The Soul

[Madhuri]

I have a question for Christians. I am sure someone here will be able to answer.

From a Christian perspective, what is a soul? How do you define it? Why do humans 'have' a soul and animals do not?

The main reason I ask this is because basically every religion holds the concept of soul (except Buddhism perhaps) and each is able to explain it. But no matter how many Christians I speak to, none are able to answer me this. They all talk about the soul but nobody seems to know what it is! Very frustrating. So please if somebody is able to tell me what the Christian religions teaches about the soul let me know.

Thank you

 

[Bick]

I have a question for Christians. I am sure someone here will be able to answer.

From a Christian perspective, what is a soul? How do you define it? Why do humans 'have' a soul and animals do not?

The main reason I ask this is because basically every religion holds the concept of soul (except Buddhism perhaps) and each is able to explain it. But no matter how many Christians I speak to, none are able to answer me this. They all talk about the soul but nobody seems to know what it is! Very frustrating. So please if somebody is able to tell me what the Christian religions teaches about the soul let me know.

Thank you

MY COMMENTS: Hello Madhuri. I would like to give my understanding of "soul", which I believe is the truth, based upon what the Bible sets forth. However, I must advise it will not be the same as what mainstream Christianity teaches.

I hope you might have a Bible so that you could verify this:

In Genesis 2:7 we read, "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."

NOTICE, God breathed the breath of the spirit of life into a prepared body, and man became a living soul. That is, a being with all its senses so that it might experience life.
Soul is a 'phenomenon'; it is the perception of the senses. It encompasses all sensation, all that is experienced by means of the sentient faculties.

Not only man, but all living creatures that move or "roam" are said to be "living souls" (Leviticus 11:46).

In the Bible, as well as in life, people are often called "souls."

A man who is termed a "soul," speaks of a man from the standpoint of his sensations or experiences.

Must go now. Bick

 

[Willamena]

From a Christian perspective, what is a soul? How do you define it? Why do humans 'have' a soul and animals do not?

Sadly, I can only offer a view from afar, from a person peripheral to the Christian religion. I think a 'soul' is the idea of 'self' attached to the eternal Brahaman ("the single absolute being pervading the universe and found within the individual; atman.

But maybe that's just me.

 

[Sola'lor]

For me a soul is a physical body and spiritual body compined. Humans have a spirit and physical body. When they are joined together they are a soul. A cat has a spirit and a physical body when they are joined together they are a soul. Everything has a spirit.

 

[Madhuri]

MY COMMENTS: Hello Madhuri. I would like to give my understanding of "soul", which I believe is the truth, based upon what the Bible sets forth. However, I must advise it will not be the same as what mainstream Christianity teaches.

I hope you might have a Bible so that you could verify this:

In Genesis 2:7 we read, "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."

NOTICE, God breathed the breath of the spirit of life into a prepared body, and man became a living soul. That is, a being with all its senses so that it might experience life.
Soul is a 'phenomenon'; it is the perception of the senses. It encompasses all sensation, all that is experienced by means of the sentient faculties.

Not only man, but all living creatures that move or "roam" are said to be "living souls" (Leviticus 11:46).

In the Bible, as well as in life, people are often called "souls."

A man who is termed a "soul," speaks of a man from the standpoint of his sensations or experiences.

Must go now. Bick

Thank you Bick, this makes sense to me. I would like to confirm that I have interpreted correctly. I do come from an eastern perspective so my impression of what you have related seems to be that you see the soul as the awareness within the body. It is the perciever. This would correlate with my own understanding but have I interpreted your meaning correctly?

 

[Madhuri]

Sadly, I can only offer a view from afar, from a person peripheral to the Christian religion. I think a 'soul' is the idea of 'self' attached to the eternal Brahaman ("the single absolute being pervading the universe and found within the individual; atman.

But maybe that's just me.

Hehe, but definitely not a Christian concept.

 

[Madhuri]

For me a soul is a physical body and spiritual body compined. Humans have a spirit and physical body. When they are joined together they are a soul. A cat has a spirit and a physical body when they are joined together they are a soul. Everything has a spirit.

