Unlike animals, humans have an immortal soul.
Ecclesiastes 3:21
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Early Christians understood and believed in the existence of disembodied spirits.
Acts 12:15
And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.
This contrasted with Sadducee teachings.
Acts 23:8
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
It was not just superstitious Christians that believed that the spirit lives on after the body dies. Jesus endorsed and argued for an anti-annihilationist view specifically against the Sadducees.
Matthew 22:32
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Likewise, Jesus taught us that the souls of believers immediately pass into glory.
Luke 23:43
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Nevertheless, death is something. That is why we treat death as separation. Indeed, James provides a clear statement to that effect:
James 2:26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
1 comment:
TurretinFan “ Unlike animals, humans have an immortal soul.”
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but instead be afraid of the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%2010:28&version=LEB
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the likeness of an image of mortal human beings and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles.
Romans 1:22-23 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Romans%201:22-23&version=LEB
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