Church Father Martin Luther's belief in conditional immortality and soul sleep
In contrast to the views of John Calvin throughout his life Luther maintained that it was not false doctrine to believe that a Christian's soul sleeps after it is separated from the body in death; and, accordingly, he disputed traditional interpretations of some Bible passages, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
This also led Luther to reject the idea of torments for the saints: "It is enough for us to know that souls do not leave their bodies to be threatened by the torments and punishments of hell, but enter a prepared bedchamber in which they sleep in peace."
He also rejected the existence of Purgatory, which involved Christian souls undergoing penitential suffering after death.
And that is exactly what the Bible teaches. It states that in the beginning “man came to be a living soul,” not that he received a soul. Just as there is a great difference between having a wife and being a wife so there is a great difference between having a soul and being a soul.
Also, the Bible tells us that “the soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” So it could not be immortal. Further, God’s Word shows that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” That is why the Bible speaks of death as ‘sleep.’
Interestingly, Martin Luther taught that believers who died were unconscious until the resurrection.—Gen. 2:7; Ezek. 18:4, 20; Eccl. 9:5; 1 Cor. 15:20; 1 Thess. 4:13.
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.”
In contrast to the views of John Calvin throughout his life Luther maintained that it was not false doctrine to believe that a Christian's soul sleeps after it is separated from the body in death; and, accordingly, he disputed traditional interpretations of some Bible passages, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
This also led Luther to reject the idea of torments for the saints: "It is enough for us to know that souls do not leave their bodies to be threatened by the torments and punishments of hell, but enter a prepared bedchamber in which they sleep in peace."
He also rejected the existence of Purgatory, which involved Christian souls undergoing penitential suffering after death.
And that is exactly what the Bible teaches. It states that in the beginning “man came to be a living soul,” not that he received a soul. Just as there is a great difference between having a wife and being a wife so there is a great difference between having a soul and being a soul.
Also, the Bible tells us that “the soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” So it could not be immortal. Further, God’s Word shows that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” That is why the Bible speaks of death as ‘sleep.’
Interestingly, Martin Luther taught that believers who died were unconscious until the resurrection.—Gen. 2:7; Ezek. 18:4, 20; Eccl. 9:5; 1 Cor. 15:20; 1 Thess. 4:13.
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.”
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