What is soul sleep?

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Soul sleep is the teaching that when a person dies, his soul "sleeps" or the denial of man's conscious existence between when he dies and the resurrection day. It's what is called the intermediate state of the believer, in which both the body and the soul lay rest in the ground and the phrase 'soul sleep' appears to have been popularized by John Calvin. In this condition, the person is not aware or conscious and Seventh-day Adventists hold to this doctrine. When we look at the belief of soul-sleep we find this view has been held throughout church history.

The early church held to this at the time of the apostles as it was the original Christian teaching and later theological arguments based on this belief were also used to contest the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory and masses for the dead. The Ana-Baptists believed in this in the 1500's. Martin Luther has many quotes that point to his belief in it and was among one of the more notable advocates of conditional immortality. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his famous Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. In his 1520 published Defence of 41 of his propositions, Luther cited the pope's immortality declaration, as among "those monstrous opinions to be found in the Roman dunghill of decretals" (proposition 27). In the twenty-seventh proposition of his Defence Luther said: " However, I permit the Pope to establish articles of faith for himself and for his own faithful-- such are: That the bread and wine are transubstantiated in the sacrament; that the essence of God neither generates nor is generated; that the soul is the substantial form of the human body that he [the pope] is emperor of the world and king of heaven, and earthly god; that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals--in order that such as his faith is, such may be his gospel, such also his faithful, and such his church, and that the lips may have suitable lettuce and the lid may be worthy of the dish." Martin Luther, Assertio Omnium Articulorum M. Lutheri per Bullam Leonis X. Novissimam Damnatorum (Assertion of all the articles of M. Luther condemned by the latest Bull of Leo X), article 27, Weimar edition of Luther's Works, vol. 7, pp. 131, 132 (a point-by-point exposition of his position, written Dec. 1, 1520, in response to requests for a fuller treatment than that given in his Adversus execrabilem Antichristi Bullam, and Wider die Bulle des Endchrists).

Archdeacon Francis Blackburne states in his Short Historical View of the Controversy Concerning an Intermediate State, of 1765: "Luther espoused the doctrine of the sleep of the soul, upon a Scripture foundation, and then he made use of it as a confutation of purgatory and saint worship, and continued in that belief to the last moment of his life." Page 14.

King Edward VI stated in his fortieth article out of forty-two, that "The souls that do depart hence do sleep, being without all sense, feeling, or perceiving until the day of judgment, do utterly decent from the right that is closed to us in Holy Scriptures." Christadelphian's also believe in soul sleep and hold to conditional immortality, as do the Seventh Day Adventists. which is the belief the Bible teaches that the gift of immortality is attached to (conditional upon) belief in Jesus Christ. This doctrine is based in part upon another theological belief from scripture, that if the human soul is naturally mortal, immortality ("eternal life") is therefore granted by God as a gift. In contrast he idea of the immortality of the soul (that is, within humans is an immaterial aspect not subject to death, dissolution, or decay) is not biblical; rather, it comes from Hellenistic philosophy originating with Plato. Seventh-day Adventists believe that scripture shows the soul is simply inert and resides in the memory of God waiting for resurrection when Christ returns at the Second Coming.

We begin with how the word is used in the Bible:

In Jer 31:26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me. Also in Daniel 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
The word used here is shenah corresponding to 8142, now compare:

Dan 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

The word for sleep here is not the same as one sleeping in everyday use. yashen ( from 3462; sleepy: KJV-- asleep, (one out of) sleep slept.

What does sleep mean in this context? The Bible uses this term when speaking of death. The primary verses we find showing the dead have no thoughts or consciousness are:
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, "For the living know they shall die: but the dead know not any thing," and Ecclesiastes 12:7, "then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." Also Psalm 146:4, "His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish". Or Psalm 115:17, "The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence" or Psalm 6:5 "For in death there is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave who shall give Thee thanks? And of course, there is Ezek. 18:4, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

But in the Old Testament we also find:

Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?"

1 Samuel 3:3 Samuel was laid down to SLEEP;

1 Samuel 28:3 Now SAMUEL was DEAD, and all Israel had lamented him, and BURIED HIM in RAMAH,

Psalm 104:29
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

In the book of Job it is stated: "But man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he?... So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep... If a man dies, shall he live again?" (Job 14:10,12,14a NKJV)

and also what is happening when we are dead:

Deuteronomy 31:16 - And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

2 Samuel 7:12 - And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

Job 7:21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

1 Kings 1:21 - Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.

Job 7:21 - And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

Psalms 13:3 - Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;


Psalms 30:9 "What will you gain from my death? What profit from my going to the grave? Are dead people able to praise you? Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness?

Psalms 76:6 - At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

Isaiah 57:2 Those who live good lives find peace and rest in death.

Jeremiah 51:39 - In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 51:57 - And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

Daniel 12:2 - And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.


