[59]In the manifestation of divine justice God said to Adam: "Of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat; ... for in
the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die". (Genesis 2:17,
_margin_) This sentence was pronounced against man, the being, the soul.
If there could be any doubt about this, it is definitely settled by
another statement in the Bible which reads: "The soul that sinneth it
shall die". (Ezekiel 18:4) "What man is he that liveth, and shall not
see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?"--Psalm
89:48.
[60]The thought of immortal souls originated with Satan the devil. He
approached mother Eve and said: 'If you eat of this tree, you shall not
surely die'. Jesus denounced this statement as the first lie ever told,
and Satan as the father of lies. (John 8:44) Satan has been trying to
blind the people to the truth concerning God's great plan in order to
keep them away from God and from the blessings they would receive by
obeying him. The Apostle says of him that he is "the god [mighty one] of
this world", meaning the present evil social order; and that he has
blinded the minds of men to the truth, lest the glorious gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ should shine into their hearts. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
From the day of Eden until now Satan has been blinding the minds of men
to the truth by getting into their minds a false conception of Jehovah's
arrangement; and the basis for this blindness is chiefly the lie first
told: "Ye shall not surely die".
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