simple question

[LadyNyx]

What is a soul and how does the soul differ from the mind?

 

[heron]

That's a good question -- all sorts of people have written theories on this, but we don't have much evidence to back up claims. I do believe, though, that even when our minds fail us, there's an intrinsic personality and selfness that exists fully, intertwined but separate from the mind.

Have you seen any shows on near-death experiences? People describe feeling themselves leaving their bodies during surgery or comas, and travelling out into the hospital room halls. That is what I see as the soul.

You will probably see this thread turn into a discussion on soul vs. spirit, and I don't really think that's necessary to fuss over. But the Bible describes a second death for some people. I think this could possibly be interpreted as a death for the soul, separate from the death to the mind and body.

The verses describing the second death are at Re 2:11, Re 20:6, and Re 21:8. God sees us not just as temporal beings for the earth, but as personalities, ones that He would like to have the opportunity to live on longer.

 

[Catherineanne]

What is a soul and how does the soul differ from the mind?

The soul is that part of us which is immortal, and not mortal. The body and the mind die but the soul does not.

The soul is the part of us which connects most readily to God, and through which he speaks to us, through the Holy Spirit. It is the part of us which is purified by being in God's presence. The soul itself cannot be damaged, once dedicated to God in Christ, but the connection with God can be easily lost by our turning away from him and following our own desires, rather than his.

 

[Rafael]

To my understanding, the soul has more to dowith the mind and reasoning of man, and the Bible tells us that God made man a "living soul" or living being by breathing the "breathe of life" into Adam (Gen 2:7).

As already said, the spirit comes from God, too, and is that part of man that makes him able to be a eternal being. The Christian is told to be "born again", refering to us asking for and having a spiritual birth from God, as the natural man is born dead spiritually since the curse of sin and death entered into the world of man at the garden of Eden.
I like this verse which speaks of the triune nature of the whole man:

1Th 5:23 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.

 

[redMountian]

This is a good quote on the soul.

The soul is a living substance, simple, incorporeal, invisible to the physical eye, immortal and endowed with mind and reason. What the eye is to the body, that the mind is to the soul. "Reflections on the Eight Thoughts", Abba Evagrius, "Early Fathers From the Philokalia," translated from the Russian text, "Dobrotolubiye," by E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer, eighth edition, (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1981), pp. 113 - 114

 

[jrmronald]

Every person has a mind and a soul. The mind is a temporal
organ to make a person function. The soul is infused in all
people at conception, it is eternal and a spirit thar reflects the
good and the evil in a person. The soul has joy which is the
happiness of the soul and concupience which destroys the soul.
jrm

 

[Calminian]

What is a soul and how does the soul differ from the mind?

I like to think of the soul as that which governs our free decisions. If you believe we have freedom to any extent in our choices, and are not merely the product of deterministic chemical reactions in our brain, then a non-material soul is the only possible explanation.

Libertarian agency has no scientific explanation. This is why scientists are always looking for a prior determining cause for all behavior outside of the agent. This is why there's a movement to never blame individuals for what they do, for there's always something in the past that caused them to do it.

But most still believe people are responsible for their behavior, that we cannot blame prior causes outside of ourselves for evils we choose to commit. For these, whether they realize it or not, a soul is the only possible explanation. If we truly have the power to do otherwise, we must be more than material.

I found this interesting article on the soul and freewill. Does the Soul Exist?

 

[InnocentOdion]

In my opinion, the soul is what allows us to love and really feel emotions, though not in a logical, scientific way.

 

[metherion]

I would say that the difference between the soul and the mind is that the soul is only partially dependent on the body in that it is attached to it but is not damaged by harm to it. On the other hand, the mind can be damaged by brain damage and the like. I also believe that someone's soul is only judged by the soundness of their mind.

Metherion

 

[LadyNyx]

To my understanding, the soul has more to dowith the mind and reasoning of man, and the Bible tells us that God made man a "living soul" or living being by breathing the "breathe of life" into Adam (Gen 2:7).

As already said, the spirit comes from God, too, and is that part of man that makes him able to be a eternal being. The Christian is told to be "born again", refering to us asking for and having a spiritual birth from God, as the natural man is born dead spiritually since the curse of sin and death entered into the world of man at the garden of Eden.
I like this verse which speaks of the triune nature of the whole man:

1Th 5:23 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.

So we’re all walking around with dead souls and if we accept Christ our souls are awakened? If my soul is dead does that mean I have no soul?

This is a good quote on the soul.

Every person has a mind and a soul. The mind is a temporal
organ to make a person function. The soul is infused in all
people at conception, it is eternal and a spirit thar reflects the
good and the evil in a person. The soul has joy which is the
happiness of the soul and concupience which destroys the soul.
jrm

Ok, so everyone has a soul. What does the soul do? If we didn't have any resources such as the bible, how would we know we have a soul?

In my opinion, the soul is what allows us to love and really feel emotions, though not in a logical, scientific way.

That's what the brain does. Neurotransmitters and everything. The brain is powerful and complex. You can actually see when someone is feeling love and every other emotion using scientific machines.

I would say that the difference between the soul and the mind is that the soul is only partially dependent on the body in that it is attached to it but is not damaged by harm to it. On the other hand, the mind can be damaged by brain damage and the like. I also believe that someone's soul is only judged by the soundness of their mind.

Metherion

So, mentally retarded people have lesser or weaker souls than mentally sound people?

 

[aggiebob]

Your Body is the vehicle for you soul in this temporal world. Your brain is the means as to which your soul controls that vehicle. Without the soul the body is lifeless and void.

