Such teachings about hell are based on the belief that something, a “soul,” survives the death of the body. Depending upon the kind of life a person has lived, the “soul” is thought to go to a place either of bliss or of torment.

The claim has been made that the threatened punishments of hell deter crime. Says the Cyclopædia by M’Clintock and Strong (quoting Knapp’s Christian Theology): “To threaten positive punishment has far more effect, as well upon the cultivated as the uncultivated, in deterring them from crime, than to announce, and lead men to expect, the merely natural consequences of sin, be they ever so terrible.”

But has the teaching about a hell of torment deterred crime? History indicates that the most adamant proponents of the hellfire teaching have been among those perpetrating some of the worst crimes against humanity. For example, the terrible tortures and cruelties of the inquisitions and religious crusades were carried out by men who believed in the hellfire doctrine. And in no way did belief in hellfire restrain men from committing the greatest atrocities during the two world wars of this century.

Then, what about the basis for belief in a hell of torment? No one can prove scientifically or otherwise that a “soul” survives the death of the body. Personal observation confirms the Bible’s statement: “There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast . . . As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit . . . All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.”​—Eccl. 3:19, 20.

So belief in the survival of the “soul” after death is a matter of “faith.” But is it solidly based?

If man has an invisible, immortal soul that survives the death of the body, the only way he would know of its existence would be through divine revelation. Those accepting the Bible as God’s revelation to mankind should therefore be able to back up their beliefs by means of it, is that not so? Can believers in the immortality of the human soul do so? Consider the facts, and check them out in your own Bible.

In the Scriptures the words “immortal” and “immortality” are never used in connection with the human soul. But we do read: “The soul that is sinning​—it itself will die.”​—Ezek. 18:4.

Regarding the Bible’s use of the word “soul,” the New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The concept of the human soul itself is not the same in the O[Id] T[estament] as it is in Greek and modern philosophy. . . . The soul in the O[Id] T[estament] means not a part of man, but the whole man​—man as a living being. Similarly, in the N[ew] T[estament] it signifies human life: the life of an individual, conscious subject.”

Rather than having an immortal soul, mortal man is a soul. “The first man Adam,” says the Bible, “became a living soul.” (1 Cor. 15:45) This being the case, no “soul” survives the death of the body, and hence there is nothing that can be tormented after death.

If man has an invisible, immortal soul that survives the death of the body, the only way he would know of its existence would be through divine revelation. Those accepting the Bible as God’s revelation to mankind should therefore be able to back up their beliefs by means of it, is that not so? Can believers in the immortality of the human soul do so? Consider the facts, and check them out in your own Bible.

In the Scriptures the words “immortal” and “immortality” are never used in connection with the human soul. But we do read: “The soul that is sinning​—it itself will die.”​—Ezek. 18:4.

Regarding the Bible’s use of the word “soul,” the New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The concept of the human soul itself is not the same in the O[Id] T[estament] as it is in Greek and modern philosophy. . . . The soul in the O[Id] T[estament] means not a part of man, but the whole man​—man as a living being. Similarly, in the N[ew] T[estament] it signifies human life: the life of an individual, conscious subject.”

Rather than having an immortal soul, mortal man is a soul. “The first man Adam,” says the Bible, “became a living soul.” (1 Cor. 15:45) This being the case, no “soul” survives the death of the body, and hence there is nothing that can be tormented after death.