The Hebrew and Greek words translated "spirit" in the bible are "ruach," and "pneuma," respectively. These terms can mean a number of things in Biblical usage; however, all Biblical usages refer to that which is invisible and gives evidence of force in motion. "Spirit," when it is used in the Bible, refers to wind, the active life-force in people and animals (the so-called "breath of life"), the impelling force that issues forth from a person's figurative heart and impels him to do or say certain things (such as when a person's spirit moves him or her to help a stranger in need or causes zealousness in a person), inspired utterances originating from an invisible source, spirits (such as angels and demons), and the Holy Spirit (God's active force). Of these notions, the ones most commonly attributed to the word "spirit" are as in angles and demons, the spirit of a person (emotions that compel a certain behavior), the animating force of people and animals, and the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, or God's active force (called in Hebrew "Elohim Ruach," meaning "Spirit of God") is often referred to as the finger of God. It is the force God uses to cause his will to occur and things to happen. The Holy Spirit cannot be a person because the Bible speaks of people being filled with Holy Spirit and baptized and anointed with Holy Spirit. Would it make sense to say, for example, that a person was anointed with Jesus? No, a person cannot be anointed or baptized with another person (in the sense it is used in the Bible--of course a person can "fill" another person emotionally or carnally).
Does the spirit leave a person as a conscious entity when that person dies? Ezekiel 18:4 reads: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (KJV). Clearly, the soul is not immortal and does not survive the death of the body. When Jehovah told Adam that he was going to die, he stated, "[...] till thou return to the ground; for out of it thou was taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (KJV). Notice that this passage says that Adam himself was made of dust and shall return to dust, it does not make the distinction that Adam's body is made of dust. One more scripture to think about is Psalm 146:4, "His breath [or spirit, Heb. "ruach"] goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that day his thoughts do perish." Thus, when a person's spirit leaves the body, the person ceased to have consciousness ("his thoughts do perish"). The fact that the spirit leaves the body makes sense here when we consider in what sense the term "spirit" is being used. In this passage, "spirit" is referring to the person's animating force; thus, the force that animates the body departs after death. This is not surprising--we all know that when a person dies, apart from any residual energy in the body and any un-fired neurons, there is nothing that continues to animate the body.
In conclusion, there is no soul or spirit that leaves the body as a conscious entity after death. When you die, your soul and spirit die with you. There is no immortal human soul and there is no afterlife.
Upon re-consideration of the structure of these blog posts, I've decided that this second part to "The Soul, the Spirit, and the Fate of the Dead" will be the final part. The next few posts will be formed into another series considering the concepts of hell, the mass resurrection, and exactly who goes to heaven, and where those who don't go to heaven will go to (if you're confused because I just said that there is no afterlife, that confusion will be cleared up in the next series).
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