Ok, but then why are the majority of Christians fixed on the idea that only humans have souls? And why do people constantly say that we 'have' souls when it seems from these difinitions that we 'are' souls?

 

[Sola'lor]

Ok, but then why are the majority of Christians fixed on the idea that only humans have souls? And why do people constantly say that we 'have' souls when it seems from these difinitions that we 'are' souls?

I don't know.

Moses 3:5
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;

 

[Dunemeister]

"Soul" is just one of those concepts that is so fundamental that defining it is effectively useless. It's like asking a mathematician to define "number." He can't. The idea is simply basic to the whole enterprise. I'd suggest something like that is going on with the word "soul." The only thing we can really say of it is that it's not physical and that it is the seat of human emotion, will, and thought. That's speculative enough for some people, and to go any further would involve speculation with wings.

It's easier to speak of the role of the soul than it is to speak of what it is. The soul is that which guarantees personal identity at a time and over time. Although all my physical cells have come and gone over the past seven years, I'm the same person as I was seven years ago because I have the same soul. As a Christian, I believe that after I die, I will be resurrected with a glorified body. I don't think that at death, I'm completely destroyed and then God re-creates me. That would be Xerox copy, not the original me. Rather, God unites a new body (somehow continuous with the body I had during my earthly existence) with my continually existing soul (which carries my thoughts, memories, yaddayaddayadda).

These arguments are hardly compelling for those who aren't Christian, but at any rate, that's why Christians believe in a soul.

 

[Madhuri]

Hey Dune, sorry for taking so long to respond.
Thank you for the information. Isn't there a passage in teh Bible that perhaps says something about the soul that is close to a description?
I'll give you an example of what I mean. For instance, a number of faiths consider the soul to be the life-force, or the consciousness/awareness, the individual itself. That still isn't exactly defining the osul or giving a good understanding but it does say what it is. So what do Christians think it is?

 

[Katzpur]

From a Christian perspective, what is a soul? How do you define it? Why do humans 'have' a soul and animals do not?

From an LDS Christian perspective, a soul is the entity which results when a spirit comes to inhabit a physical body at birth. In other words, the Bible teaches that when God breathed life into Adam, he became "a living soul." The words "spirit" and "soul" do not mean the same thing, although they are frequently used interchangeably. So, with that in mind, and thinking that when you use the word "soul," you may be thinking along the lines of what I would normally call a "spirit," I believe a "spirit" to be the life force that is the essence of every form of life. Some Christians do not believe that animals have spirits, but some do. Mormons are among those who do. We also believe that they will be resurrected someday. We actually believe that God created everything in the universe spiritually before creating them spiritually, so it would be somewhat accurate to say that everything has a spirit, the caveat being that only human beings have a human spirit and were created in God's image, after His likeness.

 

[Madhuri]

Thanks

 

[Katzpur]

Ok, but then why are the majority of Christians fixed on the idea that only humans have souls?

I guess maybe they just don't know any better.

And why do people constantly say that we 'have' souls when it seems from these difinitions that we 'are' souls?

That's because they are using the term "soul" incorrectly, as I just pointed out in my previous post. What they should be saying is that we "have" a spirit residing within our mortal body. A spirit can reside within a body or exist independently of a body. Mormons believe that God created our spirits from highly refined matter that was co-eternal with Him, and that we lived in His presence, in spirit form, for billions of years before our birth. We believe that when we die, our spirits will leave our bodies but will continue to exist as cognizant entities until our bodies are resurrected, and made perfect and immortal. When we speak of the resurrection of the body, we are really saying that the body is given renewed life by the re-entry of the eternal spirit that occupied it in life.

 

[ranjeet]

The christians believe the soul is a property of say ,"adam."

They'll say Adam's soul.But from our own experience,we ARE the soul.Christians,I'm afraid,don't delve much into these things.Neither is the knowledge of the nature of God sought after.

God is just this all powerful,supreme Entity.That's where christianity falls short.


I'm really sorry if this sounds harsh,but isn't it the truth ???