In the New Testament we see
Matthew 9:24 - He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Matthew 27:52-53 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Mark 5:39 - And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

Luke 8:52 - And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.


John 11:11-14 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.


Act 2:31-32 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

Act 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

Acts 7:59 -60 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 13:36 - For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

Ephesians 5:14 - Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

1 Corinthians 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:51 - Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1 Thessalonians 4:13 - But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 - For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 - For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

2 Peter 3:4 - And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

And when we will come out of the grave.

John 11:24
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Acts 4:2
Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And what Christ himself tells us will happen to those who have died, the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of damnation for the wicked.

Luke 14:14
And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

John 5:29
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.

These text clearly show the soul does not continue on after death or the dead float in spirit bodies and dwell Gods presence. The focus in this belief for Seventh-day Adventists is on resurrection at the Second Coming to eternal life for the believer and to destruction for the unbeliever. Whatever immortality the believer may enjoy in the future is the result of the redemption provided in Jesus (Romans 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:53,54; 2 Timothy 1:10). The resurrection of the wicked dead will result in the righteous saints judging them and God consigning them to destruction. Support for this if found in Jesus warning His hearers to fear "the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell"; (Matthew 10:28).

The soul, is not immortal so hell means the destruction of the wicked, annihilation at the Lake of Fire.
 
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DennisTate

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I personally was an atheist before finally beginning to study the Bible after being taught the seemingly more human doctrine of soul sleep.

Around 1990 I began to study NDE accounts….. they seemed to fit with II Corinthians 12:2-4….. so I concluded at that time that the idea was significantly in error.
 
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While I am not SDA, nor do I agree with certain doctrines taught by the SDA church, I am curious to know what verses would convince me of a partial soul sleep. Please take note that I do not believe all verses proposed by soul sleep proponents is actually talking about soul sleep. I try to go off what the text says rather than what I want it to say.

Anyways, here is my recent thread if you want to contribute.

http://www.christianforums.com/threads/could-there-be-a-partial-soul-sleep.7912841/

Thank you and may God bless you.

...
 
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reddogs

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While I am not SDA, nor do I agree with certain doctrines taught by the SDA church, I am curious to know what verses would convince me of a partial soul sleep. Please take note that I do not believe all verses proposed by soul sleep proponents is actually talking about soul sleep. I try to go off what the text says rather than what I want it to say.

Anyways, here is my recent thread if you want to contribute.

Could There Be a Partial Soul Sleep?

Thank you and may God bless you.

...
Here is a few to go over..

Psalm 13:3
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Matthew 9:24
He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

John 11:11
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Acts 13:36
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

Then it clearly is laid out in
1 Corinthians 15

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.....

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

And one I came across from a post on a forum that is very enlightening...
'Looking at the original language words in the Bible, we see something very important....something that tells us that Christendom’s adherents have been fed lies about what the “soul” and the “spirit” actually are.

We have to remember that Jesus was Jewish and that the ancient Jews (as opposed to modern day ones) never believed in an immortal soul. For them a “soul” was a living, breathing creature....both humans and animals are called “souls” in Genesis. Both breathe the same air and die the same death. (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20) But only because of Adam’s sin. Humans were not created to die. Sin is what caused death.

At Genesis 2:7 e.g. we read that: “The man came to be a living soul.”...when God breathed “the breath (spirit) of life” into his lungs and started him breathing. Here the word “soul” appears, and it is translated from the Hebrew word “neʹphesh”. This Hebrew word comes from a root meaning “to breathe.” However, it signifies “a living being, an individual, a person.”
So a soul is only alive when it is breathing, once breathing stops, the soul (person) dies. (Ezekiel 18:4)

It is also interesting when we compare the words for “spirit” in the languages of the Bible....Hebrew and Greek. Both the Hebrew word (ruʹach) and the Greek word (pneuʹma) basically mean “breath” or “wind.” And the English word “spirit” comes from the Latin spiritus, which means “breath.”

In English we have words like “pneumonia” or “pneumatic” which are taken from these ancient words. These relate to the lungs and to air.

To learn the truth about “soul” and “spirit” we must distinguish between their two different meanings and distinctive applications. That there is a difference is clearly seen in the Bible at Hebrews 4:12, where it says: “For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit.”

How does one divide “soul and spirit” if they believe that they are one and the same thing?

This distinction is also shown at 1 Thessalonians 5:23...
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may the spirit and soul and body of you brothers, sound in every respect, be preserved blameless at the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Many have referred to this verse to prove that humans are made up of three components....body, soul and spirit, but on further investigation regarding the original language words and the context of this statement, we see a very different story.
This verse is speaking metaphorically about the “body” of Christians as a whole, not as individuals. So the body here is the brotherhood....the “soul” is the life they have as a body, and the “spirit” they show would be their firm determination to remain faithful.

Most people take survival of a person after death for granted.⁠...it is assumed that this is what the Bible teaches, but this is not true.....life continuing immediately after death was never a belief held by the ancient Jews. So reasoning and thinking people should not be interested in mere assertions.....they want convincing biblical proof....right?

