4.2 THE SOUL
In light of this should be inconceivable that man has an 'immortal soul' or some element within them immortal by nature. Now try to clarify the confusion surrounding the word 'soul'.
Hebrew and Greek words (nefesh and psyche, respectively) which is translated as 'soul' in the Bible also translated in the following ways:
body, breath, being, heart, mind, person, he
Therefore, 'soul' refers to the person, body or being. The famous SOS ("save our souls") clearly means Save us from death! Therefore the 'soul' is 'you', or the sum of everything that makes a person. Therefore, it is understandable that many modern versions of the Bible (eg, the Jerusalem Bible) rarely use the word 'soul' translating it instead as 'you' or 'person'. The animals that God created are called "living creatures ... every living creature" (Genesis 1:20,21). The Hebrew word here translated as "being" is "nefesh", which is also translated as 'soul', for example in Genesis 42:21: "... we saw the anguish of his soul." So the man is a 'soul', as the animals are "souls." The only difference between mankind and animals is that man is mentally superior to these, he has been created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27; see Study 1.2), and some men are called to hear the gospel by which through access to the hope of immortality 2 Tim. 1:10). With respect to our fundamental nature and character of our death, there is no difference between man and animals:
"What happens to the children of men, and what happens to the beasts, one event is [note double emphasis]: as one dies, so dies the other ... the man has no advantage over the beast ... All [ie, man and animals] go to a place [the grave], all is made of dust, and all turn to dust "(Ec 3:19,20).
The inspired writer of Ecclesiastes prayed that God would help men to realize this hard fact:
"That [Men] see that they themselves are like beasts "(Ec 3:18).
Therefore, it is expected that many people find difficult to accept this fact, in truth, can be humiliating to realize which by nature are not just animals, living life the same instincts for self-preservation, survival of the fittest and procreation. Ecclesiastes 3:18 says that God 'test' the man making him see that no more than an animal, ie those who are humble enough to be his true people will realize the truth of this, but those who are not will not pass this 'test'. The philosophy of humanism - the idea that human beings are of supreme importance and value-has quietly spread across the world during the twentieth century. Is a considerable task to clean our minds from the influence of humanism. The plain words of Psalm 39:5 are helpful: "Surely every man is altogether vanity living." "Neither the man who walks to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23).
One of the most basic things we know is that all human bodies - indeed all "living beings" - eventually die. Therefore, the 'soul' dies is exactly the opposite of something that is immortal. In fact, of the 754 times the Hebrew word nefesh appears in Scripture, 652 were refer to the death of the soul. Not surprisingly, almost one third of all uses of words in the Bible translated as 'soul' is associated with death and destruction of the soul. The fact that the word 'soul' is used in this way shows that there may be something indestructible and immortal:
- "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).
- God can destroy the soul (Matt. 10:28). Other references to that souls are destructible are: Ez. 22:27, Proverbs 6:32; Lv. 23:30 (in the latter, the word nefesh has been translated, person).
- All souls that were in the city of Hazor were killed by the sword (Joshua 11:11; compare with Josh. 10:30-39).
- "... every living thing died [psyche]" (Rev. 16:3; cf. Ps 78:50).
- The Hebrew word nefesh is also translated died in Numbers 9:6. No man can stop the death of his soul, that is, their entry into the grave (Ps. 89:48).
- often the law of Moses commanded that every "person" (soul) to disobey certain laws should be dead (eg, Nm. 15:27-31).
- References to the soul is choked or stuck with bonds can only be meaningful if it is understood that the soul can die (Proverbs 18:7, 22:25, Job 7:15).
- No one "can keep alive his own soul "(Ps. 22:29).
- Christ" poured out his soul [nefesh] to death "so that his" soul "or life, was made a sacrifice for sin (Isaiah 53:10, 12).
that the soul refers to the person or body and not some immortal spark within us is demonstrated by most of the verses where the word appears. Some obvious examples are:
- "... blood of souls "(Jer. 2:34, KJV).
-" If any [soul] sins by being called to testify ... and not utter it ... also the person who touched any unclean thing ... or if any [soul] shall swear lightly with his lips ... "(Leviticus 5:1-4).
- "Bless my soul, Lord, bless all my being ... Bless my soul, Lord ... that satisfies your mouth with good" (Ps. 103:1,2,5).
- Numbers 21:4 shows that a group of people can have a 'soul'. Therefore, the soul, can not refer to any personal immortality spark within each of us.
"For whoever would save his life [psyche], shall lose it and whoever loses his life [soul] for my sake will save it ..." (Mark 8:35). This is sufficient proof that the soul does not refer to any spiritual element within man, here, 'soul' (Greek 'psyche') means only one physical life, which is the way it translated here. We give our lives / souls just as the Lord on the cross, who "poured out his soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:12).
0 comments:
Post a Comment