 

[Madhuri]

The christians believe the soul is a property of say ,"adam."

They'll say Adam's soul.But from our own experience,we ARE the soul.Christians,I'm afraid,don't delve much into these things.Neither is the knowledge of the nature of God sought after.

God is just this all powerful,supreme Entity.That's where christianity falls short.


I'm really sorry if this sounds harsh,but isn't it the truth ???

Well, according to you and me perhaps. It isn't so simple to accept a statement like that when it is your own religion. That goes for people from any group/belief.

 

[Heneni]

Hi there! This is how i see the spirit and the soul to be different.

The spirit has three functions:

1. Conscience
2. Intuition
3. Communion

The conscience distinguishes right and wrong. Not through the influence of the knowledge stored in the mind, but is rather a spontaneous direct judgment of what god considers to be right and wrong.

Often reasoning will contradict our conscience. Reasoning what is right and what is wrong with the mind will lead to deception.

Intuition is not sensing with the mind. Intuition involves direct sensing independent of any outside influences. It’s a sense of knowing without being able to reason that knowing with our minds.

The voice of the conscience and the voice of intuition is our guide through the rough seas of life.

Communion is worshipping god. The mind cannot worship god, because the mind can only worship that which it has reasoned to be reasonable.

Communion with god allows us to see with our spiritual eyes, the glory, the majesty and the goodness of god. It is with our spirit that we connect with god on a personal level. It is with this communion that we build a relationship with god.

The soul has three functions:

1. Volition
2. Intellect/Mind
3. Emotion

Volition is what we use to make decisions. Without it man would be a robot. With it we decide that we 'will' or 'we wont'.

The mind is what we use for thoughts, it is our intellect.

Emotion is what we like or dislike. Through it we express love or hate, feel joyful, angry, sad or happy.

A spirit that is infused with the holy spirit guides our volition, our mind and our emotions.

The old man according to christianity was nailed to the cross so the old man's spirit is dead, but his memory is not. I believe that the old man sits in the soul, and the new man sits in the spirit, and therefore the new man, new spirit, must rule the old man, in the soul.

God bless
Heneni

 

[Madhuri]

Thank you Heneni, that was a very nice explanation. I think I am finally understanding the distinction between the ideas of spirit and soul
It's funny because in my religion the self is called the 'spirit soul' and is exactly the same thing.

It is important to understand our different concepts so that there is less confusion when people talk. The concept of soul is a great example because when one person is tlaking about the soul it could mean something very different to another person and that's where misunderstanding comes about.

Thank you again!

 

[ayani]

hey Madhuri ~

as per Genesis, when the Bible records the first human being formed, we are told that the human is animated by the very breath of God.

the soul is something unique to humans. animals are animated- they have personalities and spirits, yet they do not have souls which can chose to respond to or reject God, which can personally wander from God's ways, and which need to be reconciled to the Creator.

humans do, and it is these qualities of the human soul which made it unique, and of importance both here, and in the hereafter.

 

[Madhuri]

hey Madhuri ~

as per Genesis, when the Bible records the first human being formed, we are told that the human is animated by the very breath of God.

the soul is something unique to humans. animals are animated- they have personalities and spirits, yet they do not have souls which can chose to respond to or reject God, which can personally wander from God's ways, and which need to be reconciled to the Creator.

humans do, and it is these qualities of the human soul which made it unique, and of importance both here, and in the hereafter.

Why would animals not have everlasting life as humans are promised just because they do not have a soul?

 

[ayani]

Madhuri ~

the Bible describes humans as having a unique relationship to God- we are uniquely made in His image, and are the last of His creation.

as to whether or not there is an "afterlife" for animals, the Bible is silent on that. however as it's the soul which survives death and is either reuinted or seperated from God after death, it would serve to reason that only those beings with souls would experience an afterlife with or without God when their life on earth ends.

the Bible tells us that animals cry to God, sing to God, priase God, and recognize that their help comes from Him, and that God cares for aminals deeply, and knows each of them. but the afterlife and eternity spent worshipping and praising and enjoying communion with God in heaven is something described as applying only to humans.