If death takes us to a better place, why does it feel so wrong? Why do we grieve instead of rejoicing?

What exactly does the Bible say happens to us when we die? What does the Bible tell us directly rather than by suggestion or assertion?

Firstly we can see that man IS a “soul”, not that he possesses one.
And “spirit” is the ‘animator’ that keep us breathing.....the air in our lungs. Why or what mechanism is attached to “breathing” remains a mystery, but we know where that comes from. These are what the original languages reveal, and therefore what Jesus as a Jew, taught. He only had the Hebrew Scriptures.

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6....
“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.”
So the dead “know nothing” and their emotions are also gone...even their love, God’s principle quality given to us.
Solomon then goes on to say in verse 10....
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave [sheol] where you are going.

So right away we have direct statements that show us the condition of the dead.....they are in an unconscious state...they know nothing, can feel nothing, and have lost their ability to do anything.
Psalm 146:4 says...
His spirit goes out, he returns to the ground;
On that very day his thoughts perish
.”

The soul has died, and the spirit that “goes out” or departs, is the last breath that leaves the lungs.
There is no conscious entity that goes on living. No matter how much we want this to be true, the Bible does not lie....humans do. Satan wants us to believe that we don’t really die.....just as his first lie stated, so he promotes this idea.

The Bible however teaches “resurrection”.....which is not the same thing at all.
Take the example of Lazarus.....his sisters had sent word to Jesus that his friend was gravely ill and Jesus did not get up and immediately go to heal him as he could have, no, but he waited for four days and said to his apostles....
“....Lazʹa·rus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am traveling there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples then said to him: “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, had spoken about his death. But they imagined he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly: “Lazʹa·rus has died”.

Where was Lazarus before Jesus resurrected him? Did Jesus drag him out of heaven back to this life, only to die again later? No! Because the Jews had faith in the resurrection as Martha revealed.....
John 11:21-24....
“Martha then said to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask God for, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.

So Martha knew that her brother would “rise in the resurrection on the last day”....(in the future) but Jesus said he was going to bring him back to life there and then. Lazarus was “sleeping” in his tomb, as Jesus had said....he hadn’t gone anywhere.

So you see, “soul sleep” is biblical, but immortality of the soul is not. Only the elect are promised immortality.'
 
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reddogs

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Here is a good study by my friend Amo..
Gen 2:7 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.

When God united His breath, or spirit with man, man became a living soul. A living soul is composed of body and spirit.

05397 hmvn n@shamah nesh-aw-maw'

from 05395; n f; {See TWOT on 1433 @@ '1433a'}

AV-breath 17, blast 3, spirit 2, inspiration 1, souls 1; 24

1) breath, spirit
1a) breath (of God)
1b) breath (of man)
1c) every breathing thing
1d) spirit (of man)

When one dies, their spirit goes back to God who gave it, at which point, one is no longer a living soul. This is why humanity is not immortal, and must receive the same from God as a gift of salvation.

Eccl 12:5..….. because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

When the dust returns to the earth, and the spirit back to God who gave it, there is no longer a living soul. If the soul were immortal, then the scriptures would not speak of living, or dying souls. Of course a soul would be living if souls were immortal, and of course they would never be spoken of as dying if they were immortal either. So why do the scriptures apply both to the soul?

Ps 6:2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

In the above, David seeks to have himself, that is his soul delivered from death, because in the grave there is no remembrance of God, and he cannot give God thanks from the grave. How is this possible if the soul is immortal? If the soul were alive and in heaven with God surely it would be praising Him. Or if it were in hell, surely it would be cursing Him.

Ps 7:1 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

Again what sense do the above verses make if a soul is not a living person, rather than some floating entity that lives apart from the body? Can a soul be torn to pieces? Will it end when ones life does? Yes it will.

Ps 30:2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

How can a soul go to the grave? If it is immortal and goes to heaven or hell at death it should not be spoken of as dying and going to the grave. If on the other hand, it is a living being, then it could be said that ones soul goes to the grave when they die, it is it’s end. When life ends, it ends.

Ps 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

If our souls must be delivered from death, then they are not immortal. They are like us, they are us, when we are alive. When we are raised from the dead and given everlasting life, we will again be living souls.

Ps 40:13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. 14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

Who can destroy a soul if it is immortal? It is not. When life ends, it ends, because when one is alive, they are a living soul.

Ps 49:12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. 13 This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

Again the soul being associated with life, being redeemed from the grave. If it were immortal, this would not be so.

Ps 56:12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. 13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death:wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Again, when God delivers the soul from death, one can walk in the light of the living. Makes no sense if the soul is immortal.

Ps 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. 50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; 51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

God spared not the Egyptians souls from death, but killed them by the plagues. Their souls died, that is, they died. Obviously their souls were not immortal.

Ps 86:1 Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.

