LENGTH OF CREATIVE DAYS

Creation

Definition: Creation, as explained in the Bible, means that Almighty God designed and brought into existence the universe, including other spirit persons and all the basic kinds of life upon the earth.

In this modern, scientific world, is it reasonable to believe in creation?

"The natural laws of the universe are so precise that we have no difficulty building a spaceship to fly to the moon and can time the flight with the precision of a fraction of a second. These laws must have been set by somebody."
— Quoted from Wernher von Braun, who had much to do with sending American astronauts to the moon.

Physical universe: If you found a precision timepiece, would you conclude that it was formed by a chance blowing together of some dust particles? Obviously, someone with intelligence made it. There is an even more magnificent "clock." The planets in our solar system, also the stars in the entire universe, move at a rate that is more precise than most clocks designed and manufactured by man. The galaxy in which our solar system is located includes over 100 billion stars, and astronomers estimate that there are 100 billion of such galaxies in the universe.

If a clock is evidence of intelligent design, how much more so is the far more vast and complicated universe! The Bible describes the Designer of it as "the true God, Jehovah, . . . the Creator of the heavens and the Grand One stretching them out."— Isa. 42:5; 40:26; Ps. 19:1.

Planet Earth: When crossing a barren desert, if you came to a beautiful house, well equipped in every way and stocked with food, would you believe that it got there by some chance explosion? No; you would realize that someone with considerable wisdom built it. Well, scientists have not yet found life on any of the planets of our solar system except the earth; available evidence indicates that the others are barren. This planet is, as the book The Earth says, "the wonder of the universe, a unique sphere." (New York, 1963, Arthur Beiser, p. 10) It is at just the right distance from the sun for human life, and it moves at just the right speed to be held in orbit. The atmosphere, of a kind found only around the earth, is made up of just the right proportion of gases to sustain life. Marvelously, light from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and water and minerals from fertile soil combine to produce food for earth's inhabitants. Did it all come about as a result of some uncontrolled explosion in space? Science News admits: "It seems as if such particular and precise conditions could hardly have arisen at random." (August 24 and 31, 1974, p. 124) The Bible's conclusion is reasonable when it states: "Of course every house is constructed by someone, but he that constructed all things is God."—Heb. 3:4.

Human brain: Modern computers are a product of intensive research and careful engineering. They did not "just happen." What about the human brain? Unlike the brain of any animal, the brain of a human infant triples in size during its first year. How it functions is still largely a mystery to scientists. In humans, there is the built-in capacity to learn complex languages, to appreciate beauty, to compose music, to contemplate the origin and meaning of life. Said brain surgeon Robert White: "I am left with no choice but to acknowledge the existence of a Superior Intellect, responsible for the design and development of the incredible brain-mind relationship—something far beyond man's capacity to understand." (The Reader's Digest, September 1978, p. 99) The development of this marvel begins from a tiny fertilized cell in the womb. With remarkable insight, the Bible writer David said to Jehovah: "I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware." —Ps. 139:14.

Living cell: A single living cell is sometimes referred to as being a "simple" form of life. But a one-celled animal can catch food, digest it, get rid of wastes, build a house for itself and engage in sexual activity. Each cell of the human body has been likened to a walled city, with a central government to maintain order, a power plant to generate energy, factories to produce proteins, a complex transportation system, and guards to regulate what is permitted to enter. And a single human body is made up of as many as 100 trillion cells. How appropriate the words of Psalm 104:24: "How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made"!

Does the Bible allow for the idea that God used evolution to produce the various kinds of living things?
Genesis 1:11, 12 says that grass and trees were made to produce each "according to its kind." Verses 21, 24, 25 add that God created sea creatures, flying creatures and land animals, each "according to its kind." There is no allowance here for one basic kind to evolve or change into another.

Regarding man, Genesis 1:26 reports that God said: "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness." So he was to have godlike qualities, not traits that were simply a development of those of a beast. Genesis 2:7 adds: "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man [not out of some preexisting life form but] out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life." There is no hint of evolution here, but, rather, description of a new creation.

Did God create all the millions of varieties of organisms that exist on earth today?

Genesis chapter 1 says simply that God created each "according to its kind." (Gen. 1:12, 21, 24, 25) In preparation for the global Flood in Noah's day, God directed that representative members of each "kind" of land animal and flying creature be taken into the ark. (Gen. 7:2, 3,14) Each "kind" has the genetic potential for great variety. Thus there are reportedly more than 400 different breeds of dogs and upwards of 250 breeds and types of horses. All interfertile varieties of any animal are just one Genesis "kind." Similarly, all varieties of humans—Oriental, African, Caucasian, those as tall as the seven-foot Dinka in the Sudan and as short as the four-foot-four-inch Pygmies—stem from the one original pair, Adam and Eve.—Gen. 1:27, 28; 3:20.

What accounts for the basic similarities in the structure of living things?

"God . . . created all things." (Eph. 3:9) Thus everything has the same Great Designer. "All things came into existence through him [God's only-begotten Son, who became Jesus Christ when on earth], and apart from him not even one thing came into existence." (John 1:3) Thus there was one Master Worker through whom Jehovah performed his works of creation.—Prov. 8: 22, 30, 31

What is the origin of the raw material of which the universe is made?

Scientists have learned that matter is a concentrated form of energy. This is demonstrated with the explosion of nuclear weapons. Astrophysicist Josip Kleczek states: "Most and possibly all elementary particles may be created by materialization of energy."—The Universe (Boston, 1976), Vol. 11, p. 17.

From where could such energy come? After asking, "Who has created these things [the stars and planets]?", the Bible states regarding Jehovah God, "Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing." (Isa. 40:26) So God himself is the Source of all the "dynamic energy" that was needed to create the universe.

Was all physical creation accomplished in just six days sometime within the past 6,000 to 10,000 years?

The facts disagree with such a conclusion: (1) Light from the Andromeda nebula can be seen on a clear night in the northern hemisphere. It takes about 2,000,000 years for that light to reach the earth, indicating that the universe must be at least millions of years old. (2) End products of radioactive decay in rocks in the earth testify that some rock formations have been undisturbed for billions of years.

