; in Africa, by Mr. Impey, late superintendent of the Caffre mission; and in China the doctrine is held by several of the ablest missionaries.
It may be said that the opposite belief is held by the majority of able men. Very true; but truth is not always in the hands of the majority. When honest truth-seekers differ, what shall be done? Reexamine the evidence and appeal to the highest authority. In this case there are three standards to which we may appeal: science, the Bible, and current theology. Many will not accept the Bible or current theology as a standard, but they will agree to abide by the voice of science. Then let Science speak first. In 1887 The Christian Register sent the following inquiries to some of the most distinguished scientists:
Said Charles A. Young, LL. D., Professor of Astronomy at Princeton College, New Jersey: "I think it must be frankly admitted that what is known about the functions of the brain and nervous system does, to a certain extent, tend to 'make it difficult to believe in the immortality of the personal consciousness.'"
Said Joseph Leidy, M. D., LL. D., Professor of Anatomy and Zoology, in the University of Pennsylvania: "Personal consciousness is observed as a condition of each and every living animal, varying from microscopic forms to man. The condition is observed to cease with death; and I know of no facts of modern science which make it otherwise than difficult to believe in the persistence of that condition, that is, 'the immortality of the personal existence.' Science has learned no more than is expressed in Eccl. 3: 19: '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 preeminence above a beast.'" [1]
Said Lester F. Ward, A. M., at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.: "The consciousness, when scientifically examined, reveals itself as a quality of brain.... It is a universal induction of science that modification of brain is accompanied by modification of consciousness, and that the destruction of brain results in destruction of consciousness. No exception to this law has ever been observed." [2]
Thomas Hill, D. D., ex-President of Harvard College, says "Many facts in the possession of modern science make it difficult to believe in immortality." [3]
Says Alexander G. Bell: "The possibility of thought without a brain whereby to think is opposed to experience, but this persistence of 'personal consciousness' after the death of the body involves this assumption." [4]
Says the distinguished F. K. C. L. Buchner: "Unprejudiced philosophy is compelled to reject the idea of an individual immortality, and of a personal continuance after death." [5]
It is certain that the voice of science is emphatically opposed to the doctrine of the immortality of the personal consciousness.
1 Science and Immortality, pp. 15, 16.
2 Ibid., pp. 24, 25.
3 Ibid., pp. 59, 60.
4 Ibid., p. 96.
5 Force and Matter, 3rd ed., p. 232.
As it is a well known fact that for several centuries the voice of popular theology has been in favor of the immortality of personal consciousness, I need not offer any proof on this point. This is a good place to repeat the important statement of Joseph Cook: "Every thing fundamentally biblical is scientific, and... everything fundamentally scientific is biblical."
We have now reached a crucial point in the examination of this subject: does the voice of the Bible harmonize with the voice of science, or with that of current theology? As previously stated: "Whatever is not taught in the Bible cannot be a Bible doctrine."
Says the noted German commentator, Hermann Olshausen "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the name are alike unknown to the entire Bible." [1] This being true, the voice of science and the voice of divine inspiration are one on this subject, thus sustaining Mr. Cook's proposition.
It will be remembered that the following axiomatic propositions were offered at the beginning: "Whatever is sustained by one fact is sustained by all other facts relating to that subject, and whatever is opposed by one fact is opposed by all other facts relating to that subject." Unless Mr. Olshausen's statement can be proved untrue, the conclusion is certain that the Bible does not teach the immortality of the soul of man.
"Is personal consciousness immortal?"
The answer to this important question is one in which all human beings are interested. Does death end all consciousness till the resurrection of the dead; or is there a part of man that continues in a conscious state after the death of the body, which will never cease to be conscious? If the foregoing "Rules of Interpretation" are followed, it is believed that a correct answer to the above question will be obtained.
Says an eminent Baptist minister: "The word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, is utterly silent on the natural immortality of man; and the silence of the Scriptures corresponds to the silence of nature on this point.... Natural immortality is the foundation stone of the modern theological structure. Remove this, and the whole building will crumble to ruins; there is no place for endless misery or universal restorationism. Put Jesus Christ, the life-giver, in the foundation, and 'the whole building fitly joined together groweth into a holy temple,' symmetrical and beautiful. It solves those terrible problems that have tormented men day and night, from the days of Augustine till now." [1]
1 Vol. IV., p. 381, translated from the German by A. C. Kendrick, D. D. 1858.
"What saith the Scripture?"—Rom. 4: 3.
What is the Bible meaning of the term soul? As able and good men differ very widely in their teaching on this subject, it is proposed to compare their opinions with the Sacred standard, from which there is no appeal on this subject.
§ 34. Samuel Drew, a very able writer on the subject, says "The soul is a simple, immaterial substance." [2]
"Whatever has parts cannot be immaterial; and what has no parts can never lose them. To suppose any substance to have parts, destroys its immateriality." [3] "The soul is... a simple substance,... therefore, has no parts."
"An exclusion of all parts is necessary to the existence of an immaterial substance." [4] "An immaterial substance has no surface.... Whatever has an exterior must have an interior; and what has both must necessarily be extended; and what is thus extended cannot be immaterial." "What has no surface can never be brought into contact with that which has." [5]
1 See Theological Trilemma, by J. Pettingell, pp. 8, 9.
2 Drew's Essay on the Soul, p. 159.
3 Ibid., p. 156.
4 Ibid., p. 155.
5 Ibid., p. 169.
Do such immaterialities go to heaven at death to praise the Lord? having no outside or inside? no hands, no feet, no eyes, no body? How can one be any body without a body? How can they sing praise to God without organs of speech? If the soul of man has vocal organs, then it has "parts," and, according to Mr. Drew, ceases to be immaterial; but when man dies his organs of speech die also and remain in him to be buried in the grave till the resurrection. Has man two sets of speaking organs, one of which dies with the man, and another that leaves at death, to accompany an immaterial substance to heaven or hell? Is there one particle of reliable proof of such a position to be found in the Bible or science? Imagine, if it is possible to imagine such a thing, that living, real men, standing "before the throne of God," "clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands," crying "with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb;" who have neither "exterior" nor "interior" surface; no outside nor inside; having no body, "no parts." Such things are inconceivable. The imagination cannot take in such an absurdity. But as soon as it is admitted that any part of the soul of man is in the least degree material, then Mr. Drew's theory is in ruins. If it be claimed that some material part of man leaves him at death, the inquiry comes at once, which part? His head, feet, hands, chest, heart, lungs, blood, arteries, veins, nerves, eyes, ears, face, etc., etc., are all left upon earth, motionless and helpless in the cold embrace of death. If "the real man" is in heaven and can see without eyes, hear without ears, smell without the nose, taste and eat without a mouth, feel without nerves, walk without feet, handle without hands, breathe without lungs, think without a brain; why was not man made at first without a body? For the simple reason it was as impossible to make a disembodied, conscious being, as to make twice two, five; or to make nothing more real and tangible than something.
Dr. T. Spicer says: "The soul exists wholly independent of the body, which it inhabits; although there are certain actions it cannot perform without using the body to which it belongs. It can neither see, hear, nor speak without using the body." [1]
Then it must follow that the soul of man remains deaf, dumb, and blind, between death and the resurrection. I would rather live on earth, and have my senses, than in such a heaven.
1 Spirit Life, p. 23.
Dr. Thomas M. Clark says the soul is the "spiritual organism, which sees and hears and feels, which suffers and enjoys; which thinks and wills and executes; which is, in short, the real man." [1]
It will be seen that Dr. Clark contradicts Dr. Spicer. Dr. Clark must admit that dogs and other animals see, hear, feel, suffer and enjoy; think and will and execute. Would he assert of the dog, or other animal, that it is his "spiritual organism, which sees and hears and feels, which suffers and enjoys, which thinks and wills and executes; which is, in short, the real" dog? Why not say this of the dog, as well as of the man? We are often told that "matter cannot think." This is true of that which is unorganized, or that which is dead. But dogs, horses, and other animals, do think, hate, love, and remember. Can living matter be made to remember, love, hate, and feel pain? If not, then each animal must also have a "spiritual organism" for this purpose. And is it true that all the beasts have immortal souls, which are the "real" animals, that go to some "spirit land" when they die? Can we believe it?
Has not the Lord so organized matter that it can feel pain? Can a material wound be made in an immaterial being? Can that which is immaterial be cut with a knife, or struck with a hammer? It is certain that animals feel pain. Can there be pain where there is no living organism? It is asserted that pain is not a property of matter, and therefore, there must be a spirit or soul which feels the pain. How can it be proved that the beast has a soul distinct from his body, that feels the pain? It is certain that the same one that feels the pain, feels joy when the pain ceases. But if the sensory nerve extending from the wound to the brain be severed, then the person can feel no pain; or if the brain be inactive, no pain will be felt. But there can be no nerves, or brain where there is no material organism; neither can there be wounds or pain.
1 Discourse on the Immortality ofMan, pp. 6, 7.
While it is true that matter without life cannot feel pain or joy, it is also true that God has so organized and endowed living matter that it can see, hear, smell, taste, feel, think, remember, love, hate, digest food, make blood, breathe, walk, talk, get drunk, lie, steal, swear, and murder. These beings have physical, intellectual and moral faculties, none of which can exist without a material organism; and which never continue active after life is extinct. It is impossible to have consciousness without life; or to have life without an organism for its reception. Life never lives by itself. It is not a living being. It has no body, parts, or attributes. Life neither lives nor dies. As there can be no love without a lover, no thought without a thinker, no sin without a sinner, so there can be no life without a physical organism, in which it is contained.
When God made man, he was complete in all his parts, before he gave him life. "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." [1] The only difference between a living and a dead man is, one has life and the other has none. The Bible and science show most plainly, that all that leaves men, animals or vegetables, at death, is life. The life of man is not the man; the pain of a wound is not the wound; the memory of the dog is not the dog; the thoughts of a man are not the man. The man is a real, tangible, personal being, most wonderfully organized; and only this organism can properly be called a man, as only a certain combination of various parts is properly called a watch. The time of a watch is no part of its mechanism. Time is not a material object, that can be seen, or handled; neither is life, love, peace, joy, or thought. They all come to an end, when the organism is destroyed to which they belong. When the watch is destroyed it ceases to keep time; when man is destroyed he ceases to will, think or act. Says inspiration: "His breath [ruach] goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish." [2]
In the Philosophy ofHealth, by L. B. Coles, he says "The body is not the man." "The eye is no part of the man; it is only the window of the house." "The ear is no part of the man." "Our identity... does not consist in the body." [3]
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1 Gen. 2: 7.
2 Ps. 146: 4.
3 Pp. 213, 214.
Another says: "The soul lives in the body just as a man lives in a house." "At death your soul must move away,... and leave the body," and live "somewhere else." These are very plain statements, that cannot be misunderstood; but are they true? Where, in the Bible, is it said the soul of man leaves the body at death, and moves away to live "somewhere else?" Where is there such an intimation? We must admit, that "what is not taught in the Bible is not a Bible doctrine."
The soul of man is said to be "immaterial,""uncompounded," "indivisible," "indissoluble," "indestructible," "intangible," having no "exterior," or "interior surface." All these terms would be proper in describing nothing. How could such a soul be identified that had no "exterior" or "interior surface," as declared by Mr. Drew? But, as he affirms, if the soul of man has an outside it must have an inside; and then it would be material. It seems almost incredible, that intelligent men can believe that "the real man" is not the one who is begotten, is born, lives, dies, and is buried, to be raised from the dead; but is one who has no body, neither breadth, length, nor thickness, outside or inside; and that such an one goes to heaven to praise the Lord, while his organs of speech are dead in the grave; to see Christ and the holy angels, while his eyes are closed in death; to hear the songs of heaven, while his ears are decaying in the coffin; and to enjoy the raptures of the celestials while all his senses are rotting in the ground. Are we required to believe such monstrous absurdities in order to be considered orthodox? If so, is it not about time that orthodoxy was cleansed from such wild, Pagan and Papal theories? Is it not high time for a New Reformation?
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1 Historical View of the Controversy on the Intermediate State, p. 6. Ed. 1772.
Pope Leo X. issued a decree, in the Council of Lateran, A. D. 1513, in which he said: "We... condemn and reprobate all those who assert that the... soul is mortal.... and... that" it "is not... truly... of... the form of the human body." [1] This decree was aimed direct at Luther and his friends. The Pope's is the same doctrine as that taught by the Spiritualists, and is being adopted by many so-called orthodox ministers at the present time; who teach that at death, a spiritual, etherial body escapes from the material body, and goes to heaven or hell to receive its reward; that this is the "real man," and that the body which dies and is buried will never be raised from the dead. And why should it be raised if not needed, and is only a "clog" to the "real man?"
An able orthodox minister said to me before a large audience: "My body is no more to me than my old shoes." He held the same view as that expressed in the decree of Pope Leo X. When I endeavored to show him that his position was utterly opposed to the great Bible doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, on which our hope of a future life is founded, he appealed to another able, orthodox minister present, who was the pastor of the church, and said "Do you believe and teach that the body which dies is ever to be raised from the dead?" He answered, "I do not."
Let Martin Luther speak: "I shall arise again, and shall speak with you. This finger wherewith I point must come to me again." [1] Again: "The dead are insensible.... They lie, not reckoning days or years, but when awakened, will seem to have slept scarcely a moment." [2] § 43. Archdeacon Blackburne says: "Luther espoused the doctrine of the sleep of the soul upon a Scriptural foundation; and then he made use of it as a confutation of purgatory and saint worship, and continued in that belief to the last moment of his life."—Luther... was clearly and indisputably on the side of those who maintain the sleep of the soul." [3] It is also stated in the same work, that in this "opinion he followed many fathers of the ancient church;" and that "the doctrine (of the sleep of the dead) was held by the first reformers." [4]
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1 Table Talk, 2nd Edition, Chap. 55, p. 426.
