Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - ETERNAL TORMENT IS FALSE TEACHING WHAT SAY YE'?

Evangelical · 10-29-2016, 03:12 PM

This topic is really about -
Is the soul eternal? (that is, can it never die, in which case hell is everlasting torture), or, can the soul die (can the soul be destroyed, as in, cease to exist, that is, hell is to cause the soul to be obliterated).

I think Mr Ranganathan is right. The teaching of the immortal soul is not correct.

This is supported by a few observations:

1. What the Bible says:
https://www.openbible.info/topics/the_immortal_soul

Matt 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

The destruction of the soul (rather than its preservation for eternal torture) seems to be what Jesus taught.

2. The old Testament does not teach the immortal soul.

"The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the philosophy of Plato, its principal exponent, who was led to it through Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended"

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ar...ty-of-the-soul
The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture. As long as the soul was conceived to be merely a breath ("nefesh"; "neshamah"; comp. "anima"), and inseparably connected, if not identified, with the life-blood (Gen. ix. 4, comp. iv. 11; Lev. xvii. 11; see Soul), no real substance could be ascribed to it. As soon as the spirit or breath of God ("nishmat" or "ruaḥ ḥayyim"), which was believed to keep body and soul together, both in man and in beast (Gen. ii. 7, vi. 17, vii. 22; Job xxvii. 3), is taken away (Ps. cxlvi. 4) or returns to God (Eccl. xii. 7; Job xxxiv. 14), the soul goes down to Sheol or Hades, there to lead a shadowy existence without life and consciousness (Job xiv. 21; Ps. vi. 6 [A. V. 5], cxv. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 18; Eccl. ix. 5, 10). The belief in a continuous life of the soul, which underlies primitive Ancestor Worship and the rites of necromancy, practised also in ancient Israel (I Sam. xxviii. 13 et seq.; Isa. viii. 19; see Necromancy), was discouraged and suppressed by prophet and lawgiver as antagonistic to the belief in Yhwh, the God of life, the Ruler of heaven and earth, whose reign was not extended over Sheol until post-exilic times (Ps. xvi. 10, xlix. 16, cxxxix. 8).

3. Common sense - how does a soul suffer in a fire anyway? Only a physical body can feel pain and suffer in a fire.

10-29-2016, 03:12 PM	#2
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: ETERNAL TORMENT IS FALSE TEACHING WHAT SAY YE'? This topic is really about - Is the soul eternal? (that is, can it never die, in which case hell is everlasting torture), or, can the soul die (can the soul be destroyed, as in, cease to exist, that is, hell is to cause the soul to be obliterated). I think Mr Ranganathan is right. The teaching of the immortal soul is not correct. This is supported by a few observations: 1. What the Bible says: https://www.openbible.info/topics/the_immortal_soul Matt 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The destruction of the soul (rather than its preservation for eternal torture) seems to be what Jesus taught. 2. The old Testament does not teach the immortal soul. "The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the philosophy of Plato, its principal exponent, who was led to it through Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended" http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ar...ty-of-the-soul The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture. As long as the soul was conceived to be merely a breath ("nefesh"; "neshamah"; comp. "anima"), and inseparably connected, if not identified, with the life-blood (Gen. ix. 4, comp. iv. 11; Lev. xvii. 11; see Soul), no real substance could be ascribed to it. As soon as the spirit or breath of God ("nishmat" or "ruaḥ ḥayyim"), which was believed to keep body and soul together, both in man and in beast (Gen. ii. 7, vi. 17, vii. 22; Job xxvii. 3), is taken away (Ps. cxlvi. 4) or returns to God (Eccl. xii. 7; Job xxxiv. 14), the soul goes down to Sheol or Hades, there to lead a shadowy existence without life and consciousness (Job xiv. 21; Ps. vi. 6 [A. V. 5], cxv. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 18; Eccl. ix. 5, 10). The belief in a continuous life of the soul, which underlies primitive Ancestor Worship and the rites of necromancy, practised also in ancient Israel (I Sam. xxviii. 13 et seq.; Isa. viii. 19; see Necromancy), was discouraged and suppressed by prophet and lawgiver as antagonistic to the belief in Yhwh, the God of life, the Ruler of heaven and earth, whose reign was not extended over Sheol until post-exilic times (Ps. xvi. 10, xlix. 16, cxxxix. 8). 3. Common sense - how does a soul suffer in a fire anyway? Only a physical body can feel pain and suffer in a fire.