Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
I love exploring such ideas, I find them fascinating. It's true, I have serious doubts that souls are real things, but I love digging into the concepts anyhow.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Evolution and the Soul
- Thread starter Tranquil Servant
- Start date
I love exploring such ideas, I find them fascinating. It's true, I have serious doubts that souls are real things, but I love digging into the concepts anyhow.
Kangaroo Feathers
Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril...
I believe souls develop as a function of self awareness. In evolutionary terms, "souls" developed from simple to complex along with "mind". I also hope there is some sort of "soul analogue" for advanced lifeforms without a mind, like trees and coral reefs, but I have no idea how that would work.
This is all highly faith based opinion, of course, as there is no scientific evidence or definition of souls, and certainly nothing about them in the fossil record.
Last edited:
Kangaroo Feathers
Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril...
I've toyed with this idea myself, although I tend to imagine it as a single and complete soul in a series of nonlinear reincarnations through every living organism in the history of the universe.
I don't believe it, as such, but it's an interesting philosophical thought experiment.
Tiberius
Well-Known Member
I'm ok with vague.
Do you really think that a vague definition is of any use to anybody?
Audie
Veteran Member
Not to disagree but of course, there are a lot of words
that are ill defined, at best. Still, they are used, a lot.
What, for example, is "spiritual"?
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
Yes..... because this way, the word in question is open for anyone to define or interpret.
Audie
Veteran Member
And at the end, equipped with some few million interpretations,
what do you have?
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
Well guys
....I believe in one God and I believe God either gave or gives (I haven't decided yet) the "breath of life"
Well guys
OK, so now we know what you believe. The next question is why you believe that. What is this 'breath of life'? Do you have any evidence of such? Yes, oxygen transport is necessary for life, but it looks like you are claiming there is an actual substance that is a 'breath of life'. or am I wrong?
Audie
Veteran Member
Well guys
That is a very relaxed approach to believing.
No reason for bible-reading to be a cause of anger
and dismay.
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
..... yeah I'm pretty "tranquil"
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
No..... no evidence for "the breath of life" and yes breathing is necessary for life; although there are machines that can breath for people but I wouldn't call that living. There's no evidence for the "breath of life" or the soul but I could quote some bible verses if you want
No..... no evidence for "the breath of life" and yes breathing is necessary for life; although there are machines that can breath for people but I wouldn't call that living. There's no evidence for the "breath of life" or the soul but I could quote some bible verses if you want
OK, fair enough. I hope you grant that this isn't enough to convince anyone else that what you say is true. And, in fact, I don't think it is. But, that said, I'm glad you know what you believe.
Tiberius
Well-Known Member
I'd say, "Concerned with the spirit or spirits."
Of course, given that there are so many different ways to be spiritual, and that you can't actually tell what a person means when they say they are spiritual, I'd say the definition of spiritual is just as vague.
Tiberius
Well-Known Member
So your definition basically boils down to, "Define it however you want, it doesn't really make any difference"?
How then is the word useful to anyone when two people can interpret it as having two vastly different meanings?
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
Thanx
...tbh, my aim isn't to convince anyone....I simply wanted to share ideas, info and beliefs.
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
It is useful enough to those who are wishing to define or interpret something that cannot be determined
Tiberius
Well-Known Member
If it can't be determined, how do you know it even exists?
Thanx
OK, here's an idea. The notion of a 'breath of life' is the result of scientifically uneducated people noticing that dead people don't breathe and concluding that there is something in the breath that gives life. In fact, many old worlds for soul are derived from the words for breath.
Now, we understand that it is the chemical reactivity of oxygen that drives life (at least animal life) and that life is a complicated collection of chemical reactions. In spite of extensive searches, there is no evidence for a 'life force' or a 'breath of life' other than simple chemistry.
Tranquil Servant
Was M.I.A for a while
I don't..... nobody does.... there's no undeniable proof to prove the existence of the soul but I do believe in the soul.