p. 9 | Man as Created

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 4, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 26.

Man as Created

1. What is the brief Bible record of the creation of man?

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. Gen. 2: 7.

2. Could it be truthfully said that this “living soul” was an immortal part that was breathed into man?

The record plainly states “man [that is, the whole being that was created] became a living soul,” and not that a “living soul” was breathed into him.

3. Does the record say that this soul that was thus created was immortal?

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Gen. 2: 16, 17.

4. Is there other Scriptural evidence that a “soul” may actually die?

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. Eze. 18: 4, 20.

5. Was it believed in Job’s day that the soul went into the grave at death?

So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away, that it can not be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. Job 33: 20-22. See also verses 28, 30.

6. Did the psalmist believe that the soul might die?

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before Him: and none can keep alive his own soul. Ps. 22: 29.

For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Ps. 116: 8.

7. Is the word “soul” ever applied to the lower animals as well as to man?

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life [margin, Hebrew, “soul”], and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature [Hebrew, “living soul”] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. . . . And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [Hebrew, “living soul”] after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. . . . And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life [margin, Hebrew, “a living soul”], I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. Gen. 1: 20, 21, 24, 30.

NOTE.—From the scriptures already quoted in this reading it may readily be seen that when man was created he, the whole man, “became a living soul.” The record does not say that a living soul was put into him to be immortal so that he could not possibly die. It is also plainly seen that those same scriptures tell us that the death penalty was pronounced upon man in case he sinned, and it is the “soul that sinneth” that shall die, and not the body merely. It is also seen from the last texts quoted that the lower animals and the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air, in common with man, are all said to possess souls. The Hebrew word nephesh, from which the word “soul” is usually translated, is applied indiscriminately to both man and beast. It is translated in over thirty different ways, by such words as “appetite,” “beast,” “body,” “creature,” “person,” “pleasure,” “life,” “heart,” “mind,” etc., as well as the word “soul.”

8. Then if we do not have a soul that is immortal, where is the hope for endless life?

In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death. Prov. 12: 28.

9. What brings life and immortality to light?

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. 2 Tim. 1: 9, 10.

10. Can it be said, then, that any one who does not accept the Gospel has immortality in himself through the possession by nature of an immortal soul?

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3: 36.

And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. 1 John 2: 25.

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 1 John 5: 11, 12.

11. When do we actually come into possession of eternal life, which is so clearly stated to be in the Son of God for those who believe the Gospel?

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Col. 3: 3, 4.