What's the difference between a soul and a spirit?

Answer 1

not much......

Answer 2

Although many people use the two words interchangably, I think a soul refers to any individual being on earth. God created Adam and he came to be a living soul. It is not some magical "force" in the human body that lives on after the body dies. It is just the collection of thoughts, experiences, and ideas that make each person a unique human being. The spirit is the form in which heavenly beings, such as the Holy Spirit and the angels exist. Resurrected Christians are resurrected as a physical body that will never die. If dead people were spirits, there would be no need for a physical resurrection. I know this is a little different than most mainline denominations teach, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

Answer 3

Hmm. It looks like nothing, according to these definitions:

Soul (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/soul)
1. The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity.
2. The spiritual nature of humans, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.
3. The disembodied spirit of a dead human.
4. A human
5. The central or integral part; the vital core.
6. A person considered as the perfect embodiment of an intangible quality; a personification.
7. A person's emotional or moral nature

Spirit (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spirit)
1. The vital principle or animating force within living beings.
2. Incorporeal consciousness.
3. The soul, considered as departing from the body of a person at death.
4. The Holy Spirit.
5. A supernatural being, like an angel or a demon.
6. A being inhabiting or embodying a particular place, object, or natural phenomenon.
7. A fairy or sprite.
8. The part of a human associated with the mind, will, and feelings.
9. The essential nature of a person or group.

Answer 4

A soul is an entire being, even animals are called souls, and Ezekiel 18:4 says the soul that is sinning, it itself will die, so a soul is capable of dying. A spirit is a creature that is invisible, good spirits or angels and God live in heaven, bad spirits or demons and Satan live in the vicinity of the earth after being cast down from heaven. Spirit as when mentioned in the case of man is a person's life force which returns to God who gave it, it is not an invisible part of us that survives death as a personality but is just the force that keeps us alive, it now rests with God at our death and God can return it to us when Jesus his son resurrects us back to life.

Answer 5

What is a Soul?

Right in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, we are told that the soul is not something you have, it is something you are. We read of the creation of Adam, the first human being: “The man came to be a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) The Hebrew word used here for soul, ne'phesh, occurs well over 700 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, never once conveying the idea of a separate, ethereal, spiritual part of man. On the contrary, the soul is tangible, concrete, physical.

Look up the following cited texts in your own copy of the Bible, for the Hebrew word ne'phesh is found in each of them. They clearly show that the soul can face risk, danger, and even be kidnapped (Deuteronomy 24:7; Judges 9:17; 1 Samuel 19:11); touch things (Job 6:7); be locked up in irons (Psalm 105:18); crave to eat, be afflicted by fasting, and faint from hunger and thirst; and suffer from a wasting disease or even insomnia as a result of grief. (Deuteronomy 12:20; Psalm 35:13; 69:10;) In other words, because your soul is you, your very self, your soul can experience anything you can experience.

Does that mean, then, that the soul can actually die? Yes. Far from being immortal, human souls are spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures as being “cut off,” or executed, for wrongdoing, being struck fatally, murdered, destroyed, and torn to pieces. (Exodus 31:14; Deuteronomy 19:6; 22:26; Psalm 7:2) “The soul that is sinning, it itself will die,” says Ezekiel 18:4. Clearly, death is the common end of human souls, since all of us sin. (Psalm 51:5) The first man, Adam, was told that the penalty for sin was death, not transfer to the spirit realm and immortality. (Genesis 2:17) And when he sinned, the sentence was pronounced: “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) When Adam and Eve died, they simply became what the Bible often refers to as ‘dead souls’ or ‘deceased souls.’

Some people think that “spirit” is just another word for “soul.” However, that is not the case. The Bible makes clear that “spirit” and “soul” refer
to two different things. How do they differ?


Bible writers used the Hebrew word ru´ach or the Greek word pneu´ma when writing about the “spirit.” The Scriptures themselves indicate the meaning of those words. For instance, Psalm 104:29 states: “If you [God] take away their spirit [ru´ach], they expire, and back to their dust they go.” And James 2:26 notes that “the body without spirit [pneu´ma] is dead.” In these verses, then, “spirit” refers to that which gives life to a body. Without spirit, the body is dead. Therefore, in the Bible the word ru´ach is translated not only as “spirit” but also as “force,” or life-force. For example, concerning the Flood in Noah’s day, God said: “I am bringing the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force [ru´ach] of life is active from under the heavens.” (Genesis 6:17; 7:15, 22) “Spirit” thus refers to an invisible force (the spark of life) that animates all living creatures.

Answer 6

To me a soul is the inner transparent shell of a living being be it animal or person that guides the person through life whether they are good or evil. It is also the part of the body that must be surrendered at the moment of death to be sent to heaven, hell,purgatory or where you are supposed to go when you die. A spirit on the other hand is the soul of a departed being that has some unfinished business to take care of before they get sent to their afterlife destination.

Answer 7

Soul - the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life

Spirit - the vital principle or animating force within living things

Answer 8

I Got Soul My Brotha, You Got The Spirit, Lets Get It On You Sexy Man YOU!

Answer 9

The "soul" and the "spirit" are similar in the manner in which they are used in the spiritual life of the believer. They are different in their reference. The "soul" is man's horizontal view with the world. The "spirit" is man's vertical view with God. It is important to understand that both refer to the immaterial part of man, but only the "spirit" refers to the man's walk with God. The "soul" refers to man's walk in the world, both material and immaterial.

Answer 10

Your spirit is your eternal life essence. The soul is the intellect, emotions and will of a person. A spiritual person gets their understanding from God. A soulish person gets their understanding from their 5 senses and the natural interpretation that their brain and the world system gives to them.

Answer 11

Philosophy. Soul is a religious concept. Spirit is a philosophical one.