THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL OF MAN

The soul and the spirit

Referring to these words of Paul: “May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23), some mistakenly believe that man is a to be tripartite, that is, made up of body, soul and spirit. But Paul with “spirit” is not introducing a duality in the spiritual part of man, since the spirit to which Paul refers is grace, capable of raising the soul to communion with God, a supernatural end to which man is ordained. since its creation. This grace must be preserved so that we can always walk in the light, and the day of judgment does not surprise us as a thief, to our downfall (1 Thessalonians 5:1-9.23). In the letter to the Romans, Paul writes: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:16) This is due to the fact that in the Bible “soul” and “spirit” are often used interchangeably (see for example: Wisdom 16:14; Isaiah 26:9; Baruch 3:1; Luke 1:46-47). In fact, we can say that man is made up of soul and body, or of spirit and matter.

The meaning of the terms nèfeš, psyché, ruach and pneuma

The Hebrew נֶֽפֶשׁ (nèfeš) and the Greek ψυχή (psyché), often translated as “soul”, are used not only in reference to the spiritual part of man (1 Kings 17:21-22; Matthew 10:28; Revelation 6:9) for which he is the image of God, but also in reference to the whole human person (Genesis 2:7; Matthew 26:38; Luke 1:46; John 12:27; Acts 2:41), to human life (1 Kings 19:4; Ezekiel 18:4; Matthew 16:25-26; 20:28; John 15:13), to the mouth (Isaiah 5:14; Habakkuk 2:5), to the throat (Proverbs 25:25) , to blood (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:14; Deuteronomy 12:23), to every living being (Deuteronomy 20:16; Joshua 10:28.40; Revelation 16:3). Also the Hebrew רֽוּחַ (ruach) and the Greek πνεῦμα (pneuma), translated as “spirit”, are used not only in reference to the spiritual part of man (Sirach 34:13; James 2:26; 1 Peter 3:19) , but also with reference to the whole human person (Luke 1:47), to the breath (Psalms 146:4), to human feelings (1 Maccabees 13:7), to human life (Job 17:1). Furthermore, the term “Spirit” indicates the Divinity (John 4:24; Acts 5:3-4) and his gifts (Isaiah 11:2-3).

The existence and survival of the human soul beyond the death of the body

Matthew 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Jesus makes a very clear distinction between soul and body, and uses Gehenna as a symbolic figure of the condition of the damned because of the fire that continually consumed waste (Matthew 18:8; Jude 7; Revelation 21:8). The fire that never ceases to burn is a figure of the endless torment of the damned.

1 Peter 3:18-20
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits — to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.

Christ preached to the spirits of those men who were chastised in the time of Noah. Peter makes a clear reference to the life after death of the body. So there is a mortal body and an immortal soul. Together they constitute the human person.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Paul makes a clear reference to the life after death of the body. He prefers to leave his mortal body to be with Christ. Reference to the immortal soul that survives beyond the death of the mortal body.

Philippians 1:23-24
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Paul was torn between the desire to be released from the body to be with Christ, and the duty to remain in the body to preach the Gospel, which was more convenient for those to whom the Gospel was preached by him. This writing is a clear reference to the life after death of the body. In fact, Paul refers to his immortal soul, loosened from his mortal flesh. On the contrary, Paul would have said something nonsense.

Revelation 6:9-10
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

John of Patmos makes a clear reference to the life after death of the body, therefore to the immortality of the soul of man. In fact, in his writing we see the souls of those who have suffered martyrdom, asking God to do justice to their blood on the inhabitants of the earth.

Book of Qoèlet

Ecclesiastes 3:19-20
Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

The aforementioned scriptures refer to the death of the body. In this sense, the fate of men and beasts is the same. In this sense Qoèlet means that the dead know nothing and everything vanishes for them. But the same one affirms elsewhere: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) As already said initially, soul and spirit are synonymous. Therefore, even for Qoèlet, with death the body returns to dust while the soul survives. In Ecclesiastes there is still no reference to retribution for the righteous and the wicked (Luke 16:22-23).

In conclusion

The soul of man is immortal, therefore it survives beyond the death of the body. At the resurrection from the dead (2 Maccabees 7:9; Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) the soul of every man will be reunited with his own body, so that the body too, in eternal life, may participate in the reward or in the deserved punishment (Matthew 25:31-46), in which souls are already participating.