2 Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, Art. Luther.
3 Historical View of the Controversy concerning an Intermediate State, p. 15. Ed. of 1772.
4 lbid., p. 348.
Fuardentius called "Lutherans new Sadducees," because they held to the teaching of Luther, "that the dead so sleep as to know and feel nothing." [1] Said Luther: "They affirm that I bring forth novelties, but I affirm that they are not novelties, but truths which have been lost sight of. I am accused of rejecting the doctors of the church. I reject them not, but test their writings by the Bible.... The majority are always on the side of falsehood." The following was Luther's platform: "The word of God, the whole word of God, and nothing but the word of God." To this every Christian should sound out a hearty Amen.
In Luther's response to Pope Leo X., he says: "I permit the Pope to make articles of faith for himself and his faithful, such as... the soul is the substantial form of the human body; the Pope is the emperor of the world and the king of heaven, and God upon earth, the soul is immortal, with all those monstrous opinions to be found in the Roman dunghill of decretals." [2]
Thomas More (Papist) objected to Luther because he held "that all souls lie and sleep 'till doom's day.' "
Wm. Tyndale responded: "And ye, in putting them [departed souls] in heaven, hell, and purgatory, destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection.... The heathen philosophers denying that, did put, that the souls did ever live.... And again, if the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels be? And then what cause is there of the resurrection?" [3] Tyndale gave us the first printed edition of the Bible in English, for which he suffered martyrdom.
Archdeacon Blackburne says: "Luther, by consigning all the dead to a state of rest and sleep, left no pretence for the appearance of human souls after death." [4] Again he says: "Luther... retained to his dying moment the... idea of a total suspension of thought and consciousness during the interval between death and the resurrection." [5] Had all Christians received the truth, as taught by Luther, Spiritualism would have found no place in the true church; neither would any have been drawn into Papacy, to worship saints, or the Virgin Mary, who are sleeping in Jesus, waiting the resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ. There is now a special need for this great truth of conditional immortality, in order to be armed against the multitude of fables that are afloat in the world, resulting from the belief in the natural immortality of the soul of man.
1 Debt and Grace, by C. F. Hudson, p. 259.
2 Luther's Works, Vol. II., fol. 107, Wittenburg, 1562.
3 Historical View, etc., pp. 16, 17, A. D. 1772.
4 Ibid., p. 24.
5 Ibid., p. 369.
Sleidan, the historian, says: "Luther teaches from the Scriptures that the souls of the dead are at rest, waiting the final day of judgment." [1]
One of the charges against the martyr George Wishart was the following: "Thou false heretic hast preached openly, saying, that the soul of man shall sleep to the latter day of judgment, and shall not obtain life immortal until that day." [2]
Dr. Adam Clarke very wisely said: "The doctrine which cannot stand the test of rational investigation cannot be true.... We have gone too far when we have said, 'such and such doctrines should not be subjected to rational investigation, being doctrines of pure revelation.' I know no such doctrine in the Bible. The doctrines of this book are doctrines of eternal reason; and they are revealed, because they are such." [3] Paul says "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." [4] Let us follow the counsel of the apostle, and go to the Bible for light on this subject. What is not taught in the Bible cannot be considered a Bible doctrine.
There are three Hebrew words in the Old Testament, and one Greek word in the New which are rendered soul. N"shah-mah is rendered soul once: "The souls which I have made;" [5] and n'deevah is translated soul once: "They pursue my soul as the wind," [6] The word here rendered soul is defined to mean "liberality," "excellence." It is very apparent that these two examples give no proof in favor of the immortality of
1 Historical View, p. 23, A. D. 17 72.
2 Ibid., p. 21.
3 See end of Commentary.
4 1 Thess. 5: 21.
5 Isa. 57: 16.
6 Job 30: 15.
the soul. The only other word in the Old Testament rendered soul is nephesh, which occurs 752 times, [1] and is translated in the common version by forty-four different words. Its corresponding term in the Greek New Testament is psuche, which occurs 105 times, and is translated by six different words. Thus we find these two words, which mean the same thing, are rendered in fifty different ways. This fact was specified as one reason why we needed a new translation.
The able Hebrew and Greek lexicographer, Dr. John Parkhurst, says: "As a noun, nephesh hath been supposed to signify the spiritual part of man, or what we commonly call his soul; I must for myself confess that I can find no passage where it hath undoubtedly this meaning." [2]
The eminent Dr. Robert Young says: "It [nephesh] does not denote the immortal part of man, but his animal life." [3]
Dr. J. H. M'Culloh says: "There is no word in the Hebrew language that signifies either soul or spirit, in the technical sense in which we use the term as implying something distinct from the body." [4]
§ 55. R. B. Girdlestone, in his Synonyms of the Old Testament, says: "The soul is, properly speaking, the animating principle of the body; and is the common property of man and beast." "In other words, it is the life, whether of man or beast." [5] When every passage in the Bible that speaks of the soul of man has been carefully examined, it will be found that these statements of these eminent Hebrew scholars and lexicographers, and many others, are strictly correct, and therefore should be fully believed by all who love the truth.
"THE CLEAR IS THE TRUE."
When we rightly understand the Bible it is "not yea and nay." It does not prove both the affirmative and the negative. In other words, it is all in favor of the immortality of the soul of man, or it is all against such a doctrine. Which? In the Westminster Confession of Faith is the following: "The... souls" "of men" "(which neither die nor sleep) having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God." [1] Is this statement in harmony with the Bible? If not, then Christian men should give it no countenance. Jesus said to his disciples: "As I said to the Jews, whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you." [2] Let us now give this subject a careful examination, with the Bible in hand.
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1 Nephesh occurs twice in Num. 31: 35, but is translated but once. If both of these are counted the whole number would be 753.
2 Hebrew Lexicon 5th Ed.
3 Commentary, p. 3.
4 Credibility of the Scriptures, Vol. II., p. 471. Ed. 1852.
5 Pp. 94, 95.
§ 57. It has been stated that the Hebrew word nephesh and its corresponding Greek word psuche are translated in fifty different ways in the Bible. These fifty may properly be reduced to three, as follows:
(1.) The life of any living being.
(2 Any living being.
(3 The desire of any living being.
With this formula before us, let us search the Scriptures.
NEPHESH—LIFE.
The first use of the word nephesh in the Bible is applied to the animals in the sea, before the creation of man, as follows: "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life [nephesh]. [3] Nephesh is rendered "life" 120 times in the Old Testament. "Everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life" [nephesh]. [4] "Escape for thy life [nephesh]; look not behind thee." [4] This is what the angels said to Lot when he went out of Sodom. "The men are dead which sought thy life" [nephesh]." This is the word of the Lord to Moses. "Thou shalt give life [nephesh] for life" [nephesh].' "He that seeketh my life [nephesh], seeketh thy life" [nephesh]. [8] "Haman stood up to make request for his life [nephesh] to Esther the queen." [9] "A righteous man regardeth the life [nephesh] of his beast." [10] This corresponds with Job's statement: "In whose hand is the soul [nephesh] of every living thing." [1] "Take... my life [nephesh] from me." [2] These are a few samples among scores.
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1 Chap. 32, sec. 1.
2 John 13:33.
3 Gen. 1: 20.
4 Gen. 1: 30.
5 Gen. 19: 17.
6 Exod. 19.
7 Exod. 21: 23.
8 1 Sam. 22: 23.
9 Esther 7
10 Prov. 12: 10.
Turning to Revelation, we read: "And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life died." [3] The word rendered life is psuche, the only word rendered soul in the New Testament. Thus it is proved that when nephesh or psuche mean life, they are applied alike to man and beast, as declared by the best and most critical scholars.
§ 59. During Paul's long meeting one night, a man sitting in the window went to sleep and fell out upon the street. They went down to see the result of the fall, and after examination, "Paul... said... his life [psuche] is in him." [4] Suppose his life had been out of him, then he would have been a dead man. But is the life of a man the man, which becomes a real man as soon as the man dies, going to heaven or hell to be rewarded or punished, before the resurrection and judgment? Is the life of a man an organized being, having hands, feet, arms, chest, head, heart, lungs, nerves, senses, organs of speech, etc.? Will any sane person say, Yes? Life has no existence only in organic [5] beings. The life of all living beings came from the Creator into the first male of every variety of living beings on the earth; and the life of all others of each particular species has been transmitted from the first one in a living spermatozoid," [6] proceeding from its parent. The life of every human being has thus come from Adam, the first man; and the life in the human spermatozoid has never produced any other than human beings. So the living spermatozoid from the first sheep has produced all the other sheep that have ever lived; and never producing any thing but sheep. The same is true of all other animals, and also of plants. This is the universal law for the transmission of life. But who will say that the life in each of these animals continues to live as the real animal, when the animal is dead? Why then say the life of man continues to be a man, when he has breathed his last breath? Life is passed from one generation to another by seeds, called "eggs" or "spermatozoa," which is the only way known to science, or taught in the Bible.
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1 Job 12: 10.
2 Jonah 4: 3.
3 Rev. 8: 9.
4 Acts 20: 10.
5 Organic is defined by Mr. Webster as follows: "Of, or pertaining to an organ, or its functions; or to objects composed of organs; consisting of organs, or containing them, as the organic structure of animals and plants; exhibiting characters peculiar to living organisms."
6 A spermatozoid is "the male germ cell in animals and plants; the essential element in fertilization; a microscopic animalcule-like particle."—Webster.
Meaning Of Nephesh
What is the definition of nephesh as given by the best scholars? The following is from Gesenius' New, Ed. by Edward Robinson
"1 Breath,... breath of life, Gen. 1: 20, 30."
"2 The vital spirit, psuche, anima, through which the body lives, i. e., the principle of life manifested in the breath.... Hence life, vital principle, animal spirit, Gen. 35: 18; [1]... 1 Kings 17; 21; [2]... Ex 21: 23, [3] "... life for life."
"Sometimes nephesh and ruach are opposed so that nephesh is ascribed to brutes, and ruach to men, Job 12: l0; [4] but ruach is also ascribed to beasts, Eccl. 3: 21. [5] Once nephesh, as separate from the body,... Job 14: 22. [6] As the Hebrews held the seat of life to be in the blood (Lev. 17:11),... it was natural where the blood was shed, to say also that the life was shed, poured out."
"3 The rational soul, mind, animus, as the seat of feelings, affections, emotions of various kinds."
"4 Josh. 10: 28, [7]... every animate or living creature, ——
1 "And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni."
2 "Let this child's soul come into him again."
3 "If any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life [nephesh] for life" [nephesh].
4 "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath [ruach] of all mankind." The Septuagint reads: "Is not the life of all living beings in his hand, and the breath of every man?"
5 "Who knoweth the spirit [ruach] of man that goeth upward, and the spirit [ruach] of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?"
6 "But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn."
7 "Joshua took Makkedah, and... utterly destroyed... all the souls that were therein."
v. 30, [1] 32, [2] 35, [3] 37. [4]... Gen. 1: 24; [5] 2: 7, [6] 19. [7]... 1: 21; [8] 9: 10, [9] pp. animal of life, i. e., endued with life, living animal, or as more common in English, living soul, living being, Gen. 2: 7; and very often collect, for living things, living creatures,.. Gen. 1: 21, [8] 24, [5] 9:10; [9] 12: 5, [10] Lev. 11: 10. [11]
§ 61. Wilson's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon defines nephesh as follows: "The animal life, or that principle by which every animal, according to his kind, lives; hence life, vital principle, animal spirit, which is often translated soul or spirit. Gen. 35: 18, 19: 'And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." [12] 1 Kings 17: 21: 'And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child carne into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother, and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.' " [13]
Boyer's Dictionary defines soul, "The principle of life in all living things. The soul of beasts or plants,... mind or spirit."
——
1 "And he smote... with the edge of the sword... all the souls that were therein."
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 "God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [nephesh chaiyah] after his kind."
6 "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" [nephesh chaiyah].
7 "Whatsoever Adam called every living creature [nephesh chaiyah], that was the name thereof."
8 "And God created great whales, and every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that moveth."
9 "Every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that is with you."
10 "Abram took Sarai his wife, and... the souls that they had gotten in Haran."
11 "Any living thing [nephesh chaiyah] which is in the waters."
12 This is the only example in the Bible where the soul is said to depart.
13 This is the only text in the Bible where the soul is said to return; and according to Fuerst, Wilson and Gesenius, in both these cases nephesh means simply life.
Catholic Dictionary: "The scholastics, following Aristotle, mean by soul the primary principle of life."
Lee's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon defines nephesh as follows: "(a) breath. (b) Met. anything that breathes. An animal. (c) A person. (d) The soul, as the principle of life. (e) Self. (f) Life. (g) Livelihood. (h) The feelings of an animal. (k) Desire, inclination. (l) A person of an unruly appetite."
When giving the uses of the term soul, it would not do for the lexicographer to omit the theological definition. The Imperial Lexicon gives the following: "The spiritual, rational and immortal substance in man, which distinguishes him from the brute."
M'Clintock & Strong give the following: "The rational soul is simple, uncompounded and immaterial, not composed of matter and form." I hold, that these theological definitions of the Bible use of the term soul are unscriptural, unscientific, opposed to facts and common sense, and therefore not true.
Barstow's Bible Dictionary says: "The Hebrew word nephesh and Greek word psuche frequently rendered 'soul'... properly designate the vital breath, i. e., the animal life."