Who needs their soul to be preserved if it is immortal?

Ps 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? 48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

Again, why wold a soul go to the grave at death if it is immortal and goes to heaven or hell at death? It is because the body goes into the grave at death, it is a dead soul, it is not living, because the body and the breath or spirit from God have separated.

Ps 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Because his soul was delivered from death, he will walk before the Lord in the land of the living, he is a living soul.

Ps 119:174 I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight. 175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me. 176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

Makes no sense if the soul is immortal.

Isa 38:16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

Because he was delivered from death, his soul was delivered from the pit of corruption, that is, the grave. The living, they are the ones who praise God. The dead cannot, because they are not living souls. All such nonsense if the soul is immortal.

Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

A prophecy concerning Christ. How can a soul be an offering? A sacrifice must die. If the soul is immortal, then it cannot be a sacrifice. Yet Christ poured out His soul unto death for our sins. He died the death we deserved, and when He did, He was no longer a living soul.

Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Is God a liar? If a soul is immortal it cannot die. God says the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Ezek 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? 24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. 25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Again, the soul is identified with the person. If the person lives, the soul lives. If the person dies, the soul dies. A soul is a living person with a body combined with the breath, or spirit from God.

Matt 10: 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

God will destroy both body and soul in hell. The soul is not immortal.

Matt 16: 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

How can one lose their soul, if their soul is immortal? Where could it go to get away from them.

Acts 2: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

Christ was raised before His body saw corruption. Thus His soul was not left in hell, or the grave. He once again walked in the light of the living, that is, He became a living soul. This is our salvation. Our souls will not be left in the prison house of death, but we will once again be raised and receive the breath, or spirit of God in our spiritual bodies, and then we shall ever be with the Lord.

Acts 3: 22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Every soul that will not hear and accept Christ, will be destroyed.

1 Cor 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

No mistake about when it is that we receive immortality. It is at the last trump, when the dead are raised incorruptible, and immortal. None of the above makes sense if the soul is immortal.

Heb 10:38-39 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

The soul needs saving, it is not immortal.

James 5:19-20 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

The soul needs to be saved from death, it is not immortal.

Rev 16: 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Souls can die. The souls of humans and animals can die. This is because a soul is a living being, not some form of disembodied spirit or ghost. Souls could not die if they were immortal.
 
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Here is something I came across on Martin Luther..
However, the best known advocate of soul sleep was Martin Luther (1483–1546). [Froom 1966, p. 74: “Archdeacon Blackburne's incisive summation of Luther's position was this: ‘Luther espoused the doctrine of the sleep of the soul, upon a Scripture foundation, and then he made use of it as a confutation of purgatory and Saint worship, and continued in that belief to the last moment of his life.]

In writing on Ecclesiastes, Luther says:

Salomon judgeth that the dead are a sleepe, and feele nothing at all. For the dead lye there accompting neyther dayes nor yeares, but when they are awoken, they shall seeme to have slept scarce one minute. [Martin Luther, "An Exposition of Salomon's Booke, called Ecclesiastes or the Preacher" (translation 1573)]

Elsewhere Luther states: As soon as thy eyes have closed shalt thou be woken, a thousand years shall be as if thou hadst slept but a little half hour. Just as at night we hear the clock strike and know not how long we have slept, so too, and how much more, are in death a thousand years soon past. Before a man should turn round, he is already a fair angel.[Luther, Martin, "WA", 37.191.]

Here is more from my buddy Amo of others...
The 17th Century
Richard or Robert Overton, scholar, soldier and pamphletier, published in 1643, Man's Mortality, in which the title page reads:

"A Treatise wherein `T is proved, both theologically and Philosophically. That as whole man sinned, so whole man died; contrary to the common distinction of Soul and Body: And that the present going of the Soul into heaven or hell, is a meer Fiction. And that at the Resurrection is the beginning of our immortality; and then actual Condemnation and Salvation, and not before." [1100]

John Milton (1608-1674), was a well known or even the greatest of the sacred poets. Milton taught the totally unconscious sleep of man in death until the coming of Christ and resurrection, and wrote: "Inasmuch as the whole man uniformly said to consist of body, and soul (whatever may be the distinct provinces of these divisions), I will show, that in death, first, the whole man, and
secondly, each component part,
suffers privation of life. ... The grave is the common guardian of all till the day of judgment." [1300]

George Wither (1588-1667), contended for conditional immortality in which the soul is asleep in death.[1400]

John Jackson (1686-1763), was the Rector of Rossington school and wrote several titles in which he confutes and condemns the doctrine of eternal torment.[1500]

John Canne (1590-1667) was a pastor of the Broadmead Baptist Church in Bristol and printer of R. Overton's work and held essentially the same view as Overton.[1600]

Archbishop John Tillotson (1630-1694) of Canterbury states
"I do not find that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is anywhere expressly delivered in Scripture, but taken for granted." [1700]

