Just WHAT is the SOUL?

Theology
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Have you read Genesis 2?

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This might be a TLTR moment for some, but decades ago I had some thoughts about the soul and updated them occasionally.

Since then it seems to me that most who think deeply about Scripture don’t think it’s necessary to make a distinction between soul and spirit. But personally I’m still not convinced.

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Yes. Not sure what that has to do with “Just WHAT is the SOUL?” Or the reason for the capitalization. However, I will attempt to answer you. I know this is going to get some pushback from some, but I truly believe this answers the question.

In Genesis 1, we read this.

" And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesus 1:26-27

Then in 2, we read this.

" 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." Genesus 2:7

I believe in trichotomy and link it to a triadic analogy of the Trinity. Or in plain language, God is three yet one. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He created us in His image. We are three yet one. Humans are made of three distinct parts: body, soul, and spirit

Our Soul is who we are. Our intellect, emotions, and being. This is fashioned after God the Father. Our flesh, obviously, is fashioned after the Son, or the flesh of God, and our Spirit is what lives on. Now does the Soul and the Spirit join a new Flesh? Or are we simply new creatures? “As the Angels are?” Or more? “having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” Hebrews 1:4 I do not know.

1 Thessalonians 5:23: Paul explicitly lists all three components in a blessing:

“May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Hebrews 4:12, the text describes the Word of God piercing so deeply that it divides these elements:

" For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Jesus, like God, had to “Put on humanity,” or the Flesh. We need Flesh to operate in this physical realm, but that is not all we are. It breaks down like this. Flesh/Body: Our physical connection to the material world. Soul (Greek: Psyche): The seat of our intellect, emotions, personality, and self-awareness. It is “who we are.” Spirit (Greek: Pneuma): The capacity to connect with God, which, in many Christian traditions, is the eternal component that carries our identity into eternity.

Hope this helps you to understand what the Soul is.
Peter

3 Likes
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The soul would be everything left after the body dies. We read of individuals that still have identity, perception, memory, and other characteristics.

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Says it all! WE are a soul- soul is a ghost to Churchianity!

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“Just WHAT is the SOUL?..Have you read Genesis 2?..Says it all! WE are a soul- soul is a ghost to Churchianity!”

Taken together, these statements don’t make a lick of sense to me. They aren’t definitional without more information and further explanation.

Maybe you were in a hurry and hadn’t the time to fully read the explanation Peter has typed out for you? And if you did, what do you think of the key points he has made?

Really, what’s the point in creating a post that seems to be about an important and interesting Bible topic if you don’t fill in some blanks for us so we can understand more fully where you’re coming from?

2 Likes
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:rofl: I. SO sorry you don’t understand them!
“Ol’ King Cole was a merry old SOUL,”

Do you take it as he was a ghost?

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Soul in Hebrew (nephesh) means “the animal” - referring to man, as well.

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The Hebrew word nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ) fundamentally means a “breathing creature,” “living being,” or “vital life force.”

The very first time the word nephesh appears in the Bible, it refers exclusively to animals, not humans. In Genesis 1, the phrase used is nephesh chayyah, which means “living creature” or “living soul”: Genesis 1:20: God creates the swarming sea life and birds—called nephesh. Genesis 1:24: God creates livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth—called nephesh. Genesis 1:30: God says that every beast, bird, and reptile has nephesh (translated as “life” or “breath of life”) within it.

When God creates Adam in Genesis 2:7, the King James Version famously says: “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.” The Hebrew text behind “living soul” is the same phrase used for the animals: nephesh chayyah. The Bible doesn’t say Adam was given a soul; it says Adam became a soul. In the Hebrew mindset, a nephesh is a whole, physical, breathing entity. You don’t have a nephesh; you are a nephesh. It can even mean physical appetite or a throat. Because nephesh refers to the raw, biological life of a breathing creature, the Old Testament frequently uses it to describe physical, animalistic desires, like hunger and thirst.

Proverbs 6:30: A thief steals to satisfy his nephesh (appetite/hunger). Isaiah 29:8: A thirsty man dreams of drinking, but wakes up and his nephesh (throat/appetite) is empty. So, while you say “nephesh means ‘the animal,’” it is a bit loose. Your theological point is entirely correct. In the Hebrew Scriptures, a nephesh is a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood creature. Humans and animals are both explicitly designated as nephesh because both share the same physical, air-breathing life given by God.
Peter

3 Likes
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Why was it deleted?

I can TAKE it!

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Jesus never taught the soul was a separate thing from the human body that’s eternal!

John 5:28-Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

29- and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

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A would-be interesting conversation to have if it wasn’t for the fact that the person posing the question is trying to spread Jehovah’s Witness propaganda and mock Christianity.

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Hahahahahahaahhahahahahaa!

Those Robots?

Hahahahhahahahahahahahahaha!

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So you get that the whole body, including the ones that have been there for thousands of years and returned to dust, those that have been eaten by wild animals, or cremated, will rise? Or perhaps we will rise, our spirit, bring our soul to our New Glorious Body. Which seems to make more sense?
Peter

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It is up to him- the soul us “US”, not something immortal, Pete!