The answer of hell and its origins

[The Learner]

2. When people die, Scripture says either that the “soul” departs or the “spirit” departs.
When Rachel died, the Bible says, “Her soul was departing (for she died)” (Genesis 35:18). Elijah prays that the dead child’s “soul” would come into him again (1 Kings 17:21), and Isaiah predicts that the Servant of the Lord would “pour out his soul [Hebrew “nephesh”] to death” (Isaiah 53:12). In the New Testament God tells the rich fool, “This night your soul [Greek “psychē”] is required of you” (Luke 12:20).

Other times death is viewed as the spirit returning to God. So David can pray, in words later quoted by Jesus on the cross, “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5, see also Luke 23:46). At death, “the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). When Jesus was dying, “he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30), and likewise Stephen prayed before he died, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).

A trichotomist might argue that these passages are still treating the soul and spirit as different things, for when a person dies both soul and spirit go to heaven. But Scripture never says that a person’s “soul and spirit” departed or went to heaven or were yielded to God. If soul and spirit were separate things, we would expect that would be affirmed somewhere, if only to assure the reader that no essential part of the person is left behind. But the biblical authors do not seem to care whether they say that the soul departs or the spirit departs at death, for both seem to mean the same thing.

 

[The Learner]

3. Man is said to be either “body and soul” or “body and spirit.”
Jesus tells us not to fear those who “kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” but that we should rather “fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

Here the word “soul” clearly refers to the part of a person that exists after death. It cannot mean “person” or “life,” for it would not make sense to speak of those who “kill the body but cannot kill the person,” or who “kill the body but cannot kill the life,” unless there is some aspect of the person that lives on after the body is dead. Furthermore, when Jesus talks about “soul and body” he seems to be clearly talking about the entire person even though he does not mention “spirit” as a separate component. The word “soul” seems to stand for the entire nonphysical part of man.

However, man is also sometimes said to be “body and spirit.” Paul wants the Corinthian church to deliver a sinful brother to Satan “for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Paul hasn’t forgotten that the man’s soul would be saved, too; he simply uses the word “spirit” to refer to the man’s entire immaterial existence.

Similarly, James says that “the body apart from the spirit is dead” (James 2:26), but mentions nothing about a separate soul. And when Paul speaks of growth in personal holiness, he approves the woman who is concerned with “how to be holy in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34), and he suggests that this covers the whole of the person’s life. He’s even more explicit in 2 Corinthians 7:1: “let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.” Cleansing ourselves from defilement of the “soul” or of the “spirit” covers the whole immaterial side of our existence (see also Romans 8:10, 1 Corinthians 5:3, and Colossians 2:5).

 

[The Learner]

4. The “soul” can sin or the “spirit” can sin.
Verses such as 1 Peter 1:22 and Revelation 18:14 seem to imply that our souls can sin. Those who hold to trichotomy will usually agree that the “soul” can sin since they think that the soul includes the intellect, the emotions, and the will.

The trichotomist, however, generally thinks of the “spirit” as purer than the soul, and, when renewed, as free from sin and responsive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This understanding (which sometimes finds its way into popular Christian preaching and writing) is not really supported by the biblical text:

When Paul encourages the Corinthians to cleanse themselves “from every defilement of body and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1), he clearly implies that there can be defilement (or sin) in our spirits.
Similarly, he speaks of the unmarried woman who is concerned with how to be holy “in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34).
The Lord hardened the “spirit” of Sihon the king of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:30).
Psalm 78 speaks of the rebellious people of Israel “whose spirit was not faithful to God” (Psalm 78:8).
A “haughty spirit” goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), and it is possible for sinful people to be “proud in spirit” (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
Isaiah speaks of those “who err in spirit” (Isaiah 29:24).
Nebuchadnezzar’s “spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly” (Daniel 5:20). T
he fact that “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit” (Proverbs 16:2) implies that it is possible for our spirits to be wrong in God’s sight.
Other verses imply a possibility of sin in our spirits (see Psalm 32:2 and 51:10).
Finally, the fact that Scripture approves of one “who rules his spirit” (Proverbs 16:32) implies that our spirits are not simply the spiritually pure parts of our lives that are to be followed in all cases, but that they can have sinful desires or directions as well.
The Bible seems to suggest that both the soul and the spirit can sin, which could be because they are the same thing.

5. The soul can do everything the spirit can, and the spirit can do everything the soul can.
Those who advocate trichotomy face a difficult problem defining exactly what the difference is between the soul and the spirit. If Scripture clearly supported the idea that our spirit is the part of us that directly relates to God in worship and prayer, while our soul includes our intellect (thinking), our emotions (feeling), and our will (deciding), then trichotomists would have a strong case. But Scripture doesn’t appear to allow such a distinction.

