Which lives forever?

Question

Our soul or spirit? Why?

If they are one and the same how come Jesus have no souls? Bible didn't mention a single verse about it. God doesn't soul either yet he lives forever.

Answer 1

Neither. They will both die off, as concepts, when people shed their superstitions.

Answer 2

There are different schools of thought on this.

Classic Greek thought was that the body is the evil container of a perfect soul and that the body and soul are in constant tension. This is called Dualism. For this line of thought, redemption means the releasing of the physical and embracing of the non-physical.

Christians for the most part, believe that the soul is that which is evil (I prefer the term "corrupted") and the body merely a container that, while suffering from the consequences of evil, is not itself evil. These two form a Duality, which is different than the Dualism above. Here, the body and soul are both formed by the act of creation. Here, redemption involves the "curing" of the soul and body.

According to RC Sproul, there is no necessity for a third distinct part of our makeup, namely the spirit. The belief that there is body, soul, and spirit is called "Trichotomy", wherein the tension between body and soul is buffered by the spirit. There are passages of the Bible that speak of people having a "spirit", but spirit and soul are to be understood as being synonymous.

Under orthodox Christianity, we humans are a unity-in-duality. We have a body and a soul. The soul, which is created and sustained by God, continues after our death but is not naturally eternal. It continues to exist by the will of God.

Thus, to answer your question, since the soul and the spirit are the same thing, they both continue to exist after death.

Answer 3

Seeker, basically the terms are used synonymously in the Bible.

Jesus asks rhetorically in Matthew 16:25, "What will it profit someone if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"

A good term for each (soul and spirit) would be the "inner man" or the real you, dwelling inside your temporal body. Doubters, look to 2 Corinthians 5:1--10 where Paul calls our bodies "tents" or "tabernacles" that are decaying and will pass away.

The "inner man" (self) becomes the new man (self) when one receives Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Answer 4

This is, for me, a complicated question. Perhaps this can better answer you...

The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self-aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. In these traditions the soul is thought to incorporate the inner essence of each living being, and to be the true basis for sentience. In distinction to spirit which may or may not be eternal, souls are usually considered to be immortal and to pre-exist their incarnation in flesh.

Answer 5

The soul is sometimes referred to as the spirit.

Christians believe that those who trust in Christ will live forever. (our souls)

What many people on this website do not understand is that MANY people who CLAIM to be Christians do not have the first idea of having an acutal relationship with Christ. If they did, they wouldn't behave as terribly as they do. I would almost say that MOST people who say they are Christians don't really know what it means. They give sincere Christians a bad name.

Answer 6

Both. Our soul consists of the body and the spirit. When a person dies their body is left behind, their spirit goes to heaven. Because Jesus Christ satisfied a broken law and overcame death, he was the first to resurrect. Because Jesus resurrected we will ALL have the opportunity for our spirits and our bodies to reunite. We are immortal souls due to the merits and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

Gospel According to Saint Luke
Chapter 8

5 The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

6 And other some fell upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. 8 And other some fell upon good ground; and being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9 And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. 10 To whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing may not understand.


11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 And they by the way side are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. 13 Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. 15 But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

Answer 8

Your spirit is eternal and = your soul is your mind will and emotions- I would say both are eternal- your soul and spirit we can not see w the natural eye- D

Answer 9

Pardon Me,but God breathed the breath of life into man and man became a living soul.God's very breath was a soul.

Answer 10

The spirit. It lives for as long as the man who owns is kept remembered for what he had done whether it was good or bad. Just as the spirit of Buddha, Jesus, and other spiritual men remains in the mind of the people of the world, the same thing as Hitler, Bonaparte, Alexander whose names were written in the annals of History their spirit remains for as long as every generation remembers.

Answer 11

The Bible says when we die the spirit goes back to God, but our soul is eternal...ie heaven or hell.