Chambers' Encyclopedia: "In its original signification, the word appears to have stood for the principle of life, both in men and in animals.... No essential distinction was made between the soul of man and the soul of brutes."
Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible says: "The word soul... is taken (1) for the soul which animates mankind; for that which animates beasts, for a living person.... (2) For the life, Gen. 32: 30. 1 (3)... For desire, love, inclination." "It is true scripture ascribes both to man and beast a soul, a spirit, life, and respiration." After giving these facts in relation to the Bible use and meaning of "soul," the following statement is made: "The immortality of the soul is a fundamental doctrine of revealed religion."
——
1 "My life [nephesh] is preserved."
2 See under "soul" in Calmet.
§ 70 J. B. Heard, says: "The Hebrew nephesh, instead of suggesting any idea of immateriality, much less immortality, is a general expression used for all animal life. It is used indifferently of man and beast." [1] Again he says: "The nephesh of the Old Testament is a general term, expressive of life. Every living thing has a soul, whether of beasts, of reptiles, or of birds." [2]
§ 71 Says the Old Testament Commentary: "The word translated 'soul' [Gen. 2: 7] contains no idea of a spiritual existence. For in chapter 1: 20, 'creature that hath life' and verse 24, 'the living creature,' are literally living soul. Really, the word refers to the natural life of animals and men, manifested by breathing." [3]
All facts are infallible; and they are all harmonious. If one single fact can be produced to show that the terms nephesh and psuche are not used as these best authorities affirm; then their testimony must be set aside. Who can produce the fact?
Psuche
Psuche in Greek means just what nephesh means in Hebrew. Let us now turn to the New Testament, and examine the corresponding word psuche, which occurs 105 times, and is rendered "life" forty times. A few examples: "They are dead which sought the young child's life" [psuche]. [4] This is the first use of the term psuche in the New Testament. The following is the next use of the word: "Take no thought for your life [psuche], what ye shall eat;... is not the, life [psuche] more than meat?" [5] "He that findeth his life [psuche] shall lose it; and he that loseth his life [psuche] for my sake, shall find it." [6] "The good shepherd giveth his life [psuche] for the sheep." [7] "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life [psuche]." [8] "There shall be no loss of any man's life [psuche]." [9]
§ 73. Grimm's Standard Greek Lexicon defines psuche as follows: ——
1 Tripartite Nature ofMan, pp. 73-4.
2 Ibid., p. 92.
3 Vol. I., p. 19, edited by Dr. C. J. Ellicott.
4 Matthew 2: 20.
5 Matthew 6: 2 5.
6 Matthew 10: 39.
7 John 10: 11.
8 John 10: 17.
9 Acts 27:22.
"Psuche... (psucho, to breathe, blow).... 1. Breath,... i. e., (a) the breath of life; the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing; Acts 20: 10; [1] of animals, Rev. 8: 9." [2] "(b) Life." "(c) That in which there is life; a living being;... a living soul, 1 Cor. 15: 45, [3] Rev. 16: 3;4... Gen. 2: 7." [5] "2. The soul... (a) The seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions." Lastly, he gives the popular, theological definition, which he should do because that is a meaning which theologians give to the word, as follows:
"(b) The (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God, it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life: 3 John 2." [6] "(c) The soul as an essence which differs from the body, and is not dissolved by death." These are the last definitions of the word by Grimm.
§ 74. Robinson gives the following definitions in his lexicon:
"Psuche, the breath, usually and in New Testament vital breath, through which the body lives, i. e., the principle of life manifested in the breath, the soul. (a) Properly, the soul as the vital principle; i. e., the animal soul, the vital spirit,... Acts 20: 10; [7] of beasts, etc., Rev. 8: 9, [8]... Matthew 10: 39. [9]... (b) The soul, as the sentient principle. (c) As the seat of the senses, desires, affections, appetites, passions; i. e., the lower and animal nature common to man with the beasts. (d) Met. a
——
1 "And Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves for his life [psuche] is in him."
2 "And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life [psuche], died."
3 "The first Adam was made a living soul" [psuche].
4 "And every living soul [psuche] died in the sea."
5 "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" [nephesh chaiyah.]
6 "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
7 "And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life [psuche] is in him."
8 "And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life [psuche] died."
9 "He that findeth his life [psuche] shall lose it; and he that loseth his life [psuche] for my sake shall find it." CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY. 75
soul, i. e., a living thing, animal, in which is the psuche, life. A living soul or animal,... a living person, man."
§ 75 Dunbar's Lexicon: "The soul; the principle of life; breath; the breath of life."
§ 76 Liddell & Scott's Lexicon: "Breath,... the life; spirit."
§ 77 John Jones' Lexicon defines psuche as follows: "Breath, the principle of life supported by breathing, and called the soul in opposition to soma, the body, Matthew 10: 28. Psuche zoens, the breath of life, the principle of life, the living principle, Gen. 1: 30. [1] Life, Matthew 2: 20. [2] A creature that breathes, animal, man, person, individual... Acts 27: 37. [3] Mind, heart, disposition, as constituting the soul."
§ 78. Dr. John Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon gives the following definition of psuche: "Psuche, from psucho, to refresh with cool air, also to breathe. [1]. Breath.... Acts 20: 10., His life [psuche] is in him.'... Rev. 8: 9, [4] and LXX., Gen. 1:20, [5] 30, [6] 35:18." [7] "2. Animal life,... Matthew 16:23,26." [8] "3. A living animal, a creature or animal that lives by breathing, Rev. 16: 3,... 'every living soul [psuche] died in the sea.'" "4. The human body, though dead. Acts 2: 23, 31. 'Thou wilt not leave my soul [psuche] in hell.' 'His soul [psuche] was not left in hell.'"... "5. The human soul or spirit as distinguished from the body, Matthew 10: 28." "6. The human animal soul, as distinguished both from man's body and from his pneuma,... 1 Thess. 5: 23." "7. The mind, disposition, particularly as denoting affections." "8. A human person."
——
1 "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" [nephesh.]
2 "They are dead which sought the young child's life" [psuche.]
3 "And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls."
4 "And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life [psuche] died."
5 "God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life" [nephesh].
6 "Every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life" [nephesh].
7 "And it came to pass as her soul [nephesh] was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni."
8 "Whosoever will save his life [psuche] shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life [psuche] for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul [psuche]? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul" [psuche.] Dr. Adam Clarke says "On what authority many have translated the word psuche in the 25th verse life, and in this [26th] verse soul, I know not; but am certain it means life in both places."
§ 79. Biblio Theological Lexicon: "Psuche from psucho, to breathe." "Breath of animal life. From Homer downwards, the word signifies life in individual existence, human life, and occasionally... the life of brutes." "As to the use of the word in Scripture, first in the Old Testament, it corresponds with nephesh, primarily—life, breath, the life which exists in every living thing." "In the New Testament psuche denotes life in distinct individual existence. Rev. 8: 9, 'And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life [psuche] died.'"
The Bible certainly teaches that this life principle, called the soul of man, is the same as that in all living things. There is no distinction. It came from the Creator.
§ 80. Dr. Bullinger's Critical Lexicon defines psuche as follows: "Psuche... in Old Testament, everywhere [in] LXX. for nephesh, and is said to be possessed by all the lower creatures.... It denotes the vital principle in animal bodies.... It is used of the person as possessed of such life.... Also of a dead person (with the adjective), Lev. 21: 11. [1] And of those raised, Rev. 20: 4, [2] as contrasted with those yet unraised, Rev. 20: 5. [3] It can
die or be killed 'Joshua... utterly destroyed... all the souls' [to: 28]. 10: 30, 39 [the same, and sixteen other
examples. It goes to the grave, Job 33: 22, [4] and can be hazarded by danger, Acts 15: 26, [5] Rom. 11: 3. 6...
——
1 "Neither shall he go in to any dead body [nephesh].
2 "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
3 "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."
4 "Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave."
5 "Men that have hazarded their lives [psuche] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
6 "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life" [psuche].
My soul is the same as 'me' or 'myself,' Num. 23: 10. [1] Jud. 16: 30. [2] 'His soul' is the same as 'him' or 'himself,' Gen. 37: 21." [3]
These are facts. They are as old and as true as the Bible. There is no appeal from them. As to the primary use of the word nephesh and its corresponding Greek word psuche, they are alike applied to men, and all the animals on the earth and in the sea. They are not once qualified with the words immortal, everlasting, undying, or any other equivalent word. Have we a right to add to God's word?
NEPHESH—LIVING BEING.
Let us now pass to the second use of the terms nephesh and psuche; when they represent a "living creature." In the Bible, every living being, including man, and all downward, to the smallest animal on the land or in the sea, is called a "living soul," because it has life. In this sense it is also first applied alike to the animals in the sea and on the land, before the creation of man: "And God created great whales, and every living creature [nephesh chaiyah], that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly." [4] This is the first use of it in this sense, where it means. "living soul." The next reads: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [nephesh chaiyah] after his kind, cattle and creeping thing." [5]
In Revelation we read: "Every living soul [pusche] died in the sea." [6] Here, as in Gen. 1: 21, we find the animals in the sea called living souls; and these living souls "died." But, bear in mind, that the word here rendered soul is the only one rendered soul in the New Testament; but it represents what "died," and therefore it could not have been immortal. These living souls in the sea were not men, but sea animals, like those mentioned in Gen. 1: 21, which were made before man.
——
1 "Let me [nephesh] (mar. "my soul") die the death of the righteous."
2 "And Samson said, Let me [nephesh] (mar. "my soul") die with the Philistines."
3 "And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands and said, Let us not kill him" [nephesh].
4 Gen. 1: 21.
5 Gen. 1: 24.
6 Rev. 1 6: 3.
§ 82 Dr. Adam Clarke says: "Nephesh chaiyah" "is a general term to express all creatures endued with animal life, in any of its infinitely varied gradations." [1]
§ 83 Dr. Bagnall says: "Breath of life," and "living soul," are "both... applied in the first chapter of Genesis, to brutes." [2] This is a fact.
§ 84 Says the Bibliotheca Sacra: "The term nephesh, in the sense of creature, is first used of the inhabitants of the sea, before man's creation (Gen. 1: 20)." "Any thing that breathes is a nephesh." [3]
§ 85 Bishop Coverdale renders Gen. 1: 24: "And God said, let the earth bring forth the living souls, every one after his kind, cattle, worms, and what has life upon earth."
§ 86 We now come to the first application of the term nephesh to man. Thus far it has been only to the animals. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [n'shah-mah] of life; and man became a living soul" [nephesh chaiyah]. [4] Precisely the same term is applied to the animals in the sea and on the land before man's creation. This term nephesh chaiyah—living soul—or living creature, occurs twelve times in the Old Testament; and eleven times is applied to the animals, but only once to man, which is in the verse just quoted. Hence the term "living soul" does not mean an immortal soul, unless all animals are immortal souls.
§ 87 Dr. Kitto, in Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, renders Gen. 2: 7, as follows: "And Jehovah God formed the man (Hebrew, the Adam) dust from the ground,... and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living animal." [5] He says: "We should be acting unfaithfully, if we were to affirm" that "an immaterial and immortal spirit" is "contained or implied in this passage." Then when did he get it? The Massoretic Bible reads: "The man became a living being." [6]
——
1 Comment on Gen. 1: 24.
2 The Methodist Quarterly Review, Apr. 1850.
3 Jan. 1880.
4 Gen. 2: 7.
5 Vol. 1., p. 59.
6 The Massoretic Bible is the translation of the Old Testament into English by able Hebrew scholars, and is a remarkably correct and pure version.
§ 88. Dr. T. J. Conant, one of the foremost linguists in the United States, says: "The Hebrew word nephesh here rendered soul [in Gen. 2: 7] includes all beings that have animal life; and hence it is applied to animals of the sea and land in chapter 1: 20, 21, 24 and 30." [1]
§ 89. Dr. J. P. Lange says: "The words translated 'living soul' are applied also to the entire lower creation. They are used indifferently of man and beast, to express life in general."
§ 90. The following is a part of Dr. J. Parkhurst's definition of nephesh: "A living creature; or animal that lives by breathing,... Gen. 1: 21, 'And God created great whales and every living creature' [nephesh chaiyah]; 24, 'God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature' [nephesh chaiyah]; Gen. 2: 7, '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" [nephesh chaiyah].
§ 91. J. B. Heard says: "Nephesh chaiyah, a living soul,... is applied to the animal creation as well as to man.... So far from the expression nephesh chaiyah indicating any difference between man and the brutes, it would rather... suggest a community of nature. Of the lower creation, spoken of in chapter 1, it is said that they became living souls." [2]
§ 92. Ewing's Lexicon: "A living animal."
§ 93. The following is from Blunt's Theological Dictionary: "The New Testament writers make a marked distinction between the human soul [psuche] and the human spirit [pueuma]." "Soul. This word is used in the holy Scriptures and elsewhere in three senses. First, it includes indefinitely the whole personality of a human being, as in the phrase, 'that which every soul must eat' [Ex. 12: 16]." "The first use expresses the idea of a 'living person.' " "That which is only a function of the body cannot exist after the organ with which it was associated has ceased to exist. Caution is necessary in speaking about the soul as a separate entity."
——
1 Book of Genesis, pp. 9, 10.
2 Tripartite Nature ofMan, pp. 73, 74
These plain statements from the first-class scholars leave no room for doubt. We must doubt every thing on the subject if we doubt all these. Their conclusions are based on a careful examination of the words nephesh and psuche, as used in the Bible. This is one plank in the platform of a Positive Theology.
