What is a soul?

Question

Would someone care to take a crack at this? What do you think of when you hear the word Soul? What about when you hear Spirit? And last what about Spiritual?

Are we supernatural beings wandering in this natural state? Or natural beings using our minds to create a super nature?

Nice thoughts guys. Anyone else have a different perspective on the issue?

Answer 1

Our thoughts and emotions make up the soul. The difference between man and animal is the spirit. When I hear the word soul I think about a living animal. When I think of spirit I think of man. Spiritual is living ones life for either Satan or God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Answer 2

Spirit comes from the word for breathe. So you can look at it as either an animating force -- or the result of animation, what we do with ourselves as living beings.

The longer I'm alive in a body that doesn't quite work right, the more of a materialist I've become -- and that would be quite a shock to my neurobio professor, so don't just dismiss my thinking as uninformed or otherwise lacking -- that is, all things are explainable by physical biochemical mechanisms.

There's no reason why we can't use soul or spirit for certain aspects of our experience, just keeping in mind that they are rooted in physical processes.

Personally, I think of 'soul' as those aspects that most define a person. When someone dies, we keep the memory of those alive within us. Does there really need to be anything more?

In memoriam TL

Answer 3

Your thoughts, emotions, and interpretations of everything are no more than electrical signals and chemical reactions in your head. We are nothing more than a carbon and water based computer. We have inputs, outputs, memory, processing power...and it is all controlled with electrical signalling.

The "near death experiences" that everyone talks about is the release of the chemical DMT into your system when your body believes you are about to die. It is an extremely powerful hallucinogen that creates "profound and spiritual" experiences. Seeing the light or talking to Jesus or a dead relative is no more than being on a short acid trip.

My take: there is no soul or spirit. If you don't understand something, you can do one of two things:
1) Say it's "magic" or "God" or "ghosts", or
2) Do research or look take a university course on the topic.

Once upon a time, everyone KNEW the Earth was flat, because it looked flat. Once upon a time, everyone KNEW that Apollo rode his chariot carrying the sun across the sky every day.

We have the technology today to move away from the silly explanations of the past.

Answer 4

The body is the "world-consciousness," the soul is the "self-consciousness," and the spirit is the "God-consciousness." There are five organs in the body which afford man the five senses. This physical body enables man to communicate with the physical world. This is why it is called the "world- consciousness." The soul comprises that part in man known as the intellect, which makes man's existence possible. The part of love generates affections toward other human beings or objects. Affections originate from the senses. All these are parts of man himself; they form the personality of man. Hence, they are called the "self-consciousness." The spirit is the part with which man communicates with God. With this part man worships God, serves Him, and understands his relationship with God. Hence, it is called "God-consciousness." Just as God dwells in the spirit, the self dwells in the soul, and the senses dwell in the body.

The soul is the meeting point; here the spirit and the body join. Man communicates with God's Spirit and the spiritual realm through the spirit and receives and expresses power and life in the spiritual realm through this spirit. He communicates with the outside world of senses through the body; the world and the body interact with one another. The soul lies in between these two worlds and belongs to these two worlds. On the one hand, it communicates with the spiritual realm through the spirit, and on the other hand, it communicates with the physical world through the body. The soul has the power of self-determination; it can make decisions concerning the things related to it in the environment and can choose or reject them. It is impossible for the spirit to control the body directly; it requires a medium. This medium is the soul, which was produced when the spirit touched the body. The soul is in between the spirit and the body; it binds the spirit and the body together as one. The spirit can rule over the body through the soul and subject it under God's power. The body can also induce the spirit through the soul to love the world.

Among the three elements of man, the spirit is joined to God and is the highest. The body is in contact with the material world and is the lowest. In between the two is the soul. It takes as its nature the nature of the other two. As such it becomes the linkage of the other two parts. Through the soul the two parts can fellowship with each other and can work together. The function of the soul is to maintain the spirit and the body in their proper order so that they will not lose their proper relationship with one another. In this way, the body, which is the lowest, will submit to the spirit, and the spirit, which is the highest, will be able to control the body through the soul. The soul is indeed the chief element in man. The soul looks to the spirit for the supply which the latter has received from the Holy Spirit and communicates to the body what it has received so that the body may partake of the perfection of the Holy Spirit and become a spiritual body.

