what is a soul?

Question

when people think of a soul, do they usually think of religion or spirituality? some people say it is a person's spirit. but then, what is a spirit? when asked that question, some say: "a spirit is a ghost or apparition." but this idea isnt what people think of when they think of a soul (at least their own). or is it?

im sure at least one person will answer with... "a soul is something 'god' gave us." while this might be what a lot of people think... it doesnt really help me to understand what a soul is.

also, if you dont believe in souls, feel free to say so, but if you would, please explain why. thanks. :)

Answer 1

My deepest apologies for the cut and paste, but this article from the reasoning book really nails it,

Soul

Definition: In the Bible, “soul” is translated from the Hebrew ne´phesh and the Greek psy·khe´. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. To many persons, however, “soul” means the immaterial or spirit part of a human being that survives the death of the physical body. Others understand it to be the principle of life. But these latter views are not Bible teachings.

What does the Bible say that helps us to understand what the soul is?

Gen. 2:7: “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.” (Notice that this does not say that man was given a soul but that he became a soul, a living person.) (The part of the Hebrew word here rendered “soul” is ne´phesh. KJ, AS, and Dy agree with that rendering. RS, JB, NAB read “being.” NE says “creature.” Kx reads “person.”)

1 Cor. 15:45: “It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (So the Christian Greek Scriptures agree with the Hebrew Scriptures as to what the soul is.) (The Greek word here translated “soul” is the accusative case of psy·khe´. KJ, AS, Dy, JB, NAB, and Kx also read “soul.” RS, NE, and TEV say “being.”)

1 Pet. 3:20: “In Noah’s days . . . a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.” (The Greek word here translated “souls” is psy·khai´, the plural form of psy·khe´. KJ, AS, Dy, and Kx also read “souls.” JB and TEV say “people”; RS, NE, and NAB use “persons.”)

Gen. 9:5: “Besides that, your blood of your souls [or, “lives”; Hebrew, from ne´phesh] shall I ask back.” (Here the soul is said to have blood.)

Josh. 11:11: “They went striking every soul [Hebrew, ne´phesh] that was in it with the edge of the sword.” (The soul is here shown to be something that can be touched by the sword, so these souls could not have been spirits.)

Where does the Bible say that animals are souls?

Gen. 1:20, 21, 24, 25: “God went on to say: ‘Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls* . . . ’ And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind. . . . And God went on to say: ‘Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds . . . ’ And God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every moving animal of the ground according to its kind.” (*In Hebrew the word here is ne´phesh. Ro reads “soul.” Some translations use the rendering “creature[s].”)

Lev. 24:17, 18: “In case a man strikes any soul [Hebrew, ne´phesh] of mankind fatally, he should be put to death without fail. And the fatal striker of the soul [Hebrew, ne´phesh] of a domestic animal should make compensation for it, soul for soul.” (Notice that the same Hebrew word for soul is applied to both mankind and animals.)

Rev. 16:3: “It became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul* died, yes, the things in the sea.” (Thus the Christian Greek Scriptures also show animals to be souls.) (*In Greek the word here is psy·khe´. KJ, AS, and Dy render it “soul.” Some translators use the term “creature” or “thing.”)

Do other scholars who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses acknowledge that this is what the Bible says the soul is?

“There is no dichotomy [division] of body and soul in the O[ld] T[estament]. The Israelite saw things concretely, in their totality, and thus he considered men as persons and not as composites. The term nepeš [ne´phesh], though translated by our word soul, never means soul as distinct from the body or the individual person. . . . The term [psy·khe´] is the N[ew] T[estament] word corresponding with nepeš. It can mean the principle of life, life itself, or the living being.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp. 449, 450.

“The Hebrew term for ‘soul’ (nefesh, that which breathes) was used by Moses . . . , signifying an ‘animated being’ and applicable equally to nonhuman beings. . . . New Testament usage of psyche (‘soul’) was comparable to nefesh.”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1976), Macropædia, Vol. 15, p. 152.

“The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture.”—The Jewish Encyclopedia (1910), Vol. VI, p. 564.

Can the human soul die?

Ezek. 18:4: “Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul* that is sinning—it itself will die.” (*Hebrew reads “the ne´phesh.” KJ, AS, RS, NE, and Dy render it “the soul.” Some translations say “the man” or “the person.”)

Matt. 10:28: “Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [or, “life”]; but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul* and body in Gehenna.” (*Greek has the accusative case of psy·khe´. KJ, AS, RS, NE, TEV, Dy, JB, and NAB all render it “soul.”)

