What is the Christian definition of the word "soul"?

[Jonathan Bailey]

Your minister is correct, however his thinking isn't.
Like being born that way, you have to die that way?

The video contains a lot of cartoon strips, what is the point there?

For me as long as we have life, God is giving us a chance to find him.
To find the truth, not to develop lies
If everything is the truth, then there is no such thing as a lie

View attachment 28580

The point of the video is it is the exact same tract I received by a man in the army back in 1995. This man was claiming that Catholics are going to hell. But what sins do Catholics commit against God in their rituals? Do Catholics make graven images unto themselves and worship them? Is Holy Communion not mentioned in the Bible? My Methodist church practiced Holy Communion on some occasions though its sole absolute authority was the Holy Bible. Does Catholic liturgy commit idolatry in any way, shape or form? Does the Bible prohibit any practices of the rosary? What prohibitions against the Mass are written in Scripture?

 

[MJFlores]

The point of the video is it is the exact same tract I received by a man in the army back in 1995. This man was claiming that Catholics are going to hell. But what sins do Catholics commit against God in their rituals? Do Catholics make graven images unto themselves and worship them? Is Holy Communion not mentioned in the Bible? My Methodist church practiced Holy Communion on some occasions though its sole absolute authority was the Holy Bible.Does the Bible prohibit any practices of the rosary? What prohibitions against the Mass are written in Scripture?

Ahhh....Well, a lot of people will suffer the second death at the day of Judgement.
Nobody, not even one is in hell right now.
Those who died, are in their graves [hell].
Their souls (your topic) clings to the ground and they have turned into dust -
those who have been dead for quite sometime.

But what sins do Catholics commit against God in their rituals?

Plenty. But the heaviest is...

Did the priest use the left hand?
Did the devotee received the sign on her cheek?

Revelation 20:4

Do Catholics make graven images unto themselves and worship them?
Does Catholic liturgy commit idolatry in any way, shape or form?

Is Holy Communion not mentioned in the Bible?
My Methodist church practiced Holy Communion on some occasions though its sole absolute authority was the Holy Bible.

That's me on my first communion.
The communion of the Roman Catholic doctrine is different from
The holy supper of the Lord Jesus Christ written in the Bible.
The Communion is a white waffer, not unleavened bread
And the priest gets to drink while we don't - is that right?

Luke 22:17 New International Version (NIV)
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.

NB: Got to go to church today. It's worship service day.

 

[blü 2]

I've knew one Catholic boy in high school who thought "soul" meant a "dead person".

I once asked a methodist pastor what the word "soul" meant. He said YOU are the SOUL.

I once heard a radio preacher claim that a SOUL can't exist without a BODY whether dead or alive.

Some claim the SOUL temporarily leaves the BODY when a living person sneezes.

Some claim the BODY is the temple of the SOUL.

Some claim the human soul is immortal.

Sometimes the term soul is used for a human being whether living or dead. "I don't know a single soul in China."

Some claim animals have no souls.

My mother, raised a Catholic, claims that the soul leaves a person's body summarily upon death. It has no reason to stick around the body forever.

George Harrison of the Beatles said that the body is merely a suit of clothing worn by the soul and that the soul continues to receive a new suit following the death of each subsequent human body that possess it over a number of lifetimes.

To me, the SOUL is life and consciousness and it's possible that the SOUL is immortal. True or absolute death is the termination of the soul's existence. To me the soul, not the body, is what defines each individual human person. The body I wear in this physical life is not so much the "TRUE ME" as is my one unique SOUL in this universe. How many bodies has my soul worn in the past? I don't know and can't recall. How many bodies shall my soul wear in the future? Can my soul just go on eternally with no more attached physical bodies to follow? Only God knows.


Here is the SOUL according to the dictionary:

soul
[sohl]

noun

the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.

the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come:arguing the immortality of the soul.

the disembodied spirit of a deceased person:He feared the soul of the deceased would haunt him.

the emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.

a human being; person.

high-mindedness; noble warmth of feeling, spirit or courage, etc.

the animating principle; the essential element or part of something.

the inspirer or moving spirit of some action, movement, etc.

the embodiment of some quality:He was the very soul of tact.

