From Newsgroup: alt.bible

Don't be fooled. THERE IS NO IMMORTAL SOUL!!

Notice: Anything that dies is not immortal!

- New King James
Ezekiel 18:20a "The soul who sins shall die...."

The FIRST time the word "soul" (nephesh) is used in the Bible, doesn't
deal with humans, but with fish etc. Genesis 1:20:

"And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living souls,
[nephesh] and let fowl fly above the earth in the expanse of the
heavens. " (DBY) (my brackets)

Rev 16:3 says,

"And the second one poured out his bowl into the sea. And it became
blood as of a dead man, and every living soul [psykhe] died, [yes,]
the things in the sea. (1st brackets mine)

Now here is the first time the word "soul" (nephesh) is used with a
human:

-- King James
Genesis 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.

THE WHOLE MAN became a "soul", he wasn't given one. Thus the Bible
says a person IS a soul. And since people die, SOULS die.

We use similar words today. For example, at an airport, if a plane
calls in for an emergency, they usually among other things, ask "How
many souls on board?" And they don't mean paranormal things.

Don't be fooled when people hold on to their church teachings saying
we all have an immortal soul.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states:

"The notion of the soul surviving after death is not readily
discernible in the Bible. . . . The soul in the O[ld] T[estament]
means not a part of man, but the whole man-man as a living being.
Similarly, in the N[ew] T[estament] it signifies human life: the life
of an individual."

--A soul is not a part of a man, but is the whole man.

Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia says,

"Early Judaism considered the human personality as a whole, without
making a sharp distinction between body and soul....The Christian
doctrine of the soul has been strongly influenced by the philosophies
of Plato and Aristotle."

So where did 'immortal soul' come from? The pagans Plato and Aristotle
had some effect on that false belief.

Compton's Encyclopedia states,

"The long-held notions, devised by the Greeks and others, concerning
man as a composite of material body and spiritual (or immortal) soul
was foreign to Israel...."

That humans have an immortal soul was foreign to Israel.

But all of those were in the OT. We are now mainly living out of the
NT. Right?

BLEEP!

Not really. Real Christians live out of the whole Bible.

Thus soul in the Bible means the whole man. And "soul" can also mean
LIFE, depending how it is used. For example, here is where it means
LIFE:

-- New King James
Genesis 35:18 And so it was, as her soul [nephesh] was departing (for
she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. [brackets mine]

For Christians, the OT is just as important as the NT. Why? Take note
of 2 Tim 3:16:

-- King James
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness:

So going back to Gen 35:18, these translations use the word LIFE
[psykhe] instead of soul, since that is what soul means:

CEB
As her life faded away, just before she died, she named him Ben-oni,
but his father named him Benjamin.

EHV
Then as her life was slipping away (for she was dying), she named her
son Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.

LEB
And it happened that when her life was departing (for she was dying),
she called his name Ben-Oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

So in order to believe in an immortal soul, you have to ignore most of
those Scriptures and references above. And that is not being a real
Christian.

"How Can the Bible Help You?
Find out with our free interactive Bible study program."
Go to: jw.org (9/25/2026)
zebrabible@proton.me

Help put the fire out in Hellfire.
God is not a sadist but a God of love. (1 John 4:8)



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