The Soul is NOT IMMORTAL Apart From Redemption in Christ

Nowhere does the Bible state that the human soul, once created, is immortal and can never die. The Hebrew word for “soul” (or “being” or “life”) is nephesh, which appears over 750 times in the Old Testament; the Greek word for “soul,” psuche, appears over 100 times in the New Testament. These over 850 references should tell us all we need to know about the soul, yet none say anything about it being immortal by nature apart from redemption in Christ (2 Timothy 1:10). If the immortal soul doctrine were true, why did the LORD inspire hundreds of references to the soul without mentioning anything about it being inherently immortal? On the contrary, God plainly informed Adam, who was a “living soul,” that he would “surely die” if he sinned (Genesis 2:17). He also pointed out in Ezekiel 18:4,20 that “the soul (nephesh) who sins… will die.” And, of course, Jesus plainly declared that God would “destroy both soul (psuche) and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). A usual knee-jerk, but hollow, response is to argue that these Scriptures “are taken out of context.” I would like to use this same argument by pointing out that biblical references to the immortal soul are taken out of context, but I can’t because no such passages exist.

A comparison of New Testament words for “death,” “perish,” “destruction,” etc. to other well-known Greek writings of the same general period offers additional support. For example, four centuries before Christ, Plato argued that the human soul is immortal and can never die or cease to exist. What Greek words did Plato use to express this denial? He used the exact Greek words that Paul and others in the New Testament used to describe the everlasting destruction of unbelievers. Here are several examples:

Plato taught that the human soul would not die (apothnesko) whereas Paul taught that it could die (e.g. Romans 8:13);
Plato taught that the human soul would never experience death (thanatos) whereas Paul and James taught that it could experience death (e.g. James 5:20);
Plato taught that the human soul would not suffer destruction (olethros and apoleia) whereas Paul, Peter and Christ taught that it could suffer destruction (e.g. 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Peter 3:7 and Matthew 7:13-14).

Plato used these various Greek words to describe absolute extinction of being, not separation of being and perpetual existence in torment. Since Paul and others used these very same words to describe the eternal fate of those who reject God’s message of reconciliation in Christ, we must conclude that they too were referring to absolute extinction of being.

Furthermore, there were people in the 1^st Century who adhered to universal extinction, that is, they believed that when people died, they simply ceased to exist, with no hope of resurrection for either the righteous or unrighteous (which is a false doctrine, of course, in light of what the Bible teaches about the two types of resurrections). The Epicureans were Greeks who advocated this view and the Sadducees were Jews who supported it. What words did these sects use to express their belief in absolute extinction of conscious life? Why, the very same Greek words used in the New Testament to describe the everlasting destruction of the ungodly.

Corrupted by a Greek mindset, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) naturally adhered to the belief that the human soul is immortal and can never cease to exist; he was consequently a strong proponent of the eternal torment doctrine.

There were theologians prior to Augustine who embraced the idea of eternal torment, such as Tertullian (160-220 AD) whose support of never-ending roasting was based on his zealous belief in the immortality of the soul apart from redemption in Christ. He was so influenced by pagan Greek philosophy that he would quote Plato in his writings. For example: “I may use, therefore, the opinion of a Plato when he declares, ‘Every soul is immortal.’ ”

Athenagorus of Athens (127-190 AD), a Platonic philosopher who converted to Christianity, was the first Christian writer to expressly deny the literal everlasting destruction of the ungodly. Needless to say, his conclusion was not based on Scripture but on the pagan teaching that he learned earlier as a Greek philosopher, the idea that every unsaved human being possesses an immortal soul that can never die. This belief infiltrated Christianity soon after the time of the apostolic fathers when “the apologists” converted from Greek philosophy. Converts from Hellenistic Judaism also contributed to the proliferation of this teaching.

It was Augustine, however, who systemized and popularized eternal torment and caused it to become the official doctrine of the Roman church with his views being officially accepted by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. One might understandably wonder how God could allow such false doctrines as this and the immortal soul (apart from Christ) to become imbedded in the collective Christian mindset, yet God had nothing to do with “allowing” these unbiblical beliefs to infiltrate Christendom. These doctrines stem from the very first satanic lie recorded in the Bible (Genesis 3:4) (see this article for details). After the compilation of the New Testament canon, the Roman church increasingly deviated from Holy Scripture in the ensuing generations. When people willingly disregard the authority of God’s Word in favor of the word of human philosophy and religion there’s nothing God can do to stop the resulting apostasy, except inspire a reformation by the Holy Spirit, which came to pass a thousand years later.

Speaking of which, the Protestants based their reforms on the principle of sola scriptura, that all judgments of doctrine and practice must be based on the plain teachings of Holy Scripture, the blueprint for valid Christianity (1 Corinthians 4:6). The very father of the Reformation, Martin Luther, spoke of the philosophical arguments for the immortal soul as “monstrous fables that form part of the Roman dunghill of decretals [i.e. decrees].”

Many Anabaptists believed that the ungodly would ultimately perish in hell and cease to exist, as Christ plainly declared (Matthew 10:28; Luke 19:27), but John Calvin, second only to Luther as a Reformation leader, opposed the Anabaptists on this matter and advocated his support for the “traditional” Roman sect views of the immortal soul and eternal torment. Luther, not wanting to cause division, kept quiet in light of Calvin’s vehement stance. Thus the doctrines of the immortal soul and eternal torment crossed the pivotal point of the Reformation as part of fundamental Protestant beliefs. Consequently, despite the fact that both of these beliefs are clearly unbiblical, many Christians today continue to blindly regard them as unquestionable “orthodoxy.”

This article was edited from chapters 4, 6 and 9 of…

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Hell (Human Damnation) — Questions and Answers

Q&A on SHEOL / HADES, the Intermediate State of the Unsaved

RICH MAN & LAZARUS: Fantastical Parable or Literal Account?

The Believer’s “Intermediate State” (between Physical Death and Bodily resurrection)

Eternal Life: Questions & Answers