( initial capital letter ) Christian Science . God; the divine source of all identity and individuality.

shared ethnic awareness and pride among black people, especially black Americans.

deeply felt emotion, as conveyed or expressed by a performer or artist.
soul music.

adjective
of, characteristic of, or for black Americans or their culture:soul newspapers.

>A famous experiment< which Dr Duncan MacDougall conducted in 1907 concluded that the soul weighed three quarters of an ounce (usually expressed as 21 g). It therefore purported to demonstrate that the soul was real and had mass.

MacDougall's methodology has been severely criticized, and no one has replicated his results. These days the standard position is that the soul is 'immaterial', 'spirit' or 'supernatural', none of which can be distinguished from 'imaginary'.

Which is a good way to approach it. The soul is anything you'd like it to be, and very likely someone somewhere sometime will have already agreed with you.

 

[MJFlores]

Does the Bible prohibit any practices of the rosary? What prohibitions against the Mass are written in Scripture?

The Bible is the world of God.
It contains what God wants and God doesn't want
One of the things God doesn't want is adopting the practices of pagans

In fact God abandoned Israel when they adopted pagan customs:

Isaiah 2:6 New International Version (NIV)
You, Lord, have abandoned your people,
the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
they practice divination like the Philistines
and embrace pagan customs

.The Holy Rosary (/ˈroʊzəri/; Latin: rosarium, in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"),[1] also known as the Dominican Rosary,[2][3] refers to a form of prayer used in the Catholic Church and to the string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. Rosary - Wikipedia

Beads are among the earliest human ornaments and ostrich shell beads in Africa date to 10,000 BC.[1] Over the centuries various cultures have made beads from a variety of materials from stone and shells to clay.[1]

The English word bead derives from the Old English noun bede which means a prayer.[2][3][4][5] The oldest image of a string of beads in a religious context and resembling a string of prayer beads is found on the fresco of the "Adorants" (or "Worshipers") at the Xeste 3 building of the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, Santorini (Thera,) Greece (Wall Paintings of Thera.)[6] dating from the 17th c. BC (c. 1613 BC.) The exact origins of prayer beads remain uncertain, but their earliest historical use probably traces to Hindu prayers in India.[1][3][7] Buddhism probably borrowed the concept from Hinduism.[1][3] The statue of a Hindu holy man with beads dates to the third century BC.[3][7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_beads

According to a Dominican tradition, the rosary was given to Saint Dominic in an apparition by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 1214 in the church of Prouille. This Marian apparition received the title of Our Lady of the Rosary.
History of the Rosary - Wikipedia

How to Pray the Rosary - dummies

Matthew 6:7 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
“And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them.

 

[MrMrdevincamus]

To me, the SOUL is life and consciousness and it's possible that the SOUL is immortal. True or absolute death is the termination of the soul's existence. To me the soul, not the body, is what defines each individual human person. The body I wear in this physical life is not so much the >>>>>>>>>>>PARTIAL QUOTE>>>>>>>>

"TRUE ME" as is my one unique SOUL in this universe. How many bodies has my soul worn in the past? I don't know and can't recall. How many bodies shall my soul wear in the future? Can my soul just go on eternally with no more attached physical bodies to follow? Only God knows.

<<<<<<<<PARTIAL QUOTE<<<<<<<<<<<

I usually struggle with threads that ask questions like this thread's title. Does the author want a definition that was learned by rote? Is an definition from a text book etc wanted? What about a definition or explanation that depended on self study or by advanced schooling or lastly is the author asking for a gut feeling, or an definition borne from life experience and intuition? But in this case I think I know what you are asking. So, your definition and belief's of soul are very similar to mine except for the part where you seem to be suggesting we are reincarnated. Reincarnation is an ancient, beautiful concept. The closest thing to reincarnation is memories that seem to be before birth. I am not claiming they are real memories because I have no proof etc. I seem to remember fragmented bits as I said that seem to happen before birth. In those dreams there are people I could only hear but not see who were advising me that if I accept this adventure (life) I can not go back (to an spiritual existence?). I also remember not knowing the concept of time or of physical sensation.....Then there is a blank until I am a year or two old. But no, I can not believe in reincarnation even though I would like to, I don't.

