What is the Soul? (souls, grace, translation, hell)
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I should probably point out for t sake of honesty that I am not a follower of any religion, but neither would I particularly term myself atheist or agnostic. I am, however, very interested in all forms of religion and spirituality, and I'm currently engaged in a project which requires some rather unusual research. Basically, whatever religion, spiritual path or belief system you subscribe to, I would dearly like to know your answer to this question :
What, in your opinion (or that of your faith) IS the soul, spirit, chi, prana, (insert your non-physical lifeforce of choice here). What does it do? Where does it come from? Where does it reside? Do all living tings possess it, or just humans? Is it possible to be human and not possess a soul?
Ok, so that's a whole bunch of questions, but I'll be extremely grateful to anyone who can be bothered to take the time to answer. Thankyou in advance, all the best, Vulpageist.
As an atheist, I haven't much thought about this topic in many years, probably because it is in the realm of conjecture and nothing definite can be ascertained about it. I can tell you what I believe, others can chime in, and at the end of the day it's just a big mass of conjecture, dogma, and regurgitated canned teachings and holy book quotes.
So for what it's worth -- which, in my view, isn't much -- the soul or spirit (evangelical thought usually makes a distinction between the two which I could never keep straight in my head even back in the day, much less now) is a thought construct designed to affirm that we are somehow special, different, unique or better than any other living thing. We can observe that humanity is unique in its production of certain artifacts, such as our art, and we over-think about the significance of that and posit a unique property or quality to explain it: the Human Spirit(tm). I see civilization, art, language, etc., as emergent properties of a sufficient quantity of intellectual capacity and self-awareness in a particular environment. Such things would appear in any species under the right conditions ... it may well be a fairly minor accident of circumstance that it hasn't appeared in, say, dolphins. It flatters us, though, to think that we have somehow either earned or been graced with a special faculty called the spirit or the soul which gives us an "exclusive" relationship to each other, to nature, and to our gods.
Indeed, our depiction of fictional self-aware beings -- space aliens and the like -- has a fairly strong tendency to suggest that they are "soulless" or evil, that they developed civilization and technology but without that certain "something" that makes us uniquely "human". This to me is the basic problem with nearly all religion and a good chunk of philosophy -- it seeks to stroke our ego and make us special and unique rather than simply what we are.
If you feel deflated reading this, ask yourself why. Could it be that you've been participating in an inflation?
Thanks for the quick reply - I don't feel at all deflated - in fact, personally I agree with a lot of what you say. It's just that at the moment I'm filling my spare time with a rather whimsical project / set of ideas, and everyone's viewpoints are useful to me, whether thy believe in a soul / spirit or not..thanks again
Oh the irony; I have all my Christmas chores done so I, an atheist, have come to a online religious forum to kill an hour or so. Anyway...
When I was a theist I thought the soul was a little bit like a computer flash memory stick that had all your memories and vital information on it. After the death of the body it was removed and then taken to its next destination, which according to many people, for me is hell, what with my atheism, my pro gay rights views, and my out-of-wedlock intimate relationships. At that next destination it was sort of plugged in and reactivated.
I should probably point out for t sake of honesty that I am not a follower of any religion, but neither would I particularly term myself atheist or agnostic. I am, however, very interested in all forms of religion and spirituality, and I'm currently engaged in a project which requires some rather unusual research. Basically, whatever religion, spiritual path or belief system you subscribe to, I would dearly like to know your answer to this question :
What, in your opinion (or that of your faith) IS the soul, spirit, chi, prana, (insert your non-physical lifeforce of choice here). What does it do? Where does it come from? Where does it reside? Do all living tings possess it, or just humans? Is it possible to be human and not possess a soul?
Ok, so that's a whole bunch of questions, but I'll be extremely grateful to anyone who can be bothered to take the time to answer. Thankyou in advance, all the best, Vulpageist.
I'm so glad you brought up this topic, because it's something that so many people aren't aware of, but I do know what a soul is because mine has been awakened.
First off, human beings all have a soul... animals and plants do not. Without a soul, humans don't exist.
Souls are created by God in His image, but not His substance (Divine Love), and are invisible, as He is. Souls reside in the unseen spirit world (Heavens) and their presence can be felt but not seen by spirits... kind of like we can feel the wind, but can't see it.
