The Great Salvation. Thomas Williams

      Psa. 63:0 But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

      Acts 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.

      In the following testimonies the Hebrew word nephesh and the Greek word psuche, which are so frequently rendered soul, are rendered life. Substitute the word soul for life in the reading of these and it will be seen that, instead of soul being indestructible and immortal, it is the opposite.

      Exo. 4:10 Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

      Matt. 2:20 For they are dead which sought the young Child’s life.

      Mark 3:4 Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill (life or soul)?

      Rev. 8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life (soul) died.

      Rev. 12:11 And they overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives (souls) unto the death.

      Souls Go to and Are Delivered From the Pit, or the Grave

      Job 33:18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit (grave) and his life from perishing by the sword. Also verses 28, 30.

      Psa. 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (the grave), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

      Psa. 30:3 0 Lord, thou has brought up my soul from the grave; thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit. The pit and the "grave" are here synonymous; also "my soul, and "me" and "I"

      Isa. 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me.

      Isa. 89:4S What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul (himself) from the hand of the grave?

      Isa. 38:17, 18 Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; * * * for the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

      Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (grave), … same word as is translated grave in I Cor. 15:55.

      Now, dear reader, by these testimonies you will see that the various ways in which the soul is spoken of in the Bible leaves no room whatever for the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Think a moment. Is it not strange that in all the instances in which the word soul occurs it is never once spoken of as immortal? To find the phrase "immortal soul" you must close your Bible and open theological books; and these will direct you to the words of heathen philosophers as the authors from whom the phrase came. You do not hear popular teachers in our times speaking of souls dying, being destroyed going to the grave and coming out of ,the grave. They say the soul is "never dying", immortal, does not go to the grave and is not delivered from the grave. Take, for instance, the word life in Matt. 6:25, where the Greek word is psuche -- the word which in other places is rendered soul -- and try if you can make it suit the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. It would read, "Take no thought for your (immortal) "soul".

      Try it again in Matt. 16:25, 26, of which Dr. Adam Clarks says: "On what authority many have translated the word psuche in the 25th verse "life" and in this 26th verse "soul" I know not." If, as is claimed, that the word psuche means "immortal soul", then these verses would read, "For whosoever will save his immortal soul shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his immortal soul for my sake shall find it" etc.

      Ponder over the following questions and see the folly of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul:

      Since the Bible speaks of a living man (Gen. 2:7) as a living soul, and a dead man as a dead soul, (Num. 6:6; 9:10) (the word body in these verses is from nephesh), and since Paul defines a living soul to be a natural body (I Cor. 15:44, 45), how can you speak of the soul as immortal, deathless?

      The phrase 'living soul" occurs fourteen times in the original Scriptures and twice it is applied to man (Gen. 2:7:I Cor. 15:44); once to fish (Rev. 16:3) and eleven times to the beasts of the field (Gen. 1:20, 21, 24, 30; 2:19; 9:10, 12, 15, 16; Lev. 11:10, 46). In view of this can you persuade yourself that living soul means "immortal soul"?

      If the word soul signifies immortality, why is the word immortal added to it by those who use the phrase "immortal soul"? This is the same as if they were to say immortal immortality.

      If to have a soul is to have immortality, then the beasts have immortality; for they are said to have souls, as you will see by the verses already quoted and the following:

      Num. 31:28; Job 12:10; Prov. 12:10. (The word life is from nephesh, soul.)

      Popular teachers say the soul is immortal. They cannot give you their description of man without using the words "immortal soul" and yet Moses, the prophets, Christ and His apostles never used the words in all the nearly one thousand times they use the word soul. Immortal was never a prefix to the word soul with them.

      The Bible speaks of soul being born (Exo 12:19);of souls dying Rev. 16:3); of souls being in the grave (Psa. 89:48); of souls being raised from the dead (Acts 2:31); of souls having blood (Jer. 2:34); of souls breathing (Josh. 11:11); of souls being slain with the sword (Josh, 10:28, 29); of souls eating and drinking (Lev. 7:20); Isa. 32:6); of souls committing carnal abominations (Lev. 18:29); of souls expiring (Job 31:39 margin); of souls being burnt with fire (Isa. 47:14 mar-gin); of souls fasting (Psa. 35:13); of souls having flesh (Lev. 17:15, 16); of souls having hands (Lev. 22:6); of souls having mouths (Psa. 103:2,5); of souls having lips (Lev. 5:4); of beasts having souls (Deut. 12:23, Hebrew nephesho; of souls being put in fetters of iron (Psa. 105:18, margin); and of fish having souls (Rev. 8:9, Greek psuche, soul). In view of such Bible descriptions of souls, how is it possible, nay, is it not preposterous, to talk about souls being immortal and immaterial?

      Dear reader, you may think that all "great and good men" are against us upon this question, and this may-have weight on your mind, as it has with many; and they say, "O well, if great men believe in the immortality of the soul it is no use for us to deny it, for they ought to know." This is by no means a proper view to take. We must allow God to be true though all may there-by be proved liars. However, to show you that all "great men" have not believed in the doctrine and that some have protested against it, I will reproduce a list of quotations from the "Declaration".

      17. Many learned men deny the immortality of the soul

       Table of Contents

       PROPOSITION 17.

      Many Learned Men Deny the Immortality of the Soul, and Show that It Came from a Heathen Source

      Herodotus, the oldest historian, writes as follows:

      The Egyptians say that Ceres (the goddess of corn). and Bacchus (the god of wine), hold the chief sway in the infernal regions; and the Egyptians also were the first who asserted the doctrine that the soul of man is immortal.-Herodotus, page 144.

      Mosheim says:

      It’s first promoters argued from that known doctrine of the Platonic school, which was also accepted by Origen. and his disciples, that the divine nature was diffused through all human souls. Ecclesiastical History, Volume 1, page 80.

      Justin Martyr (150 AD) said:

      For if you have conversed with some that are indeed called Christians and do not maintain these opinions but even dare to blaspheme the God of Abraham and the God Isaac and the God of Jacob, and say that there is no resurrection of the dead, but that the souls, as soon as they leave the body, are received up into heaven, TAKE CARE THAT YOU DO NOT LOOK UPON THESE. But I, and all those Christians that are really orthodox in every respect, do know that there will be a resurrection of the body and a thousand years in Jerusalem, when it is built again and adorned and enlarged, as Ezekiel and Esaias and the rest of the prophets declare.-Dialogue