Results for: Soul

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A Jewish-American Rabbi living in Israel, studying, teaching and writing on Judaism.

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What is a soul?

A soul is the immaterial part of a human being or animal which isimmortal. Answer 2 In Judaism, the soul contains a number of things, including thelife-force, the emotions, th… (MORE)

Fowl1

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Do you have a soul?

Yes, you do. Unless you are some evil undead creature (jk), you will always have a soul. So yes, you have a soul. Answer: According to the Bible, Jesus (the Creator God o… (MORE)

Kunth

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What is the soul?

A: Religion says that the soul is that part of us that will live afterthe physical body dies. It was once thought to have been the sourceof intelligence and our ability to th…ink and have emotions, butscience has replaced that. Since the soul can not be detected, itis regarded by believers as a spirit. Non-believers regard the soulas an imaginary construct that allows us to believe that death isnot permanent. B: If you want a valid and useful definition of soul then youneed to decide what is meant by the word life and thuswhat is meant by the word death . With science andtechnology flourishing, it is evidently becoming harder, ratherthan easier, to distinguish life from death. This is because fromthe point of view of scientific materialism (not science itself),the universe is only material; and that means thatdefining life has now become a major technical problem. The nature of death has always been a central concern of theworld's religious traditions. It has long remained a majorchallenge to philosophical inquiry. Even now, nothing has changed. Currently the main challenge inscientifically defining death is in distinguishing it from life.Death either refers to the moment that life ends, or to the momentof onset of the state that follows life. Determining when death has occurred therefore depends upon havingprecise conceptual boundaries that will discriminate the states oflife and death. But this is problematic because there is littleconsensus over how life might be defined. (see related link below). We cannot see or detect that which sustains the ongoing life in ahuman being or that which gives us consciousness; so science canonly describe physical conditions that may lead to death throughthe disruption or cessation of organic processes. Of itself,science simply cannot tell us what life is; scientists can onlyanalyse or measure whatever it is they can detect. They cannottherefore give us any more than sophisticated descriptions of thematerial structures of, and the physiological processes takingplace in, living things. From a purely 'scientific' (actually, scientific materialist) pointof view, life is just a mix of physical and chemical activity. Fromthe point of view of someone who has just lost a friend or a familymember, death is recognizable by the loss of humanity, thedeparture of the human spirit. So the answer to this question hangs on what you consider to begiving you life and consciousness. Is it the invisible andinaccessible, innermost you - your human spirit, or is it just thecombined chemical constituents of a material body? If it's the latter, you clearly do not need a soul because, whilean android/humanoid does need the semblance of an organic body, itdoes not require a spirit (instead it requires digital circuitryand a power source). If it's the former, you do have a soul. The soul is the ongoingexpression of the life in a creature's spirit through the means ofits material body. While some may regard such terms as"old-fashioned" they are as vital and relevant as ever; sincenothing has replaced them. Your soul is the outworking of your spirit/life through the meansof your material body - it is the living you as observed andexperienced by others. See related link below: The spirit does depart the body at death, but it cannot be inferredfrom this that the spirit/soul is immortal. The biblical positionis that your eternal future (everlasting life/death) depends on thenature of your relationship with God. (MORE)

Kunth

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What is a 'soul'?

