Is the Soul Immortal?—No. 12.
By C. W. Stone
“AND fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Matt. 10:28. This scripture is supposed to contain all the much needed evidence that the soul lives right on when the body dies, and furthermore, that the soul must live forever, for it is here said to be something that can not be killed. The righteous, therefore, go to Heaven at death, and the wicked at death are consigned to the lake of fire where they are to be tormented forever. Let us candidly examine and see if this text affirms all this. It does seem to affirm that man is not able to kill the soul; and as it is evident that man can kill the body, does it not prove that the soul lives on after the body dies? This would seem to be the conclusion, but things are not always as they seem. Before examining this text further, let us see if there is not a text or two in the Bible that affirms that souls have been killed by man. Lev. 24:17. “He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.” The Hebrew has it, “he that killeth any soul,” or “smiteth the life.” Turn to Num. 31:19. “Whosoever hath killed any person,” Hebrew, neh-phesh, soul. Whosoever had killed any soul was to do certain acts to purify himself. Deut. 27:25 says, “Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.” The word person here is the same Hebrew word as above. So we see that the soul can be killed by man. One or two more examples and we return to the text. Read Joshua 10:28, 30, 32, 35, 37, 39; and 11:11, where it is recorded that Joshua took several cities, in each case destroying all the souls therein with the edge of the sword. By this time, the reader will admit, and perhaps claim, that the original word for soul is sometimes applied to the body, the whole man, as in some of the cases cited. It does. It also applies to the life as in Lev. 24:17, cited above. Let it be remembered that the word neh-phesh, from which the word soul is translated in the Old Testament, is rendered soul, life, person, mind, body, and in various other ways. We will now return to Matt. 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.” If we had read the text clear through in the first place, we might have come to one conclusion,—that there is One who is able to destroy the soul, therefore it is not indestructible. If it be urged here that destroy in this verse does not mean destroy, we ask in reply, In what theological dictionary is to destroy defined, to put in fire-proof state of preservation? One thing is certain, namely, the word destroy has the same force in the latter part of the sentence as kill has in the former part. Fear not them that kill the body, but can not kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to kill both soul and body in hell. We are not to fear God simply because he can destroy the soul in hell—there would be no reason for fearing him in that simply—but we are to fear him because he can and will destroy soul and body in hell, unless we are found pardoned and blameless before him. Suppose then that the soul does survive the death of the body, the text puts a check on the idea of its immortality by declaring that God can destroy it in hell. The doctrine of eternal misery finds no support in language that talks destruction. But we will not suppose such an absurdity, nor does the language of the text require that we should. We have carefully examined the history of man’s creation, his death sentence after sinning, some of the testimony of Job, David, Solomon, and others, the case of the Saviour’s promise to the thief, and his parable of the rich man and Lazarus; and in all of our search we have found no immortal soul, no part going to Heaven at death; but, on the contrary, wherever we have looked (and we have been examining what our opponents regard as their best texts) we have found that man is a unit, and though he has body, soul, spirit, might, mind, and strength, yet none of these is capable of existing alone. We notice also that the destruction in hell, spoken of in the passage under consideration, is not affirmed of an immaterial soul or a soul of any kind separate from the body. Notice that point. “Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The soul and body are to be destroyed together. This cannot be until after the resurrection, when, according to the views of our opponents, the soul again enters the body; or, according to our view, when the body is raised and again becomes a living soul. But this point of difference is of no note now,—the destruction of verse 28 is upon the whole man according to either view. Now let us turn to365Luke, and hear how he expresses the same sentiment. Luke 12:4, 5. “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell.” Man can kill, and then his work is done; he can not harm the dead. But God, after he hath killed once, hath power to cast into hell, or, as Matthew has it, is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Here is brought very plainly to view the second death of the wicked, which occurs unto “both soul and body,” and which can not take place until after the resurrection. Let us now for a moment consider what this hell is. The word as used in the N. T. comes from three different Greek words, hades, ge-enna, and tartaroo. The first is used to denote the general receptacle of the dead, and is translated hell and grave. It might properly be translated grave in every instance. It occurs, in all, eleven times, as follows:— Matt. 11:23, shalt be brought down to hell;
16:18, the gates of hell shall not prevail.