Acts 3:23: “Indeed, any soul [Greek, psy·khe´] that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.”

Is it possible for human souls (people) to live forever?

See pages 243-247, under the heading “Life.”

Is the soul the same as the spirit?

Eccl. 12:7: “Then the dust returns to the earth just as it happened to be and the spirit [or, life-force; Hebrew, ru´ach] itself returns to the true God who gave it.” (Notice that the Hebrew word for spirit is ru´ach; but the word translated soul is ne´phesh. The text does not mean that at death the spirit travels all the way to the personal presence of God; rather, any prospect for the person to live again rests with God. In similar usage, we may say that, if required payments are not made by the buyer of a piece of property, the property “returns” to its owner.) (KJ, AS, RS, NE, and Dy all here render ru´ach as “spirit.” NAB reads “life breath.”)

Eccl. 3:19: “There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit [Hebrew, ru´ach].” (Thus both mankind and beasts are shown to have the same ru´ach, or spirit. For comments on verses 20, 21, see page 383.)

Heb. 4:12: “The word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul [Greek, psy·khes´; “life,” NE] and spirit [Greek, pneu´ma·tos], and of joints and their marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Observe that the Greek word for “spirit” is not the same as the word for “soul.”)

Does conscious life continue for a person after the spirit leaves the body?

Ps. 146:4: “His spirit [Hebrew, from ru´ach] goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (NAB, Ro, Yg, and Dy [145:4] here render ru´ach as “spirit.” Some translations say “breath.”) (Also Psalm 104:29)

What is the origin of Christendom’s belief in an immaterial, immortal soul?

“The Christian concept of a spiritual soul created by God and infused into the body at conception to make man a living whole is the fruit of a long development in Christian philosophy. Only with Origen [died c. 254 C.E.] in the East and St. Augustine [died 430 C.E.] in the West was the soul established as a spiritual substance and a philosophical concept formed of its nature. . . . His [Augustine’s] doctrine . . . owed much (including some shortcomings) to Neoplatonism.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp. 452, 454.

“The concept of immortality is a product of Greek thinking, whereas the hope of a resurrection belongs to Jewish thought. . . . Following Alexander’s conquests Judaism gradually absorbed Greek concepts.”—Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Bible (Valence, France; 1935), edited by Alexandre Westphal, Vol. 2, p. 557.

“Immortality of the soul is a Greek notion formed in ancient mystery cults and elaborated by the philosopher Plato.”—Presbyterian Life, May 1, 1970, p. 35.

“Do we believe that there is such a thing as death? . . . Is it not the separation of soul and body? And to be dead is the completion of this; when the soul exists in herself, and is released from the body and the body is released from the soul, what is this but death? . . . And does the soul admit of death? No. Then the soul is immortal? Yes.”—Plato’s “Phaedo,” Secs. 64, 105, as published in Great Books of the Western World (1952), edited by R. M. Hutchins, Vol. 7, pp. 223, 245, 246.

“The problem of immortality, we have seen, engaged the serious attention of the Babylonian theologians. . . . Neither the people nor the leaders of religious thought ever faced the possibility of the total annihilation of what once was called into existence. Death was a passage to another kind of life.”—The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (Boston, 1898), M. Jastrow, Jr., p. 556.

Answer 2

We are not these bodies, we are spirit souls. You say my body, my head, my hand. Whose body, head and hand? The soul is existing along with the Supersoul, God, eternally, is never created.

Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.

That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

The soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable.

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.

The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.

It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.

If, however, you think that the soul [or the symptoms of life] is always born and dies forever, you still have no reason to lament.

All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?

Answer 3

: In the Bible, “soul” is translated from the Hebrew ne′phesh and the Greek psy·khe′. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. To many persons, however, “soul” means the immaterial or spirit part of a human being that survives the death of the physical body. Others understand it to be the principle of life. But these latter views are not Bible teachings.

What does the Bible say that helps us to understand what the soul is?

Gen. 2:7: “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.” (Notice that this does not say that man was given a soul but that he became a soul, a living person.) (The part of the Hebrew word here rendered “soul” is ne′phesh. KJ, AS, and Dy agree with that rendering. RS, JB, NAB read “being.” NE says “creature.” Kx reads “person.”)

