Some read the above as: dust + breath of life = a soul. Other say, that the combination of the first, adds a third component to man sinergetically or somehow, and thus, each of us = 3 things such as: dust, breath ie. spirit and soul.Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Let's see...
In my opinion "soul" means person here. The whole thing, not a component !Genesis 17:14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
It seems souls do die, since people do. So once again...Genesis 19:20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
Genesis 34:8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
Other translation translate this as: the soul was departing. But... going out, could mean something like fading out, or as a flame goes out, perhaps ?Genesis 35:18 (YLT) And it cometh to pass in the going out of her soul (for she died), that she calleth his name Ben-Oni; and his father called him Benjamin;
I'd need to help of someone who understands the original language...
Exodus 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Can a soul die ?!Rev 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea
Can a soul touch ?!Levitcus 5:2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.
Can a soul eat ?Leviticus 17:12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Psa 44:25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
On the other hand though:
But most importantlyDeut 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
- is this an enumeration of components ? If not why not ?1Thess 5:23 and the God of the peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved unblameably in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ;
and I can't quite find something more that contradicts that a soul is a the whole person.. but I think I haven't looked enough. There are almost 500 hits if I search four soul in the Bible... and Question is, is this an issue of misstranslation ?
If there's no eternal soul, than there's nothing to be tormented forever, as the evildoers will be turned to ashes...
And thus we are left to chose between eternal life and eternal anihilatation, which also makes sense, since the wages of sins is DEATH, not Hell...Malachi 4:3
Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.
Problem is, there are holes in this theory... I can't remember which, but you might...
If this will become a debate, please move this to the appropriate sub-forum and do not close it.