Dr. Isaac Barrow (1630-1677), professor of Greek at Cambridge University maintained that eternal life is conditional and believed in the final destruction of the wicked.[1800]


The 18th Century

Dr. William Coward (1657-1725) was a practicing physician in London. He states

"Second thoughts concerning the human soul, demonstrating the notion of human soul, as believed to be a Spiritual and Immortal Substance, united to a Human Body, to be plain Heathenish Invention, and not Consonant to the principles of Philosophy, Reason or Religion." [1900]

Henry Layton (1670-1706) was a member of the Anglican Faith and the author of 12 books on conditionalism in which he contends that
"... during life, we live and move in Christ; and when we die we rest and sleep in Him, in expectation of being raised at His second coming. [2000]

Joseph Nicol Scott M.D. (1703-1769) was also a minister who assisted his father, Thomas Scott and maintained that
"... life is for the righteous only, with destruction for the wicked." [3000]

Dr. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a member of the Unitarian Church, a scientist and philosopher. He wrote:
"The `state of the soul in death' is one of utter insensibility, as much dead as the body itself while it continues in the state of death." [3100]

Bishop Edmund Law (1703-1787) was the master of St. Peter's College, archdeacon of Staffordshire and bishop of Carlisle. He challenged the doctrine of a conscious intermediate state; held death to be a sleep, a negation of all life, thought, or action - a state of rest, silence and oblivion. [3200]

Pater Pecard (ca. 1718-1797) was master of Magdalen College in Cambridge, England, and dean of Peterborough. He believed that
"immortality not to be innate, but was a gift through Christ." [3300]

Archdeacon Francis Blackburne (1705-1787) was archdeacon of Cleveland and rector of Richmond wrote a most complete history of the topic in the 18th century.[3400]

Bishop William Warburton (1698-1779) was bishop of Gloucester and a theological controversialist who
"... styled militant believers in everlasting torment as the `unmerciful doctors'." [3500]

Samuel Burn (1714-1796) was known as a dissenter and was from Rivington, Lancashire. He
"... stresses `total destruction, or annihilation or ceasing to exist' for the incorrigibly wicked." [3600]

Dr. William Whiston (1667-1752) was a Baptist theologian and professor of mathematics at Cambridge University and
"... denied the doctrine of eternal torment and held that the wicked would be totally destroyed." [3700]

Dr. John Tottie (flourished 1772) was the canon of Christ Church in Oxford and archdeacon of Worcester. He
"... opposed the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul." [3800]

Prof. Henry Dodwell (1641-1711) was a classical scholar and professor at Oxford and became known as `the learned Dodwell'. He set out to
"... prove from the Scriptures and the First Fathers, that the soul is in principle naturally mortal, but immortalized actually by the pleasure of God." [3900]


The 19th century
Bishop Timothy Kendrick states in a sermon from 1805:
"The soul of man dies with the body, and is restored to life at the resurrection and second advent." [4000]

Dr. William Thomson (1819-1890) was the archbishop of York. He wrote:
"Life to the godles must be the beginning of destruction since nothing but God and that which pleases Him can permanently exist." [4100]

Dr. Edward White (1819-1887) was a Congregationalist pastor at St. Paul's Chapel and chairman of the Congregational Union. For over forty years he was a leading advocate of conditional immortality [4150]. In 1883 he made it known:
"I steadfastly maintain, after 40 years of study of the matter, that it is the notion of the infliction of a torment in body and soul that shall be absolutely endless, which alone gives a foot of standing ground to Ingersol in America, or Bradlaugh in England. I believe more firmly than ever that it is a doctrine as contrary to every line of the Bible as it is contrary to every moral instinct of humanity." [4200]

In the following year he adds:
"The Old Testament is consistent throughout with the belief of eternal life of the servants of God, and of the eternal destruction of the wicked. And it is consistent, when taken in its simple sense with no other belief ..."
"The Gospels and Epistles with equal pertinacity adhere almost uniformly to language respecting the doom of the unsaved which taken in its simple sense, teaches, as does the Old Testament, that they shall die, perish, be destroyed, not see life, but suffer destruction, everlasting destruction, `destruction,' says Christ, `of body and soul in Gehenna.' [4300]

Dr. John Thomas (1805-1871) was the editor of the Apostolic Advocate and the founder of the Christadelphians. He believed in the
"... final extinction of the wicked and in immortality as a gift through Christ." [4400]

Archbishop Richard Whately (1787-1863) was archbishop of Dublin, Ireland and a professor at Oxford and principal. He taught the final destruction of the wicked and believed "The wicked are never spoken of as being kept alive, but as forfeiting life." [4600]

Dean Henry Alford (1810-1871) worked at Canterburry and was a Biblical Scholar. He believed "Eternal fixity and duration belong only to those who are in accordance with God." [4700]

James Panton Ham (around 1849) was a Congregationalist minister in Bristol. He believed similarly.[4800]