§ 94. Let us now turn to the use ofpsuche in the New Testament, where it represents a living being.
§ 95. A. Giles' Lexicon: Psuche, "A living being, man."
§ 96. Grimm's Lexicon: Psuche, "That in which there is life; a living being; a living soul."
§ 97. F Jones' Lexicon: Psuche, "A creature that breathes, animal, man, person, individual.... Acts 27: 37, 'And we were all in the ship, two hundred, three score and sixteen souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea."
§ 98. Dr. Parkhurst says the word psuche is used to represent "a living animal, a creature or animal that lives by breathing;... Rev. 16: 3, "Every living soul [psuche] died in the sea.' "
The term soul is applied to the animals, in the sea, as well as to the life of the animals in the sea, as in Genesis. No scholar will dispute these facts.
Whenever the word soul is used in the Bible to express either action, intelligence or character, it always indicates the presence of the personal, material being. This proposition is based on the statements made by these noted authors.
As this term soul represents what can be put to death, it must represent what is mortal. "Joshua took Mak-ke-dah... and the King.;... he utterly destroyed... all the souls that were therein." [1] The same is said of "Lachish," "Eglon," "Hebron," "Debir" and "Hazor." It is said he "utterly destroyed all that breathed." "Every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them; neither left they any to breathe." [2] When a man's life is taken away, he is said to be "destroyed." He is then ended, unless he shall afterwards be raised from the dead. "If Christ be not raised,
——
1 Josh. 10: 28.
2 Josh. 11: 14.
... then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." [1] Is that true, if the real essential man is still alive, and gone to his reward or punishment?
§ 99. Let us look at a few among the many examples where nephesh and psuche mean a living being. "Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and sixteen souls." [2] Joseph sent wagons to Canaan to bring these souls to Egypt. "And we were in all in the ship two hundred, threescore and sixteen souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea." [3] These souls ate, and then threw the remainder of the wheat "into the sea." Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person," [4] The word here rendered person is nephesh, and this nephesh is represented as being "innocent" and therefore is the accountable, moral being; but such an one can be slain, and is therefore mortal. "And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death." [5] The term man in this passage most certainly represents what is mortal, or he could not be killed. Does the reader assent to this statement? Please decide before reading any further. Well, the term man in this text is from nephesh, then it follows most surely that souls are mortal. In Job we read: "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" [6] The term "mortal" covers all that is represented by, the word man; and that includes all that constitutes him a man, or nephesh, If he is partly mortal and partly immortal, then it would not be correct to apply the term mortal to him, without qualification; but it should be said, Man is mortal excepting his soul, or whatever the part be, that is immortal. No such exception is found in the Scripture. In the Massoretic translation the word mortal is applied to man twenty times.
MY SOUL.
We frequently find in the Bible the terms "my soul," "his soul," "their souls," and "your souls," and when David said:
——
1 1 Cor. 15: 17, 18.
2 Acts 7: 14.
3 Acts 27: 37, 38.
4 Deut. 27: 25.
5 Lev. 24: 17.
6 Job 4: 17.
"Praise the Lord, O my soul," it is assumed that there was an immortal soul in David, distinct from the body, which used his organs of speech for the purpose of praising the Lord. Let us consider a few facts. The terms "my soul," "me," and "myself" are often translated from the same word nephesh. "I humbled my soul with fasting." [1] How could that be done, unless his soul could eat material food? "I have... quieted myself." [2] The word here rendered "myself" is nephesh, the same that is rendered soul in Ps. 35: 13. "And Sampson said, Let me die with the Philistines." [3] The margin reads, "Let my soul die with the Philistines." The word rendered me is nephesh. Sampson had been captured by the Philistines, who put out his eyes, and shut him up in prison. When they had a great feast, it was proposed to send for him, that all might see the man who had made them so much trouble, and have some fun at his expense. When led by a boy into the feast in their great temple, he asked that he might lean against the pillars that supported the flat roof of the temple, on which were a host of people, for want of room inside. Of course, they, allowed the blind man that privilege. In due time, as we read, "Sampson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Sampson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Sampson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." [4]
"They have digged a pit for my soul." [5] Would a pit be needed to hold an immaterial soul, with no outside or inside? We read a little further, and we find what "my soul" means in this case: "Then took they Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon." [1] Thus it is clear that "my soul" and "Jeremiah" were one and the same person.
——
1 Ps. 35: 13.
2 Ps. 3: 2.
3 Judges 16: 30.
4 Judges 16: 28-30.
5 Jeremiah 18: 20.
"Let me die the death of the righteous." [2] Mar. "Let my soul die the death of the righteous." Thus it is certain that "my soul," "me" and "myself," are translated from the same word nephesh; and when David said, "Praise the Lord, O my soul," it is equivalent to saying, Praise the Lord, O me or myself but "my soul" is often a better term in poetry and song than me, or myself.
Nephesh is also frequently rendered "his soul," "he," "him" and "himself." "Neither shall the mighty deliver himself." [3] The margin reads: "his soul." "Joseph... was sold for a servant.... He was laid in iron." [4] Mar. "His soul was laid in iron." Could an immaterial soul be bound with fetters of iron? "Reuben... said, Let us not kill him." [5] What does the pronoun him represent? Certainly, a mortal being, who could be killed, or the Scripture is entirely misleading. But the word rendered him is nephesh. The margin reads: "Let us not kill his soul." Thus it is proved that "his soul" "him" "he," and "himself" are all one and the same personal identity.
The same is true of "their souls," "they," and "themselves." "They shall not deliver themselves." [6] The word "themselves" is translated from nephesh. The margin reads: "Their souls." "They die in youth." [7] Mar. "Their soul dieth in youth." These are a few samples of the Bible use of the term soul, when it means the whole person, or living being, including all the animals in the sea, and on the land, as well as all of the human family.
It is certain, according to the Bible teaching, that the term "living soul" represents all living creatures on the earth, and in the sea; and that they are all mortal. There is no room for doubt. The whole man is mortal, and remains unconscious between death and the resurrection.
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1 Jeremiah 38: 6.
2 Num. 23:10.
3 Amos 2:14.
4 Ps. 105: 17, 18.
5 Gen. 37: 21.
6 Isa. 47: 14.
7 Job 36: 14.
These statements must be received as facts, and therefore infallible; and any theory of theology that violates these must be untrue, and should be rejected by all who believe the Bible. All facts are eternal and unchangeable. It is impossible to find a single fact to show that any part of a dead man is alive between death and the resurrection.
NEPHESH—DESIRE.
I come to the third and last use of the word nephesh, as used in the Bible, which is to represent the "desire" of all living creatures. In this sense, it is applied alike to men and animals.
§ 102 Dr. Parkhurst says: "Nephesh denotes the affections, desires, or appetites;... Prov. 23: 2, 'A man given to appetite' [nephesh];... Eccl. 6: 9, 'The wandering of the desire'" [nephesh].
§ 103 Lee's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon: "Desire, inclination. A person of an unruly appetite" [nephesh],
§ 104 Grimm's Greek Lexicon says: "The soul,... the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions."
§ 105 Robinson's Greek Lexicon: Psuche, "The soul as the sentient principle; as the seat of the senses, desires, affections, appetites, passions, that is, the lower and animal nature, common to man with the beasts."
Here are some examples: "But the land whereunto they desire [nephesh] to return." [1] Here the word nephesh is rendered "desire." "He uttered his mischievous desire" [nephesh]. [2] "Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul' [nephesh]; when he is hungry." [3] Had nephesh in this last text been rendered desire, as in the preceding ones, the true meaning of the sentence would have been more clearly and correctly expressed. If the soul was hungry, then it must be a living organism, by itself, having the capacity to contain and digest food, the same as has the man himself. Here is another fact fatal to the position that the terms nephesh and psuche represent something in "mortal man" that is immortal.
Dead beings, or things, have no desires that require satisfaction. ——
1 Jeremiah 22: 27.
2 Micah 7: 3.
3 Prov. 6: 30.
Is desire a personal being, that continues to live as such, when the one who had the desire is dead? Like life, it is an attribute of a living being. All attributes cease with the being to which they belong. Love is an attribute but there can be no love without a living lover; as there can be no thought without a living thinker. Love, life, thought, and desire end where death begins. The same is true of all other attributes, such as righteousness, wickedness, hatred, variance, strife, emulation, and on to the end of the chapter.
§ 106 It is believed that all the fifty different renderings of the words nephesh and psuche, that occur in our authorized version of the Sacred Scriptures, may be expressed in the three, already examined, viz., "the life of any living being," "any living being," or "the desire of any living being." The great mistake has been in making the word soul mean "the real man," when it only meant his life or desire. It is true that life and desire are "immaterial," having neither "exterior," nor "interior" "surface;" being without body or "parts;" hence they have "no parts" to "lose." Attributes have no attributes. Joy, love, peace, gentleness, patience, meekness, hatred, etc., have degrees of intensity in action, but no attributes. These all cease when the possessor dies.
§ 107 When we understand the Bible correctly, we shall find in it complete harmony, not only with itself, but every other truth in science, or elsewhere. It is either all in favor of the natural, constitutional immortality of the essential man; or it is all against that view, and in favor of conditional immortality, based upon character. The Bible writers are harmonious with each other, and all facts. The one Holy Spirit moved them to write only what was true; hence there cannot be any contradiction in their writings when correctly understood.
The following statements from distinguished men, relating to the meaning of nephesh and psuche, the words rendered soul in the Old and New Testaments, are worthy of consideration. Most of them entertain a belief in the immortality of the soul; but facts require them to make the following admissions:
§ 109 Fuerst's Hebrew Lexicon defines nephesh as follows: "1. To breathe, to respire, Fig. to take breath, as a sign of life, hence to live; to smell, which is expiration and inspiration.... To take breath, to draw breath, hence, to be refreshed.... Breath of life, vital power, life, the animal life, conceived of as existing in the breath, like ruach, anima,... therefore to breathe and the breath of life generally... Gen. 3 5: 1 8, [1] 1 Kings 17: 21. [2]
"2. The soul, or spirit, as that which gives life."
"3. The breathing one, i. e., a creature,... a living being.... Gen. 1: 21, [3] 24; [4] 9: 10, [5] but seldom including men."
§ 110. Dr. J. Parkhurst's definition of nephesh: "1. To respire, take breath, and so be refreshed, or reanimated." "A breathing frame, the body which by breathing is sustained in life.... Lev. 17: 11 [6]... Nephesh is also for a dead body; an animal which has breathed. Lev. 21: 1.[7]... Num. 5: 2.[8]... A living creature; a creature or animal that lives by breathing, Gen. 1: 20, [9] 21,[10] 24; [11]
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1 "And it came to pass as her soul [nephesh] was in departing (for she died), that she [Rachel] called his name Ben-oni."
2 "And he [Elijah] stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee let this child's soul [nephesh] come into him again."
3 "And God created great whales and every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind."
4 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [nephesh chaiyah] after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind."
5 "And with every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth, with you."
6 "For the life [nephesh] of the flesh is in the blood."
7 "There shall none be defiled by the dead [nephesh] among the people."
8 "Whosoever is defiled by the dead [nephesh].
9 "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life" [nephesh].
10 "And God created great whales, and every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after his kind."
11 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [nephesh chaiyah] after his kind."
2: 7; [1] 9: 10, [2] 12, [3] 1 5. [4] Particularly a human creature, being, or self, as being the principal of animal frames, a person.... And as the animal frame, including the blood, is evidently the seat of the affections and appetites, and is that on the state and condition of which they greatly depend for their exertion or energy,... hence, nephesh denotes the affections, desires, or appetites.... 'A man given to appetite' [5] [nephesh]. 'The wandering of the desire'" [6] [nephesh].
§ 111. J. W. Gibbs' Hebrew and English Lexicon gives nephesh the following definition: "1. breath, Job 41: 21. [7] A living breath, Gen. 1: 30. [8] 2. Life, the vital principle to animal bodies, anima, which was supposed to reside in the breath.... Gen. 35: 18.... and when her breath of life departedfrom her 1 Kings 17: 21.... Let the life of this child, I pray thee, return again within him.... 3. A living being; that which has life. Josh. 10: 28.... Every living thing.... 4. The soul, spirit, as the seat of the volitions and affections.... Desire, Gen. 23: 8, [9] 2 Kings 9: 15." [10]
I have examined between twenty and thirty Hebrew and Greek lexicons in their definitions of nephesh and psuche, and not one of them gives the popular theological definition as the primary meaning. Of course, they must give the theological use of the word; but that is usually one of the last. The primary definitions of soul in the lexicons are in harmony with the Bible uses of the word; but the theological correspond mainly with the Pagan and Papal definitions. Which shall we follow?
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1 "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" [nephesh chaiyah].
2 "Every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth."
3 "Every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] that is with you."
4 "Every living creature [nephesh chaiyah] of all flesh."
5 Prov. 23: 2.
6 Eccl. 6: 9.
7 "His breath [nephesh] kindleth coals."
8 "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" [nephesh].
9 "If it be your mind [nephesh] that I should bury my dead out of my sight."
10 "And Jehu said, If it be your minds [nephesh] then let none go forth nor escape out of the city."
Thus we find Fuerst, Gibbs, Wilson and Gesenius, giving Gen. 35: 18 and 1 Kings 17: 21 as examples where "soul" means life, which Dr. Parkhurst considers the strongest in the Hebrew Scriptures, including Ps. 16: 10, [1] that can be found as proof that nephesh—soul—ever means "the spiritual part of man, or what we commonly call his soul;" and then adds; "I must for myself confess that I can find no passage where it [nephesh] hath undoubtedly this meaning." [2] When a distinguished Hebrew and Greek lexicographer, after a critical examination of the Bible uses of the words nephesh and psuche, is compelled to make such an admission, why not accept the truthfulness of this statement?
