Bible Questions and Answers

The doctrine that we have an immortal soul which lives on in a conscious existence after death is not found in the Bible.

We do not possess a soul.

We ARE a soul.

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.

When we die we become a dead soul.

The Hebrew word translated soul is נפשׁ nephesh.

This is the same word which is translated ‘creature’ when applied to animals

Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature (נפשׁ nephesh) that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature (נפשׁ nephesh), that was the name thereof.

When the Bible talks about a dead soul, the translators (who believe in immortal souls) hide it from us by translating the word as ‘body’.

Leviticus 21:11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body (נפשׁ nephesh), nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;

Numbers 6:6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body (נפשׁ nephesh).

Numbers 9:6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body (נפשׁ nephesh) of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

Numbers 9:7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body (נפשׁ nephesh) of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?

Numbers 9:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body (נפשׁ nephesh), or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.

Numbers 19:11 He that toucheth the dead body (נפשׁ nephesh) of any man shall be unclean seven days.

Numbers 19:13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body (נפשׁ nephesh) of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

In all it is translated (dead) ‘body’ 8 times and ‘dead’ 5 times.

So we see that according to the Bible a soul dies.

This makes sense, in that the penalty for a soul that sins is death.

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

When we die we corrupt back into the elements from which we are made.

Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

When we are dead we are unconscious.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing,

Our thoughts perish

Psalms 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

For this reason, death is described as sleep.

1 Kings 2:10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

Taking David as an example we are told that after death he was buried and ‘saw corruption’.

Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

We are also told that David has not ascended to heaven.

Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens…

David is described as a man after God’s own heart.

Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

If any ‘soul’ could ascend to heaven it would be David’s.

So we see that souls do not ascend to heaven at death.

That is why resurrection from the dead is necessary in order to attain to eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Eternal life is the reward for faithful men and women which they will be given when Christ returns to raise them from the dead.

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Eternal life is not something that we already possess.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Those who are rejected by Christ will die again and perish forever.

Cremation

Cremation simply speeds up the process of corruption.

The end result is the same.

We are reduced to a pile of dust.

It is no more difficult for God to raise someone who has been cremated than someone who has been buried, or lost at sea and eaten by marine life, or left unburied and eaten by birds and wild animals, or blown to pieces in an explosion.

Burial is the norm, but there is no commandment which forbids cremation.

What matters is how we live our life, not what happens to us when we are dead.

May I suggest that you read ‘After Death - What?’ here:

https://www.thisisyourbible.com/library/show/43

I hope you find this helpful.

God bless,
Glenn