Charles F. Hudson (1821-1867) was a Congregationalist minister and Greek scholar who believed the same.[4900]

Dr. Robert W. Dale (1829-1895) was a Congregationalist pastor of Carr's Lane Church in Birmingham. He was editor of The Congregationalist magazine; chairman of the `Congregational Union of England and Wales'; and president of the `First International Council of Congregational Churches in 1891'. He announced his acceptance of conditionalism in a paper before the Congregational Union of 1874.
"Eternal life, as I believe, is the inheritance of those who are in Christ. Those who are not in Him will die the Second Death from which there will be no resurrection ...
I am not conscious that they [the positions of Conditionalism] have at all impaired the authority in my teaching of any of the great central doctrines of the Christian faith.
The doctrine of the Trinity remains untouched; and
the doctrine of the incarnation, and
the doctrine of the atonement in its evangelical sense, and
the doctrine of justification by faith, and
the doctrine of judgment by works, and
the doctrine of regeneration
have received, I believe, from these conclusions a new and intenser illustration." [5000]

Frederick W. Farrar (1831-1903) was the canon of Westminster Abbey and the dean of Canterbury. he denounced the
"... dogma of endless, conscious suffering and could not find a single text in all Scripture that, when fairly interpreted, teaches the common views about endless torment." [6000]


Notes & References
[1100] R. Overton, Man's Mortality, 1643, Title page.
[1200] S. Richardson wrote in 1658: `A Discourse on the Torments of Hell: The foundations and pillars thereof discovered, searched, shaken, and removed. With Infallible Proofs that there is not to be a punishment after this life, for any to endure that shall never end.
[1300] John Milton, Treatise of Christian Doctrine, Vol. 1, ch. 13.
[1400] Produced an English translation of Nemesius, early Bishop of Emesa, 1636.
[1500] John Jackson, A Dissertation on Matter and Spirit, 1735.; The Belief of a Future State, 1745.; A Clear Distinction Between True and False Religion, 1750.
[1600] John Canne, Reference Bible, 1682.
[1700] John Tillotson, Works, 1683.
[1800] Isaac Barrow, `Duration of Future Punishment' in Works.
[1900] Wm. Coward, A Survey of the Search After Souls, ca. 1702.
[2000] Henry Layton, Arguments and Replies, in dispute concerning the nature of the soul, 1703.; A Search After Souls, 1706.
[3000] Joseph N. Scott, Sermons Preached in Defence of All Religion, 1743.
[3100] Joseph priestley, `Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit' in Works, Vol. 3.; also `The History of Opinion Concerning the State of the Dead'.
[3200] Edmund Law, Considerations on ... the Theory of Religion, 1749.' The State of the Dead, 1765, See Appendix.
[3300] Peter Pecard, Observations on the Doctrine of an Intermediate State, Between Death and Resurrection, 1756.
[3400] Francis Blackbourne, A Short Historical View of the Controversy Concerning the Intermediate State, 1765.
[3500] William Warburton, Divine Legation of Moses, 1738-41.
[3600] Samuel Bourne, Christian Doctrine of Future Punishment, 1759.
[3700] William Whiston, The Eternity of Hell-Torments Considered, 1740.
[3800] John Tottie, Sermons Preached Before University of Oxford, 1775.
[3900] Henry Dodwell, Letter Concerning the Immortality of Human Souls, 1708.; An Epistle Discourse, 1706.
[4000] Timothy Kendrick, Sermons, 1805.
[4100] William Thomson, The Thought of Death, Bampton Lecture, 1862.
[4150] Edward White, Life in Christ, 1846.; That Unknown Country, Symposium.; Immortality, a Clerical Symposium.
[4200] Introduction to J. H. Pettingell's The Unspeakable Gift, 1884, p. 22.
[4300] J.H. Pettingell, Homiletic Monthly (England), march, 1885.
[4400] John Thomas, in one of his articles.
[4500] H.H. Dobney, Notes on Lectures on Future Punishment, 1844.
[4600] Richard Whitley, A View of the Scriptural Revelations Concerning a Future State.
[4700] Dean H. Alford, Author of a Greek New Testament.
[4800] James P. Ham, Life and Death or The Theology of the Bible in Relation to Human Mortality, 1849.
[4900] Charles F. Hudson, Debt and Grace as Related to the Doctrine of a Future Life, 1857.; Christ Our Life. The Scriptural Argument for Immortality Through Christ Alone, 1860.
[5000] Recorded in Freer's `Edward White', His Life and Work, 1902, pp. 354-355.
[6000] Frederick Farrar, Eternal Hope, 1877.; Faith and Mercy,; Mercy and Judgment, 1881.
 
