Is the soul immortal or not is NOT the question. Whether or not mans "soul" is immortal or not is something that the religions of the world have been at odds with one another about for many, many years. As to who is correct depends on what your particular form of theology states. If you are Catholic, you believe one way. If Hindu, you believe another way. If you are Jewish yet another way. The answer doesn't necessarily lie within the covers of the Bible but the Bible is the source for the information that would help clarify the answer. You must realize at the onset that not everyone believes in the Bible and even some groups who profess to be Christian don't believe that the Bible is the literal word of God correct in all aspects. As example, the Mormans beleive in the King James Bible but then add the disclaimer .."so far as translated correctly". That, naturally opens the door to the Book of Morman which holds to the Morman the same or greater authority than the Bible. In a similar fashion, Jehovahs Witnesses (one of which uploaded the file MORTALSL.ZIP) while professing the Bible as authority really, on closer examination, don't necessarily believe that the Bible is the final authority on all matters. Let me state at the beginning that I believe from my own study of the Bible that God works in each of us what He can based on what we are willing to let Him do with us. Side issues, like the immortality of the soul, are just that - side issues. The real issue is who has control of our lives? Once the person we are inside surrenders to the direction that only God can give to our lives all other matters pale by comparison and if our soul should be or is or will be immortal is of no consequence because we have a LIVING relationship with God and whatever He determins our lives or afterlife should be like, it will be exactly that no matter what we feel about any subject you care to discuss. Let me tell you a little about Jehovahs Witnesses. They hold 5 one hour meetings per week. Usually two on Sunday - back to back - one is the public talk based on some biblical issue (not unlike a sermon) and the other is a "study" of the Watchtower. This is a question and answer session - the questions are given at the bottom of the article being "studied" while the answers are in the paragraphs above. These studies are fairly neatly orchestrated by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and there is little time for any real discussion - that is left for the hourly "Home" bible study. This is based on some Watchtower Bible and Tract Society publication and has the same format as the second Sunday "study". Sure enough there is a little more movement but it is still tightly controlled by the parent organization. There are also 2 other hourly meetings during the week, one of which is a "service" meeting to help members fulfill their "quota" of hours in the field preaching and teaching door to door. Then there is also their time "in service" that is, in the door to door work. You might think that this is a bit strange but it really isn't. Other religious groups have the same types of meetings and do the same type of work etc. but it isn't as loudly proclaimed as the Witness do. Check into your own religious body if you aren't already involved as see if it isn't so - it will be. Other groups may not spend as much time as the Witnesses do but I believe that this time spent by the Witnesses serves the Witness organization and not the individual Witnesses. The "active" Witness will have nothing to do with any NON-Witness in any social function. Some of the even stricter Witnesses will not even attend family funerals of non-witnesses family members. This is encouraged by the "Society". Like the 5 weekly hour meetings this serves to separate the Witness from the world around him/her and isolate them. The Witness organization then becomes everything to the Witness. To be cut off from the organization is to risk isolation because the Witness has literally cut him/her-self off from the world around them. You are encouraged not to read any views critical of the organization because they are "apostate" and please don't read any other religious view points because they are not from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and therefore suspect. All of this tends to isolate the Witness. The Bibles' use of APOSTATE is that someone has drawn themselves away from God and his teachings. If you disagree with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society you are APOSTATE. They continually drill into you that what you are receiving from the "Society" is the "Truth" and if you disagree naturally you don't have the truth and therefore are apostate - but please note they equate being apostate to the Witness organization with being apostate to the Bible and God. None of the articles have an author - none. Even the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures doesn't list any person or persons responsible for the translation. It then becomes very difficult to find any sort of responsibility within the organization. If someone leaves the organization who had authored any articles then any article he had written not becomes suspect but the society may have to have a "new understanding" on previous "Bible truths". Only those at "headquarters" know who truly wrote any of the articles. The ONE thing that drove me away from the "Organization" was their inability to explain their particular viewpoint on the group known as the "144,000". If you care to check it is mentioned in the book of Revelation. According to Witness doctrine, only this special group (the 144,000) will go to heaven AND only this special group can avail themselves of the sacrifice Christ made on behalf of the world. The rest of mankind can also avail themselves of Christs sacrifice but only in a secondary fashion - THROUGH association with the 144,000. We, that is the non-144,000, will eventually get the blessings but not directly like the 144,000. I have asked many witnesses and even had written to the headquarters organization and nobody could come up with an answer to as to why I couldn't make use of Christs sacrifice here and now. There were other things that bothered me but I more or less over- looked them when I was an active witness but no longer because nobody in the "organization" could give me an answer. One of these was this -- if you read the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures you will see Gods name in the section known to the world as the New Testament. Whether or not you agree that Gods name is Jehovah or Yahweh is of no consequence - the important thing is that this name is in their translation. Not a major point but a point none-the-less since Gods name never did appear in even the earliest Greek manuscripts of the Bible that we currently possess. Naturally, the question begs to be asked: If you changed this about the translation, what else did you change that you aren't telling us? Their arguement is that they are only restoring to the Bible that which should have been there from the beginning. You should have heard the rhetoric from the "Society" about the changing of only 1 verse of the Bible by the Catholics in order to support the Trinity doctrine. Well, enough for now. I would suggest that whatever Bible topic you choose to examine, you examine it from your current religious point of view and see if it stands up to scripture. If it doesn't then you have to look elsewhere. Individually we cannot let our religion (the outward expression of our beliefs) be different from what the Bible says they should be. Examine your religion and conform it to Gods word. The only time you will find yourself in real difficulty is when God tells or asks you to do something and you say NO. God wants us to enjoy our life within the guidelines he gives us to live under. If we buy an expensive machine we read the owners manual to be sure we operate it correctly. God gave us an owners manual, the Bible. Read it and operate your life in harmony with it as God intended, not for His benefit but for yours.