The activities of thinking, feeling, and deciding things aren’t only said to be done by our souls. Our spirits can also experience emotions. Paul’s “spirit was provoked within him” (Acts 17:16), and Jesus was “troubled in spirit” (John 13:21). It’s also possible to have a “downcast spirit,” which is the opposite of a “cheerful heart” (Proverbs 17:22).

The functions of knowing, perceiving, and thinking are also said to be done by our spirits. For instance, Mark speaks of Jesus “perceiving [Greek “epiginōskō”, ‘knowing’] in his spirit” (Mark 2:8). When the Holy Spirit “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16), our spirits receive and understand that witness, which is certainly a function of knowing something. In fact, our spirits seem to know our thoughts quite deeply, for Paul asks, “What person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11). (See also Isaiah 29:24, which speaks of those who now “err in spirit” but “will come to understanding.”)

 

[The Learner]

“Soul” and “spirit” are both general terms to describe the immaterial side of people, and it’s difficult to see any real distinction between their use in Scripture.

Learn more in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology online course.

Trichotomy: Body, soul, and spirit?
Finally, let’s look at the reasons some scholars believe people have the soul and spirit are distinct. While many of these reasons start with Scripture, most scholars challenge them. We’ll look at the counter-arguments as well.

Paul lists body, soul, and spirit together
1 Thessalonians 5:23 appears to suggest there are three parts to every person: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

By itself, the phrase “your spirit and soul and body” is inconclusive. Other passages of Scripture pile up synonyms for emphasis, and that could be what Paul is doing here. For example, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Is Jesus indicating that the soul is different from the mind or the heart? This problem is even greater in Mark 12:30: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

If we believe that lists of terms tell us about the distinct parts to a person, then when we add spirit to this list (and perhaps body as well), we have five or six separate parts! It’s far better to understand Jesus as simply piling up roughly synonymous terms for emphasis to demonstrate that we must love God with all of our being. Likewise, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul is not saying that soul and spirit are distinct entities, but simply that, whatever our immaterial part is called, he wants God to continue to sanctify us wholly to the day of Christ.

The Word of God divides soul and spirit
Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” If the sword of Scripture divides soul and spirit, doesn’t that make them two separate things?

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

Similar to the argument about 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the author isn’t saying that the Word of God can divide “soul from spirit,” but he is using a number of terms (soul, spirit, joints, marrow, thoughts and intentions of the heart) that speak of the deep inward parts of our being that are not hidden from the penetrating power of the Word of God. If we call this our “soul,” then Scripture pierces into it, divides it, and discovers our inmost intentions and thoughts. If we call this our “spirit,” then Scripture penetrates into it, divides it, and discovers our inmost intentions and thoughts.

Or if we wish to think metaphorically of our inmost being as hidden in our joints and marrow, then we can think of Scripture being like a sword that divides our joints or that pierces deeply into our bones and even divides the marrow in the midst of the bones. In all of these cases the Word of God is so powerful that it searches out and exposes all disobedience to God. In any case, soul and spirit are not treated as separate parts here, they are simply additional terms for our inmost being.

Paul suggests that there are “unspiritual” and “spiritual” people
1 Corinthians 2:14–3:4 speaks of three different kinds of people:

Those who are “of the flesh” (Greek “sarkinos,” 1 Cor. 3:1).
Those who are “unspiritual” (Greek “psychikos,” literally “soul-ish,” 1 Cor. 2:14).
Those who are “spiritual” (Greek “pneumatikos,” 1 Cor. 2:15).
These categories seem to suggest that there are non-Christians who are “of the flesh,” “unspiritual” Christians who follow the desires of their souls, and more mature Christians who follow the desires of their spirits. Doesn’t this suggest that soul and spirit are different?

 

[The Learner]

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

Paul certainly distinguishes a person who is “natural” (psychikos, “soul-ish”) from one that is “spiritual” (pneumatikos, “spiritual”) in 1 Corinthians 2:14–3:4. But in this context “spiritual” seems to mean “influenced by the Holy Spirit,” since the entire passage is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing truth to believers. But the passage doesn’t imply that Christians have a spirit and non-Christians don’t, or that the spirit of a Christian is alive and the spirit of a non-Christian isn’t. Paul isn’t talking about different parts of man at all, but about being influenced by the Holy Spirit.

Paul appears to make a distinction between his spirit and his mind
When Paul says, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14), isn’t he implying that his mind does something different from his spirit? And doesn’t this support the trichotomist’s argument that our mind and our thinking are part of our souls, not our spirit?

