The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life

11. Souls have died—We will now show that souls have died. "He spared not their souls from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence." Ps. 78:50. "Every living soul died in the sea." Rev. 16:3. "He hath poured out his soul unto death." Isa. 53:12. Then some souls have certainly died. They are not therefore undying.

12. We read of dead souls—Turning to the original Hebrew, we find that the Bible speaks of dead souls, just as we should naturally suppose from the above facts. Thus we read: "And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body [Hebrew, nephesh—soul] of a man." Num. 9:6. Again: "We be defiled by the dead body [nephesh, literally soul] of a man." Verse 7. So again: "If any man of you, or of your posterity, shall be unclean by reason of a dead body"—literally, dead soul. Verse 10. "Whosoever toucheth the dead body [literally, dead soul] of any man that is dead." Num. 19:13. "He shall come at no dead body"—literally, "dead soul." Num. 6:6. "If one that is unclean by a dead body"—literally, "dead soul." Hag. 2:13. On this point see the Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance, on the word soul, where these facts are all brought out and noted. Other passages read the same. So there are dead souls.

13. The soul goes into the grave—Though this is directly contrary to the popular view, yet it is plainly and repeatedly taught in the Scriptures. Thus, when David came very near dying, but had been healed by the Lord, he said: "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave, thou hast kept me alive; that I should not go down to the pit." Ps. 30:3. Here we see that the Lord kept the soul of David out of the grave by healing him. If he had not healed him, David's soul would have gone into the grave. Again: "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" Ps. 89:48. Here it is declared that just as certainly as no man lives who will not see death, just so certainly no man can keep his soul out of the grave, for it goes into the grave when he dies. So Job relates the case of a man who was almost dead, and tells how near his soul came to going into the grave. "He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain; so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul, dainty meat. His flesh it consumed away that it cannot be seen, and his bones, that were not seen, stick out. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life unto the destroyers." Job 33:18-22. The nearer he came to death, the nearer his soul came to the grave. Had he died, his soul would have gone into the grave—so says the Bible.

The case of Hezekiah is right to the point. The Lord told him to set his house in order, for he should die. He became very sick, and cried to God. The Lord healed him. Then Hezekiah said; "Thou hast, in love to my soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee," etc. Isa. 38:17, 18. He knew that if he had died, his soul would have gone into the grave, the pit of corruption. This is the doctrine of the Bible everywhere.

14. The soul is never called immortal, deathless, never-dying—How commonly men talk of the "immortal soul," the "never dying soul!" To hear them we would suppose the Bible to be full of such expressions. But now consider these facts: The word "soul " occurs 873 times in the Bible; and yet in not a single instance is it called immortal, undying, deathless, never-dying, or anything of the kind. How shall we account for this if the soul is really immortal, and God meant to teach us so? No, the Bible says nothing about the heathen doctrine of the immortality of the soul as we here see. But it does very plainly teach the contrary.

NATURE OF THE SPIRIT.

The believers in the natural immortality of man are sure that they find conclusive proof of it in what is said of the spirit. The spirit never faints, never grows old, never becomes weak, never dies—it is immortal. So they claim. If the spirit is not deathless, then there is nothing about man that is. Very well; to the law and the testimony. What does the word of God say?

1. The spirit is formed in man—If the spirit is an immortal, indestructible entity, from whence came it? Where is it made, and what makes it undying? Is it a part of God? Is it made in heaven? The simple fact is, it is formed in the man, like all the other parts of man. Thus "saith the Lord, which stretched forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." Zech. 12:1. Man's spirit, then, is of a very humble origin—is made here on the earth and is formed in a poor decaying body. Little prophecy of immortality here.

2. Man's spirit grows with his body, and strengthens with his strength— If the spirit of man is a divine spark, an immortal essence, we cannot conceive how it could grow larger or smaller, stronger or weaker; for if it can, then it can die also. Now hear the word of God. Of John the Baptist, it says: "And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit." Luke 1:80. So in another case. Luke 2:40. This is a strong intimation that the spirit is not unchangeable.

3. The spirit needs renewing—If the spirit is imperishable, it certainly could not need to he renewed; yet the Bible does tell us that the spirit needs renewing. Says David, "Renew a right spirit within me." Ps. 51:10. Says Paul, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Eph. 4:23. So, then, the spirit must be renewed. It is not immortal, then, surely.

4. A new spirit is received at conversion—This fact is repeatedly affirmed in the holy

Scriptures. "I will put a new spirit within you." Eze. 11:19. "Make you a new heart and a new spirit." Chap. 18:31. The old spirit is laid aside and a new one takes its place. This shows that the spirit is only transitory like all other earthly things.

5. The spirit needs to be preserved by the Lord—"Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit." Job 10:12. That which has to be preserved is not imperishable.

6. The spirit faints—That which can faint can certainly die. "All hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint." Eze. 21:7. All these varied declarations point to the fact that the spirit is mortal, like all other parts of humanity.

7. The spirit sometimes fails—If the spirit were immortal, it could never fail. This cannot be denied. Indeed, this is just the point of contention between us and our opponents. They claim that the spirit can never be destroyed; that it is indestructible, that it can endure the wrath of God eternally. But the Lord has decided otherwise, as witness the following: "For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made." Isa. 57:16. Does not the Lord know the best? Shall we not believe him? He says the spirit could not endure his wrath forever for it would fail from before him. Then it is not immortal. Hence, the Psalmist says; "Hear me speedily, O Lord; my spirit faileth; hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit." Ps. 143:7. If the Lord had not heard him, his spirit would have failed, and he would have gone into the grave.

