Skwim
Veteran Member
So you're saying that the soul is "an individual mind, persona"? Interesting. I would have thought it would be a far more enigmatic organ.
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Are we really created in God's image
- Thread starter dfnj
- Start date
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AManCalledHorse
If you build it they will come
Eve was a female trapped in a males body.
Axe Elf
Prophet
I am curious what led you to think of the soul as an organ at all?
But yeah, the soul is that which makes you "you"--the part of you that needs to be saved from the second death if you were created for eternal life. Otherwise that which makes you "you" would be destroyed in the second death (the lake of fire), and it would be just like before you were born--no "you" at all. The body dies in the first death, the spirit (life force) returns to its source (God), and the the soul (your own personal identity) is either destroyed in the lake of fire or lives eternally in the presence of God.
"Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it."
--Ecclesiastes 12:7
"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." --Revelation 20:14-15
rrobs
Well-Known Member
The word "soul" is "nephesh."
Gen 2:7,
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 (nephesh).
Man became a living soul (nephesh) when God breathed into him.
Job 12:10,
In whose hand [is] the soul (nephesh) of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
Soul is breath life. If it breaths it has a soul. But God's image is spirit (John 4:24), and only man was made in God's image, not animals. As originally created, man is body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess 5:23), but animals are body and soul only.
Adam's sin made man loose spirit. Jesus Christ got it back for those who believe that Jesus is their Lord and that God raised him from the dead. Pretty simple, really.
Skwim
Veteran Member
Lack of a better term. Christians haven't done much better in describing it, so I get to choose my own word.
I hope you come to recognize how lame this is.
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Got a lot of disagreement on this one. Most Bibles don't refer to the soul at all in Genesis 2:7. 75% of them describe the result as something else, such as:
"the man became a living being"
"The human came to life."
"the man started breathing."
"the man became a living thing."
"the man became a living creature."
"the man became a living person."
"the man began to live."
"etc."
"The human came to life."
"the man started breathing."
"the man became a living thing."
"the man became a living creature."
"the man became a living person."
"the man began to live."
"etc."
This fairs even worse, with "soul" appearing in only 23% of the Bible translations I checked.
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Sleeppy
Fatalist. Christian. Pacifist.
Not quite.
The manifestation already exists, being static. We are a part of said manifestation, and therefore perform according to prior determination. Everything is determined; fatalistic.
Skwim
Veteran Member
So, just what is a static manifestation? And how would this differ from a non-static manifestation?
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JoshuaTree
Flowers are red?
Ecclesiastes 3:21 (NIV)
Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"
Since the dead know nothing ( Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalms 115:17; Psalms 146:4; John 11:11-14 ) then I find one's life spirit is in God's hands until resurrection day (Jesus' millennial-long day of governing over Earth for a thousand years)
Just as a foreclosed house does Not literally move or go anywhere but simply returns to the hands of the owner.
So, one's spirit rests in God's safe hands until resurrection day.
I find Jesus reflected God's image ( chip off the old block, so to speak )
Not a physical image, but displaying God's main attributes or qualities of love, justice, mercy and wisdom.
To varying degrees, we can all develop those main qualities.
We can choose to cultivate the fruit of God's spirit as listed at Galatians 5:22-23.
God gifted us with free-will choices, so God does Not interfere with our choices.
We are all free to act responsibly toward God.
I find the 'us' of Genesis 1:16 is in reference to Revelation 3:14 B.
The pre-human heavenly Jesus (Revelation 1:5) was the first or the beginning of the creation by God.
God had No beginning as per Psalms 90:2, so pre-human Jesus was Not before the beginning as God was.
Heavenly Jesus was the ' first born of every creature ' according to Colossians 1:15
God chose his directly created heavenly Jesus to be the ' one ' whom all else would come as per Colossians 1:15.
Jesus represented or reflected his Father (chip off the old block) Not in a physical appearance but reflected God's image or the likeness of His qualities or attributes of Love, justice, wisdom and mercy.
We are all free to reflect those qualities to varying degrees as we put forth the effort to cultivate the fruit of God's spirit as listed at Galatians 5:22-23. We can all act responsibly toward God.
In Scripture, Adam (aka only humans) were offered the opportunity to have everlasting life.
Both humans and animals are souls as per Numbers 31:28.
Unlike humans, natural animals, as per 2 Peter 2:12, do Not have a resurrection.
rrobs
Well-Known Member
Let the Bible choose the word. It already has, and God is more of an authority than any of us. The word "soul" was never in any original god breathed documents. Neither was "living thing," "living creature," etc. They are all English words which conjure up a meaning in the reader's mind something quite different than the Jewish man who lived 4,000 years ago. The question is what did the words "nephesh" and "chay" mean to that ancient reader?Lack of a better term. Christians haven't done much better in describing it, so I get to choose my own word.
Got a lot of disagreement on this one. Most Bibles don't refer to the soul at all in Genesis 2:7. 75% of them describe the result as something else, such as:
"the man became a living being"
"The human came to life."
"the man started breathing."
"the man became a living thing."
"the man became a living creature."
"the man became a living person."
"the man began to live."
"etc."
This fairs even worse, with "soul" appearing in only 23% of the Bible translations I checked.
I leave it to you to do the research for yourself. Just remember not to interject your present idea of what soul is. The word of God needs to be the sole rule of truth. At least that's where I come from. I understand that not everybody feels that way. Many prefer tradition and what they've been taught by the churches. Unfortunately for Christendom much of that tradition is not in alignment with God's word (Matt 15:2).
Lest there be any misunderstanding, I don't want you to believe something I say any more than you should just believe everything your Pastor says. I'm not claiming to be the bastion of truth. I leave that honor to God's word. Go ahead, research "nephesh" and "chay" for yourself in that word to see if the things I say are true or not (Acts 17:11 says that will make you noble).
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Axe Elf
Prophet
Axe Elf
Prophet
Solomon does!
"Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it."
--Ecclesiastes 12:7
Axe Elf
Prophet
Yes, I realize animals do not have souls to save. I was just being flippant in response to someone suggesting that they did.
In English I find the word spirit can mean a spirit person as an angel is, or life's spirit.
When Adam died and ' returned ' to the dust of the ground it was ALL of Adam that died.
So, one's spirit can return to God in the same sense that a foreclosed house returns to the owner.
The house does Not move, does Not go anywhere, but goes back to the hands of the owner.
So, one's spirit (spirit of life) returns to God's safe hands until Resurrection Day.
Resurrection Day meaning Jesus' coming millennium-long day of governing over Earth.
That is why the ' future tense ' is used at Acts of the Apostles 24:15 that there ' is going to be ' a resurrection......
Axe Elf
Prophet
In general, I agree with all of this, although I don't believe that it's rational to think that Adam was a real person as the first human being, so it's nonsensical to talk about what happened to his body, soul and spirit when he died--you might as well ask the same questions about Forrest Gump.
I don't think of spirit as being owned by us, the way a person owns a house; more like it's being rented from God. God provides the life force that makes inanimate matter alive (for all living things), and he breathed it into Adam, but it's always really just an impersonal manifestation of God that returns to its source upon the death of the body.
But yes, when you're dead, you're dead, until the resurrection.
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Sleeppy
Fatalist. Christian. Pacifist.
syo
Well-Known Member
a soul is ''us''. all our characteristics combined is the soul.