Genesis 1:3-31 is not discussing the original creation of matter or of the heavenly bodies. It describes the preparation of the already existing earth for human habitation. This included creation of the basic kinds of vegetation, marine life, flying creatures, land animals, and the first human pair. All of this is said to have been done within a period of six "days."

However, the Hebrew word translated "day" has a variety of meanings, including 'a long time; the time covering an extraordinary event.' (Old Testament Word Studies, Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1978, W. Wilson, p. 109) The term used allows for the thought that each "day" could have been thousands of years in length.


What Does Genesis Say?

AS WITH other things that are misrepresented or misunderstood, the first chapter of the Bible dederves at least a fair hearing. The need is to investigate and determine whether it harmonizes with known facts, not to mold it to fit some theoretical famework. Also to be remembered, the Genesis account was not written to show the "how" of creation. Rather, it covers major events in a progressive way, describing what things were formed, the order in which they were formed and the time interval, or "day," in which each first appeared.

When examining the Genesis account, it is help-to keep in mind that it approaches matters from standpoint of people on earth. So it describes events as they would have been seen by human observers had they been present. This can be noted from its treatment of events on the fourth Genesis “day.” There the sun and moon are described as it luminaries in comparison to the stars. Yet many stars are far greater than our sun, and the moon is insignificant in comparison to them. Buta not to an earthly observer. So, as seen from the earth, the sun appears to be a 'greater light that rules the day' and the moon a 'lesser light that dominates the night.'—Genesis 1:14-18.

Ps! BlOG TO BE CONTINUED IN A FEW DAYS.......

VENERATION OF THE 'CROSS'

Cross


Definition: The device on which Jesus Christ was executed is referred to by most of Christendom as a cross. The expression is drawn from the Latin crux.


Why do Watch Tower publications show Jesus on a stake with hands over his head instead of on the traditional cross?



The Greek word rendered "cross" in many modern Bible versions ("torture stake" in NW) is stau-ros'. In classical Greek, this word meant merely an upright stake, or pale. Later it also came to be used for an execution stake having a crosspiece. The Imperial Bible-Dictionary acknowledges this, saying: "The Greek word for cross, [stau-ros'], properly signified a stake, an upright pole, or piece of paling, on which anything might be hung, or which might be used in impaling [fencing in] a piece of ground.....

Even amongst the Romans the crux (from which our cross is derived) appears to have been originally an upright pole."—Edited by P. Fairbairn (London, 1874), Vol. I, p. 376.

'Was that the case in connection with the execution of God's Son? It is noteworthy that the Bible also uses the word
xy'lon to identify the device used. A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott, defines this as meaning: "Wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber, etc.... piece of wood, log, beam, post... cudgel, club... stake on which criminals were impaled ... of live wood, tree." It also says "in NT, of the cross," and cites Acts 5:30 and 10:39 as examples. (Oxford, 1968, pp. 1191, 1192) However, in those verses KJ, RS, JB, and Dy translate xy'lon as "tree." (Compare this rendering with Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:22, 23.)

The book The Non-Christian Cross, by J. D. Parsons (London, 1896), says: "There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross...It is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as 'cross' when rendering the Greek documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by putting 'cross' in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros. Without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, and did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular shape." —Pp. 23, 24; see also The Companion Bible (London, 1885), Appendix No. 162.

Thus the weight of the evidence indicates that Jesus died on an upright stake and not on the traditional cross.
What were the historical origins of Christendom's cross?

"Various objects, dating from periods long anterior to the Christian era, have been found, marked with crosses of different designs, in almost every part of the old world. India, Syria, Persia and Egypt have all yielded numberless examples . . . The use of the cross as a religious symbol in pre-Christian times and among non-Christian peoples may probably be regarded as almost universal, and in very many cases it was connected with some form of nature worship." —Encyclopaedia Britannica (1946), Vol. 6, p. 753.

"The shape of the [two-beamed cross] had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ."—An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (London, 1962), W. E. Vine, p. 256.

"It is strange, yet unquestionably a fact, that in ages long before the birth of Christ, and since then in lands untouched by the teaching of the Church, the Cross has been used as a sacred symbol.... The Greek Bacchus, the Tyrian Tammuz, the Chaldean Bel, and the Norse Odin, were all symbolised to their votaries by a cruciform device."—The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art (London, 1900), G. S. Tyack, p. 1.

"The cross in the form of the 'Crux Ansata'... was carried in the hands of the Egyptian priests and Pontiff kings as the symbol of their authority as priests of the Sun god and was called 'the Sign of Life.'"—The Worship of the Dead (London, 1904), Colonel J. Gamier, p. 226.

"Various figures of crosses are found everywhere on Egyptian monuments and tombs, and are considered by many authorities as symbolical either of the phallus [a representation of the male sex organ] or of coition. ... In Egyptian tombs the crux ansata [cross with a circle or handle on top] is found side by side with the phallus."—A Short History of Sex-Worship (London, 1940), H. Cutner, pp. 16, 17; see also The Non-Christian Cross, p. 183.

"These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian sun-god,®, and are first seen on a coin of Julius Cassar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Caesar's heir (Augustus), 20 B.C. On the coins of Constantine the most frequent symbol is >£; but the same symbol is used without the surrounding circle, and with the four equal arms vertical and horizontal; and this was the symbol specially venerated as the 'Solar Wheel'. It should be stated that Constantine was a sun-god worshiper, and would not enter the 'Church' till some quarter of a century after the legend of his having seen such a cross in the heavens."—The Companion Bible, Appendix No. 162; see also The Non-Christian Cross, pp. 133-141.


Is veneration of the cross a Scriptural practice?

1 Cor. 10:14: "My beloved ones, flee from idolatry." (An idol is an image or symbol that is an object of intense devotion, veneration, or worship.)

Ex. 20:4, 5, JB: "You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them." (Notice that God commanded that his people not even make an image before which people would bow down.)