§ 112 A Catholic dictionary has the following statement relating to the meaning of soul: "The scholastics following Aristotle, mean by soul the primary principle of life." [3]
§ 113 Says Augustus Toplady: "The soul cannot see, if the eyes are destroyed; nor feel if the nervous functions are suspended; nor hear if the organs of that sense are totally impaired." [4]
§ 114 Says Gibbon, the distinguished historian: "The intermediate state of the soul... is hard to decide," or "understand how she can think or act without the agency of the organs of sense."[5]Again he says truthfully: "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul is omitted in the law of Moses." [6]
§ 115 Says Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary: "The soul of man is simple, indivisible and immaterial." [7] This statement is strictly true; for the "soul of man," according to the Bible, is the life of man, and life "is simple, indivisible and immaterial."
§ 116 Says Chambers' Encylopaedia: The soul "is generally conceived of as a naturally imperishable entity,... definable, for the most part, only in terms of the complete negation of material attributes.... In its original signification the word appears to have stood for the principle of life, both in men and animals.... No essential distinction was made between the soul of man and the soul of brutes." "The Egyptian... nation appears to have been the first to declare that the soul was immortal." [1] Which shall we follow, the "original" Bible "signification" of the word soul, or the Pagan Egyptian idea? Which is most likely, to be correct? Which is the best authority?
1 "For thou wilt not leave my soul [nephesh] in hell [sheol], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
2 Hebrew Lexicon, 5th Ed.
3 P. 770.
4 Toplady's Scheme ofNecessity, p. 2 1.
5 Beloe's Herodotus, B. 2, chap. 123, pp. 36, 37.
6 Decline and Fall ofRome, Vol. I., chap. 15, p. 530.
7 Vol.. IV., p. 2615.
§ 117 How came the belief in the "immortality of the soul," to be accepted as "a fundamental doctrine of revealed religion," when there is not an intimation in the Bible that the soul of man is immortal? It must be admitted that what is not taught in the Bible is not a Bible doctrine. When the history of this "doctrine" is carefully traced, it is found that Protestants copied it from the Papists, the Papists from the Pagans and the Pagans from the devil, who said to Adam and Eve that they should not die, if they did disobey God. But when they were dead, and he was thus proved a liar, he invented a fabulous, mystical theory, which he persuaded the Pagans to adopt, and from the belief of which sprang the Pagan idol worship, and the other false religions. He caused them to believe that the "soul of man," which, according to the Bible, is the life of man, was the real, essential, intelligent man or ego, which continued to live in a conscious state, after the death of the body, and was immortal; and also persuaded them to worship the souls of dead heroes.
§ 118 In Mr. G. S. Faber's very able work on The Origin of Pagan Idolatry, he says: "The various systems of Pagan idolatry in different parts of the world correspond so closely, both in their evident purport and in numerous points of arbitrary resemblance, that they... must have all originated from some common source." [2] Mr. Faber goes on to say: "In the religious system of the old mythologists, demons were the same as hero-gods; and these hero-gods were acknowledged to be
——
1 Vol. VIII., p. 823.
2 Preface to Vol. I., p. 7.
the souls of eminent benefactors to mankind; who, after they had quitted this mortal sphere of existence, were worshiped as deities by a too grateful posterity. Among the philosophic few, they seem to have been chiefly considered in the light of potent mediators between man and a supreme divinity; but with the multitude, less influenced by speculation than by sense, they usurped the worship due only to the Host High; and the unseen and all-pure Jehovah was overlooked and forgotten in the midst of a host of demons, whose symbolic images could be seen and felt.... Accordingly, both among the Greeks and the Egyptians, the gods are described as having once reigned upon earth; and the principle of deifying illustrious benefactors after their death was openly acknowledged by both these nations, as forming the basis of one part at least of their popular theology. Some of the Christian fathers... were well aware that the real objects of their the Pagans adoration were not devils, but the souls of departed mortals,... and Clementine Alexandrinus remarks that the more skillful theologists placed in their temples the coffins of their deceased, called their souls demons, and taught that they ought to be worshiped by men. These, then, are the demons mentioned in the New Testament, as adored by the Pagans." [1]
"The writers of the New Testament" "sometimes employ" "the word demon" "to describe evil spirits." [2]
§ 119. Says the ancient writer Hesiod: "When the mortal remains of those who flourished during the golden age were hidden beneath the earth, their souls became beneficent demons, still hovering over the world which they had once inhabited, and still watching as guardians over the affairs of men." [3] "The import of the Greek nous and of the Sanscrit menu is precisely the same; each denotes mind or intelligence." So also the "Latin mens" and "our English mind." [4]
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1 Origin ofPagan Idolatry, Vol. I., pp. q, 5.
2 Ibid., p. 6.
3 Hes. O p et dier. lib. 1 ver. 120-125. Faber, Vol. I., p. 10.
4 Ibid., p. 10.
§120. "Jupiter," "Pan," "Dionusus," "Pluto," "Serapis," and "Osiris," are all the same deity. [1] "The person... the Pagans... venerated... is plainly not the Supreme Being,... but a mere man,... who was worshiped as the chief and oldest of the demon gods."[2]
"All the divinities of Paganism... resolve themselves, first into a god and goddess, and at length into one god compounded of these two, and distinguished by a participation of both sexes." [3] Mr. Faber came to the conclusion that "every system of Pagan theology had a common origin;" [4] and that the first gods worshiped by the Pagans were the souls of Adam and Noah, also of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah. Noah's soul was the same as Adam's, reincarnated. "Brahm" is the oldest god of the Pagans, called also "Menu." He is "the primeval hermaphrodite, or the great father and mother blended together in one person,... the same... as the Orphic Jupiter and the Egyptian Osiris; the same as Adonis, Dionusus, and Attis; the same in short as the compound great father in every part of the Pagan world.... He is primarily Adam and the earth; and secondarily Noah and the Ark. In the former case, his three emanations or children,... are Cain, Abel, and Seth; in the latter, they are Shem, Ham, and Japhet.... Brahm himself is declared to be the same as Menu; and Brahma, Vishnou, and Siva are identified with those three sons of Menu." [5]
§ 121 "We are taught... that Brahma, Vishnou, and Siva are essentially but a single person; that this person is Brahrn, who unites in himself the divided attributes of the three." [6] "The god of the Hindoos... is Adam,.... believed to have appeared again as Noah." [7] "Buddha is the very same person as Menu,"[8] or Noah. "The mystic Om" is the same as Menu and his three sons—a trinity in one. [9]
§ 122 "The first man and his three sons" were "born from —— a mysterious cow; and these are unreservedly acknowledged to be the great gods of the Goths." [1]
1 Origin ofPagan Idolatry, Vol. 1, p. 12.
2 Ibid., p. 49.
3 Ibid., p. 55.
4 Ibid., p. 61.
5 Ibid., p. 117.
6 Ibid., p. 118.
7 Ibid., p. 120.
8 Ibid., p. 131.
9 Ibid., p. 131.
§ 123. The Greeks and Romans believed in the pre-existence of souls, as well as their post-existence." [2] "The absolute immortality of the soul, passing, however, through a long series of different forms, is at once the doctrine taught in the Bghagavat-Gita, in the traditions of the Celtic Druids, and in the books of the old Babylonians and Egyptians." [3]
"As the chief male divinity of the Gentiles was represented by a bull, so their principal female divinity was typified by a cow." [4]
"Agreeably to the doctrine of the metempsychosis, each of the sons of Noah was supposed to be animated by the spirit of his father, as that father was himself animated by the spirit of Adam." [5]
"The goddess [the first one] was sometimes said to be the wife, and sometimes the daughter of the chief demon god;... yet the wife and the daughter were... but one person." [6]
"In the corrupt theology of Paganism, prostitution was not incidental, but systematic. It flowed naturally from the doctrines and formed a constituent part of the ritual." [7]
"The union of the great father and the great mother was of... so intimate a nature, that... they ceased to be two distinct persons. The one became a component part of the other.... A single divine being was produced whose compound person partook of both sexes." [8] Hence the priests dressed as women, and were very corrupt.
"The gods of the Gentiles were allowed to have been the souls of their ancestors, and are described as having once acted a conspicuous part upon earth.... The souls of certain deified mortals were believed to have been elevated after their death to the orbs of the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars. Hence originated the notion that these celestial bodies... were each animated by a divine spirit." "The great father was... venerated in the sun."[9] "The great mother was symbolized in every quarter of the globe by a cow.... The great father sometimes... is said to have descended into the infernal regions; sometimes... to have been shut up in an ark, sometimes... to have been inclosed in a wooden cow; and sometimes... to have entered into the moon. All these... were asserted of the Egyptian Osiris, and... meant the same thing;... the two successive entrances of the great father, in his two successive characters of Adam and Noah, into the womb of the great mother, the grave and the ark." [1]
——
1 Ibid., p. 132.
2 Ibid., p. 140.
3 Ibid., p. 141.
4 Ibid., p. 410.
5 Ibid., p. 16.
6 Ibid., p. 23.
7 Ibid., p. 25.
8 Ibid., p. 25.
9 Ibid., p. 32.
§ 124. "The great father and the great mother" were "each... born out of the aqueous fluid; each from non-intelligence became endowed with intelligence."[2] "All nature was produced from him the universal, compound hermaphrodite deity, and returned to him; all nature was his body; and the pervading spirit was the soul of the world." [3] "Every part of the visible creation was esteemed a member or form of the great hermaphrodite parent; all things were comprehended within himself, and his stupendous body was composed of all things."
§ 125. Hermes Trismegistus says of the chief deity of the Egyptians: "God is a circle, whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference can nowhere be found." "The circle, or ring, or egg, or globe, was a symbol of the world."[4]
"All things, we are told, were framed in the body of Jupiter. The bright expanse of the etherial heavens, the solid earth, the vast ocean, the central realms of Tartarus, every flowing stream, every god and goddess, every thing that is, and every thing that shall be, each of these equally proceeded from him, for all were produced together within his capacious womb.... Earth, heaven, air, fire, the sea, the sun, and the moon, were each equally and severally Jupiter. The whole universe constituted one body,... and the pure ether was his intellectual soul, and the mighty Nous, by which he pervades, animates, preserves and governs all things."
This "Jupiter" is the same as "Pan," "Dionusus," "Pluto," —— Serapis," and "Osiris." [1] The goddess Isis is represented as saying: "I am... the queen of departed spirits."
1 Ibid., pp. 33, 34.
2 Ibid., p. 39.
3 Ibid., p. 40.
4 Ibid., p. 41.
§ 126. "When the great father and the great mother were blended together into one character, the compound deity thus produced was... the universe animated by what was called the soul of the world." [2]
The ancients held that "matter itself indeed was eternal," [3] and that "nothing existed in the world before the production of mind." [4]
§ 127. "Menu was the first man both of the antediluvian and the postdiluvian worlds." "The same persons who had appeared in our world reappeared in another, their souls passing from their former corporeal vehicles to the new ones which were prepared for them on each reproduction of the mundane system." [5] "At the end of each world" the Menu or Brahm, "sleeps the sleep of death during the space of a year,... floating securely on the surface of the ocean, either in the calix of the lotos, or on a leaf of the betal tree, or on a vast serpent coiled up in an oval form like a boat, or in a huge fish, or in a cow, or in the womb of a goddess whose ribs he had himself fashioned, or lastly and literally in a wonderful ship, which was esteemed a type of the universe. After he has duly slept... he then awakes from his deathlike slumber."[6]
"Menu, Menes, Manes, Mneuis, Menwyd, Mannus, Man, and Minos," all mean the same. [7]
Says Mr. Faber: "So far as I can judge, it indisputably appears that the idolatry, by which all the nations of the earth were infatuated, was a system, originally invented at Babel, under the auspices of Nimrod." [8]
§ 128. Says The Imperial Bible Dictionary: "The soul is really that which animates the body; that which distinguishes the living body from a dead body, whether of man or beast. Thus it is the real life as distinguished from the body." [9]
§ 129. Bates' Hebrew English Dictionary defines nephesh ——
1 Ibid., p.42.
2 Ibid., p.43.
3 Ibid., p.44.
4 Ibid., p.47.
5 Ibid., p. 49.
6 Ibid., p. 55.
7 Ibid., p. 56.
8 Ibid., p. 78.
9 P. 974.
as follows: "That which lives by breathing." "It is the animal part of all creatures." "Gen. 1 applied equally to all animals whether man or brutes." "Gen. 35: 18,... these words speak only of the animal part; of the breath going out.... Nephesh is never, that I know of, the rational soul." "As to its being naturally immortal, and being without parts, etc., etc., it is unintelligible jargon." [1]
§ 130. Taylor Lewis says: " 'Man,' says the Scripture, 'became a living soul.' But the animals also, are styled nephesh hayya, breath of life, or soul of life, or living soul. It is the general term for animation,... extending from the lowest sentient to the highest rational. As far, then, as this phrase [nephesh hayya] is concerned, we could predicate of man no superiority of origin or of psychological rank above the beast." [2]
§ 131. From Chambers': "The Scripture account [of creation] is a plain statement of a material body framed out of the dust of the earth, and the vital principle derived from God. There is not even a hint of a third factor in man's nature." [3]
§ 132. Says Franz Delitzsch, D. D., Professor of Theology: "Cattle, reptiles, and beasts of the earth, are called living souls." [4]
§ 133. Newman's Hebrew English Lexicon defines nephesh as follows: "1. Breath, also life, Gen. 35: 18, [5] Ex. 21:23, [6] Job 41: 21. [7]... 2. Mind, desire. Gen. 23: 8, [8] Deut. 21: 14, [9]
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1 P. 362.
