Thomas Williams

“ Realizing that the day had gone by when papal bulls declaring that the soul is immortal would suffice for the absence of the dogma from the Bible they must find refuge somewhere, rather than abandon a doctrine upon which all so-called orthodox churches are built, and upon the retaining of which depend their clerical position, prestige and support. In the vain attempt to find the desired refuge, spirit is seized as being the word in the Scriptures expressive of the theory of man being an immaterial, immortal entity capable of disembodied existence between death and resurrection. ”

“ If this is too absurd to be entertained, why not use "my soul" in the reasonable way we use "myself?" If the "my" is a separate being from the "soul," then we should be committed to the theory that when the words "your body, soul and spirit" are read, they represent four beings—the "soul," the "body," the "spirit" and the "your." Moreover, such premises would lead one possessed of a logical turn of mind to the conclusion that the beasts are separate entities from their bodies; for the apostle Paul speaks of "the bodies of those beasts," etc. ”

“ It is gone out; but the man who would claim that the soul (life) that has gone out is still existent as an entity is as unreasonable as one would be to insist that the light of the candle still exists as a light after it is blown out. ”

“ It was the spirit that was breathed into man’s nostrils to make him a living man that came from God, and therefore it returns to God. It surely was not an immortal entity that was breathed into man’s nostrils. It was not a being. It was not a person. It was that which in diffusion was capable of being breathed by the being, person, or man to whom it was given. It came to the man from God; in death it is breathed out into the great ocean of life or spirit and thus returns to God who gave it. The man himself to whom the spirit was given did not come from heaven, but out of the dust. ”

“ But if you persist in adding to and contradicting God’s word and say that the child in the case is the immortal soul and that the child did not die but forsook its body and continued to live, then was it not an act of cruelty, rather than an act of mercy and goodness, to compel the immortal soul to forsake its newly-attained state of bliss (for you believe that death to a child is a certain reward of bliss) and return to its mortal habitation to pass through a probation that might deprive it of ever again enjoying that bliss of which it had been permitted through death to get a taste? ”

“ Having now examined the first chapter of the Bible in search of the immortality of the soul, and having found the word nephesh, or soul used four times and in every case applied to the animal, and not once to man, what conclusion can he come to, but that he has been wrong in believing that the word soul signified an immortal entity? ”

“ Dictionaries give the conventional meaning of words, and it is not always safe to apply such meanings to words found in the Bible—indeed, it is seldom safe to attach the same exact meaning to words in one age that has been applied to them in another, for there has been no uniformity maintained. The safest dictionary, therefore, of Bible words, is the Bible itself. The use made of any given word by the Spirit can readily be seen by comparing scripture with scripture, and conclusions thus arrived at may always be relied upon. ”

“ To signify what would be the treatment his brethren would receive at the hands of Roman persecution, of whose cruelty he was himself a victim, the Spirit causes a panoramic view to pass before his vision showing him that faithful souls would be slain upon the altar of Romish superstition, whose blood would cry to heaven for just vengeance upon the enemies of God, His truth and His people. ”

“ If one believes that he is naturally immortal, while the plan of salvation is intended and adapted to save mortal men and bless them ultimately with immortality, he will not be in a position to believe in that plan; because his belief must, necessarily, nullify it. For how can one properly believe in and appreciate an offer of immortality if he is persuaded that he is already in possession of it? ”

“ When it is seen that the Spirit of God never moved a single one of the "holy men of old, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit," to make use of the phrase or anything equivalent thereto, reason will at once recognize the difference between the phraseology of the Bible and that of so-called orthodox teachers. The few portions of scripture in which the use of the word soul is supposed to sustain popular belief we have shown to afford no support whatever when carefully examined free from prejudice. ”

“ We have now considered the scripture teaching concerning the soul sufficiently, we think, to convince the reasonable and candid mind that there is no foundation for the Platonic theory as held in the popular schools of theology in our day. That the oft-repeated phrase "immortal soul" is never found in the Bible is a simple fact that can easily be tested by anyone of ordinary intelligence. ”