 

[TheGuide]

What is a soul and how does the soul differ from the mind?

The soul is the mind of the spirit. You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live inside of a physical body. When you die your spirit and soul (being of one body) go where it is designated to go.

You can look at the soul as being the holder of your personality, intellect, emotions, etc. The soul is what aborbs wisdom and, apparently, it is of great value in the spiritual world, because satan has his hords working very hard to gain control of as many souls as possible.

The Guide

 

[Catherineanne]

So we’re all walking around with dead souls and if we accept Christ our souls are awakened? If my soul is dead does that mean I have no soul?

No, your soul is not dead. Maybe you could regard it as a TV arial which is not plugged in, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it, or with you.

Ok, so everyone has a soul. What does the soul do? If we didn't have any resources such as the bible, how would we know we have a soul?

The soul connects us to God. This connection can be weak and fuzzy, or if plugged in properly, can be much better and result in a very clear picture.

Every human being on earth has a soul, and with this goes our yearning to know more, and learn more. This is as if the TV arial knows that there are pictures and words out there, and has a yearning for connection. We are born with a yearning for God, and for meaning. Some people find this through faith, some through other means, but it is always about finding whatever it is that makes our finite lives have a more than finite meaning, both to us and to mankind as a whole.

So, mentally retarded people have lesser or weaker souls than mentally sound people?

Au contraire. People who are mentally challenged have a purer soul than the rest of us, and are therefore connected to God in a much purer way, in the same way as newborns and young infants are. It has long been a belief of the church that severely mentally handicapped people count as holy innocents, and are accepted into eternity as such.

With intellect and adult reasoning come, sadly, the capacity for sin and the choice to move away from God.

 

[Key]

Your soul is an accumulation of all that is you.

Your mind is construct of electrical impulses and chemical reactions in your brain, guided by what input it receives by it's sensory receptors.

Hope that helps.

God Bless

Key

 

[Key]

As for our Souls being Dead or Alive.. they are neither.

I hope I can explain this... I am going to use an analogy.. here...

Imagine.. a soul has two states... Material..Spiritual...

If the soul is bound by the material.. it has no function.. it is but a shadow of it's host. It has not purpose of it's own, as it only waits for the oblivion of it's host. This is the Soul in it's material state, a dark shadow.

But..

When God enters us by the Holy Spirit.. Our Soul becomes one with the Spirit of God, and becomes Spiritual.. like Glowing now with its own purpose and function for the Acclimation of all that is you. Its purpose becomes your eternity. This is the Soul in the spiritual state, a guiding light to Heaven.

Hope I have explained that well.

God Bless

Key

 

[metherion]

I don't think that mentally disabled people have weaker souls, or anything like that.

What I mean is that people with unsound minds have a much harder time acting as God wants. And it isn't their fault. I do not think that God will damn someone because they were unable to comprehend what He wanted. Similarly, if someone had, say, a problem with the self-control part of their brain ( which would inhibit that part of the mind) and could not stop themselves from doing certain things, I do not think God would damn them for that.

In other words, a person's soul will only be judged by the parts of it their mind was capable of following. If the mind cannot comprehend the commands or stop the body, it won't be held against the person.

Metherion

 

[LadyNyx]

Your soul is an accumulation of all that is you.

Your mind is construct of electrical impulses and chemical reactions in your brain, guided by what input it receives by it's sensory receptors.

Hope that helps.

God Bless

Key

Well, if that’s the case, then why don’t animals have souls? Animals have “electrical impulses and chemical reactions in (it’s) brain, guided by what input it receives by it's sensory receptors”. Why can an animal have “an accumulation of all that is (it)”? What’s the main difference besides because the bible says so?

 

[LadyNyx]

The soul connects us to God. This connection can be weak and fuzzy, or if plugged in properly, can be much better and result in a very clear picture.

Every human being on earth has a soul, and with this goes our yearning to know more, and learn more. This is as if the TV arial knows that there are pictures and words out there, and has a yearning for connection. We are born with a yearning for God, and for meaning. Some people find this through faith, some through other means, but it is always about finding whatever it is that makes our finite lives have a more than finite meaning, both to us and to mankind as a whole.

You didn't answer the question. If you didn't have a bible and didn't have any knowledge of the Christian god, how could you tell you had a soul? Not everyone yearns for a god, nor does everyone yearn for a connection for a higher being. If you do not yearn, how can you know you have a soul?

 

[LadyNyx]

The soul is the mind of the spirit. You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live inside of a physical body. When you die your spirit and soul (being of one body) go where it is designated to go.

You can look at the soul as being the holder of your personality, intellect, emotions, etc. The soul is what aborbs wisdom and, apparently, it is of great value in the spiritual world, because satan has his hords working very hard to gain control of as many souls as possible.

The Guide

Your brain is the holder of your personality, intellect, emotions, etc. Your brain absorbs wisdom. If we had no brain we could not live, we could not feel emotions, become intellectuals, have a personality or store wisdom. So what you just described was simply the brain. So what really is the soul and how can we differentiate it from the brain?

 

[Key]

Well, if that’s the case, then why don’t animals have souls? Animals have “electrical impulses and chemical reactions in (it’s) brain, guided by what input it receives by it's sensory receptors”. Why can an animal have “an accumulation of all that is (it)”? What’s the main difference besides because the bible says so?

A mind or functioning brain does not beget a soul, any more then it can beget a limb. And where is it written that animals do not have souls?

God Bless

Key.