Of interest is this comment in the New Catholic Encyclopedia: "The representation of Christ's redemptive death on Golgotha does not occur in the symbolic art of the first Christian centuries. The early Christians, influenced by the Old Testament prohibition of graven images, were reluctant to depict even the instrument of the Lord's Passion." —(1967), Vol. IV, p. 486.

Concerning first-century Christians, History of the Christian Church says: "There was no use of the crucifix and no material representation of the cross."—(New York, 1897), J. F. Hurst, Vol. I, p. 366.

Does it really make any difference if a person cherishes a cross, as long as he does not worship it?

How would you feel if one of your dearest friends was executed on the basis of false charges? Would you make a replica of the instrument of execution? Would you cherish it, or would you rather shun it?

In ancient Israel, unfaithful Jews wept over the death of the false god Tammuz. Jehovah spoke of what they were doing as being a 'detestable thing.' (Ezek. 8:13,14) According to history, Tammuz was a Babylonian god, and the cross was used as his symbol. From its beginning in the days of Nimrod, Babylon was against Jehovah and an enemy of true worship. (Gen. 10:8-10; Jer. 50:29) So by cherishing the cross, a person is honoring a symbol of worship that is opposed to the true God.

As stated at Ezekiel 8:17, apostate Jews also 'thrust out the shoot to Jehovah's nose.' He viewed this as "detestable" and 'offensive.' Why? This "shoot," some commentators explain, was a representation of the male sex organ, used in phallic worship. How, then, must Jehovah view the use of the cross, which, as we have seen, was anciently used as a symbol in phallic worship?

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS

Blood

Definition: A truly marvelous fluid that circulates in the vascular system of humans and most multi-celled animals, supplying nourishment and oxygen, carrying away waste products, and playing a major role in safeguarding the body against infection. So intimately is blood involved in the life processes that the Bible says "the soul of the flesh is in the blood." (Lev. 17:11) As the Source of life, Jehovah has provided definite instructions regarding the use to which blood may be put.

Christians are commanded to 'abstain from blood'

Acts 15:28, 29: "The holy spirit and we ourselves [the governing body of the Christian congregation] have favored
adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled [or, killed without draining their blood] and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper. Good health to you!" (There the eating of blood is equated with idolatry and fornication, things that we should not want to engage in.)

Animal flesh may be eaten, but not the blood

Gen. 9:3,4: "Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul—its blood—you must not eat."

Any animal used for food should be properly bled. One that is strangled or that dies in a trap or that is found after it has died is not suitable for food. (Acts 15:19, 20; compare Leviticus 17:13-16.) Similarly, any food to which whole blood or even some blood fraction has been added should not be eaten.

Only sacrificial use of blood has ever been approved by God

Lev. 17:11,12: "The soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have put it upon the altar for you to make atonement for your souls, because it is the blood that makes atonement by the soul in it. That is why I have said to the sons of Israel: 'No soul of you must eat blood and no alien resident who is residing as an alien in your midst should eat blood.'" (All those animal sacrifices under the Mosaic Law foreshadowed the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ.)

Heb. 9:11-14, 22: "When Christ came as a high priest. .. he entered, no, not with the blood of goats and of young bulls, but with his own blood, once for all time into the holy place and obtained an everlasting deliverance for us. For if the blood of goats and of bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who have been defiled sanctifies to the extent of cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of the Christ, who through an everlasting spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works that we may render sacred service to the living God? . . . Unless blood is poured out no forgiveness takes place."

Eph. 1:7: "By means of him [Jesus Christ] we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness."

How did those who claimed to be Christians in early centuries C.E. understand the Bible's commands regarding blood?

Tertullian (c. 160-230 C.E.): "Let your unnatural ways blush before the Christians. We do not even have the blood of animals at our meals, for these consist of ordinary food. ... At the trials of Christians you [pagan Romans] offer them sausages filled with blood. You are convinced, of course, that the very thing with which you try to make them deviate from the right way is unlawful for them. How is it that, when you are confident that they will shudder at the blood of an animal, you believe they will pant eagerly after human blood?"—Tertullian, Apologetical Works, and Minu-cius Felix, Octavius (New York, 1950), translated by Emily Daly, p. 33.
Minucius Felix (third century C.E.): "So much do we shrink from human blood, that we do not use the blood even of eatable animals in our food."—The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1956), edited by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson, Vol. IV, p. 192.

Blood Transfusions

Does the Bible's prohibition include human blood?

Yes, and early Christians understood it that way. says to "keep abstaining from . . . blood." It does not say merely to abstain from animal blood. (Compare Acts 15:29Leviticus 17:10, which prohibited eating "any sort of blood.") Tertullian (who wrote in defense of the beliefs of early Christians) stated: "The interdict upon 'blood' we shall understand to be (an interdict) much more upon human blood." —The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. IV, p. 86.

Is a transfusion really the same as eating blood?

In a hospital, when a patient cannot eat through his mouth, he is fed intravenously. Now, would a person who never put blood into his mouth but who accepted blood by transfusion really be obeying the command to "keep abstaining from . . . blood"? (Acts 15:29) To use a comparison, consider a man who is told by the doctor that he must abstain from alcohol. Would he be obedient if he quit drinking alcohol but had it put directly into his veins?

In the case of a patient that refuses blood, are there any alternative treatments?

Often simple saline solution, Ringer's solution, and dex-tran can be used as plasma volume expanders, and these are available in nearly all modern hospitals. Actually, the risks that go with use of blood transfusions are avoided by using these substances. The Canadian Anaesthetists' Society Journal (January 1975, p. 12) says: "The risks of blood transfusion are the advantages of plasma substitutes: avoidance of bacterial or viral infection, transfusion reactions and Rh sensitization." Jehovah's Witnesses have no religious objection to the use of nonblood plasma expanders.