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.....Herman Olshausen (1796-1839) was professor of theology at Königsberg, Ostpreussen in Germany. He wrote:
"The doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the name are alike unknown in the entire Bible." [6100]

Henry Constable (died 1894) was canon and prebendary of Cork, Ireland. He also believed:
"The immortality of the soul, and the name, are alike unknown in the entire Bible." [6200]

William E. Gladstone (1809-1898) was a British Prime Minister and Theologian. In a searching criticism of Bishop Butler's Analogy and its defense of innate immortality, Gladstone contended:
"[It is only] from the time of Origen that we are to regard the idea of natural, as opposed to that of Christian, immortality as beginning to gain a firm foothold in the Christian Church." [6300]

"The doctrine of natural, as distinguished from Christian, immortality had not been subjected to the severer tests of wide publicity and resolute controversy, but had crept into the Church, by a back door as it were; by a silent though effective process; and was in course of obtaining a title by tacit prescription." 6400]

"Another consideration of the highest importance is that the natural immortality of the soul is a doctrine wholly unknown to the Holy Scriptures, and standing on no higher plane than that of an inegeniously sustained, but gravely and formidably contested, philosophical opinion." [6500]

"The character of the Almighty is rendered liable to charges which cannot be repelled so long as the idea remains that there may by His ordinance be such a thing as never-ending punishment, but that it will have been sufficiently vindicated at the bar of human judgment, so soon as it has been established and allowed that punishment, whatever else it may be, cannot be never-ending." [6600]

Joseph Parker (1830-1902) was a Congregationalist pastor of the `City Temple' of London. He stated,
"Glorious to me is this idea of asking man whether he will accept life and be like God, or whether he will choose death and darkness for ever. God does not say to man, `I will make you immortal and indestructible whether you will or not; live for ever you shall.' No; he makes him capable of living; he constitutes him with a view to immortality; he urges, beseeches, implores him to work out this grand purpose, assuring him, with infinite pathos, that he has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but would rather that he should LIVE. A doctrine this which in my view simplifies and glorifies human history as related in the Bible. Life and death are not set before any beast; but life and death are distinctly set before man - he can live, he was meant to live, he is besought to live; the whole scheme of Providence and redemption is arranged to help him to live - why, then, will ye die?" [6700]

Discussing the ultimate banishment of sin from the universe, Parker adds:
"By destroying evil I do not mean locking it up by itself in a moral prison, which shall be enlarged through the ages and generations until it shall become the abde of countless millions of rebels, but its utter, final, everlasting extinction, so that at last the universe shall be `without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing' - the pure home of a pure creation." [6800]

Commenting on the "Destruction of Sodom," Parker denies that "in giving life God has put it absolutely out of his own power to reclaim or withdraw it." He comments on the implications:
"Having once given you life you are as immortal as he himself is, and you can defy him to interfere with his own work! The doctrine seems to me to involve a palpable absurdity, and hardly to escape the charge of blasphemy. Throughout the whole Bible, God has reserved to himself the right to take back whatever he has given, because all his gifts have been offered upon conditions about which there can be no mistake." [6900]

"In this case [of Sodom] we have an instance of utter and everlasting destruction. We see here what is meant by "everlasting punishment," for we are told in the New Testament that "Sodom suffered the vengeance of eternal fire," that is of fire, which made an utter end of its existence and perfectly accomplished the purpose of God. The "fire" was "eternal," yet Sodom is not literally burning still; the smoke of its torment, being the smoke of an eternal fire, ascended up for ever and ever, yet no smoke now rises from the plain, -
"eternal fire" does not involve the element of what we call "time":
it means thorough, absolute, complete, final:
that which is done or given once for all." [7000]

Bishop John J. S. Perowne (1823-1904) was a scholar of Hebrew and an Anglican Bishop of Worcester, England. He wrote:
"The immortality of the soul is neither argued nor affirmed in the Old Testament." [7100]
"The immortality of the soul is a phantom which eludes your eager grasp." [7200]

Sir George G. Stokes M.P., (1820-1903) was professor of mathematics at Cambridge and president of the Royal Society. He wrote:
"It was natural that, after the forfeiture of immortality through transgression, man should seek to satisfy his craving for immortality by imagining that he had something immortal in his nature. It is, then, to revelation that we must look, if we are to find out something about man's condition in the intermediate state." [7300]

"Man's whole being was forfeited by the Fall, and the future life is not his birthright, but depends on a supernatural dispensation of grace. To look to man' bodily frame for indications of immortality, to look even to his lofty mental powers - lofty, indeed, but sadly misused - is to seek the living among the dead. Man must look not into himself, but out of himself for assurance of immortality." [7400]

Dr. W.A. Brown (1865-1943) was of the Union Seminary in New York. he believed:
"From Israel came the doctrine of resurrection, and of the advent; from Greece, the doctrine of natural immortality." [7500]

Dr. J. Agar Beet (1840-1924) was a Wesleyan professor. He stated:
"The following pages are ... a protest against a doctrine which, during long centuries, has been almost universally accepted as divine truth taught in the Bible, but which seems to me altogether alien to it in both phrase and thought, and derived only from Greek Philosophy. Until recent times, this alien doctrine has been comparatively harmless. But, as I have here shown, it is now producing more serious results ..."
"It will of course be said, of this as of some other doctrines, that, if not explicitly taught in the Bible, it is implied and assumed there ... They who claim for their teaching the authority of God must prove that it comes from Him. Such proof in this case, I have never seen." [7600]

Dr. R. F. Weymouth (1822-1902) was the headmaster of Mill Hill School and translator of New Testament in Modern Speech. He said:
"My mind fails to conceive a grosser misrepresentation of language than when five or six of the strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying to destroy or destruction, are explained to mean `maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence.' To translate black as white is nothing to this." [7700]

In his book in a note on 1.Corinthians 15:18 he says:
"By `perish' the Apostle here apparently means `pass out of existence'." [7800]

On Hebrews 9:28 we read:
"The use in the N.T. of such words as `death', `destruction', `fire', `perish', to describe Future Retribution, point to the likelihood of fearful anguish, followed by extinction of being, as the doom which awaits those who by persistent rejection of the Saviour prove themselves utterly, and therefore irremediably bad." {Ibid., 7800]
On Revelation 14:11:
"There is nothing in this verse that necessarily implies an eternity of suffering. In a similar way the word `punishment' or `correction' in Matthew 25:46 gives itself no indication of time."
On Revelation 20:10:
"The Lake of fire implying awful pain and complete, irremediable ruin and destruction." [Ibid., 7800]

Dr. Lyman Abbott (1835-1922) was a Congregationlist pastor and editor of Christian Union and The Outlook. He wrote:
"Outside of the walls of Jerusalem, in the valley of Gehenna, was kept perpetually burning a fire, on which the offal of the city was thrown to be destroyed. This is the hell fire of the New Testament. Christ warns his auditors that persistence in sin will make them offal to be cast out from the holy city, to be destroyed. The worm that dieth not was the worm devouring the carcasses, and is equally clearly a symbol not of torture but of destruction." [7900]

"The notion that the final punishment of sin is continuance in sin and suffering is also based in part on, what seems to me, a false philosophy of man. This philosophy is that man is by nature immortal. The conviction has grown on me, that according to the teaching of both of science and Scripture, man is by nature an animal, and like all other animals mortal; that immortality belongs only to the spiritual life; and that spiritual life is possible only in communion and contact with God; that, in short, immortality was not conferred upon the race in creation whether it would or not, but is conferred in redemption, upon all those of the race who choose life and immortality through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Ibid., 7900]

Dr. Edward Beecher (1803-1895) was a Congregationalist theologian and president of Illinois College. He stated:
"If [the Bible] does not recognize, nay, it expressly denies the natural and inherent immortality of the soul. It assures us that God only hath immortality. (1.Timothy 6:16). By this we understand that He has immortality in the highest sense - that is, inherent immortality. All existence besides Himself He created, and He upholds. Men are not, as Plato taught, self-existent, eternal beings, immortal in their very nature. ... There is no inherent immortality of the soul as such. What God created He sustains in being, and can annihilate at will." [8000]

Notes & References
[6100] Herman Olshausen, Biblical Commentary on the New Testament, Vol. 4, 1860, p. 381.
[6200] Henry Constable, hades: or the Intermediate State of Man; Restitution of All Things; The Duration and the Nature of Future Punishment.
[6300] William E. Gladstone, Studies Subsidiary to the Works of Bishop Butler, (1896 ed.), p. 184.
[6400] Ibid., p. 195.
[6500] Ibid., p. 197.
[6600] Ibid., p. 241.
[6700] Joseph Parker, The People's Bible, Vol. 1, p. 126.
[6800] Ibid., p. 160.
[6900] Ibid., p. 222.
[7000] Ibid., p. 223.
[7100] John J. S. Perowne, Hulsean Lectures on Immortality, 1868 , p. 31.
[7200] Ibid.
[7300] George Stokes, That Unknown Country (A Symposium), 1889.; Immortality, a Clerical Symposium.
[7400] Ibid., p. 123.
[7500] W. A. Brown, The Christian Hope, 1912. For an explanation why all these champions here cited, refer to the Greeks as the source of the belief in immortality and CIAS refers the the Egyptians as the source, please be reminded that Egyptian history and their believe in the afterlife became not widely known until after the French Revolution. The Egyptian believes on this subject appear to be more ancient.
[7600] J. Ager Beet, Last Things - Preface to The Immortality of the Soul: A Protest, 5th ed., 1902.
[7700] Cited by Edward White in Life in Christ, (1878), p. 365.
[7800] Notes by Earnest Hampden-Cook, editor and reviser of third edition of The New Testament in Modern Speech, by Richard Francis Weymouth.
[7900] Lyman Abbott, That Unknown Country, 1889.
[8000] Edward Beecher, Doctrine of Scriptural Retribution, p. 58.
 
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