 

[Hawkins]

You need to first understand the Jewish concept of a soul back in the days when the Bible was written. Jews in majority (especially Hebrew speakers) back then adapted the Pharisaic concept that soul is the immortal part of a person. The Essenes adapted the same concept but it's rejected by the Sadducees.

The next will be the reasoning why an immortal soul is needed. It's all about valid witnessing. If you committed a crime then disappeared for 10 years and then come back with a complete different body, different finger print, different DNA, then who can tell that you are the same person who committed the crime? "Only God knows" is not always a good witnessing (in the case of Jesus sometimes it stands as a valid witnessing though). Planet earth is actually a place for a valid witnessing to stand such that each and every human can be judged openly in the final Judgment Day.

Another example is, you committed a crime and somehow died, only few know this. Someone then cloned you to stand trial and you are now jailed for a life imprisonment. Is it a fair judgment? This can be said the same in the case of the Resurrection and Judgment. That's why and how a soul is needed to stand valid witnessing on identifying each and every person such that whatever you did on day 1 can be tracked back billion years later in an eternity.

That being said. A soul is the real you, while your physical body is just a replica residing in this material space. At the point of your death, your soul will start to take over to represent the real you. It's resided in an adjacent space the Jews reckoned as Sheol or Hades in Greek. A human is designed to live in stages. Earth is more like a stage 1 of an eternity. That's why other than a soul you need something which is stage dependent. It's the spirit which does the job. The spirit carries something such as your earthly emotions and affections till the point of your death.

At the point of your death, the spirit leaves you, it's said to have returned to God. At the same time it means that, after your death you (your soul) will no longer have the same love for your parents or children. It's analog to your ex boyfriends or girlfriends, you still have memories about them, but your love for them is gone.

Thus you have a soul, a spirit, and a body which serves as an image for other humans to reckon you as you. Entities other than physical humans can reckon who you are through your soul instead of your body.

 

[74x12]

I've knew one Catholic boy in high school who thought "soul" meant a "dead person".

I once asked a methodist pastor what the word "soul" meant. He said YOU are the SOUL.

I once heard a radio preacher claim that a SOUL can't exist without a BODY whether dead or alive.

Some claim the SOUL temporarily leaves the BODY when a living person sneezes.

Some claim the BODY is the temple of the SOUL.

Some claim the human soul is immortal.

Sometimes the term soul is used for a human being whether living or dead. "I don't know a single soul in China."

Some claim animals have no souls.

My mother, raised a Catholic, claims that the soul leaves a person's body summarily upon death. It has no reason to stick around the body forever.

George Harrison of the Beatles said that the body is merely a suit of clothing worn by the soul and that the soul continues to receive a new suit following the death of each subsequent human body that possess it over a number of lifetimes.

To me, the SOUL is life and consciousness and it's possible that the SOUL is immortal. True or absolute death is the termination of the soul's existence. To me the soul, not the body, is what defines each individual human person. The body I wear in this physical life is not so much the "TRUE ME" as is my one unique SOUL in this universe. How many bodies has my soul worn in the past? I don't know and can't recall. How many bodies shall my soul wear in the future? Can my soul just go on eternally with no more attached physical bodies to follow? Only God knows.


Here is the SOUL according to the dictionary:

soul
[sohl]

noun

the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.

the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come:arguing the immortality of the soul.

the disembodied spirit of a deceased person:He feared the soul of the deceased would haunt him.

the emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.

a human being; person.

high-mindedness; noble warmth of feeling, spirit or courage, etc.

the animating principle; the essential element or part of something.

the inspirer or moving spirit of some action, movement, etc.

the embodiment of some quality:He was the very soul of tact.

( initial capital letter ) Christian Science . God; the divine source of all identity and individuality.

shared ethnic awareness and pride among black people, especially black Americans.

deeply felt emotion, as conveyed or expressed by a performer or artist.
soul music.

adjective
of, characteristic of, or for black Americans or their culture:soul newspapers.

In my personal belief. It's your stream of consciousness. Your continual awareness and thinking.