2 Divine Human in the Scriptures Six Days of Creation, Butler's Bible Work, Vol. I., p. 133.
3 Butler's Bible Work, Vol. I., p. 134.
4 Translated by R. E. Wallis, 1876, Edinburg, p. 29.
5 "And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni."
6 "And if mischief follow, thou shalt give life [nephesh] for life [nephesh].
7 "His breath [nephesh] kindleth coals."
8 "If it be your mind [nephesh] that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me."
9 "And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she well" [nephesh]
Deut. 23: 24. [1]... 3. A body which lives, a person. Gen. 14: 21, [2] Ex. 1: 5." [3]
§ 134. Herodotus (by Rawlinson) says: "The Egyptians... were... the first to broach the opinion that the soul of man is immortal, and that, when the body dies, it enters into the form of an animal, which is born at the moment, thence passing on from one animal into another, until it has circled through the forms of all the creatures which tenant the earth, the water, and the air; after which it enters again into a human frame, and is born anew. The whole period of the transmigrations is (they say) three thousand years. There are Greek writers... who have borrowed this doctrine from the Egyptians, and put it forward as their own."[4]
§ 135. Rev. Dr. Taylor says: "I think it appears that no man can prove from Scripture, that the human soul is a principle which lives, and acts, or thinks independently of the body." Again: "We can never prove that the soul of man is of such a nature, that it can and must exist, and live, think, act, enjoy, etc., separate from, and independent of the body. All our present experience shows the contrary." [5]
§ 136. Says Dr. Oosterzee: "Philosophers... are wont to take their notions of immortality from the nature of the human soul, and consequently to prove what is doubtful by what is unknown." [6]
§ 137. Says Nathaniel West: "The immortality of the soul cannot be proved from the Bible." [7] ——
1 "When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure" [nephesh].
2 "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons [nephesh].
3 "And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls."
4 Rawlinson's Herodotus, Vol. II., pp. 167-169. Book 2, sec. 123.
5 Quoted by Bishop Law, pp. 400, 401, in Appendix to Theory of Religion. Bishop Law says Dr. Taylor is "eminently well versed in the Scripture language." Ed. 1755.
6 Immortality. A Clerical Symposium, p. 232.
7 Teacher and Lecturer at Bro. Moody's Bible Institute. From Robert J. George, one of the students.
§ 138 Peter Pomponatius, a learned Italian, says: "Whoever went about to prove the immortality of the soul by philosophical arguments does not deserve the name of a Christian." [1]
§ 139 Says Archdeacon Blackburne: "The separate existence of the soul" was "one of those doctrines which Papacy borrowed from Paganism,... so necessary to support so great a part of the impious and absurd superstition of the Church of Rome." [2]
§ 140 Says Bayle's Dictionary: "The Jews learned of the Greeks the immortality of the soul." [3] "Solomon... seems to say, formally, that the souls of beasts and men are of the same nature." [4] Pythagorus held that "the soul of a beast does not substantially differ from the soul of a man." "The Stoics taught that all souls, without exception, flowed from the same source." [5]
These last two statements are in harmony with the teaching of the Bible.
§ 141 Says T. W. Chambers: "Both [ruach and pneuma] stand for the life of beasts (Eccl. 3: 19-21, [6] and Rev. 16: 3)." [7]
§ 142 Says Godet: "The expression 'living soul' is not applied to the breath of God considered in itself and as separate from the body; but it describes man in his entirety.... The Spirit then, in the Bible, means the breath of God considered as independent of the body; the soul is the same, breath, in so far at it gives life to the body." [8]
§ 143 M'Culloh says: "The term [nephesh]... is applied indifferently to either man or beast, and whether living or dead. It is applied to beasts in eighteen passages of the Pentateuch, and twenty-three times to dead and slain men." [9] "That the soul of man is inherently immortal cannot be established from the Scriptures." [1]
——
1 Historical View of the Intermediate Slate, by Archdeacon Blackburne, p. 172.
2 Ibid., p. 187.
3 Vol. IV., p. 2641.
4 Ibid., p. 2606.
5 Ibid., p. 2516.
6 "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 [ruach]; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit [ruach] of man that goeth upward, and the spirit [ruach] of the beast that goeth downward to the earth."
7 "Every living soul died in the sea."
8 Butler's Bible Work, Vol. 1., p. 135.
9 Credibility of the Scriptures, Vol. II., pp. 471, 472.
§ 144. John Milton says: "In death... each component part suffers privation of life.... God denounced the punishment of death against the whole man that sinned, without excepting any part. For what could be more just than that he who had sinned in his whole person should die in his whole person?... It is evident that the saints and believers of old, the patriarchs, prophets and apostles, without exception, held this doctrine." [2] "The grave is the common guardian of all till the day of judgment." [3]
§ 145. Enfield, referring to Anaxagoras, says: "Anaxagoras affirmed that a pure mind, perfectly free from all material concretions, governs the universe." He "was the first among the Greeks who conceived of mind as detachedfrom matter." [4]
§ 146. Jamieson, Faussett and Brown's Commentary says "Nowhere is the immortality of the soul distinct from the body taught; a notion which may erroneously have been derived from heathen philosophers. Scripture does not contemplate the anomalous state brought about by death as the consummation to be earnestly looked for (2 Cor. 5: 4), [5] but the resurrection." [6]
§ 147. Says the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge: "Soul and spirit are in a number of passages interchangeable... (1 Sam. 30: 12, [7] cf. Gen. 35: 18, [8]... Ezek. 36: 8, [9] cf. Acts 20: 10 [10]); because, in these, both are used in their primary significance, i. e., of the breath, that by which man lives." [1]
——
1 Ibid., p. 488.
2 History of Christian Doctrine, p. 280.
3 Ibid., p. 290.
4 History ofPhilosophy, p. 87. Anaxagoras died B. C. 428.
5 "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."
6 Commentary on 1 Cor. 15: 53.
7 "And they gave him a piece of cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins; and when he had eaten, his spirit [ruach] came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights."
8 "And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni."
9 "The sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath [ruach] in them."
10 "And Paul went down, and fell upon him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves for his life [psuche] is in him."
§ 148. Bishop Hampton says: "The notion of the separate existence of the soul has so incorporated itself with Christian theology, that we are apt, at this day, to regard a belief in it as essential to orthodox doctrine. I cannot, however, help viewing this popular belief as a remnant of scholasticism." [2]
§ 149. Decree of Pope Leo X.: In "1513... the immortality of the soul" was "openly called in question." This aroused Pope Leo X., who in that year had the following canon passed in the Lateran Council: "Whereas, in these our days, some have dared to assert concerning the nature of the reasonable soul, that it is mortal, or one and the same in all men; and some, rashly philosophising, declare this to be true, at least according to philosophy. We, with the approbation of this sacred council, do condemn and reprobate all those who assert that the intellectual soul is mortal, or one and the same in all men; and those who call these things in question; seeing that the soul is not only truly, and of itself, and essentially the form of the human body" and "likewise immortal." [3]
§ 150. Pherecydes, a Grecian philosopher, who lived six hundred years B. C., "is said to be the first among the Grecians" who taught "the immortality of the soul." He believed in "the transmigration of the soul." [4]
§ 151. Says E. Petavel, D. D.: "The term living soul, nephesh chaiyah, is applied in Genesis to fish and all kinds of animals, as well as to man (Gen. 1: 20, 21, 24, 30; 9: 10)." [5]
§ 152. Says the Hebrew National: There are "five appellations of the human spirit met with in Scripture; but these alike designate the principle of life in man and in beast." [6]
§ 153. Olshausen says in his Commentary: "The apostle ——
1 Vol. IV., p. 2230.
2 Bampton Lectures quoted by the Ceylon Evangelist, Oct. 1893.
3 Historical View of the Intermediate State, by Archdeacon Blackburn, Ed. 1772, PP- 5, 6.
4 Rees' Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXVII.
5 Extinction ofEvil, p. 65, Note.
6 July 19, 1867, also in Extinction ofEvil, pp. 65, 66.
[Paul] by no means recognizes the possibility of existence as a pure spirit without bodily organs; the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the name are alike unknown to the entire Bible." [1]
§ 154. Says Dr. L. Carpenter: "The interval between death and the moment of the resurrection is to the individual a period of unconscious rest." [2]
§ 155. Says Moses Stuart: "The light of nature... has never yet sufficed to make even the questions clear to any portion of our benighted race, whether the soul of man is immortal." [3]
§ 156. Said Martin Luther: "The just" "lay in a profound rest and sleep" "to the day of judgment, without knowing where they are." It is said: "In which opinion he followed many fathers of the ancient church." [4]
§ 157. Said Cardinal Du Perren: "Luther denied the immortality of the soul;... whence he drew an argument against praying to saints; showing that the saints hear not our prayers.... Luther reckons this amongst the impieties of the Roman Church, that she believes the immortality of the soul." [5]
§ 158. Wm. R. Alger says: "Physical death is experienced by man in common with the brutes. Upon grounds of physiology, there is no greater evidence for man's spiritual survival,... than there is for the brute." [6]
§ 159. Says Canon Farrar: "I fully admit that the literal and inferential meaning of many Scripture passages seem at first to point in the direction of this opinion" [conditional immortality]. This "belief... has been held by many eminent thinkers, and is now maintained by many thousands of Christians. The fact that so many hold it unchallenged in the bosom of various Christian churches, shows at any rate that the evidence for the popular views of endless torment is not so decisive as to enable any Christian body to demand a belief in them as a part of its necessary faith." [1]
——
1 Vol. IV., p. 381, 1858. Translated from the German by A. C. Kendrick, D. D.
2 The Faith, Feb. 1891, p. 203.
3 Stuart 's Essays on Future Punishment, p. 7.
4 Letter to Armsdorf, in 1522, see Historical View of the Intermediate State, 1772, p. 348.
5 Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, Vol. III., p. 2617. Also, Hist. View, p. 344
6 The Doctrine of a Future Life, p. 16.
§ 160. Says Hagenbach: "Some of the earlier Greek theologians" asserted "that the psuche, as such is not immortal." "It was the advocates of Platonism especially, who... were at much pains to prove the immortality of the soul." [2]
§ 161. Said Luther: "All that is said concerning the immortality of the soul,... is nothing else, but an invention of anti-Christ to make his pot boil." [3]
§ 162. The Compendium of Christian Theology, by Dr. W. B. Pope, says: "It is true that in the Old Testament, the terms nephesh, ruach, and n'shah-mah, answer to pusche, soul; and pneuma, spirit; and are used of man and animals." [4]
§ 163. Says Archbishop John Tillotson: "I do not find that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is anywhere expressly delivered in Scripture, but taken for granted." [5]
§ 164. Richardson's English Dictionary defines soul as follows: "The spirit, the breath of life; the animating or vital principle or power; an animated intellectual being." [6]
§ 165. Says Edward Beecher: "The Bible... does not recognize, nay, it expressly denies the natural and inherent immortality of the soul." [7]
§ 166. Mosheim says of the "General Baptists" in the sixteenth century: "They believed that the soul, between death and the resurrection at the last day, has neither pleasure nor pain; but is in a state of insensibility." They "are dispersed in great numbers over many provinces of England." [8]
§ 167. Says John Milton: "Man is a living being, intrinsically and properly one individual, not compound and separate; not, according to the common opinion, made up and framed of two distinct natures, as of body and soul; but the whole man is soul, and the soul, man; that is to say, a body or substance, individual, animate, sensitive, and rational."[1]
——
1 Mercy and Judgment, pp. 54, 55.
2 History ofDoctrine, Vol. II., p. 4.
3 Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, Vol. III., p. 2067.
4 1879, PP. 35, 36.
5 Tillotson's Work, Ed. 1717, Fol. Vol. I., p. 7 9.
6 P. 1778.
7 Doctrine of Scriptural Retribution, p. 58.
8 Murdock's Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. III., B. 4, Century 16, p. 218.
§ 168 Franz Delitzsch gives the following translation: "Gen. 1: 20, "And Elohim said, Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls." [2] Gen. 1: 21, "And Elohim created great whales, and all kinds of souls, the living and moving, which the waters swarmed forth after their kind." [3] Gen. 1: 24, "Let the earth bring forth living souls after their kind,... cattle and creeping animals and the wild beasts of the earth after his kind." [4] Gen. 1: 30, "And to every beast of the earth, and to all the birds of heaven, and to all that moveth upon the earth, in which is living souls." [5]
§ 169 John Wycliffe gives the following renderings: Gen. 1: 20, "God said, The waters bring forth the creeping beast of living soul." [6] Gen. 1: 21, "And God made... great whales and each living soul." [7] Gen. 1: 24, "The earth bring forth a living soul." [8]Gen. 1: 30, "And to all living beasts of earth, and to each bird of heaven, and to all things that been made in earth, and in which is a living soul." [9]
§ 170 "Man Wholly Mortal," is the title of a work published by "R. O." in 1644. The work is described as "a treatise wherein it is proved both theologically and philosophically, that whole man (as a rational creature) is a compound wholly mortal, contrary to that common distinction of soul and body; and that the present going of the soul into heaven or hell is a mere fiction." [10]
On pp. 24 and 55 of his work, [11] he further says: "The Immortalists held that man was compounded of a mortal body and an immortal soul." "If so, man must be partly mortal and partly immortal; and consequently, must have two lives or beings. For if that which is partly mortal, partly immortal, have not two lives or beings, then that being must be all a mortal being (and then whole man dies; or else all immortal being [and then whole man lives for ever]; or else his flesh is no more part of him than a tree is part of a house; and so when the headsman chopped off the Bishop of Canterbury's head, he cut off no part of the man."
