--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Joseph F., Jr. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 19 number: 3 published: 1916-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, Jr., "Is Man Immortal?," *Improvement Era* 19, no. 3 (January 1916): 193–199.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1903unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1903unse start_page: 193 end_page: 199 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1916-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1903unse publication_year: 1916 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1916, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Is Man Immortal? Improvement Era Vol. XIX JANUARY, 1916 No. 3 Is Man Immortal? IN THREE PARTS—PART I BY JOSEPH F. SMITH, JR., OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE Many are the conflicting doctrines taught throughout Chris-tendom regarding the soul and its redemption, all of which arebased on various interpretations of the Bible by the different sects.One class of believers say that man is composed of a triple entity,the natural, or physical body, combined in mortality with an im-material, immortal counterpart, composed of the spirit, and thesoul, "bound together as the joints and marrow of the backbone,and that it requires the searching eye of Him with whom we haveto do * * * to distinguish between the soul of man andman's spirit * * * so closely connected as to defy dissection." Others believe that man is of dual character, composed ofthe mortal body and immaterial, immortal spirit, or soul, the termsbeing interchangeable, and referring to the "divine essence orspark that comes from God," and constitutes the vital part of man.This soul, or spirit, is especially characterized by the attributes ofself-consciousness, reason and emotions, "having intelligent facultyand existence independently of the substantial organism withwhich it is associated." Such are the views of the dominantChristian sects, who also quite generally believe that the mortal,or physical, body, is not essential to man's existence, and at thetime of death is "shuffled off" to return to dust from whence itcame, while the immortal, immaterial soul continues on to realmsof bliss in heaven, or to endless torment in the depths of hell, asjudgment is passed, at the time of death, or will be pronounced,at the great judgment day. "At the final judgment," they say, aRev. John H. Troy, in Rutherford-Troy Debate, Los Angeles, April21, 1915. 194 [MPfci )\'!..\li:\"l ERA "the lot of every soul will be irrevocably fixed, and thai it willeither eternally enjoy the Beatific Vision in heaven, or share- theendless torments prepared for the devil and his angels."'' Still others believe that there will be a resurrection of thedead, "both small and great," and in the resurrection there will bea re-uniting of body and spirit of the righteous who shall dwelleternally in heaven, while the wicked, "after receiving the pun-ishment of their sins, shall be blotted out of existence,"' havingthe sentence of the "second death passed upon them." Another favorite doctrine of certain sects is that there is nosuch thing as an immortal, living spirit dwelling within the bodyof man. The soul of man, according to this teaching, is thenatural body into which the Lord breathed the breath of life.Therefore, they say, breath is the spirit or life of man. Theirdoctrine is that "man is destitute of immortality in every sense;that he is a creature of organized substances, subsisting in the lifepower of God, which he shares in common with every living thingunder the sun; that he only holds this life on the short averagetenure of three-score years and ten, at the end of which he givesit up to Him from whom he received it, and returns to the groundwhence he originally came, and meamvhile ceases to exist."d Inthis condition, according to this theory, all men remain until theresurrection, when the just shall come forth to dwell on the eartheternally, and the wicked to receive sentence of the second deathwhich is complete annihilation. The advocates of this belief are very adroit, and rather ar-rogant in expressing their views, and not above perverting scrip-ture to make it harmonize with their peculiar doctrine. In attack-ing those who believe in the existence of spirit, they make thefollowing charge: "If that condition be true, it means that God is responsible forevery idiot, every born criminal, because these are begotten underconditions over which they have absolutely no control. A child isbegotten by drunken and debauched parents, and at the very momentof conception * * * God intervenes and implants in the creaturean immortal spark. The child is born necessarily a depraved creature.It lives on earth a while, dies, and must spend eternity in this miser-able condition without choice or election on its part. Such a theoryis wholly unreasonable. God is not unreasonable. The creature Ihave just described is imperfect. God makes nothing imperfect (Deut.32:4), God is in no wise responsible for the life of imperfect or de-praved beings."? "If the mind be a spark from God—if it be a part of the Deity Him- bThe Neiv American Encyclopedic Dictionary.cThe New American Encyclopedic Dictionary.^Robert Roberts, Lecture II, Christianity Astray.<■]. F. Rutherford, in Rutherford-Troy Debate, Los Angeles, April21, 1915. IS MAN IMMORTAL? 195 self, transfused into material organizations (and this is the view con-tended for by believers in the immortality of the soul), our facultiesought to spring forth in full maturity at birth. Instead of that, aseverybody knows, a new-born babe has not a spark of intellect or aglimmer of consciousness. * * No one can carry his memory backto his birth, he can remember when he was three years old perhaps;only in a few cases can he recall an earlier date. Yet, if the popularbelief were correct, memory ought to be contemporaneous with life fromifs very first moment. "Again, if all men partake alike of this divine, thinking essence,they ought to manifest the same degree of intelligence, and show thesame disposition. * * One man is shrewd and another dull—onevicious and depraved, and another high-souled and virtuous—one goodand gentle, another harsh and inconsiderate, and so on. There oughtto be uniformity of manifestation if there be uniformity of power."