Luke 10:15, shalt be thrust down to hell;
16:23, in hell he lift up his eyes.
Acts 2:27, wilt not leave my soul in hell;
31, his soul was not left in hell.
1 Cor. 15:55, O grave, where is thy victory?
Rev. 1:18, have the keys of hell and of death;
6:8, was Death, and Hell followed;
20:13, death and hell delivered up the dead;
14, death and hell were cast into. This is the word that corresponds to the sheol of the O. T., of which we spoke in discussing the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in number 10. The second word, ge-enna, is used twelve times. It is the name of a valley south of Jerusalem, the valley of Hinnom, called Gehenna, or Ge-enna, at first made infamous by idolatrous services performed there. All the filth and offal of the city, dead bodies, &c., were brought thither and consumed in fires perpetually burning, i. e., burning as long as there was anything to burn, which was about all the time.—See Cottage Bible, note on 2 Kings 23:10. With this place the Jews were well acquainted, therefore they were well prepared to comprehend the meaning when in the New Testament this valley is used as a figure of that place where the wicked will finally be burned up, body and soul, root and branch. No burning gehenna, or hell, now exists, nor will exist, until the wicked are raised and come up around the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire comes down from God and devours them (Rev. 20), melting the elements with fervent heat, 2 Pet. 3:7, 10. Then will there be a “lake of fire;” and like the fires of the valley of Gehenna, the fire thereof shall not be quenched as long as there is fuel for it to prey upon,—until soul and body be destroyed in gehenna. Gehenna occurs as follows:— Matt. 5:22, shall be in danger of hell fire—[Greek, shall be in danger of the fire of the valley of Hinnom]; 29, whole body should be cast into hell; 30, whole body should be cast into hell; 10:28, to destroy both soul and body in hell; 18:9, two eyes to be cast into hell fire; 23:15, more the child of hell than yourselves; 33, can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mark 9:43, having two hands to go into hell; 45, having two feet to be cast into hell; 47, having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Luke 12:5, hath power to cast into hell.
Jas. 3:6, and it is set on fire of hell. Tartaroo, the third word, is used but once. It represents the morally dark abode of Satan and his angels in the earth’s atmosphere or on its surface. It has no reference to any dark cavern or gloomy den in the interior of the earth—the devil don’t spend his time in so obscure a place. He is “going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it.” Job 1:7. Tartaroo occurs in 2 Pet. 2:4, thus: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell,” &c. We have now a definite idea of the kind of destruction spoken of in Matt. 10:28, and of the hell in which it is to be accomplished; and it is evident that it is wrought upon “soul and body” after the resurrection. Now what are the facts upon which our Saviour bases his language in this verse? Evidently these: One man can kill another. That is the most that he can do in that direction. He may cut and mutilate the dead body, or even burn it; but that will not harm the dead man; his thoughts are perished, he knows not anything. He has merely shortened his days—the man would have died some time, anyway; but this one thing he can not do,—he can not prevent that man’s rising from the dead. He can stop his life till the resurrection, but he cannot destroy it; it will spring forth again. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15. But God can do more. He can and will raise that man from the dead; and then he can and will, if the man is wicked, destroy soul and body in hell. The text proves in the clearest language that the soul is destructible, mortal. But what does the first part of the verse mean,—“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul?” It is a form of expression which means just what Luke means when he reports the same expression thus: “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” Luke 12:4. As we have shown, the original for soul is often rendered life. It is so rendered in the N. T. about thirty-eight times. Now we have also shown by numerous scriptures that the soul can be killed by man; and when we get a right understanding of this passage in Matt. 10:28, we shall find the scriptures harmonious. We think the true meaning is this: Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, to destroy or put a final end to life, or to prevent any future life; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, thus putting an end to life, from which there is no redemption.