Jehovah's Witnesses actually benefit from better medical treatment because they do not accept blood. A doctor writing in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecol-ogy (June 1,1968, p. 395) acknowledged: "There is no doubt that the situation where you [the surgeon] are operating without the possibility of transfusion tends to improve your surgery. You are a little bit more aggressive in clamping every bleeding vessel."
All types of surgery can be performed successfully without blood transfusions. This includes open-heart operations, brain surgery, amputation of limbs, and total removal of cancerous organs. Writing in the New York State Journal of Medicine (October 15, 1972, p. 2527), Dr. Philip Roen said: "We have not hesitated to perform any and all indicated surgical procedures in the face of proscribed blood replacement." Dr. Denton Cooley, at the Texas Heart Institute, said: "We became so impressed with the results [from using nonblood plasma expanders] on the Jehovah's Witnesses that we started using the procedure on all our heart patients." (The San Diego Union, December 27, 1970, p. A-10) "'Bloodless' open-heart surgery, originally developed for adult members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect because their religion forbids blood transfusions, now has been safely adapted for use in delicate cardiac procedures in infants and children."—Cardiovascular News, February 1984, p. 5.

If Someone Says to me —

'You let your children die because you refuse blood transfusions. I think that's terrible!'

May I reply to that: 'But we do allow them to have transfusions—the safer kind. We accept the kind of transfusions that don't carry the risk of such things as AIDS, hepatitis, and malaria. We want the best treatment for our children, as I am sure that any loving parent would.' I would also like to add to that: 'When there is severe blood loss, the greatest need is to restore the fluid volume. No doubt you realize that our blood is actually over 50 percent water; then there are the red and white cells, and so forth. When much blood is lost, the body itself pours large reserves of blood cells into the system and speeds up production of new ones. But fluid volume is needed. Plasma volume expanders that contain no blood can be used to fill that need, and we accept these.' ('Plasma volume expanders have been used on thousands of persons, with excellent results.')

But 'Even more important to us is what the Bible itself says at Acts 15:28, 29.'

I would like to say to the reader: 'I can understand your point of view. I suppose you are imagining your own child in that situation. As parents we would do everything possible to safeguard our child's welfare, wouldn't we? So if folks like you and me were going to refuse some sort of medical treatment for our child, there would certainly have to be some compelling reason for it.' I would also like to add to that and ask the reader where he/she thinks that some parents might be influenced by what God's Word says here at Acts 15:28, 29?' 'So the question is, Do we have enough faith to do what God commands?'

'You people don't believe in blood transfusions'

My reply to this would be: 'The newspapers have published stories about some situations in which they felt that Witnesses might die if they did not accept blood. Is that what you have in mind? . . . Why do we take the position we do?' My answer to those questions would be: 'Do you love your wife (husband) enough that you would be willing to risk your life for her (him)? ... There are also men who risk their lives for their country, and they are viewed as heroes, aren't they? But there is someone who is greater than any person or thing here on earth, and that is God.

Would you risk your life because of love for Him and loyalty to God's rulership?' Might I put it to you the reader that 'The issue here really is loyalty to God. It is God's Word that tells us to abstain from blood. (Acts 15:28, 29)'

'There are many things that are rather common today and that Jehovah's Witnesses shun—for example, lying, adultery, stealing, smoking, and as you mentioned, the use of blood. Why? Because we govern our lives by God's Word.'
The Bible says we should "abstain from blood"? (Acts 15:28, 29)

'Perhaps some of the readers may recall that God told our first parents, Adam and Eve, that they could eat from every tree in Eden except one. But they disobeyed, ate that forbidden fruit, and lost everything. How unwise! Now, of course, there is no tree with forbidden fruit. But after the Flood of Noah's day God again set out one prohibition for mankind. This time it involved blood. (Gen. 9:3, 4)'

'So the real question is, Do we have faith in God? If we obey him, we have before us the prospect of eternal life in perfection under his Kingdom. Even if we die, he assures us of a resurrection.'

'What if a doctor says, "You will die without a blood transfusion"?'

My reply to that would be having been in that situation when I gave birth to my first child is: 'If the situation is really that serious, can the doctor guarantee that the patient will not die if he is given blood?' And adding: 'But there is someone who can give a person life again, and that is God. Don't you agree that, when face to face with death, turning one's back on God by violating his law would be a poor decision? I truly have faith in God. Do you? His Word promises a resurrection for those who put faith in his Son. Do you believe that? Also it is easier to understand how significant 'blood' is, in relation to the 'soul' question. (John 11:25)'

If the doctor in question does not know how to handle the case of a JW patient without the use of blood, if possible, we try to put the respective patient in touch with another doctor, who has had the needed experience, or we engage the services of a doctor, who himself, is also a Jehovah's Witness!'

As a special note of interest

The British Royal College of Surgeons, now for some time have been in collaboration, and working in close association with the Jehovah’s Witnesses Medical Team, when treating Jehovah’s Witnesses for major surgery. They have come to nurture a great respect and admiration for Jehovah’s Witnesses, whom they hold in highest regard. They have also adopted another ingenious piece of medical equipment, invented by a JW’s Medical Team of experts - that of a special ‘blood machine.’ Used not only in treating Jehovah’s Witnesses, but many other non JW’s patients. Who prefer to exclude blood transfusions during major surgery, if not for religious reasons certainly for health and hygienic reasons. The medical profession globally are seriously looking at improving the current methods used in matters of blood transfusion administration. The cost-effectiveness by means of using other methods and alternatives instead has already been closely scrutinized. Non blood transfusion methods have shown to increase a speedier healing process, eliminating the matter of rejection by patients of foreign blood sources into their bodies, as well as increasing their patients' health in the vastly improved healing process in the absence of blood transfusions and replacing these by alternatives as discussed in this post. .

To reiterate! Abstaining thus, from blood transfusions during surgery, has shown to greatly minimize the risks of contracting many other threatening and fatal diseases. Rejection problems and many other complications that could arise through the administering of tainted blood stores are also very minimal and Statistics are demonstrating that, non blood transfusion patients do recover from surgery in half the time than those that accept transfusions. They also build up a stronger immunity and a sharp rise in their own blood counts which are replenished within a much shorter period of time has been observed.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have also kindly donated one of these special ‘blood machines’ to a wing in one of New Zealand’s major hospitals for children.


