Do you have an immortal soul? Does this soul live on after you die? Do the souls of the dead people still roam around on the earth and some are in heaven?

Most Christians profess that they know the answers to these questions. They assume that what they believe is rooted in the Bible and that the immortal soul really exists. But is this true? Does the Bible support the claim that there is an immortal soul?

The truth may shock you. No single verse in the Bible puts the words “immortal” and “soul” next to each other.  As a matter of fact, from Genesis to Revelation, you will never find the term “immortal soul.” On the contrary, there are Bible verses that refute the teaching of the immortality of the soul. The Bible reveals that the soul is mortal and can actually die.

In this blog post, let me share just five of the Bible verses that disprove the immortal soul doctrine. I hope that you have an open mind to receive these new truths.

Verse no. 1: 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.”

Comment: The English word “soul” came from the Hebrew word nephesh. Strong’s Dictionary clearly defines this word as “a breathing creature.” The same dictionary tells us that nephesh can be used to refer to humans and animals.

Notice in Genesis 1:21. We read:

“So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”

The word “creature” here is derived from the word nephesh. Nephesh is also applied to birds (verse 30), land animals, reptiles, insects, and creeping creatures (verse 24).

As you can see, the term soul can be used both for humans, animals, and any other living creatures. Time and again, the Bible uses the term the living soul or living creature. Now, think about this: if there’s a living soul, then there must be a DEAD soul!

Verse no. 2: Genesis 2:17

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Comment: God said that Adam and Eve shall surely die when they eat the forbidden fruit. We know that Adam and Eve were both referred to as “living souls” as we can read in Genesis 2:7. If the soul is immortal, then obviously God made a mistake with what He said. We have a problem here then. Of course, there is no problem at all for those who believe that the soul is not immortal and can actually die.

Verse no. 3: Ezekiel 18:4, 20

“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.”

“The 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.”

Comment: It can’t get clearer than that! These verses PLAINLY tell us that the soul shall die. The Bible shows us that sin leads to death (Romans 6:23). Everyone who sins will die. The Hebrew word translated as soul from these verses is nephesh. If you look into Leviticus 22:4, Numbers 5:2; 6:11; and 9:6-10, you will see that the term nephesh is even used to refer to dead bodies.

Verse no. 4: Ecclesiastes 9:5

“For the living know that they shall die: BUT THE DEAD KNOW NOT ANY THING, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”

Part of the teaching of the immortal soul is that humans have a separate spirit entity that exists independently from their physical body. When a person dies, his “soul” or that spirit will continue to exist and be conscious.

However, we can see from Ecclesiastes 9:5 that the dead do not know anything. They are COMPLETELY unconscious, not knowing what is happening in the world of the living. In fact, the Bible consistently describes that the state of death is like sleeping (Daniel 12:2; job 3:11, 13, 17; John 11:11, Acts 13:36; I Corinthians 11:30; 15:51; and I Thessalonians 4:14). Just like in death, when you are asleep, you are not aware of your surroundings.

Verse no. 5: Matthew 10:28

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Most proponents of the immortal soul teaching use this verse to support their belief. However, if you look closely, the verse is actually telling us that the soul can be destroyed!

So, what does Christ mean when He mentioned Matthew 10:28? Looking at the Greek words used here can shed great light on Christ’s real message.

Jesus was warning His listeners that there would come a judgment of God. He was teaching them that we need not fear those people who can only kill the body, but not the soul. The physical human “body” is derived from the Greek word soma. The “soul” here is derived from the Greek word psuche, which denotes the person’s physical being with its consciousness. It is only God whom we must fear with reverence because He alone can destroy both soma and psuche, body and soul.

Matthew 10:28 tells us that men can only destroy the body because God can raise anyone to conscious life again just like what Christ did to Lazarus. God will also resurrect people during the second coming of Jesus.

When a person dies, he is not ultimately gone forever because God has the power to raise that person again. Jesus is telling us that we need to fear God because He also has the power to remove any possibility for a person to be resurrected. When God destroys a person in hell, that person will ultimately be forgotten with no chance of any later resurrection.

The False Immortal Soul Teaching

From these verses, we can prove that the teaching of the immortal soul is utterly false. The idea of the soul possessing immortality came from pagan beliefs and superstitious views. The Greek Philosophers are known to be the number one proponent of the immortal soul doctrine, which sadly modern Christianity adopted.

So what does this mean? Does it really matter whether we accept this false teaching or not? Of course, it matters. We need to stand on the ground of truth. Jesus claimed that if we are to worship God, we must do it in truth (John 4:24).

When we accept the immortal soul teaching, we are rejecting God’s truth. We can’t believe in God and wrong pagan beliefs at the same time. It is either you call God a liar or you worship Him as the God of truth and of all wisdom.

So, let us not be deceived by the teaching of the immortal soul. The Bible clearly tells us that such teaching is false, unbiblical, and deceitful. It obscures God’s true plan of salvation for all mankind. It is the time that we start believing what the Bible says and only then, we can really see and grasp the real meaning of life.

---

---