Spirit vs Soul

[simonw94]

Hello brothers and sisters.
I have a question about the difference between a 'spirit' and a 'soul', what does the Bible say about that? I hope that I'm posting this in the right section.

 

[Knee V]

On the one hand, I think that the two, in English, can be used mostly interchangeably. However, I think that there is a difference.

There are two Greek words in the New Testament. One is "pneuma", and this is what is translated as "spirit", and it means "wind" or "breath". Another word is the word "nous". That word is often translated as "mind", but that is not entirely accurate and reflects a certain post-renaissance western bias. Rather, the word "nous" means "the center of a person's being" (and we westerners tend to elevate the "mind" to that level). The "nous" can be thought of as a person's "soul", or that part of us that remains "us" even after death.

So I would say that my "spirit" is part of what makes me human, along with my body (we are both physical and spiritual creatures, as opposed to the animals or the angels who are only one or the other), but my "soul" (nous) is what makes me "me", whether my body and spirit are united or not.

 

[simonw94]

Thanks knee-v, now I understand it better.

 

[OzSpen]

Hello brothers and sisters.
I have a question about the difference between a 'spirit' and a 'soul', what does the Bible say about that? I hope that I'm posting this in the right section.

I am convinced from the biblical evidence that soul and spirit are used to refer to the unseen portion of a human being.

1. The Scripture refers to the soul (nephesh in Hebrew; psuche in Greek) as distinct from the body in passages such as Gen. 35:18, “And as her [Rachel's] soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin” (ESV). So, the soul leaves the body at death.
2. I Thess 5:23, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
3. Revelation 6:9, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.” So here the souls are separated from the bodies in heaven.

The word “soul” means “life” and refers to the principle of life in a human being. It gives life to the body and is sometimes used to refer to a dead body as in Lev. 19:28; 21:1; 23:4 as I might refer to my departed loved one as “the poor soul.”

Theologian Norman Geisler rightly states that “the primary meaning of soul can most often be captured best by translating it as person, which usually is embodied but is sometimes disembodied” (Systematic Theology, vol. 3, BethanyHouse Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2004, p. 47).

The word spirit (Greek, pneuma; Hebrew, ruach) almost always refers to the immaterial part of a human being and is sometimes used interchangeably with soul in many verses (cf. Luke 1:46). The body without the soul is dead (James 2:26) but at death, Jesus “bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

1. The Scripture refers to the soul (nephesh in Hebrew; psuche in Greek) as distinct from the body in passages such as Gen. 35:18, “And as her [Rachel's] soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin” (ESV). So, the soul leaves the body at death.
2. I Thess 5:23, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
3. Revelation 6:9, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.” So here the souls are separated from the bodies in heaven.

The word “soul” can mean “life” and refers to the principle of life in a human being. It gives life to the body and is sometimes used to refer to a dead body as in Lev. 19:28; 21:1; 23:4 as I might refer to my departed loved one as “the poor soul.”

Theologian and apologist Norman Geisler rightly states that “the primary meaning of soul can most often be captured best by translating it as person, which usually is embodied but is sometimes disembodied”.

The word spirit (Greek, pneuma; Hebrew, ruach) almost always refers to the immaterial part of a human being and is sometimes used interchangeably with soul in many verses (cf. Luke 1:46). The body without the soul is dead (James 2:26) but at death, Jesus “bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

Sincerely, Oz

 

[James4_14]

***Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

The new nature that is sown by the Word of God.

 

[ebedmelech]

***Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

The new nature that is sown by the Word of God.

This means nothing except that when we are born again that God's spirit confirms that to us.

Good passage,but it doesn't answer the question.

I would appeal to 1 Thess 5:23:
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

These definitions are from Thayer's in reference to that passage:

The "soul":
Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon

The "body":
Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon

The spirit:
Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon

The soul is that that gives life to us in our body. Our mind and personality. As God did for Adams body:
Gen 2:7:
7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

So...just as was pointed out about Rachel as her soul was leaving. Our soul is what makes us who we are in our body. The body + the human spirit makes us a living soul (or being).

So in the above passage (1 Thess 5:23):

1. The soul is the spirit + the body

2. The body is our shell that we live in that is buried when we die.

3. Our spirit is us which makes us who we are apart from our body.

It can get confusing too.

 

[James4_14]

I would appeal to 1 Thess 5:23:
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Sorry. Paul was not trying to set forth a three part nature of man. Genesis 2:7 shoots that idea down anyhow. Man was taken entirely from the dust of the earth and it is to dust he will return at death. During the Acts period the soon return of Christ was expected. Thessalonians is teeming with references concerning that expectation. That expectation was set in abeyance after Acts 28 when Israel was set aside for unbelief. They are now Lo-Ammi (Hosea 1:9). Anytime Israel was Lo-Ammi the prophetic clock stopped. This is proven by the difference of 93 years between Paul's account and Solomons account. Paul was using the calendar of the world whereas Solomon was using God's calendar.

***2 Peter 1:3-4
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

 

[ebedmelech]

Sorry. Paul was not trying to set forth a three part nature of man. Genesis 2:7 shoots that idea down anyhow. Man was taken entirely from the dust of the earth and it is to dust he will return at death. During the Acts period the soon return of Christ was expected. Thessalonians is teeming with references concerning that expectation. That expectation was set in abeyance after Acts 28 when Israel was set aside for unbelief. They are now Lo-Ammi (Hosea 1:9). Anytime Israel was Lo-Ammi the prophetic clock stopped. This is proven by the difference of 93 years between Paul's account and Solomons account. Paul was using the calendar of the world whereas Solomon was using God's calendar.

You have some way of explaining away the plain reading of scripture! They both really say the same thing. Please show me how they do not.

***2 Peter 1:3-4
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The "divine nature" is Christ. That's who we become partakers of through the Holy Spirit. That's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Look at the entire context because the continuing verses tell you HOW to partake of the divine nature:
2 Peter 1:5-11
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.