Not Just A Flesh Body

[Edward]

It seems like most people don't believe that they have a spirit. That they are a spirit. A spirit that lives inside of a flesh body. I see so many people who only identify with their body as if that is them. And that's not right. We are Spirit Beings, on house arrest in a flesh body.

Why is so hard to be able to believe in something that is unseen? The way I understand it, our reality is 10% material world that we can see and touch, and 90% spiritual world that is unseen. If you don't identify with your spirit, then your missing out on 90% of life. A few days ago there was some talk about love and someone posed the question, how could love be more than actions, or something like that. So it occurs to me that if one coud ask this question, then he same is one who is devoid of love.

Love is a spiritual thing, it has nothing to do with actions. God is love. God is a Spirit. We are spirit/soul/body. Oh, people make feeble attempts to express their love for one another with kindness or expensive gifts, but that's missing the mark. Being 'in love' with your Wife is a spiritual thing indeed. And if one does not identify with their own spirit and the spiritual world (that girl is a spirit too), then they're going to miss out on most if not all of the real love and be clueless and unsatisfied. Never really have lived.

Scripture is full of advice to look to the unseen, and believe. That man in the mirror driving the old rusty Nova is ready for new ride.

All of you who are oh I don't have a spirit, thats fairy tales, are you so caught up with what you can see and touch that you have tunnel vision so don't try to even ever focus internally, your spirit? Spirit world? Scripture says speak to the unseen and things will happen. You bet it will. The pwer of life and death are in the tongue. So go talk to your world today and test it, lol. No wonder Jesus could kill a fig tree with a word or stop a tunderstorm in it's tracks!

Yeah, it's real alright. Is that one voice in your head and you just argue with yourself all the time?! Lol. Or is it your spirit and your carnal mind arguing? Salted lightly with whisperings from the Holy Spirit...!! Job 33 says God speaks to us all the time. But we don't recognize it when He does (because you don't eve have a spirit so why try to listen?) Lol. So better pay attention.

/14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;

16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,

17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.../

 

[T. E. Smith]

Lucretius, Epicurean Greek philosopher who lived roughly 2,500 years ago, stated that the soul is a physical element, just like a nose or an arm. Since the world is purely physical, the gods, if they existed, cannot do anything to us. Thus we fear no gods, and no death. One died and simply stopped existing. Fearing Hell is pointless. Lucretius said,

Death nothing is to us, nothing
That matters at all, since mind we know is mortal
When the end shall come, when the close bonds
Of body and spirit that hold us here shall part
And we shall be no more, nothing can harm us
Or make us feel, since nothing of us remains
We may be certain that in death
There is nothing to fear, that he who does not exist
Cannot feel pain, that it makes no difference
Whether or not a man has been born before,
When death the immortal has taken his mortal life.

Fear of death and of after-punishment prevents people from living their lives here and now, squandering about old age, fearing death, and creating religions to console themselves. This sort of "life" is, according to Lucretius, death itself, so those who live this way ironically die early:

Consider now an old man who complains
Excessively about his death to come.
Nature would justly cry out louder still
And say in bitter words, Away, you rogue,
With all these tears and stop this snivelling.
All life’s rewards you have reaped and now you’re withered,
But since you always want what you have not got
And never are content with that you have,
Your life has been unfulfilled, ungratifying,
And death stands by you unexpectedly
Before the feast is finished and you are full.

Instead, we should appreciate what we have now.

But in this life there is fear of punishment
For evil deeds, fear no less terrible
Than the deeds themselves,
The guilty conscience filled with wild foreboding
Applies the goad and scorches itself with whips,
And fears that after death there’s worse to come.
So fools make for themselves a Hell on earth.

"A hell on earth" - this is, sadly, what many people make the world into. We must accept impermanence, not resist death, and by so doing discover peace and happiness while we do exist.

Well, that's Lucretius' thoughts. Myself, I also don't believe in the soul because "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity" (Occam's Razor).

 

[T. E. Smith]

It seems like most people don't believe that they have a spirit.

Also, you live in the USA - so actually, stats show that 60% of Americans believe in the soul.

 

[T. E. Smith]

A few days ago there was some talk about love and someone posed the question, how could love be more than actions, or something like that. So it occurs to me that if one coud ask this question, then he same is one who is devoid of love.

