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Immortality or Resurrection? A Biblical Study on Human Nature and Destiny
IMMORTALITY OR RESURRECTION? builds upon the biblical research of the past 50 years and challenges Christians to recover the biblical wholistic view of human nature as an indissoluble unit of body and soul, created, redeemed, and ultimately restored by God. With compelling reasoning, the book unmasks the oldest and possibly the greatest deception of all time, namely, that human beings possess immortal souls that live on forever. The author explains how this deceptive teaching of innate immortality has entered the Christian church and how it has fostered numerous heresies that have done incalculable damage to Christian beliefs and practices. The book is foreworded by Prof. Clark Pinnock, a leading Evangelical theologian who has served as President of the Evangelical Theological Society. He praises the book as a decisive study which is much needed to combat the persistent but mistaken opinion that the soul is an immortal substance.
- GenresReligion
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 1997
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February 28, 2026
AN ADVENTIST THEOLOGIAN REJECTS AN ‘ETERNAL IMMORTAL SOUL,' AS WELL AS A HELL OF TORMENT
Samuele Bacchiocchi (1938-2008) was a 7th Day Adventist theologian who taught at Andrews University from 1974 until his retirement in 2000. He was also the first non-Catholic to be admitted to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University since it was established in the 16th century.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1997 book, “Why write a book on the Biblical view of human nature and destiny? Isn’t this a dead issue[?]… The truth of the matter is that the question … is far from being a dead issue. In recent years, numerous Bible scholars, philosophers, and scientists have reexamined the traditional dualistic view of human nature, consisting of a material, mortal body, and a spiritual, immortal soul. They have found such a view to be contrary to Scripture, reason, and science. A close reexamination of the basic Biblical terms for man (body, soul, spirit, flesh, mind, heart) has led many scholars to conclude that in the Bible there is no dichotomy between a mortal body and an immortal soul that ‘comes apart’ at death. Both body and soul, flesh and spirit are an indivisible unity, part of the same person who ceases to exist at death until the resurrection.” (Pg. 15)
He continues, “Two major reasons have motivated me to undertake this research. The first is the awareness that in spite of the massive attacks by Bible scholars against traditional dualism, the belief in conscious existence after death is gaining greater popular acceptance… The second reason for undertaking this study is that most scholarly studies on this area are technical in nature and limited in scope… The awareness of the growing popular acceptance of the belief in conscious existence after death and the scarcity of popularly written books addressing this issue from a Biblical perspective convinced me of the need to write this book… I endeavor to show how the Biblical wholistic view of human nature enhances our appreciation of our physical life, this present world, redemption, and our ultimate destiny.” (Pg. 16-17)
Later, he adds, “The objectives of this study are twofold. The first is to establish the Biblical view of human nature… the Bible sees human nature as an indivisible unity…. The second objective of this book is to examine how the Biblical view of human nature relates to our present life and ultimate destiny… the two cannot be studied in isolation because the Biblical view of human nature determines the view of human destiny.” (Pg. 22)
He states, “People who read the Old Testament references to ‘nephesh’ (which in the KJV are translated 472 times as ‘soul’) with a dualistic mind-set, will have great difficulty in understanding the Biblical wholistic view of human nature. According to this, the body and the soul are the same person seen from different perspectives. They will experience problems with accepting the Biblical meaning of the ‘soul’ as the animating principle of both human and animal life. Furthermore, they will be at a loss to explain those passages that speak of a ‘dead person’ as a ‘dead soul’---or "nephesh' (Lev 19:28;21:1.11; Num 5:2.6:6-10; Hg 2;13). For them it is inconceivable that an immortal soul could die with the body.” (Pg. 45)
He asserts, “The meaning of ‘living soul’ as simply ‘living being’ is supported by the use of the same phrase ‘living soul’ [nephesh hayyah] for animals… Why do the translators of most English versions render the same Hebrew phrase nephesh hayyah as ‘living soul’ when it refers to man, and ‘living creatures’ when it refers to animals? The reason is simple. They are conditioned by the belief that human beings have an immaterial, immortal soul which animals do not have. Consequently, they use the word ‘soul’ for man and ‘creature’ for animal to translate the same Hebrew ‘nephesh.’ … The tendency to read ‘immortal soul’ into Hebrew ‘nephesh’ and to translate accordingly is very ancient, as can be seen in the Septuagint.” (Pg. 47)