In general terms it can be said that "soul" in Scripture isconceived to be an immaterial principle created by God, which isusually united to a body and gives it life; However,… the soul is said to continue or to exist after death inhuman beings. The term soul is rarely used with precise definition in philosophyor religion. It is generally regarded as an entity related to butdistinguishable from the body,the spiritual part of human beingsthat animates their physical existence and survives death. Christian theology and worship have adhered firmly to theconviction of the soul. A personal survival after death, rooted in the love of God and theresurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Supplementary Answer: The true meaning of 'soul' can only be appreciatedwhen the terms body and spirit have been clearly understood. An organic body, living or dead, is the physical structure andmaterial substance of an animal or plant. The Scriptures andsecular science both state that a body is formed entirely from thenatural matter of the earth. From this, it appears that a body anda soul are two different things (Micah 6:7, Matthew 10:28 - allreferences here are made using The Bible, the NIV version atBibleGateway.com) The organic (physical) life of a body may be observed as acombination of all the active physiological processes necessary toits continued integrity and functioning. These are processes thatare carried on without the creature needing to be aware of them. In contrast, the sentient and self-awar e side of ananimal's life includes, for instance - perception, deliberatemuscular action, planning, creativity, problem solving, fellowshipand emotional responsiveness (all easily identifiable in dogs,horses and dolphins). This is the consciously active sideof its life, referred to as the 'soul' of the animal. The word 'soul' is not used very frequently. In the case of men andwomen, we are inclined to call ourselves persons rather than souls.In the same way, we tend to call any canine, a dog, rather than asoul. Although the word is not used much, we may occasionally useit in a sympathetic expression such as, "You poor soul!", or in anappreciative expression like, "What a brave soul!" Soul is used to refer to the conscious,willing-acting-thinking-and-feeling individual rather than to hisor her physical body (Job 24:12, Psalm 103:1, Psalm 119:28,Proverbs 2:10, Ezekiel 27:31, Matthew 10:28, John 12:27). However,the soul requires the physical body as its vehicle and instrumentof expression. Occasionally, the word soul is used in place of the word life (aperson's life). (See, for example, Psalm 26:9, Matthew 10:28 andMatthew 16:26) The organic life of the body, and the conscious life of the soul,interact with one and other (Proverbs 16:24, Psalm 31:9, Psalm84:2, Job 21:25, Job 33:20). It is well known to medical andalternative health professionals that spiritual/mental states canaffect organic/physical states, and vice versa. Since organic life is represented by a combination of the physicalprocesses that maintain the integrity and functionality of thebody, then, exactly where does the soul - the conscious andself-aware life - come from? This conscious life is given in thespirit of the creature. (Job 32:8, Psalm 77:6, Malachi 2:15,Zechariah 12:1, 1 Corinthians 2:11) The word spirit is not only used to mean a mood or an attitude; nordoes it merely refer to an imaginary force of nature (such as asprite, a 'life'-force, a god or a fairy). The spirit of abreathing creature is the invisible and essential element thatprovides both the root of its organic life (breath) and itsconscious life (soul). (Genesis 2:7, Job 34:14-15, Ecclesiastes3:21, Luke 8:40-56) Needless to say, the body purely of itself, whether organicallyalive or not, cannot be classed as the soul. The soul is theexpression of the ongoing conscious life of the creature. The bodyis the physical and material means through which that inner life isexpressed. The life itself flows from the spirit. Consider the case of a woman who has become irrevocably comatose.She is still breathing, but with assistance; life-support is inplace. By these means, her organs continue to work and her bodyremains warm. The body thus may seem to remain 'alive' in thatsense, yet at the same time it is noticed that there is no soul -no personal presence. As soon as the life-support is removed herorgans will cease to work and decay will set in. If the spirit isgone, then the life is gone. The body without the spirit is dead (Psalm 146:4, Job 34:14-15,Ecclesiastes 12:7, James 2:26). God is a living and personal being. You are a material entity witha life-giving inner being made in the image of God. God is aSpirit, and we men and women are made in his likeness (Genesis1:26, John 4:24). We each have a human spirit which expresses itslife through a physical body; all of us are souls who directlymirror the Soul of our Creator. A soul is a conscious and self-aware being having a continuous,live presence. The soul is the ongoing expression of the life in acreature's spirit through the means of its physical body. The very significant difference between human beings and all otherbreathing animals is that men and women are made in the likeness oftheir Creator. And our Creator has a very good reason for doingthis; he wants to share his own (eternal) kind life and being withus! (John 1:9-13, Romans 8:19, 1 Corinthians 15:53, 2 Timothy 1:10) All references here are made using the NIV version of The Bible. (MORE)

Maugustine72

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In Christianity

Do you have souls?

The "soul" is a human concept, referring to consciousness. Scientifically, we do not have souls, everything that makes you you happens in your brain and dies with it. . Yes … (MORE)

Roynat67

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What can you get for your soul?

Definition: In the Bible, "soul" is translated from the Hebrew neÂ´phesh and the Greek psyÂ·kheÂ´. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the lif… (MORE)

John Gensamer

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I focus my studies on the Bible and it's relationship with history and science. I have formed a deep love for the wisdom contained there-in.

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What is soul?

From a biblical standpoint: The soul is the person's or creature'swhole being. Both the Hebrew nephesh and the Greek psyche are the words translated soul in most bibles. Th… (MORE)

Kunth

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In The Bible

Who has a soul?

