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How do you define “soul�

E

elijah23

Guest
I might define “soul†as being a “room†inside of me that I share with the Lord.
 
black American music with elements of rhythm and blues, rock, and gospel. :yes

No, seriously, the spiritual or immortal element in a person; a person's mental or emotional nature.
 
Wouldn't the spiritual "element" of a person be... their spirit?

I like what C.S. Lewis said about the soul:

You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
Click to expand...


Whenever this topic comes up, I admit, I do ride the fence and I always stumble upon this passage:

1 Tim 6:15 Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1 Tim 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
 
Vic,

I understand it this way:

Jesus is immortal, everlasting, without beginning or end, as per 1 Timothy 6:16

We shall "put on" immortality", our corrupt bodies shall be made incorruptible as per 1 Corinthians 15:53-54.
 
Elijah here:
Any translation 'not understood' makes the Godhead out as liars when Obadiah 16 is tossed! "... and they shall be as though THEY HAD NOT BEEN."

As quoted to another: The real question that you are deliberately (???) side stepping (forum!) is the question of satan having immortal life, to not die in your hell doctrine. And you know that he does not. Or are you not going to acknowledge that God tells the Truth this time? It has got to be one way or the other! Gen. 3:4!! What is your teaching?? :crying
1 Timothy 6:16 or 1 Timothy 1:17. What ever?? Maybe Luke 12:47-48??

But just keep on studying??? Is that the answer???? You see, I have passed that stage of looking, & just keep on looking, looking at the devils lies of Genesis 3:4 +!. The Godhead all say that the soul shall DIE! Ezekiel 18:20 & Ezekiel 18:4 & then comes reams & reams of something that we are to study???

The POINT! The Godhead states that ONLY THEY HAVE IMMORTALITY!

And angels? They too are created! And man, a little lower than angels.
Tree of life for one & not the other, that violates Ecclesiastes 1:9-19 & Ecclesiastes 3:15! Again, [IF] one BELIEVES the GODHEAD?? (Who say's NOTHING NEW) If there is? We are told!

Similar food for conditional immortality? Surely, CONDITIONAL! Had one ever read of angels food? The [CORN OF HEAVEN!!]
The King James states: "And rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels food: He sent them meat to the full." Psalms 78:24-25.
And the others? Nehemiah 9:20-21. From the Holy Spirit to what the angels in heaven eat! And the ones on earth who are dying? Mark 9:25, Luke 11:14 +!

And what effect did that have on Caleb? (+)
In Joshua 14:7-8 & Joshua 14:10-11 finds something supernatural? (for 40 years!)

It seems that most are still in the wilderness, eating junk food, huh?
 
I can't see a difference between what people call their soul and what they call their mind.

A mind is the product of a functioning brain. No mind, and therefore no soul, has ever been observed to function in the absence of a functioning brain.

There's no evidence that there is anything more to it than that.

It is, of course, a comforting notion, that there is something immaterial about our lives that survives our death, but I don't see how that belief can be supported beyond wishful thinking.
 
Vic C. said:
Wouldn't the spiritual "element" of a person be... their spirit?

I like what C.S. Lewis said about the soul:

You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

My dictionary's definition of spirit also includes the words 'the soul'. So I'm left rather confused about what the difference is between a soul and a spirit.
What makes people think we're a soul with a body and a spirit, rather than a spirit with a soul and a body, or a body with a soul and a spirit, or even all 3 being equally part of a human?
 
Elijah674 said:
Elijah here:
Any translation 'not understood' makes the Godhead out as liars when Obadiah 16 is tossed! "... and they shall be as though THEY HAD NOT BEEN."

As quoted to another: The real question that you are deliberately (???) side stepping (forum!) is the question of satan having immortal life, to not die in your hell doctrine. And you know that he does not. Or are you not going to acknowledge that God tells the Truth this time? It has got to be one way or the other! Gen. 3:4!! What is your teaching?? :crying
1 Timothy 6:16 or 1 Timothy 1:17. What ever?? Maybe Luke 12:47-48??

But just keep on studying??? Is that the answer???? You see, I have passed that stage of looking, & just keep on looking, looking at the devils lies of Genesis 3:4 +!. The Godhead all say that the soul shall DIE! Ezekiel 18:20 & Ezekiel 18:4 & then comes reams & reams of something that we are to study???

The POINT! The Godhead states that ONLY THEY HAVE IMMORTALITY!

And angels? They too are created! And man, a little lower than angels.
Tree of life for one & not the other, that violates Ecclesiastes 1:9-19 & Ecclesiastes 3:15! Again, [IF] one BELIEVES the GODHEAD?? (Who say's NOTHING NEW) If there is? We are told!

