Soul? What the heck is that?

[Zor]

The soul does not make any sense to me. Care to explain it?

What is the soul and what does it do?

Edit: To others that may attempt to answer this, make sure that you give an answer that actually explains the soul. I don't want vague answers that contradict one another. Thank you.

Edit: Also, please answer these questions to the best of your ability.

1: So, you're saying that the soul is the immaterial part of a person that makes choices?

What I'm trying to figure out is, how the soul would affect the body.
2: If the soul is non-material, then how does it affect matter to make the body's motions/choices come about?
3: If I forcefeed a person alcohol, knock them unconscious, or sedate him/her, how does that affect his/her soul?
4: Does Christianity accept the notion that the soul is "spiritually" affected by physical influence to the brain?

 

[ebia]

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[prgallo]

The soul does not make any sense to me. Care to explain it?

What is the soul and what does it do?

The soul is our mind, our will, our character & personality. Our spiriit is our inner being, the essence of who we are. Our flesh is the obvious answer, our bodies.

In a Christian the Holy Spirit inwells our spirit which then influences and communicates with our soul.

FYI: I view us a 3 part beings, obviously, with body, soul and spirit.

 

[tapero]

The soul does not make any sense to me. Care to explain it?

What is the soul and what does it do?

Hi Zor,

I heard a very good message on what soul and spirit are. I took good notes; but actually, hearing it would probably be much better than my notes.

If you want to hear it, (it's probably 40 minutes) let me know and I'll pm the link.

If not, post here, I'll listen to it again; fix my notes better and post here.

My notes surely don't do it justice which is why listening to it would be good.

When I saved my notes; I wrote wow, next to title of file as hearing this message was quite an insight.

take care,
tapero

 

[TheLivingWater]

The soul does not make any sense to me. Care to explain it?

What is the soul and what does it do?

Hello there

When you have the need to do something it is a Spirit that drives that, when you go doing that something it is the Mind that figures out how, so where is the soul ?

For example if someone is mad angry there is a Spirit, he wants to do something bad and the Mind figures out how to do it, so here comes the Soul part if you have a good Soul then the Soul takes over and stops Mind and Spirit, if you have a bad Soul well you can figure it out.

So in two words Soul is the root which has power over Spirit and Mind.

 

[Zor]

The soul is our mind, our will, our character & personality. Our spiriit is our inner being, the essence of who we are. Our flesh is the obvious answer, our bodies.

In a Christian the Holy Spirit inwells our spirit which then influences and communicates with our soul.

FYI: I view us a 3 part beings, obviously, with body, soul and spirit.

1: So, you're saying that the soul is the immaterial part of a person that makes choices?

What I'm trying to figure out is, how the soul would affect the body.
2: If the soul is non-material, then how does it affect matter to make the body's motions/choices come about?
3: If I forcefeed a person alcohol, knock them unconscious, or sedate him/her, how does that affect his/her soul?
4: Does Christianity accept the notion that the soul is "spiritually" affected by physical influence to the brain?

FYI: I view us a 3 part beings, obviously, with body, soul and spirit.

Oh dear! A third concept (spirit)? Do explain.

 

[Zor]

If you want to hear it, (it's probably 40 minutes) let me know and I'll pm the link.

I doubt that it would be useful for the questions that I have. But, what the heck, sure, post the link.

 

[Zor]

Hello there

When you have the need to do something it is a Spirit that drives that, when you go doing that something it is the Mind that figures out how, so where is the soul ?

For example if someone is mad angry there is a Spirit, he wants to do something bad and the Mind figures out how to do it, so here comes the Soul part if you have a good Soul then the Soul takes over and stops Mind and Spirit, if you have a bad Soul well you can figure it out.

So in two words Soul is the root which has power over Spirit and Mind.

I'm a bit confused. What is the soul? You said there was the soul, mind, and spirit. Prgallo said that the soul WAS the mind:

The soul is our mind, our will, our character & personality. Our spiriit is our inner being, the essence of who we are. Our flesh is the obvious answer, our bodies.

Upon reading this, I don't understand what spirit is means, because if we have mind, will, character, and personality, then that is our essense. What's the point of the spirit then?

And another thought, I have heard, right now, two different answers to one question. That leads me to believe that you either, don't care to give me the correct answer, or the correct answer is not known and you are making it up. If I'm trying to understand this concept, I don't want to have to sift through lies. I know, it's not hard to make it up.

 

[TheLivingWater]

Zor
I'm not making it up

Just think about it.
What does the mind do ?
It figures out how to type on a keyboard, it remambers stuff, it commands your body.