Answer EVERYONE! Every man boy and girl. Everyone but animals. Answer Animals could have souls. Nobody knows for certain whether or notthey do. Nobody even knows for cer…tain whether or not souls exist.Only the dead know what happens after you die. Answer: Nowhere in the Bible does it say that anyone or anything "HAS" a"soul." It says that Adam BECAME a living one - Gen.2:7. The word thetranslators translated "soul" throughout the Old Testament is"nephesh"... which they translated: "creature" in Gen.1:20. But, besides soul, "nephesh" is also translated throughout the KJVBible: "any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, lust, man,me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, they, thing." A "soul" is merely a mortal creature that lives by breathing, asAdam began to do in Genesis 2:7. Dogs, cats, skunks and rats areall "souls." Fish, birds, snakes and men are all "souls." No one "HAS" one. Another answer: Ezekiel 18:4 - Behold, all souls areMine ; The soul of the father As well as the soul of theson is Mine; The soul who sins shall die . Mark 8:36, 37 - For what will it profit a manif he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will aman give in exchange for his soul? It should be understood that the Bible presents teachings on thesoul from two very different points of view: the physical and thespiritual. From the purely physical point of view, man "has" a soul - asindicated by Jesus' use of the possessive " his soul " in Mark 8 . From the spiritual point of view, theopposite is the case: every human being IS a soul that "has" a body ( 2 Corinthians 5 )...and bothsoul and body truly "belong" only to God. This is by no means a contradiction. Jesus was speaking to anunenlightened crowd in terms that they could grasp ( Mark8:34 ), while Paul was writing to Christians who had gaineda spiritual understanding that Jesus' audience lacked. By showingboth points of view, scripture indicates that it doesn't matterwhich way you look at it as much as it matters what needs to be done about it, which is the same from eitherviewpoint. The Bible reveals that the soul of man is an eternal essence thatcontinues on when the physical body dies ( Matthew10:28 ). Throughout scripture, references to the soulpertain only to mankind, clearly indicating that the soul is uniqueto humanity by at least one of the multiple definitions of theoriginal words used in both the Old and New Testaments. By its mostcommon usage, the soul is that essence that makes man in God's"image" and "likeness," setting us apart from the rest of creation;indeed, giving us "dominion" over it ( Genesis1:26 ). It is because of the eternal nature of the soul that mankind needconcern itself with the curse of sin. (Animals know nothing of sin,thus are not "souls" by the predominant biblical usage of theterm.) Whether man is a body in possession of a soul or a soul in passinghabitation of a body is a matter of perspective rather thandoctrine. It is, however, a mark of maturity to see scripturalmatters from the spiritual perspective rather than the physical.Both viewpoints have their value as long as this teaching is clear:the spiritual (the soul) is eternal, making it of far greaterconcern than the physical (the body), which is temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:18 - while we do not look atthe things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the thingswhich are not seen are eternal . [Quotes from NKJV] Supplementary Answer To understand who has a soul we could consider thenature of our Creator and see how that throws light on the way hegenerates living beings. God is spirit , and he is life (John 4:24, John5:26, John 6:63). He has his own soul, his own self-aware beingwith its own private thoughts (1 Corinthians 2:11). Our Creator has personal attributes like self-awareness, intelligence,sentience, creativity, freedom, autonomy and power. And, we are made in that likeness! We, too, are persons (Genesis1:27). In creating man, God breathed a spirit into the inert (dead) bodythat he had prepared. It then immediately became a living soul orperson (Genesis 2:7). The human spirit is thus the life in a man ora woman (Job 33:4, Job 34:14-15, Psalm 146:4, James 2:26). So you are both at once, a spirit and a body (Malachi 2:15, 1 Peter4:6). Another way to put that is to say that you are a soul - oneconscious, living being (Psalm 26:9, Mark 8:36). This can befurther explained with reference to the Bible. My resource:BibleGateway.com If you were, purely and only, your organic body you would simplyrot away to dust. An organic body, dead or alive, is the physicalstructure and material substance of an animal or plant. That istruly all a body consists of - just so much material substance(Genesis 3:19, Psalm 103:14). The scriptures and secular scienceboth state that the human body is formed only from the raw matterof the earth. But, of course, life is not found in material stuff. First andforemost, therefore, you are a spirit (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The spirit is the invisible source of the life of a breathinganimal. The spirit is both its organic life (the unconsciousfunctioning of its body systems) and its soul life (the side thatis conscious, alert and self-aware). The body - while it remains viable - is the vehicle and instrumentof the spirit. The soul is the ongoing expression, through theorganic body, of the conscious life that is in the animal's spirit. The same applies to human beings (Ecclesiastes 3:19-21). Your soulis the expression of the conscious life in your human spirit,through the means of your physical body. One aspect of your soul isthe inner, self-aware, mentally active you. The other aspect ofyour soul is your live personhood as it is apprehended andexperienced by the rest of the world. God does not need to try to work out who you are by studying theway you present to the world; he is in the privileged position ofbeing able to see directly into your spirit (Proverbs 20:27).Please do not fret, though; no one else can do that! (1 Corinthians2:11). In the outward sense you are a soul - a live person. And, in theinward sense, you are a soul - you are your own private, consciousand self-aware mentality. Is there any spiritual difference between the soul of a human beingand the soul of any other type of animal? - Yes, there is; Godcreated man (ultimately) for close fellowship with himself(Leviticus 26:12, Ezekiel 37:27, Romans 8:18-21, Hebrews 2:10-11,Hebrews 12:9, James 4:5, Revelation 21:3). So he deliberately madeus men and women in his own likeness (Genesis 5:1). The human spirit is therefore very different (Job 32:8), reflectingthe personal attributes of our Creator - like self-awareness,intelligence, sentience, creativity, freedom, autonomy and power. We all have spirits and souls, and they reflect the attributes ofGod's own Spirit and Soul. Our spirits are limited in power and are largely constrained tofind expression through our bodies. (But they can also reach out toGod in prayer or to others in consolation or support.) Our powersand freedoms are also limited by the fact that our bodies are ofthis physical/material universe and are therefore finite. However, what we absolutely lack in the natural is theutterly good and holy nature of God's own Spirit. "But the fruit ofthe Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)God's life is eternal life, and the quality of that life is holyand glorious. He very graciously offers his life to us through Jesus. "And justas we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear theimage of the heavenly man." (1 Corinthians 15:35-54) Another View: . In Genesis, the Hebrew term'nephesh' is most often used for the English term 'soul.' It simplymeans 'a breathing creature' according to Strong's ExhaustiveConcordance. In this sense only then,mankind is said to be a 'living soul' (see Genesis 2:7) which isthe word 'nephesh.' When describing the creatures of the sea(Genesis 1:21 for 'creature') and the birds (verse 30) and all"creeping" creatures like insects and reptiles (see verse 24) thissame term is used in the Hebrew. Therefore, it is correct to sayall air-breathing creatures are commonly translated from the Hebrew'nephesh' to the English 'soul' and are the same in this sense ofthe word. Man, however, is unique in God's creation as he is created in the'image and likeness' of the God-kind (see Genesis 1:26). We are thepinnacle of God's creation with a future promise to becomespiritual children of God - just like Him. No animal or angel forthat matter was ever given such an honor.. One last point, many improperly interchange the usage of the word'spirit' from the term 'ruach' with soul. This has let to manyfalse ideas in particular the Greek philosophical one of an'eternal soul.' All souls die and at the final Judgment, God willdestroy the incorrigibly wicked who refuse to repent - its calledthe 2nd death from Christ in the Lake of Fire (see Revelation 21:8)- it is God who destroys fully the body and soul (see Matthew10:28). When a human dies, their body returns to the ground it wasoriginally formed from, while the Spirit in Man (see Job 32:8; 1Corinthians 2:11, etals) returns to God in Heaven awaiting theJudgment: Ecclesiastes 12:7 New King James Version (NKJV) . 7 Then the dust willreturn to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. . (MORE)