Similar food for conditional immortality? Surely, CONDITIONAL! Had one ever read of angels food? The [CORN OF HEAVEN!!]
The King James states: "And rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels food: He sent them meat to the full." Psalms 78:24-25.
And the others? Nehemiah 9:20-21. From the Holy Spirit to what the angels in heaven eat! And the ones on earth who are dying? Mark 9:25, Luke 11:14 +!

And what effect did that have on Caleb? (+)
In Joshua 14:7-8 & Joshua 14:10-11 finds something supernatural? (for 40 years!)

It seems that most are still in the wilderness, eating junk food, huh?
Click to expand...

I agree that only the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are immortal as only they are without beginning and without end, which is what immortality is. As it states in 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 we, because of Christ's atoning work, put on immortality, that is, we were once mortal, but shall become immortal, eternally existing with God. However, since we have a beginning, we are not true immortals in the way God is.

However, I get the feeling that I've stumbled into an argument that was started in a different thread and I'm not exactly sure where you're coming from Elijah. Perhaps you could clarify what you are getting at here. As of now, I'm somewhat confused. Are you saying that we will not eternally exist with God in the new heaven and earth?
 
ProphetMark said:
What makes people think we're a soul with a body and a spirit, rather than a spirit with a soul and a body, or a body with a soul and a spirit, or even all 3 being equally part of a human?
Click to expand...

It's a bit exhaustive (or exhausting :) ) but see Watchman Nee's The Spiritual Man
 
Thanks Godfrey. :yes I see that Nee also sees a difference between soul and spirit.

ProphetMark said:
My dictionary's definition of spirit also includes the words 'the soul'. So I'm left rather confused about what the difference is between a soul and a spirit.
What makes people think we're a soul with a body and a spirit, rather than a spirit with a soul and a body, or a body with a soul and a spirit, or even all 3 being equally part of a human?
Click to expand...
Yes, it's the interchangeability of the two words in Christianity that often leave many feeling the same way. However, the Bible does make a distinction early on:

Eccl 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
 
The WHOLE person is composed of 3 parts...

  • 1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly;
    and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
    blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. KJV

Similar to Eccl 6:12 (Vic C quoted) One's spirit comes from God and returns to God when one dies. The body came from dust, it returns to dust when one dies. However, the body houses both spirit and soul.

The soul is the breath of God that keeps the body living and moving. As long as one is physically alive in this life, both body and spirit claim the soul...for the Christian, spiritual warfare ensues.

  • Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
    23 But I see another law in my members, warring against
    the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the
    law of sin which is in my members. KJV

    1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,
    abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; KJV
 
Well, first there are three positions on what a human is composed of the first position is "monism"

"monism" would claim there is no soul, there is just the body, or physical. This is probably a bad stance.
Dichotomy would claim there are two parts to a human. Material, and immaterial. The body, and then the "soul" and "Spirit" would be the immaterial part.
Trichotomy, which is what I would hold to contends that there is Body, Soul, and Spirit. The body would be the physical body (obviously) The Soul is the mind, will, and emotions, the spirit is perhaps the toughest to "define" but it is our spirit that communicates with God or the Holy Spirit. That is a simple crash course in theology.
 
Vic C. said:
Thanks Godfrey. :yes I see that Nee also sees a difference between soul and spirit.

Eccl 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Click to expand...

Vic,
It would seem to me, that it is the spirit, or also known as the essence from God that causes all living things to exist. In scripture, OT and NT (John 3:6 and 3:8), the spirit was synonymous with wind because it's an invisible force, yet it has such an impact on it's surroundings and nothing can control it (including Al Gore :lol ) except God.

However, when you look at humanity, we were created by the breath of God, also known as the Neshamah. No other breathing animal was created with God's Neshamah, but rather, they were 'spoken' in to existance. As such, we were made a living soul by the neshamah of God. In other words, our soul (nepesh) is different than that of other living creatures by this intimate relationship when we were concieved.

So yes, we do have a spirit, and our spirit can be seen by what we do. However, we do have a soul, and our soul can be seen by 'how / why' we do what we do...

I'm reminded of my signature. The Spirit of man is the lamp (and a lamp lights the way) of YHVH searching all the inner depths of his heart.
 
elijah23 said:
I might define “soul†as being a “room†inside of me that I share with the Lord.
Click to expand...

MY COMMENTS: Only God's word gives us the understanding of "soul."

At the start: Gen. 2:7 "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." AV.
NOTICE: A separate "soul" was not joined to a prepared body. Man became a living "soul" when the breath of the spirit of life was breathed into his nostrils.

It will be seen that the Scriptures relate knowledge, memory, thought, love, joy, delight, bitterness, distress, impatience, mourning, sorrow, grief, abhorrence and hatred to the soul.

Why? Because man is a living sentient being. We experience life through our senses, connected to our brain.

Scripturally speaking, the human "soul" is simply the human experience.
"Soul" is the sensation which results from the combination of an organic body with breath.
 
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