What Happens When We Die? (Part 2)
January 3rd, 2010 by Brian Keating
Are souls immortal?
As noted in the introduction, most churches believe that the soul is immortal – i.e., that the soul cannot die. However, the phrase “immortal soul” does not appear anywhere in Scripture. So, let’s see what Scripture does say about the soul.
First, we know from Genesis 2:7 that a “soul” – i.e., a conscious being – comes into existence, when the breath of life (or spirit) is added to a person’s physical body. In other words, when the breath of life starts animating a person’s body, that person becomes conscious.
Similarly, as soon as the breath of life stops animating a person’s physical body, the soul in question ceases to exist. In other words, when the breath of life stops animating a person’s body, that person becomes completely unconscious – i.e., the soul in question dies.
The reason why we know that souls can die is because Scripture explicitly states that fact:
Ezekiel 18:4
4Behold, 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.
Ezekiel 18:20
20The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
James 5:19-20 (ESV)
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
By definition, the word “immortal” means “not subject to death”. In other words, if something is immortal, then it can not die. Of course, the above verses explicitly tell us that souls can die. As a result, the above verses explicitly state that souls are not immortal – instead, souls are mortal!
Summary of body, spirit and soul
To recap, here is a synopsis of what we have discussed: A physical body that has the breath of life (or spirit) in it is called a soul – i.e., a conscious being. A physical body that does not have the breath of life in it is called a corpse – i.e., an unconscious, dead body.
The above concepts can be displayed as a pair of “formulas”, as follows:
An unconscious, dead body + the breath of life = a conscious being (soul)
A conscious being (soul) – the breath of life = an unconscious, dead body
Note that the three items listed above – body, spirit, and soul – are all listed in the following verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:23
23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit (energy) and soul (consciousness) and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next week: Are dead people conscious of anything?
Nice job Brian. I’m looking forward to the next “installment”.
BTW, another verse that shows we’re just dust/base elements without God’s animating breath of life in us is Job 34:14-15.
“If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.”
Psalms 104:29 pretty much says the the same thing:
“You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust.”
Thanks Ron – those verses certainly do give additional perspective on what happens when we die. (I can see that this subject is being debated rather vigorously, on the “State of the Dead” post.)