What does a Spirit do ?
Well the mind is the technical part of things, a Spirit is like a river flow, or a diraction in which a wind blows,
For example if i see a ill man on the street, i may have the Spirit in me who will push me to help that person and push me to do many many other things.
So the Spirit is the "flow" in which someone is in.
For example a person who has given up to bad Spirits will never accept anything good, he will make everything bad, and he will iterpret everything as evil because that's the way he chose to solv and see things.

What is the Soul ?
The Soul is you your root, the thing that can controls the Mind and the Spirit.
A bad spirit can come to me and make me angry and may try to push me to do bad things and my mind will figure out how to do them, but if i have a Good Soul then the Soul kicks in and takes control so neither the bad Spirit can operate neither the Mind can operate and do bad.

 

[Zor]

Zor
I'm not making it up

Just think about it.
What does the mind do ?
It figures out how to type on a keyboard, it remambers stuff, it commands your body.

Okay, so the soul IS the mind?

What does a Spirit do ?
Well the mind is the technical part of things, a Spirit is like a river flow, or a diraction in which a wind blows,
For example if i see a ill man on the street, i may have the Spirit in me who will push me to help that person and push me to do many many other things.
So the Spirit is the "flow" in which someone is in.
For example a person who has given up to bad Spirits will never accept anything good, he will make everything bad, and he will iterpret everything as evil because that's the way he chose to solv and see things.

This is a really vague answer. Are you equating the spirit with choice, or rather the rationel for a choice? I can help a hurt person on the street or not. Those are the options that the mind considers, along with the reasoning for each option, to make a choice/action. So, what is the spirit? (more clarification please)

What is the Soul ?
The Soul is you your root, the thing that can controls the Mind and the Spirit.
A bad spirit can come to me and make me angry and may try to push me to do bad things and my mind will figure out how to do them, but if i have a Good Soul then the Soul kicks in and takes control so neither the bad Spirit can operate neither the Mind can operate and do bad.

The Soul controls the mind? I thought the mind was the bottom line. Is the soul another mind that controls the mind? Isn't that superfluous? I think prgallo's claim to the soul BEING the mind, will, etc made more sense.

 

[Zor]

1: So, you're saying that the soul is the immaterial part of a person that makes choices?

What I'm trying to figure out is, how the soul would affect the body.
2: If the soul is non-material, then how does it affect matter to make the body's motions/choices come about?
3: If I forcefeed a person alcohol, knock them unconscious, or sedate him/her, how does that affect his/her soul?
4: Does Christianity accept the notion that the soul is "spiritually" affected by physical influence to the brain?

I would also like these questions answered, please.

 

[seashale76]

The soul does not make any sense to me. Care to explain it?

What is the soul and what does it do?

According to the Fathers, the heart is the seat of the soul and our feelings. We are each created with a body and soul. The mind is considered to be the lowest part of the soul, and the heart/spirit is the highest. Our entire purpose for being is to be in communion with God and to eventually attain theosis.

The Fathers speak often of the Prayer of the Heart (Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner). One must not only have bodily prayer (verbal and sign of the cross) or mental prayer (understanding), but the highest form of prayer also involves the heart. This gift of God transforms our souls so that we may pray continually from our heart.

http://fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/immortality_soul.htm

 

[Zor]

This is by far, the vaguest explaination.

According to the Fathers, the heart is the seat of the soul and our feelings. We are each created with a body and soul. The mind is considered to be the lowest part of the soul, and the heart/spirit is the highest. Our entire purpose for being is to be in communion with God and to eventually attain theosis.

"The heart is the seat of the soul and our feelings"? Are you crazy? The heart pumps blood. I think that modern Christians would say that the heart is merely a metaphor for expression of emotion/feeling, but not literally.

Also, you didn't specify what it means to be the "hightest part of the soul" or the "lowest part of the soul. How are they ranked? In addition, this lends no information for what they actually do. Can you give a more comprehensive answer?

And AGAIN, I'm being given an answer that does not match up with other posters have said. I'm getting the feeling that this is going nowhere, because no one knows what they are talking about.

The Fathers speak often of the Prayer of the Heart (Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner). One must not only have bodily prayer (verbal and sign of the cross) or mental prayer (understanding), but the highest form of prayer also involves the heart. This gift of God transforms our souls so that we may pray continually from our heart.

http://fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/immortality_soul.htm

Prayer, hmm. Okay.

