Is the "Immortal Soul" a carryover from Mysticism/Gnosticism? What is "Immortality?"
The immortal soul doctrine, as I understand it, teaches that the human soul is inherently eternal and will live on forever apart from the body. For the purpose of discussion, we might see four schools of thought regarding the soul:
- The soul was created by God, then lives on indefinitely apart from the body. (Christianity)
- The soul exists within God eternally, but God manifests it in a physical or spiritual body. (Mysticism)
- The soul and body are inseparable from a creature, or there is no rational soul at all. (Judaism)
- The soul and body are separate, but neither are inherently immortal. (Unorthodox Christianity)
My question is, on what basis do we conclude that the soul is given immortality at conception?
Why I struggle with this issue comes in part from this passage:
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. (1 Timothy 6)
One explanation I have heard is that Paul is saying that only God "owns" or has "authority" over immortality in order to grant it, not making a descriptive assessment that He alone is immortal in nature. If this is the case, where do we derive from Scripture that God grants immortality to the human soul prior to regeneration? Is this only inferred from Adam being made "in the image of God?"
I struggle to justify this line of thinking, when mystics/gnostics would make the same argument to suggest the soul's immortality derives from God irrespective of Christ. While at the same time, Paul suggests immortality must be given to a person who seeks Him:
To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. (Romans 2)
What does immortality mean?