What Is The Soul of Man?
Updated 04-20-2024
Whether you admit it or not, most people know the difference between the soul of man, the spirit, the mind, the heart, and the consciousness of man. We want to think that our mind tells us what is right and wrong.
However, we must object to that. The heart of course keeps us alive, our heart can beat fast, and then it will beat slowly until it stops, at the end of life.
While the heartbeat can tell us that we are suddenly no longer mortal beings, our heart is not what the “soul” is to man. The Spirit lives on. The Soul is our Spiritual Self. Christians believe, and I am one of those, that the soul (spiritual self) is immortal, it does not die.
*See This Below: Transpersonal Psychology Determination of the Soul -Transforming the Mind Dr. Peter Shepherd
No, God does not judge the dust to which the body returns…posted in Simple Bible with permissions from the site:
The preacher (meaning Ecclesiastes writer) also concluded that man is related to God and responsible to God. He should fear and remember God, and keep his commandments —something which he nowhere says about the beasts.
He says that man will be judged by God. Can God judge dust after it has returned to the earth as it was? No, but He can judge the part of man that returns to him (Ecclesiastes 12:5-14). verse 7 – “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Introduction Re NCBI, NLM, NIH. gov–
The government site is in the Public Domain, and the National Institute of Health…is part of this. On these pages, you will find remarkably written explanations from famous people, who are Scientists/Doctors/professionals/authorities, about other organs of the body, mind, and brain as well as the soul. However, today we are focusing on The Soul.
The Bhagavad Gita describes some of the qualities of the soul:
I say to thee weapons reach not the Life;
Flame burns it not, waters cannot o’erwhelm,
Nor dry winds wither it. Impenetrable,
Unentered, unassailed, unharmed, untouched,
Immortal, all-arriving, stable, sure,
Invisible, ineffable, by word
And thought encompassed, ever all itself,
Thus is the Soul declared! (Arnold – 1900)
Socrates – Now do you think one can acquire any particular knowledge of the nature of the soul without knowing the nature of the whole man?
Phaedrus – If Hippocrates the Asclepiad is to be trusted, one cannot know the nature of the body, either, except in that way. (Plato’s Phaedrus quoted by Prioreschi, 1996).
The search for the location of the human soul probably dates back to the awareness of such an entity. Termed atman by ancient Indian philosophers, psyche by the Greeks, and anima by the Romans, it has been considered resident within, but distinct from the human body. Many consider it immortal, postulating death to be the consequence of the departure of the soul from the body.
We use the term soul to denote essence as in the phrase ‘prayer is the very soul of religion.’ It is not surprising that we continue to enquire into the essence of man.
Several questions arise when considering the soul. Here are some examples. When does the soul enter the human body, as the sperm enters the egg or as they fuse into one cell or at a later stage? Does the soul influence the body, mind, and intellect? Is the soul identical to what we term conscience?
Since it animates the live person, does it govern functions of the body beyond the control of the mind, functions termed ‘vital’ by biologists? What happens to the soul during dreams, anesthesia, and trance-like states? What happens to it after the soul leaves the body? Where and how are acquired characters stored in the nebulous soul? Where, in the body, does the soul reside?
Some of the commentaries tell of how different doctors evaluated and tried to find some concept of the soul in the human body or brain. One said he did not believe the soul existed without the brain, and he stated that he was NOT an atheist.
In the conclusion of this article (only parts noted here), Sunil Pandya, who is a neurosurgeon and thinker on medical ethics, said this:
‘Amongst all those rare discoveries and curious pieces I find in the Fabrick of Man, there is no Organ or Instrument for the rational Soul; for in the brain there is not anything of the moment more than I can discover in the cranny of a beast, and this is an argument of the inorganic of the Soul.
Thus we are men, and we know not how; there is something in us that can be without us, and will be after us; though it is strange that it hath no history what it was before us, nor cannot tell how it entered in us’ (Browne, 1635/2009).
We remain ‘children of Tantalus, frustrated by the failure to grasp that which seems within reach…’ (Wilson, 1998).
Of course, if you have a hyperactive funny bone, you could paraphrase Woody Allen, who, as so often, has the ultimate comic word on the subject: ‘You cannot prove the non-existence of the soul; you just have to take it on faith.’ ) *link no longer active.
Religious scholars ask us scientists to desist from any attempt at studying the soul. Hindu philosophers tell us that the soul of a person who has attained moksha (liberation from the cycle of re-birth) unites with God. The soul has often been termed the God within each of us.
