The BIG QUESTION: Where did the idea of an Immortal Soul come from? - Keith W Stump - November-December 1984

Keith W Stump

Few Beliefs are more widely held than that of the "immortal soul." Virtually everyone is familiar with the concept. The average religious person, if asked, would state it something like this: A human person is both body and soul. The body is the physical flesh-and-blood "shell" temporarily housing the soul. The soul is the nonmaterial aspect, made of spirit. At death the soul leaves the body, and lives on consciously forever in heaven or in hell. (Some hold that liberated souls are reborn in new bodies in a series of "reincarnations" or "transmigrations.") Some form of this concept is found among virtually all peoples and religions in the world today. The average religious person generally takes the idea for granted. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library