Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) by William West (reading strategies book .TXT) 📖

/> fiendish and sadistic God); but we must look to the Bible to know what He will do and
not look to theology. A man can only take this life from you, and then can do no more,
and most of the twelve Christ was speaking to were soon killed by men who could do no
more, but there will be a resurrection of all they kill. God can DESTROY this life, and
then DESTROY the resurrected life after the judgment. There is a second death for those
not in Christ.
Apollumi is used 95 times in the New Testament. . Matthew 10:28 is the only time it
is used of the soul and it says God is able to kill [apollumi] the soul just as the body
is killed in the other passages. Those who believe we have a soul that cannot die must
deny this plain statement made by Christ. In the King James Version the other 94 times it
is the body that is destroyed (the end of life of the body) or things (such as bottles
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Matthew 9:27 - meat John 6:27 – gold 1 Peter 1:7 - etc.) that are. It is translated destroy,
destroyed, perish, lose, lost, and die.
• In the Greek it is not “soul" but "psukee" (life) that God can and will destroy.
• The saved will never perish (apollumi) [John 10:28].
• The lost will perish (apollumi) [1 Corinthians 1:18].
• Anyone can perish (apollumi) by drowning [Mark 4:38; Matthew 8:25]. When
apollumi is applied to persons whether in this life or at the judgment it is life that
is destroyed, not living forever being tormented by God and cannot perish.
Men did kill the bodies of many disciples and Christ warned that they would be killed,
but this has no effect on their or their ultimate existence. Death is but a brief sleep, which
will be as if it were only a moment from death unto the resurrection. [Deuteronomy
31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31 Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1
Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35;
13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16;
14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew
9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians
15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. There will be a resurrection,
and in the ultimate eternal sense, man cannot kill the soul-life [psukee]. God can destroy
and make our memory to perish [Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6; Ecclesiastes 9:4-6;
Psalms 31:12; 88:5; Isaiah 26:14; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5; Romans
6:23]. If death does not indicate unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is
used throughout the Bible, is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. It is more than just
meaningless, being asleep when they are awake in Heaven or Hell would be an outright
lie that is repeated frequently.
The second death is never called a sleep because there will be no waking up or
resurrection from it.
Many believe that the destroying spoken of in Matthew 10:28 is to be after the
resurrection, but just do not agree on if destroy really means destroy or if destroy
mean an everlasting life with punishment. IT IS CLEARLY SAID THAT THE
DESTROYING IN THIS PASSAGE IS IN GEHENNA, WHICH IS A PLACE ON THIS
EARTH, however, if the destroying were after the judgment, even then it would not
prove no one could be destroyed, therefore, destroy must be changed to torment. "Fear
him who is able to destroy" if it is as many believe this destroying to be at death, or as
others believe the destroying is to be after the judgment, this passage clearly says God is
able to destroy the psukee [life-soul]. I know many who have a gun but there is no point
to fear someone because he has a gun and could kill you if you know he never will. There
would be no point to fear God because he has the power and could destroy you, but you
know he never will. Jesus is not just making an idle threat. GOD IS TO BE FEARED
BECAUSE HE WILL DESTROY. The fear is not of the fact that He can, but on the
fact that He will destroy, on the certainty that He will destroy. IF THERE IS AN
"IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS IMMORTAL AND CAN
NEVER DIE, THEN GOD CANNOT KILL IT AND CHRIST IS SAYING DO NOT
FEAR GOD FOR HE CANNOT KILL THE IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF A
PERSON. If a person kills us, God will raise us at the judgment. Those whom God
will destroy will be destroyed forever with no hope of a resurrection to life. God is
able to destroy both body and soul is changed to: God is able to preserve both body and
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soul. Without this change there would be no way to put "Hell" in this passage, and
without it there would be no way to put the "soul" in "Hell" without also putting the body
in "Hell"; but most important, without changing this passage, there would be no way to
keep the soul that many say, "cannot be destroyed" from being destroyed.
EITHER WAY:
• IF THIS IS SPEAKING OF DESTROYING IN GEHENNA
• OR IF THIS IS SPEAKING OF GOD DESTROYING AFTER THE
JUDGMENT.
1. There is nothing said about a person now having an immortal soul that cannot be
destroyed.
2. Or about God tormenting anyone after the Judgment is over. Noting about
torment anyone at any time, neither in Gehenna nor after the Judgment.
3. If the destroying is in Gehenna or if the destroying is at the Judgment, the
destroying cannot be moved to after the Judgment is over and them changed from
destroying in Gehenna to eternal life in Hell.
