The Bible View of Soul and Spirit
By W. G. Gosmer
Soul and Spirit Defined — The Creation of Man — A Vision of the Resurrection — Luther on the Immortality of the Soul This is the second of Professor Gosmer’s articles on the relation of man to the question of immortality. In his article last week, he showed that the leading nations, from the remotest antiquity, without any exception, had held to the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. And the question was very appropriately raised whether or not such a doctrine, so universally held by pagans, could at the same time be a part of the true teaching of the Bible. In his article next week, he will examine certain Bible texts that many persons have relied upon as proof of the inherent immortality of men. EDITOR. If we search the sacred volume from beginning to end, in any accepted version, or in the original Hebrew and Greek, we shall nowhere find, even in one instance, the term “immortal soul” or its equivalent. And in no case can we find a definition of the word “soul” or “spirit” that proves for those terms a conscious, immortal, or immaterial being, separate from the body. In proof of this, we submit the following definitions of the principal words in the Bible commonly rendered “soul” and “spirit.” The Hebrew nephesh (soul) occurs hundreds of times in the Old Testament. It has been generally translated “soul,” though in numbers of instances it has been rendered “life,” while in others it has been translated “mind,” “person,” “heart,” “body,” “dead body,” “breath,” “beast,” “creature,” etc. Nephesh is never rendered “spirit.” As will be seen by the following definition of the word by Gesenius, a standard Hebrew lexicographer, there is not even the slightest implication of immortality attached to it: “Nephesh. 1. Breath. 2. The vital spirit, as the Greek psuche, and the Latin anima, through which the body lives; i. e., the principle of life manifested in the breath. 3. The rational soul, mind, animus, as the seat of feelings, affections, and emotions. 4. Concrete living thing, animal in which is the nephesh,—life.” The Greek word psuche, from which the word “soul” in the New Testament is derived, is defined thus: “Psuche. 1. The breath. 2. The principle of life manifested in the breath. Hebrew, nephesh.”—Robinson. It will be noticed that the primary definition is in both instances “breath,” and none of the secondary definitions give the least sanction to the immortal-soul idea. The word “spirit” in the New Testament is invariably derived from the Greek pneuma. Defined by Robinson, it stands: “1. A breathing, breath, breath of air, and in motion. 2. The spirit of man; i. e., the vital spirit, life, soul, the principle of life residing in the breath breathed into man from God, and again returning to God.” The Hebrew word for “spirit” is ruah, having substantially the same definition and meaning as the foregoing words, but with an additional secondary definition, “the Spirit of God.” PRIMARILY THE LIFE PRINCIPLE
Thus in all the words considered, we find the primary definition invariably to be “breath”—the principle of life through which the body lives. We therefore see how difficult is the task of even reconciling the theory of an immortal soul with the Scriptures, to say nothing of proving it thereby. Evidently men have read the doctrine into the Bible, instead of reading it from the sacred page. In the reading of any book, it is paramount to know what the book says. We should therefore read the heaven-born Word with at least as much consideration as we would give to a treatise on law or surgery.729 Let us, then, in the light of the holy oracles, go a little farther into the question of the soul or spirit. When God formed man out of the dust of the earth, and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” it was, according to the record, the man who became the “living soul.” Gen. 2:7. Simultaneously with the entrance of the life principle, the lifeless form of clay became animated. Accordingly, when the life forces cease in death, the dust returns “to the earth as it was,” and the spirit (breath) returns “unto God who gave it.” Eccl. 12:7. “For as the body without the spirit [margin, ‘breath’] is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146:4. EZEKIEL’S VISION OF THE RESURRECTION
In Ezekiel’s vision of the resurrection, he beheld a “valley which was full of bones.” Let us note the record. “Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said He unto me, Prophecy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Ezek. 37:5-10. Here it is seen again that the breath is the life element; and this fully corroborates what is said of the creation of Adam, and it abundantly substantiates the fact that “the breath of the spirit of life” (Gen. 7:22, margin) is the vital element, the life principle, the soul, of man. EXPERIMENTS OF SCIENTISTS
Bearing directly upon this point are the experiments of some scientists a few years ago. They observed that the human soul has weight, as the body suddenly becomes lighter at death. For a time, scientific experiment seemed to be giving a degree of sanction to the soul theory; but subsequently, still another scientist ascertained that cats and mice also have souls, as the same phenomenon was observed by experiment upon them. Truly, therefore, has the wise man said: “That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath” (“spirit,” A. R. V., margin). Eccl. 3:19. MARTIN LUTHER’S TEACHING ON IMMORTALITY
Speaking of the immortality of the soul, Martin Luther says: “But I permit the pope to make articles of faith for himself and his faithful, such as, the pope is emperor of the world, and the king of heaven, and God upon earth; the soul is immortal; with all those monstrous opinions to be found in the Roman dunghill of decretals.” Luther’s characterization of the doctrine of the immortal soul is entirely consonant with truth. Upon that “monstrous opinion” rests the fearful doctrine of everlasting punishment, by which thousands have been driven to infidelity and skepticism, because they were unable to reconcile this teaching of eternal torment either with the nature of God, or with the teachings of His word, or yet with enlightened reason, or even with the common instincts of humanity; and but for this illogical theory of the immortal soul, Mariolatry, purgatory, and spiritualism, and other like errors, could not exist. In fact, the sane, Scriptural view of the unconscious state of the dead is the only safeguard known by which to meet these deceptions successfully.