“ The life of the condemned is not left within the reach of man’s whims or choice, nor to the chances of accident. It is in the hands of a judicial authority whose prerogative alone it is to take it or to destroy it. ”

“ Here the reader is bound to see that the word means creature or being, both man and beasts. In Job 12: 10 it says, "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind." In this case it must be seen that soul applies to the life of the beasts; so that in one instance it stands for the animal itself and in the other for the life of the animal, it being impossible to misunderstand its application, and no one thinks of attaching the meaning of immortal entity to the word. ”

“ Of course, a man bent upon holding to the doctrine of the soul’s immortality will continue to see in the return of the child’s soul the return of an immortal entity. But let us ask such an one, Do you find the word immortal prefixed to soul here? Since you do not why will you add it? Which is the child, the body or the soul? ”

“ To say the least, there must be a word added by the reader to make the case suit the theory of the immortal soulist. The word immortal is not in the text, and, as we have repeated, it is never prefixed to the word soul. Our substituting the word life for soul is strongly objected to by those who are determined to cling to the Platonic dogma, who, loving to have it so, snatch at what appears to them on the surface and run away with their fingers in their ears when one says to them, "Come and let us reason together." ”

“ We have seen that angels are spirit beings. That men are not like them now in nature is shown by the words of the apostle Paul, when speaking of man on this side the resurrection as compared with what he will be on the other side. He says, in I. Cor. 15: 44, "There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. * * * Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that (is first) which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual." Man is therefore first a natural body or being, and he may "afterward" become a spiritual body. ”

“ Those who so stubbornly resist the truth, and so tenaciously cling to hoary superstition may be asked, Where is this altar under which these souls are seen? If you say heaven, then we ask, Is there an altar in heaven upon which souls are slain and under which they cry for vengeance? ”

“ The unreasonable mind that would persist in claiming for it the popular meaning of "immortal soul" would be forced to acknowledge that there would be eleven testimonies in favor of the immortality of the soul of the beasts to two in that of man. Many, we are sorry to say, are so unreasonable that, rather than abandon a theory that has become popular, will rest their belief upon the most absurd claims. ”

“ It is reasonable to expect that he who formed and gave life to man, and who revealed the plan of salvation, meeting in all respects the requirements of a sin-cursed, fallen and lost condition, would, in that revelation, make known the real nature and condition of the being to be saved, and the nature and state to which the plan of salvation purposed to exalt those who come within its scope. ”

“ As set forth in the various Scriptures we have given, when the word is used otherwise than of the person or being, it is always employed to express the variety of aspects in which a living being can be contemplated, such as life, individuality, mind, disposition, breath, etc.; but it never expresses the idea of immortality, and is never used in the popular form, "immortal soul." ”

“ With the understanding that the word spirit in the Bible represents influence, disposition, mind, state of feeling, air, breath and life, its meaning in any particular text can readily be seen by keeping in view the context; and in those we have been considering it is clear that life is meant.
SPIRIT APPLLIED TO BEING
In our definition of the Bible use of the word spirit we have said that it represents a being. God is a spirit and yet we read of His spirit. He is everywhere present by His spirit; but He, who is a spirit being, has a "dwelling-place." ”

“ In the New Testament, where the Greek word which answers to the Hebrew word nephesh is psuche, we find it used in the same way. Sometimes it applies to the man as a being sometimes to life, etc., variously speaking of the conditions in which a being can be thought of; but never, be it remembered, is it applied to an "immortal soul." To find this phrase or the theory it expresses, it is necessary to go outside both the Old and the New Testaments, into the works of heathen philosophers, such as Plato and Socrates and those of the Platonic school in general. ”

“ And to make the matter still more clear, if possible, he adds: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Could anything be clearer to show that man is not both natural and spiritual at the same time? ”

“ When the apostle Paul says, "Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind" (psuche, soul) we have no trouble in seeing that soul here is used for mind and not for body or life. When, in speaking of Epaphroditus, he says, "He was nigh unto death, not regarding his life" (psuche, soul) we can readily see that he is using soul for life, and not for mind or body. When it is said, "Neither shall he go in to any dead body" (nephesh, soul) it is clear that soul here stands for body. ”