So it's you really. But, it can be within the body or in your spiritual body. Which everyone human has a body(physical) soul, and spirit.

So the soul can be out of the physical body; but it would be in the spirit.

 

[osgart]

By experience the soul is a unified heart, mind, and will of an individual living entity. Soul is the recognition of one's complete individual self being.

How is this entity rooted in the physical?

How do you translate memory, understanding, reason, heart attributes, will, conceptualization, interpretation, experience, personality, and the unified accordance of these attributes to purely physical processes without undermining, and explaining away the experience of self? Comparing the brain to the experience of self is like trying to compare apples with computers, they are starkly different realities.

Even being rooted in the physical, the brain, and the soul are realities unto themselves, they speak a totally different language.

How do you compare a physical bit to a heartfelt sense of gratitude, and love? It goes way past a physical feeling! Good luck with the explanation!

Spiritual things are spiritual, and they fall in the range of the undetectable.

The brain can explain the category of physical experience only. The five senses!

I dont know why people are so adamant about doing away with soul and spirit language, because there are real distinctions therein.

 

[syo]

What is the Christian definition of the word "soul"?

The Christian definition is the soul is a product made from God.

 

[Michelle71]

I see soul as an immortal spark of life that dwells either in the blood or within other dimensions. I believe it has consciousness. I believe it is the thing that is life and ignites life.

 

[Mark La Buda]

The connotations that the English “soul” commonly carries in the minds of most persons are not in agreement with the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words as used by the inspired Bible writers.

The original-language terms (Heb., ne'phesh [נפׁש]; Gr., psy·khe' [ψυχή]) as used in the Scriptures show “soul” to be a person, an animal, or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. In other words, it is not that we have a soul, but that we are a soul.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the meanings popularly attached to the English word “soul” stem primarily, not from the Hebrew or Christian Greek Scriptures, but from ancient Greek philosophy, actually pagan religious thought. Greek philosopher Plato, for example, quotes Socrates as saying: “The soul,…if it departs pure, dragging with it nothing of the body,…goes away into that which is like itself, into the invisible, divine, immortal, and wise, and when it arrives there it is happy, freed from error and folly and fear…and all the other human ills, and . . . lives in truth through all after time with the gods.”-Phaedo, 80, D, E; 81, A.

In direct contrast with the Greek teaching of the psy·khe' (soul) as being immaterial, intangible, invisible, and immortal, the Scriptures show that both psy·khe' and ne'phesh, as used with reference to earthly creatures, refer to that which is material, tangible, visible, and mortal.

There is, in fact, not one case in the entire Scriptures, Hebrew and Greek, in which the words ne'phesh or psy·khe' are modified by terms such as immortal, indestructible, imperishable, deathless, or the like. On the other hand, there are scores of texts in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures that speak of the ne'phesh or psy·khe' (soul) as mortal and subject to death (Genesis 19:19, 20; Numbers 23:10; Joshua 2:13, 14; Judges 5:18; 16:16, 30; 1 Kings 20:31, 32; Psalms 22:29; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Matthew 2:20; 26:38; Mark 3:4; Hebrews 10:39; James 5:20); as dying, being “cut off” or destroyed (Genesis 17:14; Exodus 12:15; Leviticus 7:20; 23:29; Joshua 10:28-39; Psalms 78:50; Ezekiel 13:19; 22:27; Acts 3:23; Revelation 8:9; 16:3), whether by sword (Joshua 10:37; Ezekiel 33:6) or by suffocation (Job 7:15), or being in danger of death due to drowning (Jonas 2:5); and also as going down into the pit or into Sheol (Job 33:22; Psalms 89:48) or being delivered from there.-Psalms 16:10; 30:3; 49:15; Proverbs 23:14.

Consider a few scriptures that show that God has a soul: 1 Samuel 2:35; Isaiah 1:14; 42:1; Jeremiah 5:9; 6:8; 12:7; 14:19; Matthew 12:18; Hebrews 10:38.

 

[Heyo]

"Soul", like so many religious concepts, seems to be a hollow word. Everyone has the illusion to understand what it means but nobody does. Evidence: the answers in this OP. No two definitions match.