AFTER traveling about in the Mediterranean basin and engaging in the politics of Syracuse, a Greek city in Sicily, Plato returned to Athens, where he founded the Academy. Often referred to as Europe’s first university, the Academy became a focal point for mathematical and philosophical research.

The teachings of Plato have profoundly influenced the religious beliefs of millions of people, including professed Christians, many of whom wrongly assume that these beliefs are based on the Bible. Foremost among Plato’s teachings is the concept that humans have an immortal soul that survives the death of the physical body.

Plato had a deep interest in life after death. The book Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy says that “the immortality of the soul is one of Plato’s favourite topics.” He was firmly convinced that “the soul outlives its present incarnation, to be duly rewarded or punished” in the afterlife, based on how the person lived while on earth. *

During the nine centuries that Plato’s Academy functioned, from 387 B.C.E. to 529 C.E., it was highly influential. Platonic thought became popular in lands dominated by Greece and Rome. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria adopted Platonism, as did many religious leaders within Christendom. As a result, pagan philosophical concepts, including the immortality of the soul, crept into the teachings of Judaism and Christianity.

“All Christian theology is dependent, to an extent at least, on contemporary Greek philosophy, primarily Platonism,” says The Anchor Bible Dictionary, “but some Christian thinkers . . . merit the title of Christian Platonists.” Compare what the following sources say.

What Plato said: “[At death,] that which is the real self of each of us, and which we term the immortal soul, departs to the presence of other gods, there . . . to render its account,​—a prospect to be faced with courage by the good, but with uttermost dread by the evil.”​—Plato—​Laws, Book XII.

What the Bible says: The soul is the person himself or the life that he enjoys. Even animals are souls. At death, the soul ceases to exist. * Consider the following scriptures:

• “The first man Adam became a living soul.”​—1 Corinthians 15:45.

• “God went on to say: ‘Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth.’”​—Genesis 1:24.

• “Let my soul die.”​—Numbers 23:10.

• “The soul that is sinning​—it itself will die.”​—Ezekiel 18:4.

Clearly, the Bible does not teach that the soul survives the death of the physical body. So ask yourself, ‘Are my beliefs based on the Bible or the philosophy of Plato?’