/ And thus they argue wtih false premises to false conclusions.Here are some of the choice passages used in defense of thispeculiar doctrine: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, andbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a livingsoul" (Gen. 2:7). "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou returnunto the ground; for of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and untodust shalt thou return" (Gen. 3:19). "And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken uponme to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes" (Gen.18:27). "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so heflourisheth. "For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereofshall know it no more" (Psalms 3:15-16). "Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble. "He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as ashadow, and continueth not" (Job 14:1-2). "But man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost,and where is he?" (Job 14:10). "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy migjit; forthere is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave,wither thou goest" (Eccl. 9:10). They fail to understand that any expression of this characteris used in a limited or relative sense, or, that many expressions ofthe scriptures are the thoughts of men, and are without inspiration,and that these expressions, given here, are concerning this life, andthe physical body only. It is hardly to be wondered at that thereis such a difference of views in the Christian world, for every maninterprets the scriptures unaided by the Holy Spirit, whose missionis to guide "into all truth," and, we read, "the natural man re-eciveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishnessunto him: neither can he know them, because they are spirituallydiscerned." (I Cor. 2:14.) Blind leaders of the blind, who re-fuse to accept present-day revelation, are sure to err. /Robert Roberts, Lecture IT, Christianity Astray. 196 IMPROVEMENT ERA Moreover, we should nol Forget that in no place in the Hebrewscriptures, as the translations have conic to us, is there a well de-fined definition of such terms as "soul," "second death," "eternalpunishment," terms over which the religious world contends, be-cause nt lack of understanding. Why are men without this under-standing? Is it not because they proclaim that the heavens aresealed? That there is no more revelation? That the canon ofscripture is full, and the Lord has no more doctrine to revealthrough prophets for the knowledge and benefit of mankind?Truly do they cry: "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible,and there cannot be any more Bible" (II Nephi 29:3). Theyhave closed the heavens against themselves, and say they are inthe strait and narrow path while helplessly groping in the dark. Without doubt these terms were thoroughly understood bythe prophets and holy men of old who wrote and spoke "as theywere moved by the Holy Ghost." It is very probable that thecorrect interpretation of these expressions, as used by the ancientprophets, was lost in the copying and translating of the scriptures.None can successfully deny that changes were made by translatorsand scribes, according to their human understanding. We areinformed in the Book of Mormon that the Hebrew scriptures went"forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to thetruth which is in God" (I Nephi 13 :25), and after they went forthfrom the Jews many changes were made, and "many parts whichare plain and most precious; and also many covenants have theytaken away." "And all this," we read, "have they done that they might pervertthe right ways of the Lord; that they might blind the eyes and hardenthe hearts of the children of men; wherefore, thou seest that after thebook hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominablechurch, that there are many plain and precious things taken away fromthe book, which is the book of the Lamh of God; and after these plainand precious things were taken away, it goeth forth unto all nationsof the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all nations of the Gen-tiles, yea, even across the many waters * * * thou seest becauseof the many plain and precious things which have been taken out ofthe book, wheh wiere plain unto the understanding of the children ofmen, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God; becauseof these things which are taken away out of the Gospel of the Lamb,an exceeding great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that satan hathgreat power over them" (I Nephi 13:27-29). Tf the teachers of religion in the various sects are content,under these conditions, to stand united, and agreed that the canonof scripture is full, saying: "We have got a Bible, and we needno more Bible." they are bound to garner conflicting notions notin keeping with the saving power of the gospel of our Lord. It is my purpose to set forth here the doctrine of the destinyof man, as it is revealed by the Lord to his servants, in modern as IS MAN IMMORTAL? 