He notes that Robert Morey wrote in his book ‘Death and the Afterlife’ [about Gen 35:8 and I Kings 17:21-22], “If the authors of Scripture did not believe that the soul left the body at death and would return to the body at the resurrection, they would not have used such a phraseology [departing and returning of the soul]…” But Bacchiocchi contends, “The phrase ‘her soul was departing’ most likely means that ‘her breathing was stopping’… The departing of the breath of life results in a person becoming a dead soul..” (Pg. 56)
He says, “nowhere does the Bible suggest that the life-giving spirit that returns to God continues to exist as the immaterial soul of the body that has died. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that when God withdraws his breath of life… the outcome is not the survival of the soul, but the death of the total person. 'His thoughts perish’ (Ps 146:4), because there is no more consciousness. Death applies to both the body and the soul, because, as we have seen, the two are inseparable.” (Pg. 73)
He points out, “The reference [Mt 10:28] to God’s power to destroy the souls (psyche) and the body in hell negates the notion of an immortal soul. How can the soul be immortal if God destroys it with the body in the case of impenitent sinners?” (Pg. 87)
He argues, “The expression ‘immortality of the soul’ does not occur in Scripture. The Greek translated ‘immortality’ … is ‘athanasia.’ This term occurs only twice in the New Testament , the first time in connection with God… The second time… occurs in 1 Cor 15:53-54 in relation to mortal nature, which puts on immortality at the resurrection…. Paul is not speaking of the natural immortality of the soul, but of the transformation from mortality to immortality that believers will experience when Christ returns.” (Pg. 90)
He contends, “The key to understanding Paul’s reference to the ‘spirit, soul, and body’ in 1 Thess 5:23 is… [he] is addressing believing Christians who, while they are still in the flesh (body), possess two natures: the original Adamic nature received at birth (the soul) and the new spiritual nature created within them by the enabling power of the Spirit.” (Pg. 93)
He notes that “Some argue that the intent of the passages [Ps 146:4, Ecc 9:5] we have just quoted and which describe death as an unconscious state [is that]… ‘in the state of death man can no longer take part in the activities of the present world’...but his soul is conscious as far as the world of the spirits is concerned. The problem with this interpretation is that it is based on the gratuitous assumption that the soul survives the death of the body… which is clearly negated in the Old Testament.” (Pg. 140)
He explains that “Lazarus… spent four days in the grave…. If the soul at death leaves the body and goes to heaven, then Lazarus would have had an amazing experience to share… But Lazarus had nothing to share about life after death, because during the four days … he slept the unconscious sleep of death. What is true of Lazarus is also true of six other persons who were raised from the dead (1 Ki 17:17-24, 2 Ki 4:18-37; Lk 7:11-15; Lk 8:41-56, Acts 9:36-41 and Acts 20:19-12)… Each person came out of death …. but with no afterlife experience to share.” (Pg. 143)
He comments on the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, “A literal interpretation… contradicts some fundamental Biblical truths… Lazarus received his reward and the rich man his judgment, immediately at death and before the judgment day. But the Bible clearly teaches that … the separation between the saved and the unsaved will take place on the day of Christ’s coming… A literal interpretation … also contradicts… that the dead, both righteous and ungodly, lay silently and unconscious in death until the resurrection day.” (Pg. 174)
What about Jesus’ statement to the thief on the cross? “Did Jesus mean to say, ‘Truly, I say to you TODAY…’ or ‘Today you shall be with me in paradise’? Those who maintain the latter appeal to the fact that … the adverb ‘today’ does not occur elsewhere with the … phrase, ‘Truly I say to you…’ This is a valid observation, but the reason… [could be that] The thief asked Jesus to remember him in the FUTURE… but Jesus responded by remembering the penitent thief IMMEDIATELY.” (Pg. 176-177)
Of the souls crying out in Rev 6:9-11… [which] is often cited to support the notion that the ‘souls’ of the saints exist … in heaven as … conscious spirits… This interpretation ignores that apocalyptic pictures are not meant to be photographs of actual realities., but symbolic representations…” (Pg. 186)
He asserts, “It is not surprising that today we seldom hear sermons on hellfire from fundamentalist preachers… the problem is… the awareness that the traditional view of hellfire is morally intolerable and Biblically questionable.” (Pg. 194)
What about the sheep/goats parable in Matthew 25? “Christ’s concern in this parable is not to define either eternal life or eternal death, but simply to affirm the fact that there are two destinies...the fire is … [unquenchable] not because of its endless duration, but because of its complete consumption and annihilation of the wicked… [In] 2 Thess 1:9 ... Paul says… ‘They shall suffer the punishment of ETERNAL DESTRUCTION and exclusion…’ it is difficult to imagine an eternal … process of destruction.” (Pg. 205-207)
What of the ‘lake of fire’ in Rev 20:15 and 21:98? “the lake of fire represents the final and complete annihilation of evil and evildoers.” (Pg. 214)
He concludes by endorsing the 7th Day Adventist interpretation of these issues (Pg. 259-260, 280).
