Soul is the 'whole person' in terms of the physical life. Its the life bound up in the body transported by the blood (DT 12:23, Lev 17:11). At death, it dies (numbers 23:10). 'Soul' is also the emotions of a physical kind.
'Spirit' is the 'whole person' which comes under God's influence. At death, the spirit returns to God (eccles 12:7) and it does not die. 'Spirit' and 'soul' are sometimes used interchangeable, but they are not the same. 'Spirit' is never linked with blood where soul is. In the bible, the mind is the heart. But the Hebrew understanding of personhood was a 'wholistic' being rather than the Greek idea that a person could be split into parts. The 'parts' mentioned by the Hebrews meant the whole person from a particular angle.
We are actually made of body, soul and spirit.
Our body is our physical body.
Our soul is our mind, emotion and will.
Our spirit is the part of us that is made to contact God and to contain His life. It consists of conscience, fellowship and intuition.
That's where i'm confused. If the Lord separated the two when He spoke of the greatest commandment, how can mind be part of the soul?Hi,
The idea the soul is the mind is not really coming from Hebrew concepts of what 'soul' is in the bible. Its a common misconception coming from roots in Greek philosophy which influenced later Jewish thought and early church thinking. The heart in Hebrew and NT teaching is 'the mind' or centre of consciousness. Hence Jesus stating 'let not your hearts be troubled' and For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matt 15:19)
Also the greatest commandment makes a distinction between 'heart' and 'soul' in DT 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
And what is 'soul'?
DT 12:23
But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
The word 'life' is translated from the Hebrew word 'Nephesh' which also means 'soul'. Therefore, the soul is the life of a human or animal.
It is a confusing topic. There are actually 4 parts of man spoken of in the Bible - the body, soul, spirit and heart.That's where i'm confused. If the Lord separated the two when He spoke of the greatest commandment, how can mind be part of the soul?
What about God? Does He have a soul? Bible says that God is spirit (John 4 story of Samaritan woman at Jacob's well).
My understanding is that only our spirit is eternal. Our souls are not. But bible talks about losing our souls, we need to save our souls etc. Could someone explain?
That's where i'm confused. If the Lord separated the two when He spoke of the greatest commandment, how can mind be part of the soul?
What about God? Does He have a soul? Bible says that God is spirit (John 4 story of Samaritan woman at Jacob's well).
My understanding is that only our spirit is eternal. Our souls are not. But bible talks about losing our souls, we need to save our souls etc. Could someone explain?
There are more than 80 parts mentioned in the bible!It is a confusing topic. There are actually 4 parts of man spoken of in the Bible - the body, soul, spirit and heart.
Actually, there is no mention of 'soul' or 'Nephesh' in this passage, only 'Leb' which is the heart. The Hebrew centtre for reasoning is the heartThe soul, spirit and heart are referred to as our "inward parts" in Jeremiah 31:33.
In this context, 'soul' here means the whole person. Otherwise it loses its context with Gen 2:7, Lev 17:11.We know the parts and functions of each from the verses in which they are spoken of in the Bible.
We know that soul and spirit are two different parts (although some argue that they are not) because Hebrews 4:12 tells us they can be divided and 1 Thes. 5:23 speaks of both in one sentence.
They are also shown as two different parts in Luke 1:46-47. And in Mark 12:30 it says "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength."
We see that the soul consists of mind, will and emotion from the many verses that speak of the soul in the Bible. For example, Prov. 2:10 suggests that the soul needs knowledge - a function of the mind. Job 7:15 says the soul chooses, which is a function of the will.
In Psalm 27:12, 41:2 and Ez. 41:2, the hebrew word for soul is translated into the word will. We see that emotion is also part of the soul from many verses including SoS 1:7, Psalm 42:1, Psalm 107:8, Jeremiah 44:14. There are many more verses that show the functions and parts of the soul, but I am not listing them all here - you can read about it in a book online called The Economy of God at http://www.ministrybooks.org/categories.cfm#GE
God is Spirit. His Spirit dwells in our human spirit when we are born again. As we grow in the Lord He spreads from our spirit to our soul.
Where the Bible talks about losing our souls - it tells us we must lose our soul life - this is speaking of our self - our lusts, our desires and our wants - our self that is not changed by God yet, our old man, which we must deny and put aside in order to follow the Lord and seek His will rather than our own.
Its been said that one's being is made up of body, mind and soul. Explain soul?
What about our spirit? How does it fit?