Answer 4

The soul is the part of the human, that does not die. All humans have a soul, all souls have a spirit or spirits attached to it. There are two basic types of spirits evil and good. When the soul leaves the body the evil spirit or spirits are left behind roaming the earth until they find a host and the cycle repeats itself again and again. Luke 11:24 When the UNCLEAN SPIRIT is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

Answer 5

There is a power or energy in man that is independent of his physical body.
This energy has the capacity to see without our physical eyes.
It has the capacity to travel great distances in a fraction of a second without our feet. It has the power to talk without using our mouth, hear without our ears etc...
This power manifests it's independence from our body when we are asleep, that is when our physical body is totally inactive. During our sleep we can see without our eyes, talk without our mouth, walk and travel distances without our feet, etc..
The source of this energy is what is called soul. But the word soul evokes too many religious concepts that people reject because of the many superstitions associated with religions.

Here are two examples that show how this energy is independent of our physical being. If someone decides for a reason not to eat at all he can perfectly do it. The energy that gives him the power to control his physical body comes from a source. His soul. An animal could never do such a thing.
If someone decides for a reason that his ideals are worth dying for - that is to sacrifice his physical body - he can do it. That is what early Christians were willing to do in the Roman circuses. This power comes from a source independent of his physical body. His soul. An animal could never do such a thing.
The source of this energy is then something non-material which we call soul.

Answer 6

your soul is YOU:

the part of your body that is intangible, invisible, and ethereal. It contains your mind, conscience, and emotions. It separates from your body when you die, along with your spirit. You soul is what enters eternity.

you spiritis an ethereal part of you different than the soul, as it does not contain what a soul contains, and is basically just a link between a person and spirits.

*souls and spirits do not wander. If you here of a wandering spirit, it's not a human spirit, but a fallen angel.

*God creates the soul for the body, making it compatible with the body.

Answer 7

I tend to think of the soul as the mind, and the mind as the part of my intelligence that questions, creates, emotes, solves problems, and gives me my personality. I'm agnostic, so while I'm not exactly sure what God is, I like to believe the soul lives on after the body dies.

Answer 8

a soul is your living spirit. the "inner" you(the spiritual nature of humans, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death) and yes a spirit is a form of a ghost it's unseen.

Answer 9

well it is true....a soul is a spirit. to tell u the truth...im a Christian and i know what a soul is....but if we were to explain it to someone who is only worldly-minded they would say it was nonsense. lets see...i just looked it up in the back of my Bible...
SOUL: The life principle of a human being; the immortal element of man; the spirit; the living individual.
SPIRIT: That part of a person's being thought of as the center of life, the will, thinking, feeling; that part of man that survives death.
so what the definition says about a soul...is that is the immortal element of man, that describes it perfectly! it is the immortal element of man! why did God give us soul??? I don't know ask Him. to have a soul means to have a spirit like u said. a spirit is a little harder to explain....not everything can be described in words...or when it is described in words...it is something we dont understand...except for in our mind. we dont have a mind like Him. Our mind is different....you know when someone asks u the definition of something and u cant give the definition u have to give the example and throughout the whole time ur trying to give the definition ur words are like '"well, its like..... or its kinda hard to explain..." see u know what it means....but it cant be understood just in words u just know what it means....thats wat it is like for soul and spirit...God gave us a soul and a spirit....u willl have to ask Him why...and what they are. EVERYONE has a soul...a spirit. have u ever heard of the Holy Spirit...God is a spirit...Jesus is a spirit....well He came out of His spirit form into man form...but before that....and after that....He was in spirit form because thats what He is. God is not a human who has to sleep every night for rest....He's a spirit. urgh...im sorry...i really am. i just cant find myself to tell u what it is. hmmm....okay. i know what to tell u...technically there really is no definition....there is a spirit..but its almost impossible for the human mind to understand just by words. okay before there were humans....there was just God and His angels...His angels
are spirits....its whats beyond humanity. thats all i can really think of to tell u. btw, i just thought about it....i dont really know if there is a BIG difference between soul and spirit...but to me they arent really the same thing...but i dont know for sure because God didnt clarify it. becuase if a spirit is a soul....and God is a spirit...does that make Him a soul???? if a spirit really is a soul....then God must be a soul also....but it just seems to me that the soul is really for humans. okay i think that a soul is a spirit...but the soul is like the human term for spirit...but occasionaly we refer to our soul as a spirit. maybe thats why it sounds weird when u refer to God as a soul. idk...im only 13, i will have to ask someone.

great question btw..my answer to u makes me have to go ask a question. =]

Answer 10

A soul is pretty much the central core of an astral body. The existence of such things can be proven through successful astral projection.

Answer 11

Life.