Each soul is individual, however, two souls compose one unit. They have "personalities" of a male and female (true soulmates/twin souls) and a relationship with God. Prior to each soul incarnating into a physical body, the one unit separates and each soul hovers around the earth until the opportunity arises for the soul to lodge into a fetus of a different mother. A spirit body is then formed to encase the soul (and it is this spirit body with the soul, which survives death of the physical body).
After the separation takes place of the twin souls, the remembrance of the other and with God is removed and the soul starts on a new course of life as a physical being. All births are recorded in the Book of Lives and when spirits become aware of this, the soulmates are reunited in the spirit world after they have both passed over.
The soul is really our "ego" and it is the seat of our emotions, ambitions, desires and passions. Because it is created in God's image, it is the "thing" that we need to pay attention to. Like what our thoughts and actions are. Are they usually in the gutter, or do we think and act in a higher more loving way?
As it relates to our life in the next world, it is very important that we become aware of our soul's condition, whether it be encumbered with "junk" from a lifetime of abuse or whether we have taken steps for it's awakening in order to release and let go of negative thoughts and things.
The soul is the person behind the eyes of the man , where all the memories and understanding of His or her cognitive abilities ...... As this soul needs Jesus spirit to survive the passing of the body from this world , or the soul will die ..... The spirit is different , as it does not die at passing on from this world and will be collected by God by His Holy Angels and brought to a place God prepared for man spirits , and if the man spirit does not have Jesus Spirit protecting it , then there will be No mercy for these spirits of man ..... As both Soul and Spirit of man and woman need Jesus Spirit , as Jesus waits for man to come to Him and obey His commands , then He will put His Spirit of that man and protect it ......
SOUL. †The usual translation of Heb. nep̱eš and Gk. psychḗ (though most translations retain considerable freedom in their renderings of these terms). As with other terms such as “body,” “heart,” and “spirit,” “soul” does not designate a part of a human being, but rather the whole person considered from one particular aspect of its functioning. As such, it represents primarily the life force of the body (cf. Gen. 2:7) or the inner life of the person, encompassing desires and emotions.
Myers, A. C. (1987). The Eerdmans Bible dictionary (964). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Thanks for the quick reply - I don't feel at all deflated - in fact, personally I agree with a lot of what you say. It's just that at the moment I'm filling my spare time with a rather whimsical project / set of ideas, and everyone's viewpoints are useful to me, whether thy believe in a soul / spirit or not..thanks again
You're welcome. It was a rhetorical question, BTW, not directed specifically at you. I have found that many people who are invested in the idea of a spirit find the notion that we don't have such a thing -- disturbing. And I think the reason it's disturbing is because the very idea is an inflation. Looking at my past in theism, I think the root of my own investment in the concept of spirit was that I felt that the idea that I wasn't part of an extraordinary, favored, elevated race was somehow degrading. And this is the way the teaching was presented to me ... commonly with derision and incredulity ... what, we're just glorified monkeys?! Well, yes. And there's nothing awful about that. Things, including humans, just are what they are. I've managed to find a great deal of dignity amidst the indignities of life without the self-aggrandizement of claiming some special spiritual status and favor from On High. I view that now as a needless extreme. I don't need to see my species as the crowning achievement of creation.
The same mistake was made in the past about putting the earth at the center of the universe, and before that, suspending it essentially between heaven above and hell below, with angels watching the exciting drama on earth unfold, etc. Doctrines like this are just part of how we make life a stage with ourselves in the starring role, instead of the insignificant side show we really are.
What, in your opinion (or that of your faith) IS the soul, spirit, chi, prana, (insert your non-physical lifeforce of choice here).
It is the essence of God that fills us at birth.
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What does it do?
Now that's a good question. And in Judaism, there isn't a "one-size-fits-all' answer.
In short, our soul energizes our body and gives us our nature. In each of us is two natures: the yetzer hara and the yetzer hatov. One gives us our carnal or physical drive, while the other gives us our drive to be holy and spiritual.
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Where does it come from?
God
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Where does it reside?
I have no clue, but a long-held belief in Judaism is that every night our soul returns to God, and He gives it back to us upon waking. One of the pryers we say when we get up in the morning states: I give thanks before You, Living and Eternal King, that You have returned within me my soul with compassion; how abundant is Your faithfulness!
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Do all living tings possess it, or just humans?
That's a difficult question to answer due in part to the way we see the soul.
Generally, I guess you could say that everything has a soul but not everything has a soul similar to a human's. Like I said earlier, man has two natures, both of which come from our soul. Animals have only a single nature.
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Is it possible to be human and not possess a soul?
No.
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