 

[seashale76]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous

You are asking a philosophical question, and I gave you a very basic version of what it means in Orthodox spirituality as per the Fathers. This type of theology does get extremely complex, and I admit that some of it is beyond me as I am not a philosopher or a theologian (but I get the gist- though my mind must work differently from yours as you don't 'get' my explanation- but what seems clear to me is often not the case with others). There has been LOADS of things written about it in the Church, most of which hasn't been translated well into English from the Greek, and I don't know Greek- sorry. However, there are books you can get if you enjoy reading.

In speaking of the 'nous', in theology, one must always speak of salvation in regards to purifying the nous. By necessity, I brought up the hesychastic practice of noetic prayer, because in my faith tradition, one doesn't speak of one without the other.

 

[Zor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous

You are asking a philosophical question, and I gave you a very basic version of what it means in Orthodox spirituality as per the Fathers.

I have to say, you didn't give me anything of meaning. I'm just asking about the explaination of the concept of the soul. If the Fathers developed the concepts of spirituality then tell me what they said. You haven't done that yet.

This type of theology does get extremely complex, and I admit that some of it is beyond me as I am not a philosopher or a theologian (but I get the gist- though my mind must work differently from yours as you don't 'get' my explanation- but what seems clear to me is often not the case with others).

I get the "gist" of spirituality, and it doesn't make sense. I just want a comprehensive explaination of the concepts that were claimed to exist (soul, spirit, mind, and body). What are they? I didn't come here for vagueness, I came here for a decisive answer. If you don't know what it is that you are believing in, and only get the "gist" of it, then I suggest you don't give a false answer.

 

[TimRout]

“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]


What is the soul? In a nut shell, the human soul is comprised of a person's thoughts, feelings and personality. The Hebrew word for soul is nepes and literally means “heart”, “being”, or “true self”. Consequently, many modern translations correctly render Genesis 2:7 “...and man became a living being.”


The soul is attached to the spirit -- a person's non-corporeal substance. While some theologians argue that “soul” and “spirit” are essentially synonymous, the New Testament clearly delineates them [Hebrews 4:12]. Animals have thoughts, feelings and personality, but of all God's earthly creatures only humans posses an everlasting spirit. While an animal's thoughts, feelings and personality dissipate at death, a person's true self lives on, forever attached to his spirit. The issue, then, is not IF the spirit/soul will continue after death, but only WHERE the spirit/soul will continue after death.


All human beings are born with a dead, sinful spirit that is unsuitable for God's holy heaven [Romans 3:10-23; Ephesians 2:1]. Those who wish to enter God's presence when this life is over must be spiritually reborn through repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ [John 3:1-21].

 

[Zor]

The soul is attached to the spirit -- a person's non-corporeal substance. While some theologians argue that “soul” and “spirit” are essentially synonymous, the New Testament clearly delineates them [Hebrews 4:12]. Animals have thoughts, feelings and personality, but of all God's earthly creatures only humans posses an everlasting spirit. While an animal's thoughts, feelings and personality dissipate at death, a person's true self lives on, forever attached to his spirit. The issue, then, is not IF the spirit/soul will continue after death, but only WHERE the spirit/soul will continue after death.

So, what's the spirit? You haven't specified what it is or what it does. It seems like a superfluous concept because you already have soul as the mind of the individual which is its existence.

Also, if someone could, please answer the questions I added to the the OP.

 

[TimRout]

So, what's the spirit? You haven't specified what it is or what it does. It seems like a superfluous concept because you already have soul as the mind of the individual which is its existence.

Also, if someone could, please answer the questions I added to the the OP.

Asked and answered.

The spirit ([FONT=Symbol, serif]pnuma[/FONT]) is a person's non-corporeal substance; his "ghost", if you like. Thus the spirit functions as the everlasting container that holds the soul. Without the spirit, the soul would dissipate at death. While [FONT=Symbol, serif]pnuma [/FONT]can also mean "wind", its NT usage indicates much more.

 

[visionary]

Soul = dust + breath of God... that makes a living soul.

 

[Zor]

Asked and answered.

The spirit ([FONT=Symbol, serif]pnuma[/FONT]) is a person's non-corporeal substance; his "ghost", if you like. Thus the spirit functions as the everlasting container that holds the soul. Without the spirit, the soul would dissipate at death. While [FONT=Symbol, serif]pnuma [/FONT]can also mean "wind", its NT usage indicates much more.

The spirit is my ghost? Like my arm is part of my body? Or is this "ghost" description supposed to be a property of my soul? Why not say that the soul has the ability to be everlasting? I think that makes more sense, don't you?