by John D Carmack

Created on: February 11, 2009

Does Our Spirit or Soul Survive After Death?

Most religions teach that humans have an immortal soul. If that person has done good or has done some particular thing (such as repent and believe, for example), then usually that soul will go to Heaven, Paradise or Nirvana. If that person has done evil, then that soul will go to Hell and may or may not come back in some lower form. However, is any of this true? Where can we get the answers?

This is a large topic for one article, so I will be as brief as I can. However, I will only scratch the surface. If you wish to read more on these topics, please see my other articles on Helium, my blog or on BibleStudy.org (I am not affiliated with them). Please look into this. Your eternal fate is in your hands.

Most people like to ignore what the Bible teaches. They will get their information from a priest, pastor, minister or friend, but they won't read the one book that claims to have the answer! Even worse, many that do read it do not understand it because they are reading INTO what it says instead of WHAT it says! Does the Bible teach the concept of an immortal soul? Does the Bible teach that there is a spirit in humans? Can that spirit be destroyed? What happens when a person dies? The answers may surprise you!

Souls Can Die

Twice, the Bible states "the soul that sinneth, IT SHALL DIE" (Eze 18:4, 20)! Obviously, the "soul" is not "immortal" if it can die. What is a "soul", then? In reality, "soul" shouldn't even be a word in the Bible. It is meaningless. The Hebrew word for "soul" is "nephesh". It translated in various ways as "creature", "being" or "soul". It can be combined with other words to be translated "life". In other words, it doesn't even have to be a live body to be a "soul"!

"And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body [nephesh] of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day"

~ Nu 9:6

Notice that when man was created in Ge 2:7, "the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and man became a living soul." Adam was essentially animated dirt! Humans were not "given" a soul, but Adam "became" a soul.

Spirit In Humans

That doesn't mean that animals and humans don't have a spirit element, however. Animals have a non-physical element called "instinct" which guides their day to day lives. As Genesis points out, though, human beings are created in the image of God. Humans have intellect, reason, creativity and abilities that reflect God

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