The following particular statements about the soul i^vx-n) are made in the Gospels. As the principle of physical life it is sustained by food (Mt 6-5) ; as the organ of spiritual life it ' magnifies the Lord' (Lk 1'*''). It is capable of physical and sensuous pleasure (12^9), also of spiritual rest and refreshment (Mt 1129). It can suffer acute sorrow (Lk 235) and anxiety (Jn 102-'). It can grieve (Mt 2638) and love (2237). j^ ^an be lost and saved (1039 etc.). At death it is yielded up (Jn 10"- !« 122*), ]jy^ survives as a personal self-conscious being (Mt 1039 etc.).* See, further. Spirit.
2. Christ's teaching about the soul. — According to Jesus, the soul, being a man's inmost self, the seat of his self-conscious personality, and inher- ently immortal (Mt 102*), jg precious beyond all price. Nothing can be accepted in exchange for it, and the gain of the whole world will not com- pensate for its loss (1626). Jesus drives home this truth in the parable of the Rich Fool, who said to his soul, ' Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry ' ; and whom God rebuked with the awful words, 'Thou fool, this night they (i.e. the ministers of my vengeance) require of thee thy soul ' (Lk 1216-21). Much is said in the Gospels about the gain or loss of the soul, generally with a play upon the double meaning of i/'i'X'? ('life' or 'soul'). Most of these passages take the form of exhorta- tions to martyrdom, as, for instance, Mt 1039 ' He ^that findeth his soul (i.e. he that saves his life by denying me in time of persecution), shall lose it (by eternal liunishment in Gehenna) ; and he that losetli his soul for my sake (i.e. he who confesses me in time of persecution, and suflers a martyr's death), shall find it (in heaven) ' ; (see also 1625, Lk 1733, Jn 1235). ^]] these passages refer primarily to martyrdom, but in their secondary applications teach that even lesser sufferings and trials endured patiently for Christ's sake have as their reward the salvation of the soul (Mt 103*). The same idea is expressed in Lk I426, where the strange phrase ' to hate the soul ' is a rhetorical expression for willingness to sufl'er martyrdom or any lesser in- convenience for Jesus' sake (cf. also Jn 1225). The gain or" salvation of the soul means certainly its eternal happiness in heaven, and the loss or de- struction of the soul, as certainly, not its annihila- tion, but its eternal punishment in Gehenna. The endlessness of the soul's final retribution is not simply an inference from the soul's immortality,
* It follows from this, that in the view of Jesus and the Twelve, the if/i/^'i and Tvsi/.otot of man are not distinct principles or entities, as, according;- to some, St. Paul affirms in 1 Th 523, cf. He 412. The language of the Gospels makes decisively for the unity of the soul, and for a dichotomy of man (body and soul), not for a trichotomy (body, soul, and spirit).
but is exegetically established from Mt 25'"' etc. According to the conceptions represented in the pai-able of Dives and Lazarus, retribution does not wait till the Last Day, but begins as soon as the soul leaves the body. At death the disembodied soul passes to a 'middle state' (Hades), where, if righteous, it experiences rest and refreshment in 'Abraham's bosom,' or 'Paradise'; or, if un- righteous, expiatory punishment (symbolized as a tormenting Hame) in a limhus or 'prison,' which is separated by an impassable barrier from the abodes of the righteous. The disembodied souls ai'e repre- sented as conscious and intelligent, able to converse with one 'another, and interested in the welfare of their friends upon earth (Lk le^" 23« 1 P 3", Rev 6«).
The most important question about the intermediate state is whether spiritual change is possible in it. The point has been keenly debated, but the atlirmative opinion seems to have the better exegetical support. For (1) the NT represents not death, but the Second Advent, as the time when the soul will render its final account to God. Presumably, therefore, the middle state u included in the period of probation. (2) Christ appears to the present WTiter to teach that some sins may be forgiven after death (.Mt* 1232) ; and at least to hint that even grie\'0us sinners may be released from torments, after adequatelj' ex- piating their crimes (5-'>). (3) The torments of Dives seem to have been remedial in effect, causing him for the first time to interest himself in the spiritual welfare of others (Lk 162V). (4) The descent of Christ into Hades, and His preaching to the disobedient spirits there (1 P 3i**), plainly presuppose the possi- bility of repentance after death.' *
At the Last Day, according to Jesus, there will be a bodily resurrection of all men, followed by a final judgment, and a final settlement of the destiny of each soul (Mt 25^^"**). The resurrection of the wicked is clearly taught in Mt 1(P, Jn 5'-^. See, further. Resurrection of the Dead, EscHATOLOGY, ABRAHAM (§ 'Abraham's bosom'). Paradise, Hell [Descent into].
Jesus claimed to stand in the same relation to human souls as God Himself ; and as the Lord of .souls issued the universal invitation, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden . . . and ye siiall find rest unto your souls' (Mt IP"-^^). He also declared that His sj)ecial object in coming into the world was to save souls (Lk 9'''') by laying down His own soul as a ransom (Jn 10"' '^ 17^).