“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.” (Matthew 10:28)
Of all the texts in which the word soul occurs, Matthew 10:28 is the one most confidently relied upon in support of the immortality of the soul. It is thought that this text fully refutes the idea of the soul being destructible and sustains the theory of it’s never dying and indestructible nature. The phrase “cannot kill the soul” is seized and brandished, as it were, with the claim that it is not only out of the power of man to kill the soul, but that it is, by reason of it’s nature, the soul is absolutely indestructible and must live for ever.
Now, dear reader, you have only to take heed to one word in this verse to recognize that the soul here is not the supposed immortal, indestructible soul of popular belief. The word that so many people overlook is the word “destroy.” “Fear him that is able to destroy both body and soul in hell (Gehenna).” Please notice that the one word “destroy” is used to describe what God will do with the body in Gehenna and what He will do with the soul in the same place. Gehenna was known by the Jews to be a place of destruction—destruction of life and destruction of carcasses or bodies after they had been deprived of life. When the great day of God’s judgments and wrath comes, Gehenna will again be a valley of slaughter, where God will destroy His enemies and those who are unworthy. The life that will be given to those who are raised from the dead to appear before Christ as the Judge of the quick and the dead will not be in the power of men to take. The life of the condemned will be in the hands of the judicial power of God who will administer “few or many stripes” according to deserts, and at the last destroy totally and eternally every vestige of the life of the unworthy and every particle of the body in Gehenna, when the words of the Psalmist will be fulfilled, “The wicked shall not be; yea thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be,” (Psalms 37:10).
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: Thomas Williams
Keywords: Immortality of the soul, Soul, Soul's immortality, Immortal soul, Kill the soul, Immortal spirit, Undying spirit, Undieing spirit, Life after death, Undying soul, Undieing soul, Destruction of the soul, Soul destroyed
Bible reference(s): Matthew 10:28
Source: The Great Salvation (Englewood: Advocate and Gleaner Pub. House, 1893?).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.