body perishes. When God created Adam, He
“breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7, KJV,
emphasis added). Thus man doesn’t have a soul,
per se, but rather he is a soul. After man sinned,
his entire person, or soul, became mortal, or
subject to death. When sinners die, they return
to the dust, and “the breath of life” returns to
God. This “breath” isn’t a conscious ghost that
can visit Chicago after it’s host is buried in
Detroit, but is rather a spark of life that exists in
everything alive. According to this viewpoint,
at death a person is completely dead, that is,
they are unconscious, silent, asleep in the grave,
waiting for Resurrection Day.
Which view is right? For starters, we reject
atheistic nihilism because we believe that
God exists and that His Word is true. There is a
heaven, and a hell too. What about the other
two views, with their opposing ideas on the
nature of the soul? What does God’s Book really
teach?
Bible Facts about Death
As we’ve already seen, the Holy Bible
teaches that when God first formed Adam,
that “he became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7, KJV,