Jehovah's Witnesses And The Soul Of Man
Jehovah's Witnesses deny that man has a soul
or spirit that has conscious existence after death. What does the Bible
say?
To Jehovah's Witnesses, the word "soul" is interchangeable with
the word "human." In other words, they don't believe that humans possess
souls which are separate and distinct from the body; rather, they maintain
that humans are souls! This explains why Jehovah's Witnesses believe
that a person ceases to exist upon death.
The Bible, however, makes it clear that everyone has an inner being
which survives after physical death. Admittedly, this being is not conscious
in the sense that he's not fully aware of the physical world; yet he
remains a person who possesses both self-awareness and a unique identity.
The Bible refers to this inner being as the soul or the spirit of mankind.
Matthew 10:28 demonstrates that Scripture distinguishes the soul
from the body, thereby disproving what Jehovah's Witnesses are clearly
teaching. It reads: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul" (NIV). Jesus tells us in this passage that the
soul survives death, even though someone may kill the body.
Furthermore, Matthew 17 - which recounts not only the transfiguration
of Christ, but also His conversation with Moses and Elijah - shows that
the soul is indeed conscious after death. After all, how else can Jesus
carry on a dialogue with Moses, who passed away centuries earlier?
John 11:26 states that whoever believes in
Jesus will never die, which explains Paul's statement in Romans 8:38
that not even death can separate us from God's love. Conversely, Revelation
20 tells us that the unsaved will experience eternal torment. By denying
the reality of eternal punishment, Jehovah's Witnesses are saying that
this passage can't be taken seriously. Well, the truth of the matter
is that Jesus not only taught us of heaven, but also taught us that
hell is a tangible reality (Matt. 13:40-42; 18:8-9; 25:41.46).
{ Back To Previous
Page }