Love is a spiritual thing, it has nothing to do with actions. God is love. God is a Spirit. We are spirit/soul/body. Oh, people make feeble attempts to express their love for one another with kindness or expensive gifts

I do believe that love is more than actions, but it does include actions. Love is thought, emotion; and action - thoughts and feelings made concrete.

But you don't need to say someone is devoid of love just because they asked this question, especially since they were actually asking the OP for their thoughts.

 

[for_his_glory]

T. E. Smith , you claim to be an atheist, but yet have shown us in other posts that you are somewhat knowledgeable in scripture, but yet you base your understanding on that of a single Greek philosopher.

We are made up of body, soul and spirit.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

Genesis 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.

Here dust + breath/spirit from God = a living soul. When the flesh dies physically it returns back to the dust of the ground and our spirit is preserved with God for final judgment.

Genesis 3:19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Ecc 12:7 then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

We return to the dust of the ground when this physical body dies and our breath/spirit returns to God as we wait for Gods final judgment when Christ returns.

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Our spirit can never die and is preserved until Gods final judgment on the last day when Christ returns, John 5:28-29; John 6:40. This body/flesh dies and deteriorates as it turns back to dust while in the ground. The breath/spirit goes back to God who gave it, Ecc 12:7. The soul which makes up the conscious part of ones being is that of thought, action and emotion. The spiritual nature of man regarded as immortal and separable from the body/flesh at death and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.

Without the spirit/breath from God our soul would not be alive as spirit and soul are connected, Genesis 2:7. When we physically die our soul, as the breath, goes back to God who gave it.

 

[T. E. Smith]

T. E. Smith , you claim to be an atheist, but yet have shown us in other posts that you are somewhat knowledgeable in scripture, but yet you base your understanding on that of a single Greek philosopher.

We are made up of body, soul and spirit.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

Genesis 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.

Here dust + breath/spirit from God = a living soul. When the flesh dies physically it returns back to the dust of the ground and our spirit is preserved with God for final judgment.

Genesis 3:19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Ecc 12:7 then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

We return to the dust of the ground when this physical body dies and our breath/spirit returns to God as we wait for Gods final judgment when Christ returns.

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Our spirit can never die and is preserved until Gods final judgment on the last day when Christ returns, John 5:28-29; John 6:40. This body/flesh dies and deteriorates as it turns back to dust while in the ground. The breath/spirit goes back to God who gave it, Ecc 12:7. The soul which makes up the conscious part of ones being is that of thought, action and emotion. The spiritual nature of man regarded as immortal and separable from the body/flesh at death and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.

Without the spirit/breath from God our soul would not be alive as spirit and soul are connected, Genesis 2:7. When we physically die our soul, as the breath, goes back to God who gave it.

No I don't base my understanding on him; he just does an excellent job expressing my philosophy. Also I don't get why people keep saying I claim to be an atheist. Would you appreciate it if I said you claim to be a Christian?

 

[jasonc]

No I don't base my understanding on him; he just does an excellent job expressing my philosophy. Also I don't get why people keep saying I claim to be an atheist. Would you appreciate it if I said you claim to be a Christian?

Because you said so openly in another thread .

 

[T. E. Smith]

Because you said so openly in another thread .

What I mean is: I am an atheist. I do not just claim to be one. I am one. Just like you do not just claim to be a Christian; you are one.

 

[hawkman]

Lucretius, Epicurean Greek philosopher who lived roughly 2,500 years ago, stated that the soul is a physical element, just like a nose or an arm. Since the world is purely physical, the gods, if they existed, cannot do anything to us. Thus we fear no gods, and no death. One died and simply stopped existing. Fearing Hell is pointless. Lucretius said,

Fear of death and of after-punishment prevents people from living their lives here and now, squandering about old age, fearing death, and creating religions to console themselves. This sort of "life" is, according to Lucretius, death itself, so those who live this way ironically die early:

Instead, we should appreciate what we have now.

"A hell on earth" - this is, sadly, what many people make the world into. We must accept impermanence, not resist death, and by so doing discover peace and happiness while we do exist.

Well, that's Lucretius' thoughts. Myself, I also don't believe in the soul because "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity" (Occam's Razor).

