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About: The Institutes Book 1, Chapter 15 (The Nature of Man)

Let's begin by first defining, from the Bible, what is a soul. You will note that it consist of two things: dust and breath of life. Read,
Genesis 2
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
If any of those two ingredients is lacking, the soul ceases to exist. I will use a very basic example. If you make a cake, you need flour, milk, sugar,etc. If you were to someway extract the flour from the cake it would no longer be a cake. Nothing more nothing less.
The first lie that was ever told was told by Satan, the Father of the lie..
John 8
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
We find that the first lie that was ever told is in regards to death. It is found in
Genesis 3
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Genesis 5
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Here we see that Satan deceived Eve into believing that she would never die. My friend, that same lie exist today. We see in Leviticus that a soul referrs to a living person. Read
Leviticus 6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against God , and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
The Bible also teaches that a soul can in fact die.
Ezekiel 18
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Note in Joshua that "souls..destroying[them]... not any left to breath...". When the breath of life leaves the body, the soul dies or ceases to exist. This is what the Bible teaches.
Joshua 11:11 And they smote all the souls that [were] therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying [them]: there was not any left to breathe : and he burnt Hazor with fire.

Job speaking of his death when his breath(spirit), not his soul, returns to God. What is left is the other ingredient - dust.
Job 34
14 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
15 All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust
In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon whom God blessed with tremendous wisdom, says
Ecclesiastes 3
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecclesiastes 12
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
If it were true that the soul goes to heaven at death, then you would expect these living, conscious souls to be praising God, wouldn't you? Well the King David, who was the "apple of God's eye" says:
Psalm 115
17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
So we see that there is nothing but silence. Isaiah says ther is no celebration or hope of anything after you die.
Isaiah 38
18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Surely if a soul was still living after death, you would expect that it could see or be aware of whats going on. In Kings we read just the opposite.
2 Kings 22
20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
King David says very plainly that at death one "thoughts perish".
Psalm 146
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Does that sound like anything living to you? King Solomon elaborates on this even more.
Ecclesiastes 9
5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Psalm 88
5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
Psalm 6
5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
Going to the New Testament, we see that Luke says that King David, who had died more than one thousand years earlier is still buried and hasn't ascended to heaven.
Acts 2
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
John says that it is the spirit (referring to the breath) that quickeneth (gives life). We saw that when God breathed into Adams nostrils and he became a "living soul".
John 6
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Ezekiel 37
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
Psalm 104
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psalm 33:9
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The prophet Ezekiel speaking of the second coming of Christ says very plainly when the dead will come back to life what will transpire.
Ezekiel 37
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
Job knew that when he would die that he would enter a deep sleep and would not be awaken until after God's wrath and then his change (immortality) would come.
Job 14
12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Christ referred to death as sleep (no consciousness, no awareness of anything). Furthermore, we read in John that Martha did not expect that her dead brother, Lazarus, would go anywhere until the resurrection which will take place at the second coming of Christ.
John 11
11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Stephen, at his death, mentions for the Lord to receive his spirit (breath) Note that he didn't say receive my soul.
Acts 7
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
John 6
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Christ says in reference to his second coming that the dead will hear his voice and live. Not before.
John 5
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Psalm 102
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Christ was the first to resurrect from the dead and when he returns his people will be awoken from their sleep and at that moment receive immortality, not before.
1 Corinthians 15
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Thessalonians 4
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Revelation 1
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Acts 1
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Revelation 1
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen
John 5
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Daniel 12
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Acts 24
15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
As you can see that the Bible is very clear on the state of the dead. The Bible doesn't teach that the dead continue to exist in the form a soul after death. However, man continues to teach that same doctrine given to Eve that she would not die but would live for ever. Many use the parable about "The Rich Man and Lazarus" to support their doctrine concerning the state of the dead in heaven and hell. If you Post a request, I will send you a Biblical study on that topic. God Bless You.

The Bible doesn't teach that the dead continue to exist in the form a soul after death.

9)And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10) Ant they cried out with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Revelations 6:9-10 KJV

Just in case you're wondering, the Greek word psuche is used here for soul.

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

If any of those two ingredients is lacking, the soul ceases to exist. I will use a very basic example. If you make a cake, you need flour, milk, sugar,etc. If you were to someway extract the flour from the cake it would no longer be a cake. Nothing more nothing less.

Death doesn't mean non-existence,...in the Hebrew the translation is closer to a state of separation.

Consider what occurred when Adam and Eve partake the fruit. They remained physically alive. They hid themselves, indicating by their conscientiousness that they remained alive in the soul, but they departed from righteousness in spirit, hence their spirit had separated from God.

Prior to their sin, they were trichotomous in anthroplogy. After the sin in the Garden, man became dichotomous, body and soul.

Jesus Christ was created as the Second Adam, perfect in body, soul and spirit. His perfect sacrifice now has provided the life blood, the spirit, as redemption for what man had separated from God.

God is a god of the Living. Our faith in Him is counted for non-meritorious righteousness which by His grace is effected for salvation by Him. After Jesus Christ, man may confess his sins through Jesus Christ, for the regeneration of that spirit and be reborn in Him.

Accordingly, The soul of the unbeliever continues to exist in the Torments. The soul of the believer upon separation from the body is face to face with the Lord.

The belief that the soul ceases to exist is really the substance of existentialism, hardly the product of Scripture.

You have posted a good list of reference verses.

I've found the study of spirit and soul to be rather robust and perhaps complex. The Hebrew nemesh is used to speak of the issue, yet is used in different contexts throughout the Old Testament.

The pneuma vs psyuche or spirit vs soul isues in the New Testament are a bit more consistently employed,....(consistent as in a more liited scope, so it seems.)

I suspect a considerable amount of insight may be gleaned from the study. Good arguments and doctrine arises from the dichotomous view as well as the trichotomous view of man.

A substantial amount of insight is also gleaned from studying the trichotomous view of Jesus Christ in His humanity as opposed/compared to His Diety in the doctrines of the Hypostatic Union.

The issue also has tremendous impact upon eschatological studies (prophecy) and arguments between pre/mid/post-trib theologies.

Every time I think I've got it figured out, another twist is revealed in Scripture for me to grow a bit more.

Thanks for the list of Scriptures, interesting arguments.