Similarly, Roman Catholic monsignor Ray T. Bosler wrote in a newspaper column that appeared in the fall of 1974: “The New Testament does not speak of the immortal soul distinct from the body. . . . When the New Testament uses the word soul it refers to the real self​—body and soul—​that enters a new life with the resurrection. . . . Our theologians disagree among themselves over just what the existence of the saints is like until the final resurrection. . . . Theologians are speculating about the unknown here; so we cannot expect too much help from them.”

This too has been recognized for centuries by noted Bible scholars. For instance, Martin Luther wrote concerning the word for soul in Biblical Hebrew: “It refers not only to a part of man, as we Germans speak of the soul, but it refers to the whole man as he exists with his five senses and as he maintains himself with meat and drink.” Luther placed the doctrine of immortality of the soul among the “endless monstrous fictions in the Roman [Catholic] rubbish heap of decretals.”

More recently, theologian Karl Barth remarked in a radio interview: “Never lose sight of the fact that the Bible . . . depicts man in his unity, in his entirety, his soul, that is personal life, which can be distinguished from his body, but not separated from it, just as the body can be distinguished from his soul but not separated from it.”