197 well as ancient times. But first, let us pause at this point longenough to get the scriptural meaning of some of these disputedterms. The word "soul" is used in many passages of scripture to rep-resent the spirit of man; in others, the physical body, while in agreat many more the spirit and the body combined are repre-sented by the word. The Lord has given us a proper definition ofthe word "soul" in modern scripture. He declared that "the spiritand the body is the soul of man, and the resurrection from thedead is the redemption of the soul" (D. and C. 88:15-16). In themajority of instances, the use of the word in the Bible will fit thisdefinition perfectly. There is no such thing as immaterial substance, which is acontradiction of terms. Those who believe in an immaterial spiritare in error. The Lord has revealed that "there is no such thingas immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine orpure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes. We cannot see it;but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter"(D. and C. 131:7,8). The second death is not annihilation. Death is not destruc-tion, but a departure; a casting out, or rejection, in the case ofspiritual death, from the presence of the Lord. When Adam par-took of the forbidden fruit, he died the spiritual death. "Where-fore I, the Lord God, caused that he should be cast out from theGarden of Eden, from my presence, because of his transgression,wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death, eventhe same death, which is the last death, which is spiritual, whichshall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say, Depart, yecursed" (D. and C. 29:41). From this we learn that Adam diedthe first, or spiritual death, which is banishment from the presenceof the Lord, as soon as he partook of the forbidden fruit. But ofthe temporal death, the Lord said: "I the Lord God gave unto Adam and unto his seed that theyshould not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, shouldsend forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption,through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son. And thus didI, the Lord God. appoint unto man the days of his probation; that byhis natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life,even as many as would believe; and they that believe not unto eternaldamnation, for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, be-cause they repent not" (D. and C. 29:42-43). Eternal punishment, or endless punishment, does not meanthat those who partake of it must endure it forever. It is ex-plained thus by the Lord : "Nevertheless it is not written that there shall be no end to thistorment, but it is written endless torment. Again, it is written eternaldamnation, wherefore it is more expressed than other scriptures, that it 19X I M PRI )VKM KXT ERA might work upon the hearts <>f the children of men, altogether for rayname's glory; wherefore I will explain unto you this mystery, * * *For behold the mystery of Godliness, how great is it? for behold, Iam endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand, is end-less punishment, for endless is my name: wherefore—Eternal punish-ment is God's punishment; Endless punishment is God's punishment"(I). and C. 19:6-12). The laws of God arc immutable, and from this explanationwe learn that the same punishment always follows the sameoffense, according to the laws of God who is eternal and endless,hence it is called, "endless punishment," and "eternal punishment,"because it is the punishment which God has fixed according tounchangeable law. A man may partake of endless torment, andwhen he has paid the penalty for his transgression, he is released,but the punishment remains and awaits the next culprit, and so IS MAN IMMORTAL? 199 out of their graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holycity, and appeared unto many" (Matt. 27:52-53). If these hadalso partaken of the resurrection, as we are assured by an eye-witness, had they not also received the blessing of immortality andeternal life as well as the Son of God ? It is recorded in the Bookof Mormon that after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the faithfuldead on this continent also arose in the resurrection (III Nephi23 :9, 10). This being true, what then did Paul mean by saying toTimothy that the Son of God "only hath immortality?" Simplythis; that of all who have dwelt upon this earth, the Son of Godstands out alone as the only one who possessed life in himself, andpower over death inherently. Christ was never subject untodeath, even on the cross, but death was ever subject unto him."As the Father hath life in himself," the Savior said, "so hath hegiven to the Son to have life in himself" (John 5 :26). Again, hesaid: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay downmy life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, butI lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I havepozver to take it again. This commandment have I received of myFather" (John 10:17-18). Can any man say this? Is there anyone else who could truthfully say that he had life in himself, bywhich he could lay down his body and take it again ? We are allsubject to the mortal death, and none of us has power over death.The Savior, however, because he was the Only Begotten Son ofthe Father in the flesh, was endowed with life in himself, from hisbirth, even as his Father had life in himself—which is immortality.And so Paul declared to Timothy. With man, immortality of the soul (*". e. spirit and body) isthe gift of God through the death and resurrection of his SonJesus Christ. If the Savior had not died for the world, manwould have remained in his sins. There could have been no resur-rection from the dead, and the physical body would have gonedown into the grave without redemption, while the spirit wouldhave become subject to the devil and his angels eternally. So welearn from the Book of Mormon : "Wherefore it must needs be an infinite atonement; save it shouldbe an infinite atonement, this corruption could not put on incor-ruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man, mustneeds have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this fleshmust have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to riseno more. * * For behold, if the flesh should rise no more, our spiritsmust become subject to that angel who fell from before the presenceof the eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And ourspirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angelsto a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remainwith the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself" (II Nephi 9:7-8). But this was not the plan of the Creator.