OT-OT-OT You asked in your Happy Thanksgiving post QT: "Could it be that we are souls?" The Bible answer is YES! We are souls, we don't have souls; like the difference between being a cat and having a cat. [praise to Chuzzlewit]
John L. McKenzie, SJ [Society of Jesus, Catholic Priest] explained on pg 835 of his fine Dictionary of the Bible: "The living nepes [soul] is man as he is once he begins to live ... Animals are said either to be nepes hayyah [living soul] or the [living soul] is said to be within them."
Most religion is preoccupied with saving your immortal soul from hell to life in heaven/nirvana/valhalla/etc: Fly or Fry, Bliss or Blister. Nowhere in scripture is soul [nepes, nephesh] even once connected with immortal, deathless, undying, eternal, everlasting or indestructibility. 100+ times it says souls die: Ezekiel 18:4&20 Rev. 8:9
No one has an immortal soul. All of us, as well as the animals, are souls McKenzie continues: "The association of the nepes with life is so close that the word is often best translated by life." The Bible teaches:
When we die, we are nonexistent, asleep. John 11:11
No one Fries! Nothing remains to be tortured.
Hell is the grave [sheol]
The hope of the dead is the resurrection. [Example: Lazarus, John 11:24]
For most of mankind it's to life on earth, which shall become Eden again:
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven
The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and a little child shall lead them ... The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea
Matthew 5:5; 6:10; Psalm 37: 9,11,22,29,34; Isaiah 11:6-9
The Bible is the only "holy book" that does not teach inherent conscious survival after death. It says: The dead know not anything Ecclesiastes 9:5&10 Psalm 146:3-4
Anyone wanting more info please PM your address and I'll send you a fine book on mankind's only hope: God's Kingdom. No one will follow up.
And for you, QT my kind friend: May all of God's blessings come upon you and yours, and may Jehovah favor us with eternal life as vigorous young men on the New Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. How lovely our wives shall be! 2 Peter 3:13
Don Martini |
