Thanks for the reply May. Interesting though that you have not commented on the account of Samuel's spirit rising from the earth. Though i did not expect you to comment on that because you must actually ignore this section of God's word if you are to hold onto the concept of total destruction.
The verse in Job shows that the spirit is not the breath of God - it clearly distinguishes between the two. First it states that man does have a spirit and second it states that it is the breath of God which gives man understanding. So the spirit though you describe it as a life force, is more than just this, because it is an entity or thing which is
formed by God within man. Therefore showing that it is separate from man ie. the body.
The spirit inside of you is the real you - your body is merely a shell by which your spirit can live out a life on earth. When the body dies your spirit returns to God who gave it - why does it return to God?
All will be judged - all will appear before God, hence the spirit returns to God inorder for this judgement. I'd like to have a quick look at the verse in Matthew 10:28 that you covered there - i noticed that you did not quote the first part of the verse.
May i ask how you believe the body can be killed and yet the soul still remain alive. (The soul in this case meaning the spirit of the man). Since you do not believe in such a place as hell, you must interpret hell here to mean the grave - so who is Jesus talking about that can destroy both the soul and the body in the grave? The body and the soul must still be 'alive' in the grave under your interpretation if they can then both be destroyed. Why then are we not to fear those that can kill just the body? Total destruction occurs as you state as soon as we die - therefore there should be no distinction between the two parts of this verse...
Yes, that is totally correct. That is what destroyed in this case means - it doesn't mean total annhilation wherein the person ceases to exist. When a person is sent to hell their life prospects are completely destroyed - they have no hope of anything, because they are there for eternity. They are lost for eternity - nothing remains for them.
As to the concept of a second death - you should believe in no such thing May - for you believe in total destruction when a person dies. How can there be such a thing as a second death - unless of course it is not the end when we die the first time...
In anycase the account of Samuel is what should really stay with you. I'm not hear trying to force my view down anyone's throat, but if you are serious about God's word being the truth May then that's great and we will come to the right conclusion
. But if you are prepared to ignore sections of God's word then there's no point - i don't know which you are.