This book will be of great interest to SDA Christians, and to those supporting the Annihilationist view.
Samuele Bacchiocchi (1938-2008) was a 7th Day Adventist theologian who taught at Andrews University from 1974 until his retirement in 2000. He was also the first non-Catholic to be admitted to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University since it was established in the 16th century.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1997 book, “Why write a book on the Biblical view of human nature and destiny? Isn’t this a dead issue[?]… The truth of the matter is that the question … is far from being a dead issue. In recent years, numerous Bible scholars, philosophers, and scientists have reexamined the traditional dualistic view of human nature, consisting of a material, mortal body, and a spiritual, immortal soul. They have found such a view to be contrary to Scripture, reason, and science. A close reexamination of the basic Biblical terms for man (body, soul, spirit, flesh, mind, heart) has led many scholars to conclude that in the Bible there is no dichotomy between a mortal body and an immortal soul that ‘comes apart’ at death. Both body and soul, flesh and spirit are an indivisible unity, part of the same person who ceases to exist at death until the resurrection.” (Pg. 15)
He continues, “Two major reasons have motivated me to undertake this research. The first is the awareness that in spite of the massive attacks by Bible scholars against traditional dualism, the belief in conscious existence after death is gaining greater popular acceptance… The second reason for undertaking this study is that most scholarly studies on this area are technical in nature and limited in scope… The awareness of the growing popular acceptance of the belief in conscious existence after death and the scarcity of popularly written books addressing this issue from a Biblical perspective convinced me of the need to write this book… I endeavor to show how the Biblical wholistic view of human nature enhances our appreciation of our physical life, this present world, redemption, and our ultimate destiny.” (Pg. 16-17)
Later, he adds, “The objectives of this study are twofold. The first is to establish the Biblical view of human nature… the Bible sees human nature as an indivisible unity…. The second objective of this book is to examine how the Biblical view of human nature relates to our present life and ultimate destiny… the two cannot be studied in isolation because the Biblical view of human nature determines the view of human destiny.” (Pg. 22)
He states, “People who read the Old Testament references to ‘nephesh’ (which in the KJV are translated 472 times as ‘soul’) with a dualistic mind-set, will have great difficulty in understanding the Biblical wholistic view of human nature. According to this, the body and the soul are the same person seen from different perspectives. They will experience problems with accepting the Biblical meaning of the ‘soul’ as the animating principle of both human and animal life. Furthermore, they will be at a loss to explain those passages that speak of a ‘dead person’ as a ‘dead soul’---or "nephesh' (Lev 19:28;21:1.11; Num 5:2.6:6-10; Hg 2;13). For them it is inconceivable that an immortal soul could die with the body.” (Pg. 45)
He asserts, “The meaning of ‘living soul’ as simply ‘living being’ is supported by the use of the same phrase ‘living soul’ [nephesh hayyah] for animals… Why do the translators of most English versions render the same Hebrew phrase nephesh hayyah as ‘living soul’ when it refers to man, and ‘living creatures’ when it refers to animals? The reason is simple. They are conditioned by the belief that human beings have an immaterial, immortal soul which animals do not have. Consequently, they use the word ‘soul’ for man and ‘creature’ for animal to translate the same Hebrew ‘nephesh.’ … The tendency to read ‘immortal soul’ into Hebrew ‘nephesh’ and to translate accordingly is very ancient, as can be seen in the Septuagint.” (Pg. 47)
He notes that Robert Morey wrote in his book ‘Death and the Afterlife’ [about Gen 35:8 and I Kings 17:21-22], “If the authors of Scripture did not believe that the soul left the body at death and would return to the body at the resurrection, they would not have used such a phraseology [departing and returning of the soul]…” But Bacchiocchi contends, “The phrase ‘her soul was departing’ most likely means that ‘her breathing was stopping’… The departing of the breath of life results in a person becoming a dead soul..” (Pg. 56)
He says, “nowhere does the Bible suggest that the life-giving spirit that returns to God continues to exist as the immaterial soul of the body that has died. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that when God withdraws his breath of life… the outcome is not the survival of the soul, but the death of the total person. 'His thoughts perish’ (Ps 146:4), because there is no more consciousness. Death applies to both the body and the soul, because, as we have seen, the two are inseparable.” (Pg. 73)
He points out, “The reference [Mt 10:28] to God’s power to destroy the souls (psyche) and the body in hell negates the notion of an immortal soul. How can the soul be immortal if God destroys it with the body in the case of impenitent sinners?” (Pg. 87)