Next: Watch out for Blog post under the heading : "The Soul"
(as in relation to blood)

HEAVEN - Where is it? What Does the Bible Tell Us About Heaven?

Heaven



Definition: The dwelling place of Jehovah God and of faithful spirit creatures; a realm invisible to human eyes. The Bible also uses the term "heaven(s)" in a variety of other senses; for example: to represent God himself, his organization of faithful spirit creatures, a position of divine favor, the physical universe apart from the earth, the expanse surrounding planet Earth, human governments under Satan's domination, and the righteous new heavenly government in which Jesus Christ with his joint heirs are empowered by Jehovah to rule.
Did we all exist in the spirit realm before our birth as humans?

John 8:23: "[Jesus Christ said: ] 'You are from the realms below; I am from the realms above. You are from this world; I am not from this world.'" (Jesus did come from the spirit realm. But, as Jesus said, other men did not.)

Rom. 9:10-12: "Rebekah conceived twins . . . When they had not yet been born nor had practiced anything good or vile, in order that the purpose of God respecting the choosing might continue dependent, not upon works, but upon the One who calls, it was said to her: 'The older will be the slave of the younger.'" (Of course, if the twins Jacob and Esau had lived previously in a spirit realm they certainly would have built up a record based on their conduct there, would they not? But they had no such record until after their birth as humans.)

Do all good people go to heaven?

Acts 2:34: "David [whom the Bible refers to as being 'a man agreeable to Jehovah's heart'] did not ascend to the heavens."

Matt. 11:11: "Truly I say to you people, Among those born of women there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is." (So John did not go to heaven when he died.)

Ps. 37:9,11, 29: "Evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth . . . The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it."

If Adam had not sinned, would he eventually have gone to heaven?

Gen. 1:26: "God went on to say: 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.'" (So, God's purpose for Adam was that he be caretaker of the earth and of the animal life there. Nothing is said about his going to heaven.)

Gen. 2:16,17: "Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: 'From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.'" (It was not Jehovah's original purpose for man someday to die, God's command here quoted shows that he warned against the course that would lead to death. Death was to be punishment for disobedience, not the doorway to a better life in heaven. Obedience would have been rewarded by continued life, eternal life, in the Paradise that God had given to man. See also Isaiah 45:18.)
 Must a person go to heaven to have a truly happy future?

Ps. 37:11: "The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."

Rev. 21:1-4: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... I heard a loud voice from the throne say: 'Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.'"

Mic. 4:3, 4: "They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it."

Did Jesus open the way to heaven for those who had died before his own death?

What does 1 Peter 3:19, 20 mean? "In this state [in the spirit, following his resurrection] also he [Jesus] went his way and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah's days, while the ark was being constructed, in which a few people, that is, eight souls ["souls," KJ, Dy; "people," TEV, JB; "persons," RS], were carried safely through the water." (Were those "spirits in prison" the souls of the humans who had refused to take heed to Noah's preaching before the Flood, and was the way now open for them to go to heaven? Comparison of 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 with Genesis 6:2-4 shows that these spirits were angelic sons of God that had materialized and married in Noah's day. At 1 Peter 3:19, 20 the Greek word for "spirits" is pneu'ma-sin, while the word rendered "souls" is psy-khai'. The "spirits" were not disembodied souls but disobedient angels; the "souls" here referred to were living people, humans, Noah and his household. What was preached to "spirits in prison" must therefore have been a message of judgment.)

What is the meaning of 1 Peter 4:6? "In fact, for this purpose the good news was declared also to the dead, that they might be judged as to the flesh from the standpoint of men but might live as to the spirit from the standpoint of God." (Were these "dead" the people who had died prior to the death of Christ? As already shown, the dead are not "the spirits in prison." Those spirits were disobedient angels. And preaching would not have benefited physically dead humans because, as Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, they "are conscious of nothing at all," and Psalm 146:4 adds that at death a person's "thoughts do perish." But Ephesians 2:1-7, 17 does refer to persons who were spiritually dead and who came to life spiritually as a result of accepting the good news.)

Is heavenly life set out in the "New Testament" as the hope for all Christians?

John 14:2, 3: "In the house of my Father there are many abodes. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going my way to prepare a place for you. Also, if I go my way and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you home to myself, that where I am you also may be." (Jesus here shows that his faithful apostles, to whom he was speaking, would, in time, be in his Father's "house," in heaven, with Jesus. But he does not here say how many others would also go to heaven.)

John 1:12, 13: "As many as did receive him [Jesus], to them he gave authority to become God's children, because they were exercising faith in his name; and they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man's will, but from God." (Notice that the context, in verse 11, refers to Jesus' "own people," the Jews. As many of them as did receive him when he came to them in the first century became God's children, with heavenly life in view. The verbs in the text are in the past tense, so this passage is not referring to all people who have become Christians since then.)

Rom. 8:14,16, 17: "All who are led by God's spirit, these are God's sons. The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children. If, then, we are children, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together." (At the time this was written it was true that all who were led by God's spirit were God's sons whose hope was that they would be glorified with Christ. But this had not always been true. Luke 1:15 says that John the Baptizer would be filled with holy spirit, but Matthew 11:11 makes clear that he will not share in the glory of the heavenly Kingdom. So, too, after the gathering of the heirs of the heavenly Kingdom, there would be others who would serve God as followers of his Son and yet not share in heavenly glory.)

What specific references are there in the "New Testament" to a provision for Christians to be rewarded with eternal life on earth forever?

Matt. 5:5: "Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth."

Matt. 6:9,10: "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, aZso upon earth." (What is God's will regarding the earth? What do Genesis 1:28 and Isaiah 45:18 indicate?)

Matt. 25:31-33, 40, 46: "When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. . . . The king will say to them [the sheep], 'Truly I say to you, To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' And [the goats] will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones [the sheep] into everlasting life." (Notice that these "sheep" are not the same as the King's brothers, who are "partakers of the heavenly calling." [Heb. 2:10-3:1] But these sheep-like ones would be alive during the time that Christ was on his throne and during the time when some of his "brothers" would still be experiencing hardship on earth.)

