to Jesus the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 (AV), which says: “He hath poured out his soul unto death.”—Acts 8:30-35.

23. How are James and Revelation in agreement with the above?

²³ The disciple James closes his letter by saying: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death.” (Jas. 5:19, 20, AV) And in the very last book of the Bible we read, in Revelation 16:3 (AV): “The second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.”

24. Does one part of the Bible contradict the other part on the matter of soul death, and what Bible words does it not apply to “soul”?

²⁴ We remember the traveling Bible lecturer of some years ago who challenged his audiences by saying that he would give them a five-dollar bill for every Bible text that they would show him that said that the human soul was immortal. Needless to say, he was never obliged to give anyone even one five-dollar bill; for the Bible does not contradict itself on the fact that the human soul dies because of sin. In all its hundreds of pages the Bible uses the words “immortality, immortal, incorruption, not corruptible, uncorruptible, incorruptible” only sixteen times in the Authorized (King James) Version Bible, and never once does God’s Word apply these words to the human soul.e

25. Our pointing out these facts from God’s Word ought to make everybody feel which way, and why?

²⁵ Why should certain religious people get angry and refuse to read any further just because we point out these facts on the soul from God’s Word of truth? It ought to make everybody happy! Why? Because at death the human soul dies and there is thus no immortal conscious soul to go to a pagan kind of hell or purgatory to be tortured and tormented with fire and brimstone forever or even for a limited period of time. This fact, coupled with the associated fact that there will be a resurrection of the dead, should make all who love God and humanity very glad. It helps us to see clearly why there has to be a resurrection if the human dead are to live again with us in a new world in endless happiness.

Identifying the Resurrected

 1. As regards the resurrection, what do we desire with regard to ourselves and others, and what assurance do we have on this?

WHAT all of us who may have a part in the resurrection desire is to know our loved friends and relatives after their return from the dead. In fact, we desire to recognize our very own selves. We do not care to suffer a loss of memory so that we do not know who we ourselves are. God’s Word makes us sure of our mutual recognition of one another. The apostle Paul who trusted in the resurrection says: “Then I shall know accurately even as I am accurately known.” (1 Cor. 13:12) But what will be the thing by which to identify ourselves and others?