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Soul
We hear and read the term “soul” frequently. We read in
Acts 7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
We listen to “soul music”, eat “soul food” and have ministers and theologians who say that man is a “tri-partite” being consisting of “spirit, soul, and body” while other (me among them) who say man is a “bi-partite (2) being, consisting of “spirit, and body”. When you ask those religious people “what is soul” you get all sorts of answers including some who say that “soul” is the spiritual part of man, some that speak of “soul” as “life force”, almost always muddy, vague answers.
Let me try to shed a little light, though I may only stir the darkness:
I wish we could find a single scriptural “proof text” that expressed God's definition but the Bible is God's word written in human language, the languages we people speak with all the historical and cultural influences those have and there are at least two distinct scriptural usages of the word “soul”. The first usage I call “The Hebrew model” and is used in Acts 7: 14 as quoted above but was first used in the creation account given in Genesis 2 where we are told in Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust3 of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”. Notice, it does not say, “so man has a soul” but “man became a living soul”.
That seems pretty simple but there are scriptural instances which seem to refer to humans as having 'souls'. The apostle Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless unto the com
The idea that humans “have” a soul has led to some unusual theological ideas including “the tansmigration of sols” and “soul sleep”.
I don’t think that God has revealed an absolute way to look at the concept of “soul” but I prefer to think that I AM a soul rather than that I HAVE a soul.
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Posted by lva647 on 2008-02-26 20:02:23 | Rating: | Views: 37
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That's an interesting point. I've been taught "I am a spirit, that has a soul, and lives in a body," and that the soul is the "mind, will, and emotions." However, I never took into consideration the other uses of the word soul in Scripture, plus I've always wondered if the soul is the minde, will, and emotions, what is the Spirit? God breathed the breath of life (pneuma, spirit) into man and he became a "living soul". We know that from sin, we are "dead in our sins" but also dead in our thinking and our works. We refer to that as being spiritually dead, but does the Bible say that? What part of us is dead w/o Christ? Our soul or our spirit? or are they one in the same? What does David mean when he speaks to his soul? What does Paul mean when he said he wants them to prosper even as their souls prospered? In those cases were they making a distinction or were they making the spirit and soul the same. I think I'm going to study this now. :-) Thanks for the homework.
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Posted by JMlessons
on 2008-06-08 11:40:37
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