What is the soul?

Answer 1

Mind, will and emotions.

Answer 2

Good question.

If it's postulated that consciousness, or awareness, or sense of self resides in the soul, it's difficult to see how this can be reconciled with the complete oblivion which accompanies general anaesthesia. How could a straightforward chemical, injected into the bloodstream, anaesthetise a soul so that it effectively ceases to exist during this time? If consciousness, in the form of a soul, were some kind of supernatural faculty, it would seem implausible that it could be completely disabled by a chemical.

How about some of the other things which we regard as essential parts of what makes a person what they are? How about love, compassion, reason, empathy, memory, conscious thought, character, 'spirituality' and so on? Well, there is really no plausible doubt that all these things are properties of the physical brain - We can alter all of these properties very simply with alcohol or other drugs, and observe how they change in people who have suffered significant brain damage. Previously placid people become uncontrollably violent, intelligent people become imbeciles, and so on. Stimulate the brain artificially, and the subject reports corresponding mental activity, e.g. 'religious experiences'. We can see from brain research that all these things - thought, emotion, sensation, character traits and so on - are correlated with activity in the brain, and some things can be identified with specific areas of the brain.

So, if all these faculties and characteristics of what we regard as the 'person' reside in the physical brain, as seems to be undeniably the case, and they all cease when the person dies, then what is left to be attributed to a 'soul'? As far as I can ascertain: Nothing. If there is no part of us that can continue after death, then there is no 'afterlife'... and if there is no afterlife, then most of religion is null and void.

Answer 3

This is what is written in Hebrew 4:12 ---

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

As the verse states, the soul and the spirit can be separated by the Word of God. This implies that they are not one and the same. The spirit does not have flesh and bones, while the soul is the wholeness of one's being. In Genesis 2:7, this is what is stated:

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

A living soul is the totality of the combination of the dust of the ground and the spirit or the breath of life that came from God.

Answer 4

In a word, no. 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; 106:15; 107:9; 119:28) 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.’—Numbers 5:2; 6:6.

Little wonder that The Encyclopedia Americana says of the soul in the Hebrew Scriptures: “The Old Testament concept of man is that of a unity, not a union of soul and body.” It adds: “Nefesh . . . is never conceived of as operating separately from the body.”

So, what did faithful Jews believe death to be? Simply put, they believed that death is the opposite of life. Psalm 146:4 tells what happens when the spirit, or life-force, leaves a human being: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” Similarly, King Solomon wrote that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.”—Ecclesiastes 9:5.

Why, then, were many first-century Jews, such as the Zealots at Masada, so convinced of the immortality of the soul?

Answer 5

The "Ruh" or Soul of man is a ray of light that has been placed in the hearts of all mankind.
The "Ruh" or Soul is a smaller than microscopic power that has been placed in mans heart to help man find the way back to God..
You are a Christian, and you should for a fact be made aware that Jesus (PBUH) is that "Ruh"....or the Soul of God!
Jesus is the Soul of God.
This is known by few humans.........

This is what "Wisdom" says concerning the Soul.....

Answer 6

You have a body with 5 senses(see, touch, taste, smell, and hear).
You have a spirit with 5 senses (reason, affections, consious, memory, and imagination).
The life of the body is the Blood, and the life of the spirit is the Soul, this is the connection you have to God or the Devil which is anything other than God, including self or self will.
There is only one gateway for the Soul and that gate is called faith, all men have faith but some have more than others and the amount you have and what you do with your faith determines your eternal destination.
Mankind has yet to proof you think with your brain or your heart, but the Bible teaches you think with your heart while learning or knowledge would tell you that you think with your brain. Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Matthew 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Answer 7

Ur Soul is U Baby

Answer 8

The soul is a living, breathing thing.

“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

The soul lies between the body and the spirit and consists of three parts: Mind and emotions and will. It is definately presented in the Bible as different from and distinct from the spiirt.

Answer 10

When I die in the Faith, my Soul goes home to Heaven, to enjoy the Blessed fellowship, with Christ. And my body rests in the grave till the resurection of the dead.

Answer 11

The soul is a persons conciousness,his mind if you will.That which makes him able to understand,and so on.