John 10:16: "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd." (Who are these "other sheep"? They are followers of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, but are not in the "new covenant" sheep-fold, with hope of heavenly life. Yet they do come to be closely associated with those who are in that sheepfold.)

2 Pet. 3:13: "There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell." (Also Revelation 21:1-4)

Rev. 7:9, 10: "After these things [after the apostle John saw the full number of "sealed" ones who had been "bought from the earth" to be with Christ on heavenly Mount Zion; see Revelation 7:3,4; 14:1-3] I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: 'Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

To how many does the Bible hold out hope of heavenly life?

Luke 12:32: "Have no fear, little flock, because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom."

Rev. 14:1-3: "I saw, and, look! the Lamb [Jesus Christ] standing upon the Mount Zion [in heaven; see Hebrews 12: 22-24], and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.. .. And they are singing as if a new song ... and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth."

Are the 144,000 only natural Jews?

Rev. 7:4-8: "I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: ... Judah ... Reuben ... Gad ... Asher ... Naphtali... Manasseh ... Simeon . .. Levi... Issachar ... Zebulun ... Joseph ... Benjamin." (These cannot be the tribes of natural Israel because there never was a tribe of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Dan are not included in the list here, and the Levites were set aside for service in connection with the temple but were not reckoned as one of the 12 tribes. See Numbers 1:4-16.)

Rom. 2:28, 29: "He is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code."

Gal. 3:26-29: "You are all, in fact, sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one person in union with Christ Jesus. Moreover, if you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham's seed, heirs with reference to a promise."

Is the number 144,000 merely symbolic?

The answer is indicated by the fact that, after mention of the definite number 144,000, Revelation 7:9 refers to "a great crowd, which no man was able to number." If the number 144,000 were not literal it would lack meaning as a contrast to the "great crowd." Viewing the number as literal agrees with Jesus' statement at Matthew 22:14 regarding the Kingdom of the heavens: "There are many invited, but few chosen."
Do those of the "great crowd" referred to at Revelation 7:9, 10 also go to heaven?

Revelation does not say of them, as it does of the 144,000, that they are "bought from the earth" to be with Christ on heavenly Mount Zion.—Rev. 14:1-3.

The description of them as "standing before the throne and before the Lamb" indicates, not necessarily a location, but an approved condition. (Compare Revelation 6:17; Luke 21:36.) The expression "before the throne" (Greek, e-no'pi-on ton thro'nou; literally, "in sight of the throne") does not require that they be in heaven. Their position is simply "in sight" of God, who tells us that from heaven he beholds the sons of men.—Ps. 11:4; compare Matthew 25: 31-33; Luke 1:74, 75; Acts 10:33.

The "great crowd in heaven" referred to at Revelation 19: 1, 6 is not the same as the "great crowd" of Revelation 7:9. The ones in heaven are not described as being "out of all nations" or as ascribing their salvation to the Lamb; they are angels. The expression "great crowd" is used in a variety of contexts in the Bible.—Mark 5:24; 6:34; 12:37.

What will those who go to heaven do there?

Rev. 20:6: "They will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years." (Also Daniel 7:27)

1 Cor. 6:2: "Do you not know that the holy ones will judge
the world?"

Rev. 5:10: "You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over ["on," RS, KJ, Dy; "over," AT, Da, Kx, CO] the earth." (The same Greek word and grammatical structure is found at Revelation 11:6. There RS, KJ, Dy, etc., all render it "over.")

Who selects the ones who will go to heaven?

2 Thess. 2:13,14: "We are obligated to thank God always for you, brothers loved by Jehovah, because God selected you from the beginning for salvation by sanctifying you with spirit and by your faith in the truth. To this very destiny he called you through the good news we declare, for the purpose of acquiring the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Rom. 9:6, 16: "Not all who spring from Israel are really 'Israel.' ... It depends, not upon the one wishing nor upon the one running, but upon God, who has mercy."



Next: Watch out for new Blog Posts coming under the Headings: “HEALING”, “BORN AGAIN”, “TONGUES - Speaking in”, “CREATIVE DAYS - Length of”, “CROSS”, “PARADISE”. . . and many more!

SPIRIT - God's Spirit or Active Force? What Does the Bible Teach?

Spirit

Definition: The Hebrew word ru'ach and the Greek pneu'ma, which are often translated "spirit," have a number of meanings. All of them refer to that which is invisible to human sight and which gives evidence of force in motion. The Hebrew and Greek words are used with reference to (1) wind, (2) the active life-force in earthly creatures, (3) the impelling force that issues from a person's figurative heart and that causes him to say and do things in a certain way, (4) inspired utterances originating with an invisible source, (5) spirit persons, and (6) God's active force, or holy spirit. Several of these usages are here discussed in relation to topics that may arise in the field ministry.

What is the holy spirit?

A comparison of Bible texts that refer to the holy spirit shows that it is spoken of as 'filling' people; they can be 'baptized' with it; and they can be "anointed" with it. (Luke 1:41; Matt. 3:11; Acts 10:38) None of these expressions would be appropriate if the holy spirit were a person.

Jesus also referred to the holy spirit as a "helper" (Greek, pa-ra'kle-tos), and he said that this helper would "teach," "bear witness," "speak," and 'hear.' (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26; 16:13) It is not unusual in the Scriptures for something to be personified. For example, wisdom is said to have "children." (Luke 7:35) Sin and death are spoken of as being kings. (Rom. 5:14, 21) While some texts say that the spirit "spoke," other passages make clear that this was done through angels or humans. (Acts 4:24, 25; 28:25; Matt. 10: 19, 20; compare Acts 20:23 with 21:10,11.) At 1 John 5:6-8, not only the spirit but also "the water and the blood" are said to 'bear witness.' So, none of the expressions found in these texts in themselves prove that the holy spirit is a person.

