Immortal Soul? Impossible!
Why would I say, for the soul to be Immortal, would be impossible? I'll begin this discussion by pointing to the words of the Apostle Paul at Romans 5:12 where he tells us this:
12 "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." {Romans 5:12 NIV}—
For many Centuries now all Mankind has been dying because of the sin of one Man, Adam! We notice, Paul tells us that two things were handed down, to all Mankind through the process of inheritance. Sin, and death, through sin. So the first Man, Adam, passed on to Mankind all he had to pass on.
Does the Genesis account, in any way, indicate, that Adam, in any way, was capable of passing on immortality, to the Human-Race? The reason being, if the soul was to be immortal, Adam himself would have had to pass that on to mankind. Being as he was the very first Man. It could not have come any other way, than but through Adam. The question is, could it have? Lets look at where the trouble all began, and see if we can find a suitable answer to this question. First notice how Adam was created:
7 "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." {Genesis 2:7 21st C KJV} So Adam wasn't given a Soul, he was created as such; a living being, or person.
The Apostle Paul agreed with this account, as evidenced by his following words:
45 "And so it is written: "The first man Adam was made a living soul." The last Adam was made a quickening Spirit." {1 Corinthians 15:45 {21st CKJV}
Two inspired Bible Writers are in complete agreeance, as to just how Adam was created, and they do not tell us he was given a soul, they tell us he was a Soul, and created as such. A person or being. Now how do we know, he couldn't have been immortal?
By looking closely at the Genesis account of creation where all the trouble first began, and how, and why it began.
15 "The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die. "{Genesis 2:15-17 HCSB} But what happened?
1 "Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.
4 "No! You will not die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate [it]; she also gave [some] to her husband, [who was] with her, and he ate [it]. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves." {Genesis 3:1-7 HCSB}
The Fact Jehovah told them that they would die if they touched that Tree, tells us that they were Mortal beings, because, as it says, they would die! That could never apply to someone with immortality, because they can never die! Someone Mortal could, and does every day, because of that sin. {Luke 20:36}
The sentence the Judge of all the earth handed down at that time tells us quite a bit as well; for note these following words of Jehovah's:
14 "Then the LORD God said to the serpent: {Revelation 12:9}
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.
16 He said to the woman:I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children in anguish.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will dominate you.
17 And He said to Adam, "Because you listened to your wife's voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'Do not eat from it':
The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust." {Genesis 3:14-19 HCSB}
Did Jehovah here sentence Adam, to any fiery Hot place,that today, they call Hell? Remember, this was a righteous judicial decision Jehovah was handing down as the Judge of all the earth, so what he decreed, is what would occur. Where was Adam sentenced to? Back to where he came from, correct? Adam returned to the dust as Jehovah said he would. That is where any who have ever died, returned to. They are sleeping in the dust of the earth Jehovah said through the pen of the prophet Daniel. {Daniel 12:1,2} {Genesis 18:25}
All, now waiting until they hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth from the common grave of dead mankind to a resurrection back to life once more:
28 "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." {John 5:28,29 KJV } In the Graves! Notice that!
No part of Man is immortal! Man is a Mortal being, subject to death, and when his life course has run the finish, he dies and back to his dust he goes, just as did the first man Adam did. Just as we all will. There's no pain, or conciousness in the grave to which we will all go.
5 "For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom." {Ecclesiestes 9:5,10 NLT}
29 "But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath,they die and turn again to dust." {Psalms 104:29 NLT}
3"Trust not in princes -- in a son of man, For he hath no deliverance. 4 His spirit goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, In that day have his thoughts perished." {Psalms 146:3,4 YLT} ]
One must be conscious and in control of all of his thought processs to experience pain. One with no breath, who knows nothing, whose thoughts have perished, who has in fact returned to dust, could not possibly feel any pain, as would be the case was one to be in a fiery hot place, where you would feel pain was that teaching to be true! Isn't it nice, that it isn't true? That it isn't even possible! As is man having an immortal soul! I've shown that, that, too is impossible!
When you think about it, if a perfect man, who sinned, and brought death and imperfection, on all mankind, and was only sentenced to return to the dust from which he came, would it not be a terrible misscariage of justice, if those who inherit from Adam, sin and death, and imperfection, through no fault of their own, to be sentenced to a burning hot hell for endless eternity, receiving even more punishment, than Adam received? That would be a terrible travesty of justice, and impossible for Jehovah to do, in the light of his own words at Deuteronomy 32:4 ; which words are:
4 "He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.Everything he does is just and fair.He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is!: {Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT}
Scripturally, and logically, it is impossible for man to have an immortal soul. As pointed pointed out, man is a Mortal Being subject to the process of dying, and we have seen that for many Centuries, and see it every day of our lives, as Adam's sin continues to wreak havok on the Human Race, through the sin and death inherited from the first man. "Immortal Soul?" "Impossible!"
Fortunately that sitution will soon be rectified, as John will tell us now:
4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." {Revelation 21:4 NLT}
Was there ever really to be a literal fiery hot place called Hell, there would still be, sorrow, crying, and pain; but in, that, all of those things are gone forever, there never was, nor ever could be, an Immortal Soul that can suffer endless torments, in any fiery place titled Hell! That teaching, is a satanic lie! A doctrine of Demons! {1 Timothy 4:1-5} "YOU WILL NOT POSITIVELY DIE!" The Serpent said to the Woman! Wannabe