Jehovah Witnesses deny the immortality of the soul & consider it a lie invented by Satan. Below we will investigate the latter.
We ought to acknowledge the difference between the body, the soul and the Spirit.
It is stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (” May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our LordJesus Christ.”)
It is true that the body, when dead, lies still in the tomb, without sensation or consciousness, but man is not a mere body; what about the soul?
The Book of Ecclesiastes says:
“The dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”(Ecclesiastes 12:7)
It is then evident that the spirit in earth returns to God, while the body returns to the earth, since it is dust.
In addition:
In the Revelations we read about those who had died but their souls were still alive and conscious, speaking and listening. For St. John the visionary, in Revelations 6:9-11 says, “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them they they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would bee killed as they were, was completed.”
Those were killed and died, yet their souls were still alive and conscious, crying out with a loud voice asking for their right. The Lord also responded to them and called them to wait and they were convinced.
5. In the book of Job (19:25,26), Job distinguishes between the body and the soul, saying, ” For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh I shall see God.” Of course he will see god with his soul and spirit which do not die with his body but continue alive after his skin is destroyed.
6. In Ephesians 4:8,9, St. Paul the Apostle says that the Lord Christ first descended into the lower parts of the earth, brought the souls into Paradise, then He ascended on high. The Scripture does not say that He waited till the day of resurrection to restore those souls
As for the word of the of Ezekiel the prophet in Ezekiel 18:4: “The soul who sins shall die” We say that the word “soul” here does not mean the element of life , as said in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” meaning that man dies and his soul comes out when his blood is shed.
The Lord Christ has distinguished between the soul and the body:
Matthew 10:28″Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. It is clear that the soul does not die with the body. The Lord further asserts the distinction, saying “But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”
Matthew 26:41 “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”