If the words "immortal soul" were substituted for "soul" and "life," it would be
absurd. "But are not able to kill the immortal soul [life-psukee]: but fear him who is
able to destroy both immortal soul [life-psukee] and body in Hell [Gehenna]...He that
finds his immortal soul [life-psukee] shall lose his immortal soul [life-psukee]; and he
that loses his immortal soul for my sake shall find his immortal soul " [Matthew 10:28-
39]. In using this to prove that a person has an immortal soul, which cannot be destroyed,
they prove that it can be. If psukee were an immortal soul, then God would be able to
destroy this immortal soul. THERE IS NO STRONGER WAY IN WHICH TO SAY
GOD CAN AND WILL DESTROY IT. He is to be feared by those of the world
because He will. There would be no reason to fear Him if He could not, or if He will not
destroy the psukee [soul or life]. I FIND IT STRANGE THAT ONE OF THE MOST
USED PASSAGES TO PROVE THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART
OF MAN" THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED SAYS GOD CAN DESTROY IT;
BUT, NO STRANGER THEN THE USE OF DEATH TO MEAN AN ETERNAL
LIFE OF TORMENT WITH GOD DOING THE TORMENTING. By saying black
is white you can prove anything.
The point some are trying to make from God being "able to destroy" is that there is
life after death, an immortal soul that cannot be destroyed, which this does not prove. At
the resurrection there will be life that GOD CAN DESTROY, not that there is an
immortal soul that God cannot destroy. IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT AN
"IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS ALIVE BEFORE THE
RESURRECTION THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED. It does not say there will be
any life from death unto the resurrection. That there will be a resurrection is taught
through out the New Testament, but if all are alive when Christ comes, there cannot be a
resurrection of those that are not dead. GOD CAN DESTROY THE LIFE NOW IS
AND THE LIFE THAT WILL BE AFTER THE RESURRECTION. He is to be
feared by the lost because He will destroy the life they will have after the resurrection.
PROVES MORE THAN THE ADVOCATE'S OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL
WANT TO PROVE. Matthew 10:28 proves more than they believe and more them they
want to prove, for they do not believe this earthly body will be tormented in "Hell" or that
the "immaterial, invisible part of man" will be destroyed. But, to prove their Hell, they
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make destroy be just a loss of well being, but still alive and being tormented in Hell. If
the immaterial, invisible part of a person is not destroyed, but just lost its well being, then
the earthly body is not destroyed, but has just lost its well being. The same thing happens
to both the body and the immaterial, invisible part of a person, therefore, if destroy means
one is tormented, not destroyed, then destroy means the earthly body will be tormented in
Hell just as the soul will.
• “Fear him who is able to destroy BOTH soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”
• What ever happens to the soul [psukee] also happens to the body.
• What ever happens to the body also happens to the soul [psukee].
The word "destroy" is from apollumi. Christ is speaking of a soul [life-psukee]
whose destruction is expressed by the same Greek word, apollumi, as is the
destruction of the body. Whatever you believe the "soul" to be, it is shown to be as
destructible as the body is. WHAT GOD CREATED, GOD CAN DESTROY.
The advocate's of an immortal soul say, "destroy,” [apollumi] means "torment." If this
is true, "torment" should be used in place of "destroy" in all places. Try it. The same is
true when apollumi is made to mean "a loss of well-being."
• "The young child to torment [apollumi] him" Matthew 2:13. "The young child to
a loss of well-being [apollumi] him"
• "One of your members should torment [apollumi]" "One of your members should
a loss of well-being [apollumi]" Matthew 5:29
• "Lord, save us, we torment [apollumi]" Matthew 8:25
• "And the bottles tormented [apollumi]" Matthew 9:17
• "That finds his life shall torment [apollumi] it" Matthew 10:39
• "One of these little one should torment [apollumi]" Matthew 18:14
• "If she torment [apollumi] one piece" Luke 15:14
• "Flood came and tormented [apollumi] them all" Luke 17:27
• "Torment [apollumi] not him with your meat" Romans 14:15
• "I will torment [apollumi] the wisdom of the wise" 1 Corinthians 1:19
• "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to
torment [apollumi] it" [Luke 6:9]. In the parallel passage Mark used "kill," not
apollumi. "To save a life, or to kill [apokteino]" [Mark 3:4]. Those who say to
destroy means a lost of well being, not death, will have a little trouble saying
Mark's "kill" does not mean death. Mark and Luke make destroy [apollumi] and
kill [apokteino] both means the same thing, both means death; not eternal life with
a lost of well being.
• Many more. See Wigram Englishman's Greek Concordance Page 74 for a long list
of passages where destroy could not mean a lost of well being. Just as they only
want death to be "separation" or "a lost of well being" part of the time [See
chapter two, "Life or Death"] they only want apollumi to be "a lost of well being"
or eternal life of torment part of the time. Only when they need them to be
translated separation and torment, only when it would destroy their immortal soul
doctrine of it were not changed. As translated in the King James Version, both
words destroy the doctrine of an immortal soul from birth. They must use their