Ebrach

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You have a soul?

In fact humans are souls. We do not have a soul. Rather we are souls. This is in accord with the Bible. Genesis 2:7 says: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the… (MORE)

Larry Pritchard

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In Religion & Spirituality

How do you get a soul?

Probably the easiest way to describe the soul is that the soul is not something you possess, the soul is who you are . The soul is the essence of your being, It is the real y…ou, and is infinite, eternal, and it transcends mind, body, and personality. To the soul- the real you- these are attributes that are created and tried on, experienced, and learned from. They may come and go, depending upon their purpose, but the soul- you - is eternal, infinite, and divine. Some spiritual systems may refer to the soul as one' s "higher self", meaning the completed, omniscient, perfect, and actualized version of us, having reached a state of complete self awareness and awareness of the spiritual unity of all existence. This state may be roughly what is meant by terms such as "Nirvana", "Heaven", or "Enlightenment" . Some belief systems may refer to this self actualized state as "Buddha Mind" , "Christ Consciousness" , etc. Depending on what spiritual ideas you maintain or those embodied in the doctrines of your spiritual or religious practice, your soul can be something that may be created or destroyed, damned or redeemed, bought or sold. In fact, it is this less exalted, flawed, and imperfect spirit- prone to sinfulness or wrong thinking, that is the general concept of soul held by most major world religions. It is what we might refer to as personality, granted an allotment of time to experience physical existence while associated with the body. It is what one does with one's time on Earth, how one thinks, believes, and behaves that will help determine the eternal disposition of one's existence: salvation or perdition, soul death, or nonexistence, union with or separation from the deity, etc. This concept of the soul is the human spirit, that supernatural, trans-physical personality that continues after the body dies. It is this concept of the soul that may created by God, lost to the damnation of hellfire, redeemed by the blood of Christ, etc. According to the beliefs of the Abrahamic traditions, the soul is the eternal self, the spirit part of one's earthbound personality or ego. It is the part of us that continues after physical death, and that may be lost or saved. From Christianity for example, Jesus asks, " For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" It is thought of as a metaphysical commodity, a ghostly possession, hardly divine. The higher self, concept as described above- the real you - perfect, omniscient and one with God and All That Is, comes from sources as diverse as Native American spirituality, Eastern religions, The New Age movement, and New Thought Christianity. The soul isn't something you own, the soul isn't something you "get", it is you - the real you. (MORE)