He argues, “The expression ‘immortality of the soul’ does not occur in Scripture. The Greek translated ‘immortality’ … is ‘athanasia.’ This term occurs only twice in the New Testament , the first time in connection with God… The second time… occurs in 1 Cor 15:53-54 in relation to mortal nature, which puts on immortality at the resurrection…. Paul is not speaking of the natural immortality of the soul, but of the transformation from mortality to immortality that believers will experience when Christ returns.” (Pg. 90)
He contends, “The key to understanding Paul’s reference to the ‘spirit, soul, and body’ in 1 Thess 5:23 is… [he] is addressing believing Christians who, while they are still in the flesh (body), possess two natures: the original Adamic nature received at birth (the soul) and the new spiritual nature created within them by the enabling power of the Spirit.” (Pg. 93)
He notes that “Some argue that the intent of the passages [Ps 146:4, Ecc 9:5] we have just quoted and which describe death as an unconscious state [is that]… ‘in the state of death man can no longer take part in the activities of the present world’...but his soul is conscious as far as the world of the spirits is concerned. The problem with this interpretation is that it is based on the gratuitous assumption that the soul survives the death of the body… which is clearly negated in the Old Testament.” (Pg. 140)
He explains that “Lazarus… spent four days in the grave…. If the soul at death leaves the body and goes to heaven, then Lazarus would have had an amazing experience to share… But Lazarus had nothing to share about life after death, because during the four days … he slept the unconscious sleep of death. What is true of Lazarus is also true of six other persons who were raised from the dead (1 Ki 17:17-24, 2 Ki 4:18-37; Lk 7:11-15; Lk 8:41-56, Acts 9:36-41 and Acts 20:19-12)… Each person came out of death …. but with no afterlife experience to share.” (Pg. 143)
He comments on the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, “A literal interpretation… contradicts some fundamental Biblical truths… Lazarus received his reward and the rich man his judgment, immediately at death and before the judgment day. But the Bible clearly teaches that … the separation between the saved and the unsaved will take place on the day of Christ’s coming… A literal interpretation … also contradicts… that the dead, both righteous and ungodly, lay silently and unconscious in death until the resurrection day.” (Pg. 174)
What about Jesus’ statement to the thief on the cross? “Did Jesus mean to say, ‘Truly, I say to you TODAY…’ or ‘Today you shall be with me in paradise’? Those who maintain the latter appeal to the fact that … the adverb ‘today’ does not occur elsewhere with the … phrase, ‘Truly I say to you…’ This is a valid observation, but the reason… [could be that] The thief asked Jesus to remember him in the FUTURE… but Jesus responded by remembering the penitent thief IMMEDIATELY.” (Pg. 176-177)
Of the souls crying out in Rev 6:9-11… [which] is often cited to support the notion that the ‘souls’ of the saints exist … in heaven as … conscious spirits… This interpretation ignores that apocalyptic pictures are not meant to be photographs of actual realities., but symbolic representations…” (Pg. 186)
He asserts, “It is not surprising that today we seldom hear sermons on hellfire from fundamentalist preachers… the problem is… the awareness that the traditional view of hellfire is morally intolerable and Biblically questionable.” (Pg. 194)
What about the sheep/goats parable in Matthew 25? “Christ’s concern in this parable is not to define either eternal life or eternal death, but simply to affirm the fact that there are two destinies...the fire is … [unquenchable] not because of its endless duration, but because of its complete consumption and annihilation of the wicked… [In] 2 Thess 1:9 ... Paul says… ‘They shall suffer the punishment of ETERNAL DESTRUCTION and exclusion…’ it is difficult to imagine an eternal … process of destruction.” (Pg. 205-207)
What of the ‘lake of fire’ in Rev 20:15 and 21:98? “the lake of fire represents the final and complete annihilation of evil and evildoers.” (Pg. 214)
He concludes by endorsing the 7th Day Adventist interpretation of these issues (Pg. 259-260, 280).
This book will be of great interest to SDA Christians, and to those supporting the Annihilationist view.
November 22, 2021
Just finished the reading of this book "Immortality or Resurrection" by the late professor Samuele Bacchiocchi. The content in showing the biblical evidence about the real human nature both in alive and death of human being is very strong. It is an easy reading for both scholar and laity alike. For those who would like to know more about the state of the dead, I recommend this book!
April 1, 2014
A helpful survey regarding the body/soul and hell debate. I find his case for wholism or monism to be quite compelling, and I already agree with much of his arguments regarding eternal punishment; though he does dismiss universalism a bit too hastily for my taste. Worthwhile.
--Nick
--Nick
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews