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Do Human Beings Have an Immortal Soul?
A reader has alleged that the expression “immortal soul” is not consistent with biblical teaching. He contends that this concept is more akin to the pagan philosophy of Plato than to the Scriptures. The gentleman says that 1 Timothy 6:16 affirms that “only God” possesses “immortality,” thus we, as humans, are not immortal. Further, he has suggested that since 1 Corinthians 15:53 promises immortality to the redeemed, as something yet to be realized, this implies we do not possess this attribute presently.
The gentleman states that most Christians have not studied carefully such terms as “immortality” and “soul.” He has argued that the “soul” merely is the “life of the body,” and that the “spirit” and “soul” are “not in the same category.” They “are not synonyms,” he insists.
The man’s sincerity is not questioned. His position is erroneous however. My brief response to the case outlined above is as follows:
(1) Those known as conditionalists, i.e., who argue for the eventual annihilation of the wicked (though the gentleman under review is not in that class), frequently suggest that Bible students who believe in the concept of eternal consciousness have been influenced by Plato and other Greek philosophers. On this basis, they contend that there can be no eternal, conscious punishment for the wicked.
This sort of guilt-by-association accusation is without merit. Such a charge is condescending and does not give credit to other students who have examined the issue and drawn different conclusions. The gentleman who argued this case likely would not appreciate the suggestion that his denial of the immortality of the soul has been influenced by the Watchtower Witness sect.
(2) When Paul declared that “only God has immortality” (1 Timothy 6:16), it is commonly understood by responsible Bible scholars that the passage addresses an immortality that is underived from another source. Paul spoke of an immortality that is intrinsic to the very being of God. See my commentary, Before I Die (2007, 182; cf. Thayer 1958, 13).
EDITOR’S CHOICE
The “Fig Tree” Incident – A Contradiction?
“Can you explain the apparent contradiction between Matthew and Mark? In Matthew’s account, Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple, and then cursed the fig tree the next day. (Mt. 21:10-22). Yet in Mark’s account he cursed the fig tree first, and then drove the moneychangers out – on the same day (Mk 11:11-26).”
The problem of an alleged “contradiction” between Matthew and Mark, in this particular situation, lies in the fact that the Bible critic does not understand the perspective from which each of the Gospel writers approached the incidents.
The sequence of events on that Monday and Tuesday of the Lord’s “Passion Week,” before his crucifixion on Friday, was as follows.
(1) On Monday morning (following the Triumphal Entry on Sunday), Jesus and his disciples made their way from Bethany, east of Jerusalem (where they had spent the night), back toward Jerusalem. Along the way, the Lord saw a leafed-out fig tree that was barren of any fruit. In Palestine fig trees ordinarily bore the fruit first, then they subsequently leafed out. The oddity of this tree afforded Jesus the opportunity to teach a lesson that was applicable to the Jewish nation. The nation feigned spiritual piety, but there was no “fruit” demonstrating such. In fact, many of the Jews were poised to crucify their own Messiah before the week was over. [We have discussed this episode elsewhere. See: “Why Did Jesus “Curse” the Fig Tree?”. For the present, we are concerned only with the chronological sequence of the events. It is this issue that has been questioned by skeptical critics.]
Observing this fruitless tree, Jesus pronounced a “curse” (i.e., a withering judgment) upon the tree as a symbolic preview of that punishment which ultimately would befall the Hebrew nation (A.D. 70). Immediately the fig tree began to wither away.
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