——
1 Treatise on Christian Doctrine, Vol. I., pp. 250, 251.
2 New Commentary on Genesis, Vol. I., pp. 93, 94.
3 Ibid., p. 94.
4 Ibid., 96.
5 Ibid., 101.
6 Wyckliffe's Translation, p. 80.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., 81.
10 Historical View of the Intermediate State, pp. 77 78.
11 Ibid., 79.
§ 171. "Pope John XXII. (d. 1304) accepted it [soul sleeping] and openly advocated it." [1]
§ 172. Said Arnobius: "Human souls of their own nature are mortal." "A simple and immortal nature is incapable of pain." "He felt some, therefore he did not believe that his soul was an immortal, immaterial and spiritual being." [2]
§ 173. In 1513, the soul was declared to be immortal in the Lateran Council. [3]
§ 174. Booth's Lexicon defines psuche as follows: "The soul, life, spirit, the whole man."
§ 175. Henry Laing's Greek and English Lexicon gives the following definition of psuche: "Breath, animal life, a living animal, the human soul or spirit, the mind or disposition, a human person; from psucho to breathe."
§ 176. J. A. Giles, LL.D., defines psuche as follows in his lexicon: "The breath, breath of life; soul, disposition, genius, mind, a living being, man."
§ 177. Ewing's Greek Lexicon gives the following definition ofpsuche: "Breath, animal life, a living animal, the human soul, as distinguished from the body, the human animal soul, as distinguished from the body and the spirit, 1 Thess. 5: 23. [4] The mind, disposition, particularly as denoting the affections,... a human person."
§ 178. Schrevelius' Lcxicon defines psuche as follows "Breath, life, spirit, living principle, soul, mind, genius, reason, spirit, temper, disposition, inclination, propensity; man, person, blood; according to the Stoics, the vital and rational principle."
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1 Encyclopaedia ofBiblical, Historical, Doctrinal and Practical Theology, p. 2218.
2 Bayle's Dictionary, Vol. IV., p. 2606.
3 The Globe Encyclopaedia, Vol. VI., under "soul."
4 "And the God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit [pneuma] and soul [psuche] and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
§ 179. Cremer's Biblico Theological Lexicon defines psuche as follows: "Breathing, breath of animal life. In universal usage from Homer downwards. Psuche signifies life in the distinctiveness of individual existence." "As to the use of the word in Scripture, first in the Old Testament, it corresponds with nephesh, primarily likewise—life, breath, the life which exists in every living thing." "In the New Testament psuche denotes life in the distinctiveness of individual existence, Rev. 8. 9." [1]
OBJECTIONS.
There are a few passages of Scripture which are supposed to favor the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which are now to be considered.
First, and foremost is Matthew 10: 28, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." What does soul mean in this passage? In which of its three uses shall it be placed? It certainly does not mean the "body," and therefore it cannot indicate a "living being," if what I have written is true; then it must represent either desire or life. It would be a strained construction to say it meant desire in this passage; then it must mean life; otherwise, soul has another meaning than the three intimated. Will it give the true sense of the text to render psuche, life in this passage, as it is rendered in forty others out of the one hundred and five uses of the word in the New Testament? It is rendered life in the Emphatic Diaglott. If we read on to the 39th verse, we find the same word psuche correctly rendered life: "He that findeth his life [psuche] shall lose it; and he that loseth his life [psuche] for my sake shall find it." In the martyr age Christians lost their lives for Jesus' sake; with the promise of receiving them again at the resurrection, when he shall return. It would be untrue to say a man had lost his watch when it was continually in his pocket; so it would be equally untrue to say a man had lost his life, if he was still living, and could never die. It is certain that man can kill his fellow man in this world and thus become a murderer. It is also certain that a man is not alive when he has lost his life. But man will have no power to destroy life in the world to come; that work will be entirely in the hands of the Lord. All must admit that the destruction of "both soul and body in hell" [gehenna], is after the judgment, and in the world to come; then the soul, or life, that man cannot kill is the resurrection life, which the Lord can and will destroy with the bodies of all the wicked, and thus put an eternal end to all sinners and sin. "The Lord preserveth all them that love him, but all the wicked will he destroy." [1] One thing is certain, the soul of man cannot be naturally immortal; for if it is; it could not be destroyed. Matthew 10: 28 shows that the soul can be as truly destroyed as the body. When the Lord shall destroy all the wicked, in "the second death," their lives will not be "hid with Christ in God to raise them up a second time, but their destruction will be eternal; therefore their punishment is eternal—eternal death; or an eternal loss of life. Hence Matthew 10: 28 is in complete harmony with the idea that the word soul means life in that passage.
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1 "The third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life [psuche], died."
§ 181 Another objection is found in Revelation, as follows: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar, the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." [2] Which of the three uses of the term soul is in this Scripture? It cannot mean either life or desire, for neither can be seen. In his vision, John "saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain." How could such a soul as the one described by Mr. Drew and others be slain by human weapons of war? One that had no "parts," no "exterior," no "interior," no "surface?"
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1 Ps. 145: 20.
2 Rev. 6: 9-11.
Dr. Adam Clarke very properly remarks: "The altar is upon earth, not in heaven.... Their blood, like that of Abel, cried." In his vision, John was carried forward to the martyr age, where he saw the terrible slaughter of the saints; although they were unborn when he had the vision. As they were being slaughtered century after century, their cry went up, "How long, O Lord," must this state of things continue? The response came, "that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." There seems no room for doubt but that the word souls in this passage is used to represent the persons who were martyred, "killed;" and therefore affords no proof of the immortality of the soul. Prof. N. N. Whiting, an able translator, uses "persons" instead of "souls" in this passage.
Turning over to Rev. 20: 4-5, we read: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." In this passage, the "beheaded" ones mentioned in Rev. 6: 9-11, are seen again in the resurrection.
Immaterial souls, without body or parts, could not receive a "mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;" but real, material beings could be "beheaded" for refusing to receive such a mark, and then be raised from the dead, and live and reign "with Christ." Therefore, Rev. 6:9-11 is also in complete harmony with all the other plain passages that have been thus far examined.
§ 182 Another objection is found in Gen. 35: 18-19, which contains an account of the death of Rachel, the wife of Jacob. It reads: "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died,) that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." This is the only place in the Bible where any thing is said about the "departing" of the soul. The Septuagint reads: "And it came to pass in her giving up the ghost."
The word ghost occurs eleven times in the Old Testament, nine of which are from the Hebrew word gah-vang, which means to expire, to die. Gesenius defines the word: "To breath out one's life, to expire, to die." He gives Job 14: 10 and Gen. 25: 8, 9 as examples. Job 14: 10 reads: "But man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" The American Bible Union version reads: "Yea, man expires, and where is he?" Gen. 25: 8, 9, reads: "Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people; and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah."
Will it make good sense to have soul [nephesh] read life in Gen. 35: 18, as it is rendered in one hundred and twenty other passages? Most certainly: "And it came to pass as her life was in departing, (for she died)." This Scripture, then, is in full harmony with all the other passages that have been considered.
§ 183 One more special objection is found in 1 Kings 17: 21-22, as follows: "And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth." This is the only place in the Bible, where any thing is said about the return of the soul. Soul, in this passage cannot mean the body; and it would be a strange exposition to say it meant desire; then it must mean life, or there must be another meaning of the word soul, not yet noticed. The 17th verse reads: "And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him." Here it is plainly stated why he died—because the "breath" of life was taken away. The mother got Elijah to come to her house in much haste. On his arrival, "he said unto her, give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed." [1] Observe, it does not read, Give me thy son's remains, but "give me thy son." Was that the real son of the woman, or only the house in which he lived? The Scripture affirms it was her son, and both the mother and Elijah talked and acted as though they believed it, and knew nothing about another son that had gone out of this one, to live in some other world. When Elijah prayed: "Let this child's soul come into him again," he could not have meant his body, nor his desire, but did he mean life? What else could be have meant? It certainly makes good sense to render nephesh life in this text: "Let this child's life come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth." The Septuagint reads: "Let this child's life be restored to him."
§ 184 There is a text in 1 Thess. 5: 23, that deserves a passing notice: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In Biblical Psychology, by Forster, p. 38, this verse has the following rendering: "The very, God of peace sanctify you entirely in every part; and may the whole of you, the spirit, the soul, and the body, be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
——
1 Verse 19.
Mace renders it: "May every part of you be preserved blameless."
In this passage, spirit is used to represent the feelings, and soul the desires. The apostle prayed that all their feelings and desires, or "every part" of them might "be preserved blameless." He would have them free from a proud spirit, hateful spirit, angry spirit, or any other evil feeling; and also free from all desire for unholy things. His prayer simply means that the entire man may be holy; not that it requires three moral beings, a body man, a soul man, and a spirit man, to make a whole man.
So far as known to the writer, all the strong texts have now been considered, containing the word soul, where that word is supposed to favor the idea that it is immortal; but there appears to be no reason for such a conclusion. Paul is the only Bible writer who uses the words immortal or immortality, but not once in connection with the term soul. The word immortal is found but once, which is in 1 Tim. 1: 17: "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever, Amen."
§ 185 The word immortality occurs five times as follows: "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." [1] "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life." [2] "But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." [3] "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." [4] In these passages we are plainly taught that immortality is one of the special attributes of God, which man may obtain through Christ "by patient continuance in well doing;" and that it will be received "at the resurrection of the just."
——
1 1 Tim. 6: 16.
2 Rom. 2: 7.
3 2 Tim. 1: 10.
4 1 Cor. 15:53, 54.
It is incredible that we should be taught to seek for what we already possess, and from which we can never be dispossessed; or that we should be told we shall put on at the resurrection of the dead what we have had ever since we were born into the world. Man cannot have both mortal and immortal life at the same time.
In the cave of Pelagius, at Mt. Olivet, is the following inscription: "Put thy faith in God, Domitela; no human creature is immortal." [1] Domitela was a noted woman of Antioch, who was converted to Christ.
It appears very plainly from the teaching of the Bible, that immortality is not a natural endowment, but a conditional gift, to be received only by the holy ones. Hence it is arranged by the Lord that none can live eternally but the pure in heart. All others must be "destroyed." It would make the character of our God most horrible, were he to keep men alive eternally for the sake of wreaking his hatred and vengeance upon them; but his infinite love, mercy and justice will meet in perfect harmony when he shall destroy all his enemies, and thus put an eternal end-to all sin and suffering.
§ 186. It has been stated that the term nephesh is rendered in forty-four different ways in the authorized version of the Old Testament. The following is a classified list of all the renderings of nephesh, where it is not translated soul:
——
1 City of the Great King, p. 456.
2. Nephesh is rendered men once. "And they took away their cattle:... and of men an hundred thousand." 1 Chron. 5: 21.
3. Nephesh is rendered him four times. "And Reuben... said, let us not kill him." Gen. 37: 21. "Lest the avenger of blood... slay him." Deut. 19: 6. "When a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him." Deut. 22: 26. "These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him." Prov. 6: 16.
4. Nephesh is rendered himself eight times. "And he requested for himself that he might die." 1 Kings 19: 4. "He teareth himself in his anger." Job 18: 4. "Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu,... against Job... because he justified himself." Job. 32: 2. "The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself." Jeremiah 51: 14. "Neither shall the mighty deliver himself." AMOS 2: 14. "Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself." Verse 15. "The Lord hath sworn by himself." Amos 6: 8. "Jonah... wished in himself to die." Jonah 4: 8.
5. Nephesh is rendered he twice. "Whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron." Ps. 105: 18. "He that laboreth, laboreth for himself." Prov. 16: 26.
6. Nephesh is rendered one three times. "Let one die the death of the righteous." Num. 23:10. "And Samson said, Let one die with the Philistines." Judges 16: 30. "Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let one live." 1 Kings 20: 32.
11. Nephesh is rendered thee twice. "Baalis... hath sent Ishmael... to slay thee." Jeremiah 40: 14. "Johanan... spake... saying... wherefore should he slay thee." Verse 15.
12. Nephesh is rendered thyself once. "Answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house." Esther 4: 13.
13. Nephesh is rendered they once. "They die in youth." Job 36: 14.
14. Nephesh is rendered themselves three times. "He sent the letters... to confirm these days of Purim... as they had decreed for themselves, and for their seed." Esther 9: 30, 31. "They could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity." Isa. 46: 2. "They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame." Isa. 47: 14.
15. Nephesh is rendered yourselves six times. "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth." Lev. 11: 43. "Neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing." Verse 44. "Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves." Deut. 4: 15. "Take good heed therefore unto yourselves that ye love the Lord your God." Josh. 23: 11. "Thus saith the Lord, take heed to yourselves." Jeremiah 17: 21. "Thus saith the Lord; deceive not yourselves." Jeremiah 37: 9.
16. Nephesh is rendered any three times. "And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord." Lev. 2: 1. "He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days." Num. 19: 11. "If a man be found stealing any of his brethren... then that thief shall die." Deut. 24: 7.
17. Nephesh is rendered one once. "If any one of the common people sin through ignorance." Lev. 4: 27.
18. Nephesh is rendered lust twice. "The enemy said... I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them." Ex. 15: 9. "And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust." Ps. 78: 18.
19. Nephesh is rendered ghost twice. "The eyes of the wicked shall fail... and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost." Job 11: 20. "She hath given up the ghost; her sun has gone down while it was yet day." Jeremiah 15: 9.