T. E. Smith have you read any of Watchman Nee's books ? I would suggest "The Spiritual Man " if you have not read it .

 

[T. E. Smith]

T. E. Smith have you read any of Watchman Nee's books ? I would suggest "The Spiritual Man " if you have not read it .

yes actually I have read some of that. Biblically based though I think he misinterprets the Bible sometimes. I never saw three parts of the human in the Bible, only one (most of the Tanakh) or two (NT).

 

[for_his_glory]

No I don't base my understanding on him; he just does an excellent job expressing my philosophy. Also I don't get why people keep saying I claim to be an atheist. Would you appreciate it if I said you claim to be a Christian?

It was you that stated you were an atheist in the New Member forum as you said: "I'm an atheist teen living in. Kentucky.

 

[T. E. Smith]

Edward for_his_glory Yeah it's just semantics. I would just appreciate it if instead of:

you claim to be an atheist, but yet have shown us in other posts that you are somewhat knowledgeable in scripture, but yet you base your understanding on that of a single Greek philosopher.

instead of that, if you had said: "You are an atheist, but yet have shown us in other posts that you are somewhat knowledgeable in scripture, but yet you base your understanding on that of a single Greek philosopher."

A lot of Christians refuse to say I am an atheist and instead insist that I "claim to be" an atheist. That's all I'm ruffled over. No big deal, but I have never told a Christian, "You claim to be a Christian," rather, "You are a Christian." That's all.

 

[Edward]

Edward for_his_glory Yeah it's just semantics. I would just appreciate it if instead of:

instead of that, if you had said: "You are an atheist, but yet have shown us in other posts that you are somewhat knowledgeable in scripture, but yet you base your understanding on that of a single Greek philosopher."

A lot of Christians refuse to say I am an atheist and instead insist that I "claim to be" an atheist. That's all I'm ruffled over. No big deal, but I have never told a Christian, "You claim to be a Christian," rather, "You are a Christian." That's all.

With all due respect, Wah. It's just semantics so why does it bother you? I don't care what you call me because I know the truth about me. So no big deal. No harm no foul.

What's next? A list of words we can't use because they might offend you?

 

[T. E. Smith]

With all due respect, Wah. It's just semantics so why does it bother you? I don't care what you call me because I know the truth about me. So no big deal. No harm no foul.

I do not think for_his_glory means anything by her wording, so I am not offended. At least, I do not begin by thinking that she would.

However, some Christians, when they use this phrasing, mean that they do not think I am an atheist. These Christians say this because they think it is so clear that their god exists, that no one else can even believe otherwise. For a book dedicated to this, read God Doesn't Believe in Atheists by Ray Comfort, who baldly admits this.

What's next? A list of words we can't use because they might offend you?

All websites forbid certain words. Hopefully that should be obvious why that is. This website goes further than most, and forbids profanity (a lot of websites only forbid "excessive" profanity).

 

[Edward]

If you think about it...if there really was no God, then atheists wouldn't exist.

 

[Edward]

Anyway, back on topic.

You never seen anything in scripture to indicate that we are three parts huh? Did you miss this one?

1 Thessalonians 5:23
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.../
:wink

 

[T. E. Smith]

If you think about it...if there really was no God, then atheists wouldn't exist.

correct, which is why Sam Harris an atheist says that the term ought not exist. But since belief in God is so common, the term is necessary now. It's like the word abolitionist. Now that slavery has been abolished, abolitionists in America no longer exist.
Once religion becomes a minority, the term atheist will no longer be necessary.

 

[T. E. Smith]

Anyway, back on topic.

You never seen anything in scripture to indicate that we are three parts huh? Did you miss this one?

1 Thessalonians 5:23
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.../
:wink

The terms spirit and soul are a way of expressing one entity. Mary's song of praise places them in parallel, which in Hebrew poetry would have equated them.

 

[Northman]

Once religion becomes a minority, the term atheist will no longer be necessary.

How far down the road are you looking? As of right now, you can still pick any of the mainstream religions and see any one of them is growing faster than the entirety of combined global left-leaning party memberships. You don't think that 2000 years and counting, just for this one particular brand to go away and it isn't, might be a bit of a pipe dream?

 

[Edward]

The terms spirit and soul are a way of expressing one entity. Mary's song of praise places them in parallel, which in Hebrew poetry would have equated them.

...