Man's spirit is the noblest part of man; it dwells in man's innermost part. The body is the lowest and remains outside. The soul dwells between the spirit and the body and is the medium of the two. The body is the outer shell of the soul, while the soul is the outer shell of the spirit. When the spirit tries to control the body, it has to do so with the help of the intermediary soul. Before man fell, it was the spirit (through the soul) that controlled the whole being. When the spirit wanted to do something, it communicated to the soul, and the soul activated the body to follow the order of the spirit. This is what it means for the soul to be the medium.

The soul is potentially the strongest part because both the spirit and the body are incorporated into it, take it as their personality, and are affected by it. But in the beginning, man had not sinned, and the power of the soul was fully under the control of the spirit. Hence, the power of the soul was the power of the spirit. The spirit could not drive the body by itself; it had to do so through the soul. We can see this from Luke 1:46-47: "My soul magnifies [present tense] the Lord, and my spirit has exulted [perfect tense] in God my Savior." Here we see the change in tense according to the original language, which indicates that the spirit must first exult before the soul can magnify the Lord. The spirit first communicates the exultation to the soul, then the soul expresses this exultation through the organs of the body.

In conclusion, the soul is the seat of personality; man's will, intellect, and emotion all lie in the soul. The spirit is the part with which man communicates with the spiritual realm. The body is the part with which man communicates with the physical realm. The soul is in the middle of these two parts. It exercises its judgment to determine if the spiritual realm is to rule or if the physical realm is to rule. Sometimes the soul rules through its intellect and senses; when that happens, the psychological world rules. Unless the soul yields its rule to the spirit, the spirit cannot rule. Hence, the soul has to authorize the spirit to rule before the latter can rule over the soul and the whole body. The reason for this is that the soul is the origin of man's personality.

The soul is the master of a person because man's will is part of the soul. When the spirit controls the whole being, it is because the soul has yielded itself and has taken a lower position. If the soul rebels, the spirit will not have the power to control it. This is the meaning of "free will" in man. Man has the absolute right to make his own decisions. He is not a machine which turns according to God's will. He has his own faculty of deliberation. He can choose to obey God's will, and he can choose to oppose God's will and to follow the devil's will. According to God's arrangement, the spirit should be the highest part and should control the whole being. Yet the main part of man's personality, the will, is of the soul. Man's will (soul) has the power to choose to let the spirit rule, to let the body rule, or to let the self rule. Because the soul is so powerful, the Bible calls it "a living soul."
-The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee

Answer 5

First of all, you do not have and immortal soul, if you did, then why had no one gone to Heaven before Jesus came to the Earth, 4000 years had came & gone since Adam & Eve, millions of people had died, what did Jesus say to a man of the Pharisees, Nic·o·de'mus was his name, a ruler of the Jews.

John 3:13
“Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.”

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

You soul is your thoughts and actions controlled by your five senses like the animals. I.E. A Pig or a Dog. Your spirit is that thinking part of you that is plugged into GOD's Spirit and controls your thoughts and actions. Kind of like the old cartoon of the devil one one shoulder and the angel on the other.
I.E. I see a sexy girl who in turn ask me to go out for drinks tonight. My soul says "Yeah lets breed!" Just like a Pig would. My Spirit says "This will destroy your marriage, hurt your children and really mess up your eternal relationship with GOD." I choose to walk after the Spirit and not be a Pig!

Shalom.

Answer 7

Why the confusion and long answers? Just as the mind or brain is the intellect of the body the spirit is the intellect of your soul. Your soul is just another body that your intellect will reside in for the eternity if you are saved and it will not age or get sick. It will be beautiful. And it will be solid like the one you are in now ,not Casper like. God bless P.S.your soul will take the same shape it has now except it will be perfect, without flaw.

Answer 8

I believe the 'soul' is human consciousness. It is our ability to view the world and the singular connection between our world and our brain. It makes us feel complete and as one although we are in fact a collection of brain processes that aren't always in sync with each other. Well, that is my idea of it. Not a fact though.

Answer 9

Yeah, I agree with the other answer. It is everlasting.
Plus I must say, When I was 15, I DIED and met Jesus Christ!!!!!!! Life is because of Him, and created for him. All need to know him. HE is amazzzzing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

Its everlasting spirit energy