What is the difference between a soul and a spirit?

Answer 1

Man is not a spirit, he has a spirit. I believe the soul (psyche in the Greek) is the makeup of a person. You are different from every other person. The thing that makes you different is the soul. The soul is how you relate to others and how you understand yourself. The spirit (pneuma in the Greek) is how you relate to God. When you are reborn, you are born of spirit (John 3:5-6). The spirit is part of the soul, much like the mind is part of the soul. It is the soul, though, that comprises who you are.

Answer 2

If you are talking about human souls or spirits there is no difference. They are two words to describe the same thing - a non-material part of a human that will survive death and live in either Heaven or Hell. Both words are used in the Bible and some Christians think the words describe two seperate things. This leads to many different and confusing accounts of soul vs spirit and how exactly they are different.

But soul and spirit are the same thing. The Bible uses both terms because the New Testament was written for both a Jewish and a Gentile (Greek and Roman) audience. Jews would have found the term spirit very familiar and easy to understand. Greeks and Romans used the word soul more often than spirit but it meant the same thing. The Bible uses both terms interchangably so both groups of people would understand. Just like if you were writing an article about the drinking habits of Americans and wanted your article to be understood by people in the Midwest and people in the Northeast you might describe things like Pepsi, 7-Up, and rootbeer as "soda" and "pop" at different times.

Answer 3

The way I see it is a soul is the eternal energy that manifests itself in a spirit that resides within us. A spirit implies identity whereas a soul is a collective of all the spirits it has manifested as. Hence reincarnation to let our souls gain knowledge and grow towards enlightenment. This is a tricky one to discuss in text without conversation. Take ghosts for example, they are a manifestation of spirit as they carry an identity. The ghost still has a soul, the soul is simply one step higher. The soul manifesting with identity is spirit. So we have a soul and spirit that are one but at it's purest form there is only the soul that has the collective experience of all the sspirits it has manifested as.
Not very clearly put, sorry. This needs a long night and a good bottle of wine. :-)

Happy New Year, all the very best for 2007.

Answer 4

A soul will only come into existence upon the fusion of a spirit and material energy(physical body). A spirit in a pristine state prior the fusion was force to think, compare and exercise its mind after it realize the pale existence after the fusion thus born the soul. A soul then is a thinking spirit largely based on ignorance of its true pristine identity and state. Upon physical death, the soul survives for awhile but not very long because the spirit whatever worth the knowledge it has learned realized its ignorance but not so much to understand itself its true worth yet thus the possibility of reincarnation. Thus, by natural course, the soul let go (dies) and the spirit returns to the spiritual world in preparation of the next incarnation for a new soul.

Answer 5

The soul is the concept of every person having a soul. You could look at a soul like pure energy. The spirit is the soul once it is seperated from the human body.

Answer 6

(spirit)>>>something that is invisible to humans and that gives the evidence of force in motion—just like breath or wind...........At Genesis 2:7 in the Bible we read the statement: “The man came to be a living soul.” Here the word “soul” appears, and it is translated from the Hebrew word ne′phesh...which soul can be refered to be humans or animals( genesis 1:20).....souls can die (ezekile 18:4 and numbers 23:10)

Answer 7

Gen. 2 expains that God created man from the dirt and then he breathed in a spirit and the two became a living soul...Flesh+Spirit =Soul.

Answer 8

Soul is your body( you could be a dead soul or a living soul)
Spirit is the life force that keeps the soul living
so when a person dies, his soul goes back to the dust where he came from and the spirit or life force goes back to God.
You could compare the life force or spirit to the electricity that is supplied to a fan. Once the plug is pulled the fan slowly runs out of power and stops and the electricity goes back to it's source.

In earthly creatures, or “souls,” there is both the active life-force, or “spirit” that animates them, and the breath that sustains that life-force. Both spirit (life-force) and breath are provisions from God, and he can destroy life by taking either away. (Ps 104:29; Isa 42:5) At the time of the Flood, animals and humans were drowned; their breath was cut off and the force of life was extinguished. It died out. “Everything in which the breath of the force of life was active [literally, “in which the breath of the active force (spirit) of life [was]”] in its nostrils, namely, all that were on the dry ground, died.”—Ge 7:22;

And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.Genesis 2:7

Answer 9

No difference . Both words refer to the same concept.
There is much confusion about the concept however.
It is usually referred to as something seperate from self.
"My soul", " my spirit" did this or went there.......
The truth is regardless of what you choose to call it it is not something you have. Like your body, house ,computer...
It is what you ARE.
You are your own immortal soul or spirit.

Answer 10

i was told it is this... The soul is concious and a part of you physically in a way, while the spirit is not apart of 'you' directly and resides connected to the soul through the heavenly plain but is still a part of you spiritually.

♥ Lisa:
He wasnt asking if you believed it or not. He just wants to know what the difference is according to religion... Im not religious but am still replying what i know.

heheh not trying to come off as rude.. sorry if i do :)