52 During the gospel age God has been developing a church, the members of which are designated as the body of Christ. (Philippians 1:29; Colossians 1:18) These are also designated members of the royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2: 9, 10) During their earthly career they are counted as members of the sacrificing priesthood, of which Aaron was a type. Aaron and his sons were required to serve before the Lord in the ceremonies in connection with the tabernacle in the wilderness. Two of Aaron's sons were stricken dead because they offered strange fire before the Lord. Aaron and his two remaining sons were forbidden by the Lord to mourn the death of their kinsmen. Evidently this is a picture which shows that those who have come to a knowledge of the divine plan do not mourn because God sentenced our first parents to death, but rather that they will rejoice at this manifestation of justice when they understand that it was necessary in order that the great plan of redemption should be carried out as outlined by Jehovah from the beginning. And when we see and appreciate this divine plan we can truly exclaim: "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints".-Revelation 15: 3.

MEN'S SOULS

53 Against what did God manifest his justice? Did he sentence the body or the soul of man to death? Is it true that the soul of man is immortal; and if so, how could God put it to death?

54It is profitable to define terms before attempting to discuss them. The definition given should be supported by proof from the Bible. This we will attempt to do before answering the question here asked.

55Immortal means that which cannot die; something

that cannot be destroyed in death. Soul means a moving, breathing, sentient creature, or being; a creature or being that possesses faculties and uses them. To understand whether or not a soul is immortal it is first essential that we determine from the Bible what constitutes a soul. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7) The word soul is synonymous with the words being, creature, and man. The dust out of which Jehovah formed the body was not conscious. It had no life in it. After God had used these elements to form the man, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, which animated the body, caused the lungs to begin to work, sent the blood tingling through the arteries and returning through the veins; therefore there resulted a moving, breathing, sentient being, a man, which is a soul. The body aside from the breath does not constitute the soul; but it requires the uniting of the breath with the body to constitute the soul. And when we separate the breath from the body the soul no longer exists. The Scriptures do not say that God breathed into this body immortality, but merely that the soul resulted by animating the body after it had been created; and this resulted from the breath which he breathed into the nostrils.

56A locomotive may be used as an illustration. It stands upon the track with no fire in the box, no water in the boiler, hence no steam. We speak of it as a dead engine. Then the steam is produced by heating the water; it is forced into the cylinders, the throttle is opened, and the machine moves. Withdraw the steam and it stops.

57 Just so with man. When the body is formed it would be inanimate and inactive without breath. When the breath of life is breathed into the nostrils and his

organs begin to functionate, it i aid that man then is a breathing creature; hence a soul. When he ceases to breathe he is dead.

58 Man is a soul. He does not possess a soul. Every creature that breathes is a soul. God applied the words living soul to the lower order of animals long before man's creation. (Genesis 1: 20, margin) That all breathing creatures are designated as souls by Jehovah is proven by these words: "Levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep". (Numbers 31: 28) All souls die alike. "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."-Ecclesiastes 3: 19, 20.

59 In the manifestation of divine justice God said to Adam: "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat; ... for in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die". (Genesis 2: 17, margin) This sentence was pronounced against man, the being, the soul. If there could be any doubt about this, it is definitely settled by another statement in the Bible which reads: "The soul that sinneth it shall die". (Ezekiel 18:4) "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?"-Psalm 89: 48.

60The thought of immortal souls originated with Satan the devil. He approached mother Eve and said: 'If you eat of this tree, you shall not surely die'. Jesus denounced this statement as the first lie ever told, and Satan as the father of lies. (John 8:44) Satan has

been trying to blind the people to the truth concerning God's great plan in order to keep them away from God and from the blessings they would receive by obeying him. The Apostle says of him that he is "the god [mighty one] of this world", meaning the present evil social order; and that he has blinded the minds of men to the truth, lest the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ should shine into their hearts. (2 Corinthians 4:4) From the day of Eden until now Satan has been blinding the minds of men to the truth by getting into their minds a false conception of Jehovah's arrangement; and the basis for this blindness is chiefly the lie first told: "Ye shall not surely die". All false doctrines are based upon this first lie.

61If man possessed an immortal soul it could not be put to death. Hence we see that God would be unable to enforce his judgment against a sinner, and justice would fail. The Scriptures, however, plainly tell us that the quality of immortality belongs originally only to Jehovah, "who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see". (1 Timothy 6:16) Immortality will be given as a great reward to faithful Christians and to none other of the human race. Such Christians who live and continue faithful until death are promised the divine nature, immortality, the crown of life. (2 Peter 1:4; 1 Peter 1:3, 4; Romans 2:7; Revelation 2:10) We may be sure that a man does not seek that which he already possesses; and the apostle Paul plainly says: "Seek for.... immortality". And again he says to those who will be faithful Christians: "This mortal must put on immortality". (1 Corinthians 15:53) If a soul, a man, were already immortal, he could

not subsequently put on immortality. No one of the human race will ever be made immortal except the faithful Christians. God has a different reward for others who are obedient to him.

DEAD UNCONSCIOUS

62 Another of Satan's deceptions by which he has blinded the people is the teaching that the dead are still conscious after death. This is not supported by the Bible, however. Those who die are never again conscious unless they are resurrected by the Lord. The resurrection of the dead we will discuss later on. If the soul were immortal it would be conscious somewhere. Let us observe the Scriptures which show that the dead are not conscious.

63In death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks ?" (Psalm 6:5) Thus is shown that they have no memory while dead. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." (Psalm 115 :17) Hence they could not speak while dead.

64The dead cannot breathe, think, or feel. "Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." (Psalm 104:29) "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." (Psalm 146:4) A person when unconscious does not feel. This is illustrated by the fact that when a person is taken to a hospital for an operation the surgeon puts the patient under an anesthetic, puts him to sleep so that he cannot feel during the operation.

€5

65 Again the Scriptures read: "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished." (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6) Being unconscious, they know not anything when dead. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work,