20. Nephesh is rendered thing twice. "Any living thing which is in the waters." Lev. 11: 10. "And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, withersoever the rivers shall come, shall live." Ezek. 47: 9.
21. Nephesh is rendered his own once. "The heart knoweth his own bitterness." Prov. 14: 10.
22. Nephesh is rendered she will once. "Thou shalt let her go whither she will." Dent. 21: 14.
23. Nephesh is rendered mortally once. "If any man hate his neighbor.... and smite him mortally, that he die." Deut. 19: 11.
33 Nephesh is rendered appetite twice. "Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite." Prov. 23: 2. "All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled." Eccl. 6: 7.
"Thy mind is alienated." Ezek. 23:22. "From whom thy mind is alienated." Ezek. 23: 28. "That whereupon they set their minds." Ezek. 24: 25. "With despiteful minds." Ezek. 36: 5.
38. Nephesh is rendered heart fifteen times. "Ye know the heart of a stranger." Ex. 23: 9. "And cause sorrow of heart." Lev. 26: 16. "Setteth his heart upon it." Deut. 24: 15. "Grieve thine heart." 1 Sam. 2: 33. "All that thine heart desireth." 2 Sam. 3: 21. "The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire." Ps. l0: 3. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Prov. 23: 7. "He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife." Prov. 28: 25. "Those that be of heavy hearts." Prov. 31: 6. "Ye dissembled in your hearts." Jeremiah 42: 20. "Mine eye affecteth my heart." Lam. 3: 51. "Rejoiced in heart." Ezek. 25: 6. "A despiteful heart." Ezek. 25: 15. "Weep for thee with bitterness of heart." Ezek. 27: 31. "They set their heart on their iniquity." Hosea 4: 8.
"The dead body of any man." Num. 19: 13. "Unclean by a dead body." Hag. 2: 13.
42. Nephesh is rendered life and lives one hundred and twenty times, and is applied indiscriminately to man and beast. "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life." Gen. 1: 20. "Everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life." Gen. 1: 30. "Flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof." Gen. 9: 4. "Your blood of your lives will I require;... at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man." Gen. 9: 5. "Escape for thy life." Gen. 19: 1 7. "Thy mercy... in saving my life." Gen. 19: 19. "My life is preserved." Gen. 32: 30. "His life is bound up in the lad's life." Gen. 44: 30. "The men are dead which sought thy life." Ex. 4: 19. "Thou shalt give life for life." Ex. 21: 23. "The ransom of his life." Ex. 21: 30. "The life of the flesh is in the blood." Lev. 17: 11. "It is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof;... for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof." Lev. 17: 14. "Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer." Num. 35: 31. "The blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh." Deut. 12: 23. "Life shall go for life." Deut. 19: 21. "He taketh a man's life to pledge." Deut. 24: 6. "Deliver our lives from death." Josh. 2: 13. "Our life for yours." Josh. 2: 14. "Afraid of our lives." Josh. 9: 24. "Jeoparded their lives." Judges 5: 18. "My father... adventured his life." Judges 9: 17. "I put my life in thy hands." Judges 12: 3. "Lest...
thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household." Judges 18: 25. "A restorer of thy life." Ruth 4: 15. "He did put his life in his hand." 1 Sam: 19: 5. "If thou save not thy life." 1 Sam. 19: 11. "What is my sin... that he seeketh my life" 1 Sam. 20: 1. "He that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life." 1 Sam. 22: 23. "To seek his life." 1 Sam. 23: 15. "As thy life was much set by... so let my life be much set by...." 1 Sam. 26: 24. "A snare for my life, to cause me to die." 1 Sam. 28: 9. "Put my life in my hand." 1 Sam. 28: 21. "Because my life is yet whole in me." 2 Sam. 1: 9. "Which sought thy life.". 2 Sam. 4: 8. "Kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew." 2 Sam. 14: 7. "My son... seeketh my life." 2 Sam. 16:11. "Falsehood against mine own life." 2 Sam. 18: 13. "Saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons... and the lives of thy... wives, and the lives of thy concubines." 2 Sam. 19: 5. "In jeopardy of their lives." 2 Sam. 23: 17. "Save thine own life, and the life of thy son." 1 Kings 1: 12. "Spoken this word against his own life." 1 Kings 2: 23. "The life of thine enemies." 1 Kings 3: 11. "Thy life as the life of one of them." 1 Kings 19: 2. "He... went for his life." 1 Kings 19: 3. "Take away my life." 1 Kings 19: 4. "They seek my life." 1 Kings 19: 10, 14. "Peradventure he wilt save thy life." 1 Kings 20: 31. "Thy life be for his life." 1 Kings 20: 39. "Thy life shall go for his life." 1 Kings 20: 42. "Let my life, and the life of these fifty... be precious." 2 Kings 1: 13. "Let my life now be precious." 2 Kings 1:14. "Fled for their life." 2 Kings 7: 7. "His life shall be for the life of him." 2 Kings 10: 24. "Put their lives in jeopardy, for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it." 1 Chron. 11:19. "The life of thine enemies." 2 Chron. 1: 11. "Let my life be given me." Esther 7: 3. "To make request for his life." Esther 7: 7. "To stand for their life." Esther 8: 11. "Stood for their lives." Esther 9: 16. "All that a man hath will he give for his life:" Job 2: 4. "Save his life." Job 2: 6. "Prolong my life." Job 6: 11. "Put my life in mine hand." Job 13:14. "Lose their life." Job 31: 39. "They devised to take away my life." Ps. 31: 13. "They... seek after my life." Ps. 38: 12. "They lurk privily for their own lives." Prov. 1: 18. "Taketh away the life of the owners." Prov. 1: 19. "The adulteress will hunt for the precious life." Prov. 6: 26. "Knoweth not that it is for his life." Prov. 7: 23. "Regardeth the life of his beast." Prov. 12: 10. "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life." Prov. 13: 3. "The ransom of a man's life." Prov. 13: 8.
"His life shall be grievous." Isa. 15: 4. "Therefore will I give... people for thy life." Isa. 43: 4. "They will seek thy life." Jeremiah 4: 30. "The men... seek thy life." Jeremiah 11:21. "Them that seek their lives." Jeremiah 19: 7. "Those that seek their life." Jeremiah 21: 7. "His life shall be... for a prey." Jeremiah 21: 9. "Them that seek thy life." Jeremiah 22: 25. "Them that seek their life." Jeremiah 34: 20, 21. "His life for a prey." Jeremiah 38: 2. "Men that seek thy life." Jeremiah 38: 16. "Thy life shall be for a prey."Jeremiah 39: 18. "I will give Pharaoh-hophra... into the hands of them that seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah... into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar... that sought his life." Jeremiah 44: 30. "Thy life will I give unto thee for a prey." Jeremiah 45: 5. "Those that seek their lives." Jeremiah 46: 26. "Save your lives." Jeremiah 48: 6. "Them that seek their life." Jeremiah 49: 37. "Lift up thy hands... for the life of thy young children." Lam. 2: 19. "With the peril of our lives." Lam: 5: 9. "Every man for his own life." Ezek. 32: 10. "Let us not perish for this man's life." Jonah 1: 14. "Take... my life from me." Jonah 4: 3. Total, 120.
43. Nephesh is rendered person thirty times. "Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself." Gen. 14: 21., "All the persons of his house." Gen. 36: 6. "According to the number of your persons." Ex. 16: 16. "The persons shall be for the Lord." Lev. 27: 2. "That person be guilty." Num. 5: 6. "Upon the persons." Num. 19: 1 8. "Whosoever hath killed any person." Num. 31: 19. "Thirty and two thousand persons." Num. 31: 35. "The persons were sixteen thousand; of which the Lord's tribute was thirty and two persons." Num. 31: 40. "Sixteen thousand persons." Num. 31: 46. "Which killeth any person." Num. 35: 11. "That killeth any person." Num. 35:15. "Whoso killeth any person;... one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die." Num. 35: 30. "Threescore and ten persons." Deut. 10: 22. "An innocent person." Deut. 27: 25. "That killeth any person." Josh. 20: 3. "Whosoever killeth any person." Josh. 20: 9. "The death of all the persons." 1 Sam. 22: 22. "Neither doth God respect any person." 2 Sam. 14: 14. "Blood of any person." Prov. 28: 17. "Johanan... took... every person." Jeremiah 43: 5, 6: "Captive... eight hundred thirty and two persons." Jeremiah 52: 29. "Seven hundred forty and five persons; all the persons were four thousand and six hundred." Jeremiah 52: 30. "Loathing of thy person." Ezek. 16: 5. "Cut off many persons." Ezek. 17: 17. "They traded the persons of men. Ezek. 27: 13. "If the sword come and take any person from among them." Ezek. 33: 6. Total, 30.
44. Nephesh is rendered soul four hundred and seventy-five times; out of seven hundred and fifty-two. The forty-four renderings of nephesh may be reduced to three; viz.: "life," "creature" and "desire."
§ 187. PSUCHE.
As before stated the word psuche, the only one rendered soul in the New Testament, occurs 105 times, and is rendered in six different ways, as shown in the following list:
Psuche is rendered life and lives forty times. "They are dead which sought the young child's life." Matthew 2: 20. "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,... is not the life more than meat?" Matthew 6: 25. "He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10: 39. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 16: 25. "The Son of man came... to give his life a ransom for many." Matthew 20: 28. "Is it lawful... to save life, or to kill?" Mark 3: 4. "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life... shall save it." Mark 8: 35. "The Son of man came... to give his life a ransom for many." Mark 10: 45. "Is it lawful to... save life, or to destroy it?" Luke 6: 9. "Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." Luke 9: 24. "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives." Luke 9: 56. "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat;... The life is more than meat." Luke 12: 22, 23. "Hate not his... own life also." Luke 14: 26. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it." Luke 17: 33. "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." John 10: 11. "I lay down my life." John 10: 15. "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life." John 10: 17. "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it." John 12: 25. "I will lay down my life for thy sake... Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake?" John 13: 37, 38. "That a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15: 13. "Men that have hazarded their lives." Acts 15: 26. "His life is in him." Acts 20: 10. "Neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts 20: 24. "With hurt and much damage... of our lives." Acts 27: 10. "There shall be no loss of any man's life." Acts 27: 22. "They seek my life." Rom. 11: 3. "Who have for my life laid down their own necks." Rom. 16: 4. "Not regarding his life." Phil. 2: 30. "He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." 1 John 3: 16. "The creatures which were in the sea, and had life died." Rev. 8: 9. "They loved not their lives unto the death." Rev. 12: 11. Total, 40.
2. Psuche is rendered mind three times. "Made their minds evil affected." Acts 14: 2. "Stand fast... with one mind." Phil. 1:27. "Wearied and faint in your minds." Heb. 12: 3.
3. Psuche is rendered you once. "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you." 2 Cor. 12: 15.
4. Psuche is rendered heart once. "Doing the will of God from the heart." Eph. 6: 6.
5. Psuche is rendered us once. "How long dost thou make us to doubt?" John 10: 24.
6. Psuche is rendered heartily once. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Col. 3: 23.
It is rendered soul fifty-eight times. The word soul occurs in our English Bible 535 times. It is from nephesh 475 times, from psuche fifty-eight times, from n'deevah once, and from n'shah-mah once.
§ 188. The following quotation will illustrate the vague idea of many in relation to that which may be saved through Christ: A man stands looking over the rail of a vessel into the surging water, and cries out, "Save it! "Men come rushing up with, "Save what? A man overboard?" "No." "A woman?" "No." "Then it must be a child." "No, it is not a child." "What then can it be?" "I cannot tell." "Well, what does it look like?" "I do not know, it has never been seen." "What form is it?" "It has no form." "How large is it?" "Why, it has no size." "Well, about how much will it weigh?" "It has no weight." "Will it perish in the water?" "No, no; but save it, save it."
In conclusion, I must say, that after a careful and prayerful examination of the entire Bible on this subject for over fifty years, I can honestly come to no other conclusion, than that the word soul in the Bible nowhere represents a part of man that exists in a conscious state, when the physical organism is sleeping in the embrace of death. I am most fully satisfied that the Bible, the facts of science, the eternal principles of pure reason, metaphysics, and common sense, are all harmonious with this conclusion.
It is a fact that the immortality of the soul was not taught by Moses, the prophets, Christ, the apostles, nor any other Bible writer, nor by the Apostolical Fathers. It was believed and taught by the Pagans, and is to-day the chief corner stone of all false systems of religion. Is it not high time for every lover of the Lord and his truth, to abandon forever this unscriptural doctrine, that has produced such a vast amount of evil fruit?
——
The foregoing is a part of a book entitled POSITIVE THEOLOGY, of which an index is found on the following pages. This book can be had for 75 cents (reduced price). Address:
The World's Crisis, 160 Warren St., Boston, Mass. Our Hope, Mendota, Ill. Messiah's Advocate, 716 Seventh St., Oakland, Cal. Present Truth Messenger, Live Oak, Fla.
1895
Author of "The Beauty of Holiness," "The Kingdom of God," "The Two Houses of Israel,"
"The Wages of Sin," "The Soul, What is It?" "The Spirit, What is It?"
"What is Man?" "The Rich Man and Lazarus," "The Nature of Man,"
"Spiritualism Unveiled and Shown to be the Work of Demons"
"Papal Dangers," "Papal Mysteries," "The Antichrist,"
"The Two Resurrections, and the Intervening Millennium,"
"Prophetic Symbols," "The Mystery Explained,"
"Thoughts for Thinkers," etc., etc.