The correct identification of the holy spirit must fit all the scriptures that refer to that spirit. With this viewpoint, it is logical to conclude that the holy spirit is the active force of God. It is not a person but is a powerful force that God causes to emanate from himself to accomplish his holy will.—Ps. 104:30; 2 Pet. 1:21; Acts 4:31.


See Blog Post under the heading - “TRINITY”
UNVEILING BIBLICAL TRUTH - VOLUME I



What gives evidence that a person really has the holy spirit, or "the Holy Ghost" (KJ)?

Luke 4:18, 31-35: "[Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:] 'Jehovah's spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news'.. . And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath; and they were astounded at his way of teaching, because his speech was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man with a spirit, an unclean demon, and he shouted with a loud voice... But Jesus rebuked it, saying: 'Be silent, and come out of him.' So, after throwing the man down in their midst, the demon came out of him without hurting him." (What gave evidence that Jesus had God's spirit? The account does not say that he trembled or shouted or moved about in a fervor. Rather, it says he spoke with authority. It is noteworthy, however, that on that occasion a demonic spirit did move a man to shout and fall onto the floor.)

Acts 1:8 says that when Jesus' followers received holy spirit they would be witnesses about him. According to Acts 2:1-11, when they did receive that spirit, observers were impressed by the fact that, although the ones speaking were all Galileans, they were speaking about the magnificent things of God in languages that were familiar to the many foreigners who were present. But the record does not say that there were any emotional outbursts on the part of those who received the spirit.

It is noteworthy that when Elizabeth received the holy spirit and then gave voice to "a loud cry" she was not in a meeting for worship but was greeting a visiting relative. (Luke 1:41, 42) When, as reported at Acts 4:31, holy spirit came upon an assembly of disciples, the place was shaken, but the effect of that spirit on the disciples was, not that they trembled or rolled about, but that they 'spoke the word of God with boldness.' Likewise today, boldness in speaking the word of God, zealously engaging in the work of witnessing —these are what give evidence that a person has holy spirit. Gal. 5:22,23: "The fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control." (It is this fruitage, rather than outbursts of religious fervor, that one should look for when seeking to find people who truly have God's spirit.)

Note: Does ability to speak with great emotion in a tongue that a person never studied prove that he has God's spirit?

Compare with Blog Posts under the Headings: “TONGUES”, “SPEAKING IN”,“HEALING”


Is miraculous healing being done in our day by means of the spirit of God ?

Compare with Blog Post under the Heading: “HEALING”

Who is baptized with holy spirit?

Compare with coming Blog Posts under the Heading: “BAPTISM”,“BORN AGAIN”



Is there a spirit part of man that survives the death of the body?

Ezek. 18:4: "The soul that is sinning—it itself will die." (RS, NE, KJ, and Dy all render the Hebrew word ne'phesh in this verse as "soul," thus saying that it is the soul that dies. Some translations that render ne'phesh as "soul" in other passages use the expression "the man" or "the one" in this verse. So, the ne'phesh, the soul, is the person, not an immaterial part of him that survives when his body dies.) (See the main heading "Soul" for further details.)

Ps. 146:4: "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish." (The Hebrew word here translated "spirit" is a derivative of ru'ach. Some translators render it "breath." When that ru'ach, or active life-force, leaves the body, the person's thoughts perish; they do not continue in another realm.)

Eccl. 3:19-21: "There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust. Who is there knowing the spirit of the sons of mankind, whether it is ascending upward; and the spirit of the beast, whether it is descending downward to the earth?" (Because of the inheritance of sin and death from Adam, humans all die and return to the dust, as animals do. But does each human have a spirit that goes on living as an intelligent personality after it ceases to function in the body?

No; verse 19 answers that humans and beasts "all have but one spirit." Based merely on human observation, no one can authoritatively answer the question raised in verse 21 regarding the spirit. But God's Word answers that there is nothing that humans have as a result of birth that gives them superiority over beasts when they die. However, because of God's merciful provision through Christ, the prospect of living forever has been opened up to humans who exercise faith, but not to animals. For many of mankind, that will be made possible by resurrection, when active life-force from God will invigorate them again.)

Luke 23:46: "Jesus called with a loud voice and said: 'Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit [Greek, pneu'ma'}.' When he had said this, he expired." (Notice that Jesus expired. When his spirit went out he was not on his way to heaven. Not until the third day from this was Jesus resurrected from the dead. Then, as Acts 1:3, 9 shows, it was 40 more days before he ascended to heaven. So, what is the meaning of what Jesus said at the time of his death? He was saying that he knew that, when he died, his future life prospects rested entirely with God.



For further comments regarding the ‘spirit that returns to God,’ refer to more Blog Posts coming soon under the Heading:

SOUL, HEAVEN, HELL, DIVINE NAME (of God), amongst many other important topics.

THE SOUL - What is it? What Does the Bible Say it is?

Note: The first Blog Post always appears first. For other topics click onto any of the links on your right!



SOUL

Definition: In the Bible, "soul" is translated from the Hebrew ne'phesh and the Greek psy-khe'. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. To many persons, however, "soul" means the immaterial spirit part of a human being that survives the death of the physical body. Others understand it to be the principle of life. But these latter views are not Bible teachings.

What does the Bible say that helps us to understand what the soul is?

Gen. 2:7: "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul." (Notice that this does not say that man was given a soul but that he became a soul, a living person.) (The part of the Hebrew word here rendered "soul" is ne'phesh. KJ, AS, and Dy agree with that rendering. RS, JB, NAB read "being." NE says "creature." Kx reads "person.")

1 Cor. 15:45: "It is even so written: 'The first man Adam became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit."

(So the Christian Greek Scriptures agree with the Hebrew Scriptures as to what the soul is.)

(The Greek word here translated "soul" is the accusative case of psy-khe'. KJ, AS, Dy, JB, NAB, and Kx also read "soul." RS, NE, and TEV say "being.")

1 Pet. 3:20: "In Noah's days ... a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water." (The Greek word here translated "souls" is psy-khai', the plural form of psy-khe'. KJ, AS, Dy, and Kx also read "souls." JB and TEV say "people"; RS, NE, and NAB use "persons.")

