Can the soul die?

[Frank Goad]

In Ezekiel 18:20.It says the soul will die.And it even says "the soul that sins,it shall die."At first I thought the soul was the person who dies.But in Ezekiel 18:21.It says"he shall surely live,he shall not die."So to me it looks like the soul and the person are being compared side by side.Also it says it shall die.Refering to the soul.I thought it would say something like.They will die.If Ezekiel 18:20 was referring to people.

 

[2ndpillar]

In Ezekiel 18:20.It says the soul will die.And it even says "the soul that sins,it shall die."At first I thought the soul was the person who dies.But in Ezekiel 18:21.It says"he shall surely live,he shall not die."So to me it looks like the soul and the person are being compared side by side.Also it says it shall die.Refering to the soul.I thought it would say something like.They will die.If Ezekiel 18:20 was referring to people.

The soul is defined as "the dust from the ground" combined with the "breath of life" (Genesis 2:7). The body of man can die and decompose back into dust. Unlike what is taught by the harlot daughters of Babylon, and the serpent (Genesis 3:4), all men die for "his own iniquity" (Jeremiah 31:30). If one turns away from iniquity, they can extend their life, but they will die in the long run. Now, if you are without sin, then you don't have to worry. This may have been the case with Elijah, but apparently, in his form as John the Baptist, that was not the case.

 

[Starlight]

Yes a soul can die

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.

 

[1213]

In Ezekiel 18:20.It says the soul will die.And it even says "the soul that sins,it shall die."...

I think soul can die, for example because this:

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.
Matt. 10:28

But, that does not mean that all souls die.

 

[Deidre]

By soul “dying” in this context, are we speaking of an eternity outside of heaven? Death being a soul existing outside of God?

 

[thomas loebel]

In Ezekiel 18:20.It says the soul will die.And it even says "the soul that sins,it shall die."At first I thought the soul was the person who dies.But in Ezekiel 18:21.It says"he shall surely live,he shall not die."So to me it looks like the soul and the person are being compared side by side.Also it says it shall die.Refering to the soul.I thought it would say something like.They will die.If Ezekiel 18:20 was referring to people.

 

[thomas loebel]

its soul with lord and not soul with spirit [lord is spirit] now see so you L with L or D [L is two sides wed only once and D is de as sides wed twice as love and return back to god.

 

[Soapy]

By soul “dying” in this context, are we speaking of an eternity outside of heaven? Death being a soul existing outside of God?

The Soul cannot exist ‘outside of God’.

Yes, a SOUL is body and Spirit:

1. A human body without a human Spirit is a DEAD SOUL - a Dead Person
2. A human Spirit without a human body to live in is a RESTED / INERT / SLEEPING in the body of its creator: the Father: GOD
3. A human Spirit in a human body is a LIVING SOUL - a LIVING PERSON

‘Person’ and ‘Soul’ are completely synonymous. They mean the same thing in human terms.

So, when the BODY of Adam was first created it was NOT LIVING … Adam was not (initially) a LIVING PERSON / SOUL.

But then GOD BREATHED the breath of life (THE HUMAN SPIRIT) into Adam …. And the Man (the Person) BECAME A LIVING SOUL!!

So, as long as there is a human BODY and/or a human SPIRIT there is a SOUL (a PERSON).

So also, even as the body decays back to dust, it’s human spirit still exists WITH GOD… read this as ‘Remembered’! The Soul / the Person is NOT ALIVE but resting in a inert, inactive state with God. And there is remembrance of him.

But when there is a DESTRUCTION of the human Spirit (and, indeed, even Angel Spirit) there is no REMEMBRANCE of him /it.

And that is the difference. This is what the scriptures means by DEATH!!

You will see this if you read what Jesus says about those he resurrected (temporarily you will find: is Lazarus still alive in the world today?):

• ‘He/She is not dead but only sleeping…’ and
• ‘I will raise them up on the last day’

Those ‘sleeping with God’ are not destroyed… are not in DEATH but resting awaiting the resurrection… the SOUL / THE PERSON is not DEAD.

But, at the judgement seat, Jesus will judge the resurrected ones and designate them either to:

• EVERLASTING LIFE or
• EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION of their SPIRIT

And of those going to everlasting destruction:

• THERE WILL BE NO REMEMBRANCE OF THEM!!

That ‘no remembrance’ is when the ‘Soul is dead’ / the Person is dead (Scripturally).

It is our MISUNDERSTANDING and MISUSE of the term, ‘Dead’ and ‘Death’ that causes the confusion about the question of the O.P.

Because we no more see nor interact with a person / a soul who has ‘gone to rest with God’, we term it that that person/that Soul HAS DIED… is DEAD! But scriptures, and God and Jesus do not see it that way!

Think of a early years child who thinks his toy is no longer existing because you hid it behind your back - You, the adult, the parent, knows the toy is certainly still existing… and you will bring it back when you are ready… but the child feels it is gone. Only when you DESTROY the toy (because you JUDGED IT BAD / DANGEROUS FOR THE CHILD) does it become fully and eternally out of remembrance (not available for playing with) both to the child and to the adult.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

In Ezekiel 18:20.It says the soul will die.And it even says "the soul that sins,it shall die."At first I thought the soul was the person who dies.But in Ezekiel 18:21.It says"he shall surely live,he shall not die."So to me it looks like the soul and the person are being compared side by side.Also it says it shall die.Refering to the soul.I thought it would say something like.They will die.If Ezekiel 18:20 was referring to people.

Well, the Egyptians thought you had to cultivate the soul of a person or they were super dead, like Coco.

 

[syo]

In Ezekiel 18:20.It says the soul will die.

What's a soul?

 

[Soapy]

What's a soul?

Does the scriptures ever use the word, ‘Person’?

The scriptures uses the word, ‘Soul’, like we use the word, ‘Person’, these days.

However, the concept of death or dying, is confused by the lack of belief in a resurrection.

If a belief is that there is no resurrection then when a person ‘dies’ then they are permanently gone out of existence except for memorials and memorandums of them.

But if the belief is that there is a resurrection then a person who ‘dies’ is only ‘sleeping in the
Bosom of God the Father… awaiting their day to be resurrected’.

In that case, the person is not ‘Dead’… the Soul is not dead… but ‘sleeping’ only in a state of inertness. They cannot interact in the living world.

To be ‘dead’ then is to have the soul DESTROYED… that is, the Spirit (which is what is resting with God) is destroyed. THEREAFTER that person, that Soul is permanently erased from all Memory … There will be no remembrance of them. No, not even memoranda or memorials.

In Christianity this is the case. All badness, all bad people (we are not the judge of who is classed as ‘bad’!!) will be destroyed and no one will remember that they even existed …. No one will say, ‘oh, I’m no longer afraid of that crazy guy that mutilated my cat’ ( if it turns out the guy was BAD by the judge of the resurrected’s verdict!)… No, you won’t even remember you had a cat that was mutilated!!… GREATER GLORY will be in front of you and the things of the earth in your lifetime will be forgotten.