What is soul?

Answer 1

What is the origin of the teaching that the human soul is invisible and immortal?

The difficulty lies in the fact that the meanings popularly attached to the English word “soul” stem primarily, not from the Hebrew or Christian Greek Scriptures, but from ancient Greek philosophy, actually pagan religious thought. Greek philosopher Plato, for example, quotes Socrates as saying: “The soul, . . . if it departs pure, dragging with it nothing of the body, . . . goes away into that which is like itself, into the invisible, divine, immortal, and wise, and when it arrives there it is happy, freed from error and folly and fear . . . and all the other human ills, and . . . lives in truth through all after time with the gods.”—Phaedo, 80, D, E; 81, A.

In direct contrast with the Greek teaching of the psykhe (soul) as being immaterial, intangible, invisible, and immortal, the Scriptures show that both psykhe and nephesh, as used with reference to earthly creatures, refer to that which is material, tangible, visible, and mortal.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia says: “Nepes [nephesh] is a term of far greater extension than our ‘soul,’ signifying life (Ex 21.23; Dt 19.21) and its various vital manifestations: breathing (Gn 35.18; Jb 41.13[21]), blood [Gn 9.4; Dt 12.23; Ps 140(141).8], desire (2 Sm 3.21; Prv 23.2). The soul in the O[ld] T[estament] means not a part of man, but the whole man—man as a living being. Similarly, in the N[ew] T[estament] it signifies human life: the life of an individual, conscious subject (Mt 2.20; 6.25; Lk 12.22-23; 14.26; Jn 10.11, 15, 17; 13.37).”—1967, Vol. XIII, p. 467.

Soul—A Living Creature. As stated, man “came to be a living soul”; hence man was a soul, he did not have a soul as something immaterial, invisible, and intangible residing inside him. The apostle Paul shows that the Christian teaching did not differ from the earlier Hebrew teaching, for he quotes Genesis 2:7 in saying: “It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul [psy·khen′ zo′san].’ . . . The first man is out of the earth and made of dust.”—1Co 15:45-47.

Dead soul. The expression ‘deceased or dead soul’ also appears a number of times, meaning simply “a dead person.”—Le 19:28; 21:1, 11; 22:4; Nu 5:2; 6:6; Hag 2:13; compare Nu 19:11, 13.

Soul and Spirit Are Distinct. The “spirit” (Heb., ruach; Gr., pneuma) should not be confused with the “soul” (Heb., nephesh; Gr., psykhe), for they refer to different things. Thus, Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the Word of God as ‘piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and their marrow.’ (Compare also Php 1:27; 1Th 5:23.) As has been shown, the soul (nephesh; psykhe) is the creature itself. The spirit (ruach; pneu′ma) generally refers to the life-force of the living creature or soul, though the original-language terms may also have other meanings.

What, then, is the condition of dead souls? Simply stated, death is the opposite of life. All our senses are linked to our physical bodies. Our ability to see, hear, and think depends on the proper functioning of our eyes, ears, and brain. Without eyes we cannot see. Without ears we cannot hear. Without a brain we cannot do anything. When a person dies, all these physical organs cease to function. We cease to exist.

In harmony with this, Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 says: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [the grave], the place to which you are going.” Similarly, Psalm 146:3, 4 states: “Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit [life force] goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” So when people (souls) die, they simply cease to exist.

Answer 2

The body is an extension of the soul and the mind is the consious body of the soul. You are your own soul. Your body is a shell, a puppet, that your spirit carries with it, that is, until you discover astral projection. The mind, your thoughts, is your soul.

"I think, therefore I am"

If this is true, then everything that has a body, but also thinks for itself, has a soul.

Which makes me think about possession. Is it taking over your body? or is it eclipsing your soul?

This part is a section from William Blake's "The marriage of heaven and hell"

All Bibles or sacred codes. have been the causes of the following
Errors.
I. That Man has two real existing principles Viz: a Body & a Soul.
2. That Energy. calld Evil. is alone from the Body. & that Reason.
calld Good. is alone from the Soul.
3. That God will torment Man in Eternity for following his Ener-
gies.
But the following Contraries to these are True
1. Man has no Body distinct from his Soul for that calld Body is a
portion of Soul discernd by the five Senses. the chief inlets of Soul in this age
2. Energy is the only life and is from the Body and Reason is the
bound or outward circumference of Energy.
3. Energy is Eternal Delight

Answer 3

Hello =)

Well,

after more than 40 years of actively searching, I'll be damned if I know. I've reached the conclusion that one of two things must be true:

Either through some birth defect, I was born without one,

or,

There is no such thing, and it is a construct of delusion.

As a Buddhist, I can accept that a certain level of Consciousness moves on, from one lifetime to another, but this "consciousness" is not to be found within, no matter how you try and look for it.

But, I cannot accept that I have this "soul" that encompasses any of the qualities that people talk of. It simply isn't there.

Since I cannot "become" another person, or "download" their mind into my own, there is no way to know, absolutely, whether it is me, or the human condition, that is lacking this "soul".

Perhaps that is what divides man into his various religions.....some are born with and some without?? Of course, this also cannot be verified by experience.

Namaste, and Happy New Year,

--Tom

Answer 4

The soul according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. Such traditions often consider the soul both immortal and innately aware of its immortal nature, as well as the true basis for sentience in each living being.
the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life

Answer 5

Soul is made of the mind, the will & the emotions.

Answer 6

See James Brown

Answer 7

soul is the breath of the Creator breathed into your body...it is immortal and lives on when the body dies.

Answer 8

The part of you that never dies, that will be accountable to God in the final day of Judgment, and that is your reflection of God-like attributes. The real you.

Answer 9

A really lousy form of redundant ' music ' that surfaced as ' popular ' in the 60's.

Ick!!

Answer 10

It died with James Brown.