Is the human soul immortal?

God’s Word declares that “the soul that sinneth it shall die” (Ezek 18:4, 20). When a man dies, “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” (Psa. 146:4). God told Adam, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17). It was not merely Adam’s body that during that thousand-year day died, but Adam himself—the human soul or being died in every respect. That which is immortal is not subject to death; it is death-proof, indestructible. But Adam was mortal, hence could die. The Hebrew word translated “soul” is found hundreds of times in the Bible. Surely if the human soul were immortal God would have said so at least once! The term “immortal soul” is not found in the Bible. There is a difference between everlasting life and immortality. Immortality is only for those in heaven who are of the Divine nature. Everlasting life will never be possessed by any of the human race except as a gift from God. Space will not permit a further discussion here.

well said and I particularly like your point "Surely if the human soul were immortal God would have said so at least once!" Definitely something worth considering.

God's revealed written Word says: God alone is immortal.


Our God is a Consuming Fire

God said it more than once for those who have ears to hear. So let's get rid of this foolish notion that souls are perishable.

1. Does the Bible speak of Sheol in the OT and Hades in the NT? Absolutely

2. When men died did their bodies go into their graves while their souls and spirits went to Sheol/Hades? Absolutely.

3. Now if souls were perishable would there be any need for Sheol/Hades? Absolutely not.

BTW the term "mortal" and "immortal" is used incorrectly for souls (which are immaterial). Mortality applies strictly to bodies. But it souls were perishable, how could bodies become immortal after resurrection?

Soul life is breath life ...the life (nephesh) of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11)

1Co 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Amen. The Bible teaches that immortality is put on, or attained, one way and one way only:

By grace through faith in the shed righteous blood of Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the LORD, because you know that your labor in the LORD is not in vain.

Is the human soul immortal?


A man's soul shall either spend eternity in everlasting Heaven or in everlasting Hellfire.

We do not build NT Christian Doctrine on the Book of Ecclesiastes.
I can post plenty of Scripture if anyone is not familiar with God's written Word.

From 1 Corinthians 15:50-54

Death does not mean the end of existence. Adam died the moment he ate the forbidden fruit. All people are born dead in trespass and sin. The word translated "soul" is rendered "person" in a number of translations.

Death is more accurately thought of as eternal separation from God, who is Life itself. Jesus is the The Life. He came to give us life - because we have no life in ourselves. The second death is for those who refuse to accept God's salvation through Christ. Again, there is no evidence to say that the second death is the end of existence either.

Immortal soul like most of Christian doctrine today comes from pagan sources, largely Platoism. God can destroy any and everything He wants, soul is no exception, its foolish to think otherwise.

Consider
Romans 2:6Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

Hmmm...I see... Immortality to the deluded mind are like misplaced glasses on top of one's head.

It's foolish to call Bible doctrines "pagan". Looks like you do not know too much about this subject. It is generally cultists who call Christian beliefs pagan and then promote their own false doctrines.

There's no need to take random verses and make a mishmash out of them. What do these verses mean? Physical life requires oxygen and nutrients to the blood, and as long as the blood flows through the body there is physical life. As long as oxygen reaches the blood there is physical life. But the soul and spirit live on after physical death. They are IMPERISHABLE.

The most well known and best loved Scripture says otherwise.


John 3:16

Apollumi 622

Spirit is incorruptible 1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

While soul is occasionally reference as the spirit of man, there is no immortality or transmigration of the soul. ……….soul and spirit (biblically) are two very different things. How people use them in secular and religious dialogue may or may not reflect Gods intent.

The Hebrew word for soul is the word nephesh.

It is used 738x in the OT and has been translated soul 475x, and various other words 263x, including: life, person, mind, heart, creature, body, himself, ..etc. The Hebrew word chay, which means “alive, living soul, or moving life”…. will always be employed in the Word of God with nephesh ….as living life, in contrast to a dead or perished soul.

The first time nephesh is translated “soul” is in Gen 2:7…..but, it is not the first time it is used. In Genesis chapter one, it is used four times in verses 20, 21,24 &30 …But for the purposes of this post, I want to key off of Gen 1:21….

Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living [chay] creature [nephesh] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

The first thing to note is that when God created soul life, he created it in great whales and every living creature that moveth. That tells us that soul life is not only in animals, but that it was created in animals first.

Create = bara in Hebrew - The word create is to bring something into existence that did not exist before, or to make something out of nothing. Once God creates something He does not need to create it again …He just speaks it into existence. After Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 1:21, God did not create anything again until the 5th day when He created soul life in “great whales and every living creature.

((WHERE is the soul?))

The soul is our breath life, It’s what gives life to a persons body, it’s vitality. …. But the question becomes ….Where is the soul?

In Leviticus God tells us…..

Lev 17:11 For the life [nephesh] of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls [nephesh]: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul [nephesh]

The word life in this verse is the same word for soul (nephesh) Soul life is in the blood.

Going back to basic Biology: Oxygen is delivered throughout the body by means of the red blood cells ….actually it is the hemoglobin molecules from the red cells that deliver the oxygen to the individual cells in the body tissue. The bloodstream also picks up CO2 from the body and returns it to the lunges to be exhaled…

What happens when we die?

The heart, which pumps the blood, which delivers the oxygen to the brain …… stops….. soul life ceases in that particular person…. but is carried on through prodigy. But if there is no offspring, the soul is gone when that person dies; there is nothing immortal about the soul.

In Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (chay nephesh)

The words “breathed into his nostrils” is the figure of speech anthropopatheia or condescension. This figure of speech is used of the ascription of human passions, actions, or attributes to God.

(Of the 219 known figures of speech, God uses more than 214 are found in the Bible.)

The same soul life that God created in Genesis 1:21 is the same soul life that God breathed into Adam, which made Adam a living soul….It is also the same soul life that continues in mankind today.

Rev 14:9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.f The rich man also died and was buried, 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
Eternal torment can't be endured unless you survive, yes?

FALSE. Why do people try to pervert Bible truth in critical matters? (And there is no need to throw "transmigration" into the mix).

As I already pointed out. the very existence of Sheol/Hades is confirmation that souls are imperishable. Which means that they exist for eternity. Those who are "in Christ" will be with Christ eternally. Those who are not "in Christ" will be with Satan eternally (in the Lake of Fire). And both groups will receive resurrected bodies for eternity. Thus Christ spoke of the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation (John 5:29). If souls were perishable, there could be no such resurrections.

1. In the Bible the word "soul" is often substituted for person, so that the real you is in fact your soul (1 Peter 3:20). And the spirit and soul -- while distinct from each other -- are very closely joined together (Heb 4:12)

2. The human being consists of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess 5:23). Upon physical death (the first death) the soul and spirit are separated from the body. While bodies are interred in graves, the souls and spirits either go to (a) Heaven to be with Christ or (b) Hades to await their final judgment.

The meaning of "perish" -- as already explained a hundred times -- is not annihilation but eternal damnation: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:11,12) As noted in Revelation 20:10, damnation is eternal.

The verses here have been addressed already that explain how they do not teach that the soul ceases to exist.

So I will show another biblical track to ponder.

Rev 19:20 - But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Lest anyone conclude that the beast and FP were burned up in the fiery lake of burning sulphur (lake of fire), there's more.

Rev 20:10 -
Berean Study Bible
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The 'they' in v.10 include both the beast and FP. So we know that even after 1,000 years, the beast and FP are still there and "will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The word "they" includes both the beast and FP, having been cast into the lake of fire 1000 years previously. iow, they are still there, minus their physical bodies, which did cease to exist.

Do you have the reference for that? I am still looking.