Gen. 9:5: "Besides that, your blood of your souls [or, "lives"; Hebrew, from ne'phesh] shall I ask back." (Here the soul is said to have blood.)

Josh. 11:11: "They went striking every soul [Hebrew, ne'phesh] that was in it with the edge of the sword." (The soul is here shown to be something that can be touched by the sword, so these souls could not have been spirits.)

Where does the Bible say that animals are souls ?

Gen. 1:20, 21, 24, 25: "God went on to say: 'Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls* ..." And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind….And God went on to say: 'Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds ..." And God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every moving animal of the ground according to its kind." (*In Hebrew the word here is ne'phesh. Ro reads "soul." Some translations use the rendering "creature[s].")

Lev. 24:17,18: "In case a man strikes any soul [Hebrew, ne'phesh] of mankind fatally, he should be put to death without fail. And the fatal striker of the soul [Hebrew, ne'phesh] of a domestic animal should make compensation for it, soul for soul." (Notice that the same Hebrew word for soul is applied to both mankind and animals.)

Rev. 16:3: "It became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul* died, yes, the things in the sea." (Thus the Christian Greek Scriptures also show animals to be souls.) (*In Greek the word here is psy-khe'. KJ, AS, and Dy render it "soul." Some translators use the term "creature" or "thing.")

Do other scholars who are not Jehovah's Witnesses acknowledge that this is what the Bible says the soul is?

"There is no dichotomy [division] of body and soul in the O[ld] T[estament]. The Israelite saw things concretely, in their totality, and thus he considered men as persons and not as composites. The term nepes [ne'phesh], though translated by our word soul, never means soul as distinct from the body or the individual person.... The term [psy-khe'] is the N[ew] T[estament] word corresponding with nepes. It can mean the principle of life, life itself, or the living being." —New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp. 449 450.

"The Hebrew term for 'soul' (nefesh, that which breathes) was used by Moses . . . , signifying an 'animated being' and applicable equally to nonhuman beings.... New Testament usage of psyche ('soul') was comparable to nefesh."—The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (1976), Macropsedia, Vol. 15, p. 152.

"The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture."—The Jewish Encyclopedia (1910), Vol. VI, p. 564.
Can the human soul die?

Ezek. 18:4: "Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul* that is sinning—it itself will die." (*Hebrew reads "the ne'phesh." KJ, AS, RS, NE, and Dy render it "the soul." Some translations say "the man" or "the person.")

Matt. 10:28: "Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [ or, “1ife”] but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul* and body in Gehenna.”
(•Greek has the accusative case of psy-khe . KJ. AS, F. TEV, Dy, JB, and NAB all render it "soul")

Acts 3:23: "Indeed, any soul [Greek, psy-khe'] that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people."

Note: Is it possible for human souls (people) to live forever?

(See also the coming Blog Post under the heading "LIFE.‘)

Is the soul the same as the spirit?

Eccl. 12:7: "Then the dust returns to the earth just as it happened to be and the spirit [or, life-force; Hebrew, ru'ach] itself returns to the true God who gave it." (Notice that the Hebrew word for spirit is ru'ach; but the word translated soul is ne'phesh. The text does not mean that at death the spirit travels all the way to the personal presence of God; rather, any prospect for the person to live again rests with God. In similar usage, we may say that, if required payments are not made by the buyer of a piece of property, the property "returns" to its owner.) (KJ, AS, RS, NE, and Dy all here render ru'ach as "spirit." NAB reads "life breath.")

Eccl. 3:19: "There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit [Hebrew, ru'ach]." (Thus both mankind and beasts are shown to have the same ru'ach, or spirit.

Heb. 4:12: "The word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul [Greek, psy-khes'; "life," NE] and spirit [Greek, pneu'ma-tos], and of joints and their marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Observe that the Greek word for "spirit" is not the same as the word for "soul.")

Ps. 146:4: "His sport [Hebrew, from ru'ach] goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish." (NAB, Ro, Yg, and Dy [145:4] here render ru'ach as "spirit." Some translations say "breath.") (Also Psalm 104:29)

What is the origin of Christendom's belief in an immaterial, immortal soul?

"The Christian concept of a spiritual soul created by God and infused into the body at conception to make man a living whole is the fruit of a long development in Christian philosophy. Only with Origen [died c. 254 C.E.] in the East and St. Augustine [died 430 C.E.] in the West was the soul established as a spiritual substance and a philosophical concept formed of its nature... . His [Augustine's] doctrine . . . owed much (including some shortcomings) to Neoplato-nism."—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp. 452, 454.

"The concept of immortality is a product of Greek thinking whereas the hope of a resurrection belongs to Jewish thought Following Alexander's conquests Judaism gradually absorbed Greek concepts."—Dictionnaire Encyclopedique de la Bible (Valence, France; 1935), edited by Alexandre Westphal, Vol. 2, p. 557.

"Immortality of the soul is a Greek notion formed in ancient mystery cults and elaborated by the philosopher Plato."—Presbyterian Life, May 1,1970, p. 35.

"Do we believe that there is such a thing as death? ... Is it not the separation of soul and body? And to be dead is the completion of this; when the soul exists in herself, and is released from the body and the body is released from the soul, what is this but death? . . . And does the soul admit of death? No. Then the soul is immortal? Yes."—Plato's "Phaedo," Sees. 64, 105, as published in Great Books of the Western World (1952), edited by R. M. Hutchins, Vol. 7, pp. 223, 245, 246.

"The problem of immortality, we have seen, engaged the serious attention of the Babylonian theologians.... Neither the people nor the leaders of religious thought ever faced the possibility of the total annihilation of what once was called into existence. Death was a passage to another kind of life." —The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (Boston, 1898), M. Jastrow, Jr., p. 556.


Note: See also the coming Blog Post under the headings DEFINITIONS OF: "DEATH”, “SPIRIT”, “HEAVEN”, “HELL”, “THE DIVINE NAME” (of God) and many more…..