8. The spirit can be broken—"By sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken." Prov. 15:13. "A broken spirit drieth the bones." Prov. 17:22.

9. The spirit can be cut off—"He shall cut off the spirit of princes." Ps. 76:12. Can immortality be cut off?

10. The spirit can die—This is plainly implied in the following passage: "O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit." Isa. 38:16. Then the spirit, like the man, will cease to live; unless properly nourished. This shows it to be mortal.

11. At death the spirit returns to its original condition—Was the spirit conscious before it dwelt in man? Did it live somewhere as an intelligent entity? Nobody believes that. Very well. At death it simply goes back to where it was before. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Eccl. 12:7. What becomes of the body at death? It returns to the earth as it was before it becomes dust. What becomes of the spirit? It also returns to its original condition. It does not say that it goes to heaven. It never was in heaven, so it cannot return there.

ORIGIN OF THE WORD "SPIRIT"

Primarily, the word spirit means simply air. This every scholar knows. The original Hebrew and Greek make this so plain that none can fail to see it. In the Old Testament, the word spirit comes from two Hebrew words, n'shah-mah, and roo-agh.

N'SHAH-MAH

This word is thus defined by Gesenius "1. Breath, spirit, spoken of the breath of God, i. e., a) the wind. b) the breath, breathing of his anger. c) Spirit of God, imparting life and wisdom. 2. Breath, life, of man and beasts. 3. The mind, intellect. 4. Concrete, living things, animal, everything that hath breath." It occurs twenty-four times and is translated breath, seventeen times; blast, three times; spirit, only twice; soul, once; inspiration, once. We will quote every text where it occurs, that the reader may see that it never means an immortal entity.

"Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." Gen. 2:7. "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life." Gen. 7:22. "Save alive nothing that breatheth." Deut. 20:16. "Destroyed all that breathed." Josh. 10:40. "Not any left to breathe." Josh. 11:11. "Neither left they any to breathe." Josh 11:14. "At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils." 2 Sam. 22:16. "Not to Jeroboam any that breatheth." 1 Kings 15:29. "Was no breath left in him." 1 Kings 17:17. "By the blast of God they perish." Job 4:9. "Whose spirit came from thee?" Job 26:4. "While my breath is in me." Job 27:3. "The inspiration of the Almighty." Job 32:8. "The breath of the Almighty." Job 33:4. "His spirit and his breath." Job 34:14. "By the breath of God frost—" Job 37:10. "At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils." Ps. 18:15. "Everything that hath breath." Ps. 150:6. "The spirit of man is the candle." Prov. 20:27. "Whose breath is in his nostrils." Isa. 2:22. "The breath of the Lord." Isa. 30:33. "He that giveth breath." Isa. 42:5. "And the souls which I have made." Isa. 57:16. "Neither is there breath left in me." Dan. 10:17.

By the above it will be seen that breath is almost exclusively the meaning of the word.

ROO-AGH

This word occurs four hundred and forty-two times, and is thus defined by Gesenius: "1. Breath, a breathing, blowing, i. e., a) breath of the nostrils, b) breathing, of the mouth, c) breath of air, air in motion. 2. The vital breath, spirit, life, the principle of life as embodied and manifested in the breath of the mouth and nostrils, spoken of men and beasts. 3. The rational soul, mind, spirit. a) As the seat of the affections, emotions, and passions of various kinds. b) In reference to the disposition, the mode of feeling, and acting. c) Of will, counsel, purpose."

It is translated sixteen different ways. The word spirit, in our version, always comes from roo-agh, except in two passages. It is translated wind, ninety-seven times; breath, twenty-eight times; mind, six times; blast, tempest, etc.

In the New Testament, spirit is from the Greek Word: pneuma, which occurs three hundred and eighty-four times, and is translated ghost, ninety-two times; spirit, two hundred and ninety-one times; wind, once; life, once.

"It may be worth remarking," says Parkhurst in his Greek Lexicon, "that the leading sense of the old English word ghost is breath; that ghost is evidently of the same root with gust of wind; and that both these words are plain derivatives from the Hebrew, to move with violence; whence also gush, etc."

Pneuma is defined by Robinson to mean, primarily, "1. A breathing breath, breath of air, air 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." See also Liddell and Scott, Parkhurst, and Greenfield. Air, or air in motion, is the first and primary meaning of the word spirit. Here are a few samples: "God made a wind to pass over." Gen. 8:1. Gr. pneuma, Heb. roo-agh. "The Lord brought an east wind." Ex. 10:13. Heb. roo-agh. "Come from the four winds, O breath." Ezek. 37:9. Heb. roo-agh, Gr. pneuma. "The wind bloweth where it listeth." John 3:8.

The reader can see in a moment that the simple meaning in these passages is wind. From this naturally comes the next meaning of roo-agh, or spirit, viz., breath, because it is the air which we breathe. Any number of examples might be given on this point. Here are a few:—

"All in whose nostrils was the breath of life." Gen. 7:22. "He will not suffer me to take my breath." Job 9:18. "My breath is corrupt." Job 17:1. "Thou takest away their breath." Ps. 104:29. "Neither is there any breath in their mouths." Ps. 135:17. "His breath goeth forth." Ps. 146:4. "They have all one breath." Eccl. 3:19. "The body without the spirit (margin, breath) is dead." Jas. 2:26.

So, further, as we live by the air which we breathe, the word roo-agh, air, breath, or spirit comes to be used to mean life, the principle by which we live. So Gesenius defines it as above. It is thus used in the following texts:—

"When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived." Judges 15:19. "Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit." Job 10:12. "All the while my breath is in me; and the spirit of God is my nostrils." Job 27:3.