What is the definition of a soul?

Answer 1

The soul is that part of man that died when sin entered the human family. It was created to 'house' the Presence of God (which left because sin moved in). It is defined as the God-shaped void that exists to be the residence of the eternal God. General Dictionary definitions are vague and not precise enough.
Going from outside to inside in the makeup of man: Body - physical, Spirit - realm of personality and "life," Soul - Eternity.
(This is very brief and simplified - there is much more but I can't go into the details here).

Answer 2

According to Wikipedia:
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 (but not always as explained below) considered to be immortal and to exist before their incarnation in flesh.

The concept of the soul has strong links with notions of an afterlife, but opinions may vary wildly, even within a given religion, as to what may happen to the soul after the death of the body. Many within these religions and philosophies see the soul as immaterial, while others consider it to possibly have a material component, and some have even tried to establish the mass (weight) of the soul.

Answer 3

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.’

Answer 4

The word "soul" did not exist in the times of Jesus, Socrates or Aristotle, and so the quotations, interpretations and translations of the word "soul" from these sources, means that the word should be handled very carefully. One might go as far as saying that the word "soul", in the sense we use it today, did not exist in Hebrew or Aramaic. So how do the bible thumpers get the idea of a 'soul' from the bible? All the more reason to know the bible is comprised of the words, ideas, interpretations, and imagination of men.

Answer 5

Use of the terms "soul" and "spirit" in the Bible is very complex. Often in the New Testament, they are used synonymously to refer to the immaterial part of man; at other times, they are used with fine distinctions. In those cases, the term "soul" seems to refer to man's more basic psychological functions as he interacts with the world, while "spirit" seems to focus on man's relationship with God. In the Old Testament, "soul" is sometimes used to refer to man in his totality.

Theologians struggle with the question of whether man is made up of two parts, namely body and soul/spirit, or three parts, namely body, soul and spirit. The latter position has been popularized through the teaching of many Christian psychologists and teachers, since it furnishes such a handy way to distinguish between man's material nature, his psychological structure, and his spiritual relationship to God.

Illustrations from the Bible would be as follows: In Genesis 2:7 the Hebrew word for soul is used in reference to man in his totality as created by God. A situation in the new Testament where soul and spirit appear to be used synonymously is Luke 1:46-47. An instance where soul and spirit (used as adjectives) seem to be in contrast, soul referring to man's lower psychological functions and spirit to man's higher spiritual function, is 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:4.

Answer 6

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 exist before their incarnation in flesh.

Answer 7

Dear hombre,

The "soul" is also referred to as the heart of a person-not the physicle organ though. It can be thought of as a person's "spirit essence'. When Christ saves a person, He does not save their body or flesh. That part of us just degrades into dust when we die. But if we are saved, the soul or spirit essence goes to be in the presence of the LORD.

On the last day (Judgment Day), the LORD will resurrect the bodies of the saved that have fallen asleep (died). Those bodies will be changed into glorified bodies and be joined with their souls as Christ returns. Saved people who are still living at Christ's return will immediately be given their glorified bodies and meet Jesus Christ in the air.

Answer 8

The word, "Soul", is rather controversial, in that it has many meanings to many different people; it is a term to describe as closely as possible, the individual in spiritual terms.

In metaphysical terms, soul is the individualization of Spirit...that is, the movement of "God" into "man", as man, is man.

Soul is that which is part of God, yet looks to God as if God were a separate being, instead of one with all there is.

Answer 9

You're soul is the only part of you that exists and functions in the spirit realm. It houses the spirits or the spirit that we are driven by. Our soul wellbeing dictates our physical and mental wellness.

Answer 10

i always wondered that also .. i think of it as the mind .. the consciousness ... a baby is born and is the same person as the adult but the soul is the higher level of the mind as opposed to the spirit which is the core of our being and the inner self ... thats how i understand it but i may be wrong ...