Misconception of an immortal soul with fatal consequences

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After death, the “immortal soul” will rise from the body, return to higher spheres and develop its own divinity there. Such “wild theses” are no longer New Age alone, but also the consensus of former Protestant churches. The driving force is the Roman Catholic institution. The false belief in an immortal soul has now become established. A fatal development.

Inhalt / Content

1 The soul is very “earthly”
2 “Immortal soul” also in Christianity
3 Heresy against better knowledge
4 The Catholic Church’s Declaration of the Soul
5 Heresy with intent
6 Belief in “immortal soul” is spiritualism
7 Carelessness of people

The soul is very “earthly”

One of the most serious and at the same time the most widespread heresies is the doctrine of an immortal soul. The theory goes that humans consist of body, mind and soul. After death, the soul separates from the body and, depending on the variation of the (false) belief, enters a higher sphere. There the soul continues its existence.

Hindu elephant — Far Eastern-inspired New Age teachings instead of gospel

Followers of the New Age, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shamanism and actually almost all other religions outside of Christianity believe in an immortal soul, even a kind of divinity of the spiritual being. In some cases, this assumed divinity even extends to earthly existence. Even in Islam one speaks of a soul that is independent of the body. This is what it says in the Koran in Suratu-z-Zumar 39:41:

“˹It is˺ Allah ˹Who˺ calls back the souls ˹of people˺ upon their death as well as ˹the souls˺ of the living during their sleep. Then He keeps those for whom He has ordained death, and releases the others until ˹their˺ appointed time. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect.”

“Immortal soul” also in Christianity

The dilemma: The thesis about an immortal soul has long been manifested in Christianity. Even in the (formerly) Protestant churches, which actually claim to teach only according to the Scriptures (sola scriptura), the myths about a migration of the soul after a person’s death are spread. Either it goes straight to heaven or straight to hell. A legacy of the Roman Catholic Church and, along with Sunday observance instead of Sabbath observance, another doctrine of the Church of Rome that was continued by the Protestant churches.

At this point one is inclined to agree with the Catholic Church when it says that the Reformers never actually separated from the mother church. It was just an internal rebellion. This wound is almost completely “healed” again(Info).

Heresy against better knowledge

pulpit — Spreading heresies from high positions

But there is a difference in the quality of the heresy spread between the Christian and pagan religions. While, for example, in Buddhism or Hinduism, and also in Islam, the immortal soul is described in their official textbooks, the Catholic and Protestant churches also claim to teach according to the scriptures, although this is not the case at all. Because the scripture of Christianity, the Bible, does not speak of an immortal human soul with not a single syllable.

While the Imam imparts an “immortal soul” to the believing Muslim through official teaching, claims that cannot be found in the Gospel at all are heard from the pulpits of the churches.
There are numerous verses in the Bible that are often used as “proof” of an immortal soul, such as Matthew 10:28:
“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.”

But this is a figure of speech, just as “my soul” simply means “I”. More on that later.
In contrast, the Bible contains some verses that, standing on their own, clearly speak about a thoroughly mortal soul. There are some examples here.

Now it remains an individual decision whether the pastors or priests of the churches who preach something about an immortal soul do so against their better judgment or whether they deliberately want to mislead their congregation. But there is one thing they certainly cannot claim with a clear conscience: This corresponds to the statements of God’s words!

The Catholic Church’s Declaration of the Soul

The Roman Catholic Church has its own “New Catholic Encyclopedia”. In this very opulent work, volume 13 of this encyclopedia deals with the topic of the human soul. It explains to the reader how the Catholic Church interprets the Bible’s statements about the soul.

Soul in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament the Hebrew word “nepesh” stands for the word “soul.” The following statement can be found on page 336:

“Nepesh comes from an original rott probably meaning to breathe. Thus the noun form means neck or throat opened for breathing, thence, breath of life. Since breath distinguishes the living from the dead, nepesh came to mean life or self or simply individual life. Nepesh is used in regard to both animals and humans. If life is human, nepesh is equivalent to the person, the “I”: After death, the nepesh goes to Sheol.”

The above summary indicates that there is no dichotomy of body and soul in the OT. The Israelite saw things concretely, in their totality, and thus he considered men as a person and not as composites. The term nepesh, though translated by our word “soul,” never means soul as distinct from the body or the individual person. Other words in the OT such as Spirit, Flesh, and Heart also signify the human person and differ only as various aspects of the same being.
As a human life, nepesh can be identical with the persnal pronoun or the reflexive pronoun, where “says my soul” could be just as correctly translated “say I”.”

In the Catholic lexicon, the Church of Rome is completely aligned with the Gospel. The soul is about the person as a whole and not as part of the whole.
The Bible also says that the body (made of dust and earth) plus the life breath of God creates the living soul.