The spirit of inquiry that is the essence of science must stimulate us to continue our efforts at understanding it better. If in doing so, we understand God better, this can only be to our advantage.
What Is The Soul of Man – From The Bible
by this author…
Some of these were individuals who possibly did not associate with the theory or Biblical theology that man became a living soul when God breathed the breath of life into the man He made. We all have a soul and the spirit is different from the soul.
“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.” Genesis 2:7 (KJV) **soul definition below
“We feel with our Soul, we think with our brain. Not all of us think or feel the same.”
Soul definition: “An incorporeal and immortal being which may or may not be embodied.” (Dictionary)
Soul definition– According to the Bible **Genesis 2:7 -see above
God is a Spirit, and man has a living soul but also a spirit. Some people believe that man has two parts, body, and soul. Others believe he consists of three parts, body, soul, and spirit. The scriptures speak of man as spirit, soul, and body.
Spirit Definition – Dictionary-
the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul, and the celestial part of humans: present in spirit though absent in body.
Spirit and Soul are different: 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. 1Thessalonians 5: 23
The Spirit: No man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. Ecclesiastes 8:8
The animal is sentient and has in common with a man a soul as the principle of life, which perishes with the body. However, in man, it is the principle of the rational and immortal life comprising reason, the moral and religious natures. Soul to soul is how we connect with each other.
RE: Bible dictionary and Bible
Philosophical Views
Plato and Aristotle’s Views of the Soul
In the Philosophical view, Plato considered the soul the essence of a person, being that which decides how we behave. He believed that the soul is reborn in future bodies. Aristotle said the soul was the first actuality of a naturally organized body, but argued that it did not have a separate existence from the physical body. – Wikipedia
*Transpersonal Psychology Determination of the Soul -Transforming the Mind
We affirm that man’s nature is essentially spiritual or is a spiritual soul, but that it is no good to seek spiritual things until we can distinguish the spiritual from the mundane. From the book by Dr. Peter Shepherd: “Transforming the Mind.” with permission to repeat here…
Dr. Shepherd also says that most psychologies and psychotherapies are interested just in the personality. It is only in recent years (the book version was written in March 2009), that a variety known as ‘transpersonal psychology’ has developed or re-integrated, psychology, and the personality, with theology and the soul.
There are two disciplines and two concepts that have been firmly separated in our materialistic Western world, but which used to go hand in hand. Transforming the Mind – Page 11.
“The soul is what weeps when the heart breaks.”
Many Psychologists have different determinations of the Spiritual Soul, the physical body, and the mind as shown above.
**You can also reference this page where an explanation is present in a slide. Spirit, Soul, Body
Mind – Soul
Peace in the Soul flows to the mind
The mind is where our consciousness is. It is our intelligence, perception, judgment, creativity, lucidity, observation, genius, imagination, thought, understanding, and wisdom. In our minds, we have a belief system. It includes our thinking system.
The Soul is where our inspiration comes from. It is the essence and core of our spirit; it is our substance, it is where our longings all begin. We think with our minds/brains, and we love with our souls.
Our soul is what is satisfied when we reach a certain place of existence that our mind and intellect have taken us to. The Soul is where we find joy, peace, and contentment. It is where we feel loved and blessed; it is where we find satisfaction.
The Soul is also where we feel guilt when we have ignored the basic commandments to be good, love others, and walk as men/women of truth. It is where we find hatred, blame, and the ability to forgive or not to forgive. It is what makes us who we are actually.
If the Soul is not filled with the peace of life, we are at odds with everyone we meet. We become envious of our fellow man. When these kinds of elements come into our life/our soul; the ability of the mind to function properly begins to diminish.
We become so enthused with these unproductive thoughts and feelings that we are less prone to being constructive within our physical, materialistic life. Nothing is right when our Soul becomes full of negative feelings. These negative communications go to the mind and we start to see ourselves as lacking. When these thoughts, desires, and wishes become programmed in the mind; everyone can do it. Our entire behavior is negative and it produces unsatisfying results.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23: 7-part one (KJV)
When we have peace in the Soul; we feel exuberant in our minds, and our accomplishments are rich. When we feel loved and blessed, we can see the good in what we are doing as well as others. Happiness begins in the soul, and this flows to the mind and produces many wonderful desires and endings that we would never have obtained if we did not have the satisfaction of the Soul.
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.
Matthew 16:26 – For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 – Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
James 2:26 – For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
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