Could we define "soul," please? (ritual, Creator, tradition)

Katzpur · #1 07-20-2005, 01:24 PM

Whenever I am involved in a discussion in which the word "soul" is used, it seems as if everybody has his or her own idea about what this word even means. Some people say that only humans have souls, that animals do not. Others say that there is no such thing as a soul.

So, what do you think the word means? Also, do you believe it is a synonym for the word "spirit"? I'm just trying to get a handle on how everybody is using this word.

Terrywoodenpic · #2 07-20-2005, 01:43 PM

I would say that our Soul is that part of our being that came from God and returns to God at the end of our Life.

It would seem to be indivisible from God, and essential to life. It should not be confused with the Holy Spirit which is part of the Trinity.

Terry
_______________________________________
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.

Pah · #3 07-20-2005, 02:03 PM

I'm of the opinion that the soul is the voice of faith

Katzpur · #4 07-20-2005, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terrywoodenpic

I would say that our Soul is that part of our being that came from God and returns to God at the end of our Life.

It would seem to be indivisible from God, and essential to life. It should not be confused with the Holy Spirit which is part of the Trinity.

Okay, I pretty much agree. But is a person's soul the same thing as his spirit? (I think you're saying it is.)

Also, when you say it "came from God," could you elaborate, please? When do you believe our spirits were with God?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pah

I'm of the opinion that the soul is the voice of faith.

Hmmm. What does that mean, Pah? I don't really follow you.

Scott1 · #5 07-20-2005, 02:16 PM

Sorry to give such a long definition, but it's a difficult topic:

362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "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." Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.

363 In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person. But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies the spiritual principle in man.

364 The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:

Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.

365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.

366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.

367 Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit: St. Paul for instance prays that God may sanctify his people "wholly", with "spirit and soul and body" kept sound and blameless at the Lord's coming. The Church teaches that this distinction does not introduce a duality into the soul. "Spirit" signifies that from creation man is ordered to a supernatural end and that his soul can gratuitously be raised beyond all it deserves to communion with God.

368 The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or against God.

Pah · #6 07-20-2005, 02:18 PM

Quote:

the soul is the voice of faith

It is where your individual faith is held. It's the conduit from you to the God of your faith

michel · #7 07-20-2005, 02:23 PM

Errr wow! Is all I can say, Scott; I am still on the third read, and struggling!

Katzpur · #8 07-20-2005, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pah

It is where your individual faith is held. It's the conduit from you to the God of your faith

And this is why you say you have no soul? Because you don't believe in God, there is no such conduit? Did I understand correctly?

Terrywoodenpic · #9 07-20-2005, 02:36 PM

[quote=Katzpur

Also, when you say it "came from God," could you elaborate, please? When do you believe our spirits were with God?
[/QUOTE]
When I say our Soul comes from God I don't mean that it actually leaves God to come to us but is the Spirit within us, and is of God. Like wise when we die It does not actually have to return to god as it is already part of God. From that you see our souls (spirits)are always with God.
God is everywhere and is always with us, as we are with him.
It is not possable to have life with out soul (spirit)

Terry
______________________________________-
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.