Soul in the New Testament

The Catholic encyclopedia also deals with the New Testament’s biblical statements about the soul. Also on page 336.

“The term [psyche] is the NT word corresponding with nepesh. It can mean the principle of life, life itself, or the living being. Through Hellenistic influence, unlike nepesˇ, it was opposed to body and considered immortal. The psyche in Mt. 10,28, “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [psyche]; but rather be afraid of him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,” means a life that exits separately from the body. The meaning of psyche in our Lord’s statment, “The Son of Man ha s not come to be served but to serve, and to gibe his life [psyche] as a ransom for many,” is obviously His mortal existence. As a living being, subject of various experiences, it can refer to animals, “And every live thing [psyche] in the sea died” (Rv 16,3), or to humans, “Fear came upon every soul [psyche] (Acts, 2,43; Rom 2,9; 13,1).”

“In summary, the Hebrew nepesˇ generally is connected with the concrete sign of life in the individual, the “I” that feels, wills, pants for, etc. Its end is Sheol. The Greek counterpart, [psyche], includes many of the meanings of nepesˇ; but it has added to the concept “I,” the immortality of later philosophy and revelation.”

Even in the New Testament in Greek word “psyche” means the same as “nepesh” in the Old Testament. An expansion of the term took place due to “Hellenistic influences”. So possibly through the ideas of various “scholars” influenced by Hellenism. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the self-contradictory Septuagint (Info), was translated by “Hellenistic scholars”.

Greek views

The “New Catholic Encyclopedia” also describes the Hellenists’ perspective on the subject of the “soul.” So in volume 13, page 338:

“Plato. It was not until Socrates and Plato that Greek thought rose to the notion of immateriality. Even when Plato employed mythology to describe creation, he considered the human soul an incorporeal substance, made from the same elements as the World Soul, akin to the gods and yet part of the world of change and becoming. Being composed, the soul has within itself the roots of conflict – implied in the myth of the charioteer and the two winged horses. “

“Aristotle. In his early writings Aristotle accepted the myth of the soul as a divine sojourner on earth; the lost Eudemus apparently dwelt at length on this theme. But as Aristotle grew to intellectual maturity he abandoned this outright dualism of body and soul.”

Here it is clear to see that the “Christian” thesis about an immortal soul does not correspond to the statements of the Gospel, but to the philosophies of the ancient “thinkers of Greece”.

What is Catholic teaching about the soul?

The Roman Catholic Church itself has pointed out that the Bible describes the soul as the entire living being in the Old and New Testaments. Opposite are the theses of the Hellenistic “thinkers” Plato and Aristotle, who defined the soul as something separate from the body.

The official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church can be found in its catechism and in paragraph 70 (Compendium, CCC 366-368) there is the following statement:

“The spiritual soul does not come from one’s parents but is created immediately by God and is immortal. It does not perish at the moment when it is separated from the body in death and it will be once again reunited with the body at the moment of the final resurrection.”

The situation is therefore clear. The Roman Catholic Church, against its better judgment, teaches on an official basis the teachings of Hellenism and not those of the Gospel. The official dogmas of the Church of Rome contain much more than just strange peculiarities(Info). And the (formerly) Protestant churches simply parrot all this.

Heresy with intent

It is obvious. The Roman Catholic Church knows the truth of the Gospel about the “immortal” or mortal soul, but still represents the theses of the ancient Greeks. A few centuries ago this church had people killed for rejecting this Roman heresy and insisting on the truth of the Gospel.

Belief in “immortal soul” is spiritualism

Belief in an immortal soul contradicts the gospel. It’s not a “petty offense”, it’s fatal. Just as belief in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ (according to the Gospel) leads to human justification, belief in an “immortal soul” also constitutes spiritualism. Not only reprehensible in the eyes of God, but an abomination. Because belief in the “living souls of the deceased” not only opens up the possibility of further imaginative heresies, it also opens up doors and gates for the willing henchmen of the great adversary to gain access.

The Roman Catholic Church used the possibilities of a (false) belief in an “immortal soul” and introduced the theses about purgatory, literal hell, intercessions to “saints” and indulgences as well as mass for the dead. All completely impossible things when you consider that the “immortal soul” doesn’t even exist. And the (formerly) Protestant churches simply parrot it. The “Holy Mass” is not yet celebrated together with the Church of Rome, but the desire for it is already very great (Info).

Carelessness of people

Another pitfall of this misconception lies in people’s carelessness. “Why should I care about God’s will when I can just continue to live even after death?” Sin or no sin, in the end there is a “moral purification” and everyone is saved. Such theses are now being advocated by those churches that still claim to be based on the foundation of Martin Luther.

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Bible verses from King James Version

Confirmed false belief in an immortal soul with fatal consequences

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