We Don't Have A Soul

Recently while checking my email I ran across an add of some sort that asked the question, "What happens to the soul when one dies?" This question, not being in the context of religion, got me to thinking about what I have been told. I decided to do some research into the matter. If I understand it correctly most traditional Christian Churches teach that the immortal soul concept comes from the Holy Bible. On the other side, much of the scientific community tells us that there is no evidence of an immortal soul. Who is correct?

Looking at the Bible I discovered that what is referred to as the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek and not in King James old English. The first thing I discovered is the term "immortal soul" cannot be found in the Bible. Looking into the O.T. I found that the word translated soul was the Hebrew word nephesh and can mean an air breathing creature. I found passages where nephesh was translated as an animal and even a dead body. In the book of Genesis I read where man was formed of the dust of the ground and man became a living soul. The dust of the ground became a soul. So what I get from the O.T. man does not have a soul man is a soul. I could not find anything in the Old Testament that says man soul is immortal. In fact in Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 20 it says that the soul that sins it shall die.

Okay no immortal soul in the Old Testament . It must be in the New Testament. In the NT the Greek word for soul is psuche and has pretty much the same meaning as nephesh. One of the first passages I find in the NT tells us to fear the one who is able to kill the soul. The soul can be killed. Other verses tell us that the soul can be pierced through with a sword and the soul can be destroyed. In my search I could find no immortal soul in the bible.

Where then did Christianity get the concept of an immortal soul? As near as I can find out it came to the Greeks from the Egyptians and to the Christian church mainly from Plato who wrote in his book the Phaedo: "The soul whose inseparable attitude is life will never admit of life's opposite, death. Thus the soul is shown to be immortal, and since immortal indestructible....Do we believe there is such a thing as death? To be sure. And is this anything but the separation of the soul and body?" This appears to be exactly what I was taught in the church I was brought up in.

Putting it all together I am lead to believe that the immortal soul concept came down to Christianity from early paganism and that the Bible and science agree that there is no immortal soul.