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

When Paul says, “My spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful,” he means he does not understand the what he is praying. He implies that there is a nonphysical component to his being, a “spirit” within him that can pray to God. But nothing in this verse suggests that he regards his spirit as different from his soul. This misunderstanding only makes sense if we assume that “mind” is part of the soul—a trichotomist claim that, as we noted above, is very difficult to substantiate from Scripture. Paul probably could have just as easily said, “My soul prays but my mind is unfruitful.” There’s a nonphysical element to our existence that can function apart from our conscious awareness of it, but that doesn’t mean we can distinguish between soul and spirit.

We can feel things that aren’t emotions or thoughts
Many trichotomists say that they have a spiritual perception or awareness of God’s presence that affects them differently than their ordinary thinking processes and emotional experiences.

They ask, “If I do not have a spirit that is distinct from my thoughts and my emotions, then what is it that I feel that is different from my thoughts and my emotions, something that I can only describe as worshiping God in my spirit and sensing his presence in my spirit? Isn’t there something in me that is more than just my intellect and my emotions and my will, and shouldn’t this be called my spirit?”

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

Christians have a “spiritual perception” or inner awareness of the presence of God experienced in worship and in prayer. At this deep inward level we can also at times feel spiritually troubled, or depressed, or perhaps have a sense of the presence of hostile demonic forces. Often this perception is distinct from our conscious, rational thought processes. As we discussed above, Paul realizes that at times his spirit prays but his mind does not understand (1 Corinthians 14:14).

But does inward spiritual perception occur in something other than what the Bible calls our “soul”? If we were using the vocabulary of Mary, we would be happy to say, “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46). David would say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul” (Psalm 103:1). Jesus would tell us to love God with all our soul (Mark 12:30). The apostle Paul uses the word spirit, but it is simply a difference in terminology and doesn’t point to a different part of man. There’s a “spirit” within us that can perceive things in the spiritual realm (see Romans 8:16 and Acts 17:16), but we could just as well speak of it as our “soul” and mean the same thing, for Scripture uses both terms interchangeably.

Animals have souls, too, but only humans have spirits
Some trichotomists argue that both humans and animals have souls, and that the presence of a spirit is what makes us different from animals.

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

We certainly have spiritual abilities that make us different from animals: we are able to relate to God in worship and prayer, and we enjoy spiritual life in fellowship with God who is spirit. But we shouldn’t assume that we have a distinct element called “spirit” that allows us to do this. We can use our minds we can love God, read and understand his words, and believe his Word to be true. Our souls can worship God and rejoice in him. Our bodies will also be resurrected and live with God forever.

We don’t have to label a part distinct from our souls and bodies in order to be different from animals. Our souls and bodies (including our minds) relate to God in ways animals never can. What makes us different from animals is the spiritual abilities that God has given to both our bodies and souls (or spirits).

The question of whether an animal has a “soul” simply depends on how we define soul. If we define “soul” to mean “the intellect, emotions, and will,” then we will have to conclude that at least the higher animals have a soul. But if we define our “soul” as the immaterial element of our nature that relates to God (Psalm 103:1, Luke 1:46, and so on) and lives forever (Revelation 6:9), then animals don’t have a soul. The fact that the Hebrew word nephesh, “soul,” is sometimes used of animals (Genesis 1:21 and 9:4) shows that the word can sometimes simply mean “life.” That doesn’t mean that animals have the same kind of soul as man.

The Bible says our spirits are alive in Christ
Trichotomists also argue that when we become Christians our spirits come alive: “But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10). If all people have souls, but only Christians have spirits that are “alive,” doesn’t this imply a distinction between soul and spirit?

Why this doesn’t support trichotomy:

The Bible talks about unbelievers having a spirit that is obviously alive but is in rebellion against God—whether Sihon, King of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:30: the Lord “hardened his spirit”), or Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:20: “his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly”), or the unfaithful people of Israel (Psalm 78:8: their “spirit was not faithful to God”). Clearly, Christians aren’t the only ones who have spirits.

When Paul says, “Your spirits are alive because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10), he apparently means “alive to God,” but he doesn’t imply that our spirits were completely “dead” before, only that they were living out of fellowship with God and were dead in that sense. In the same way, we as whole persons were “dead” in “trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), but we were made alive to God, and we now must consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God” (Romans 6:11).

It’s not just one part of us (the spirit) that has been made alive in Christ. We are a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We should think of the soul and spirit as the same thing
If we hold to a view of dichotomy that upholds the overall unity of man, it will be much easier to avoid the error of depreciating the value of our intellects, emotions, or physical bodies. We don’t have to think of our bodies as inherently evil or unimportant. There is a continual interaction between our body and our spirit, and they affect each other: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).

Seeing the soul and spirit as synonymous terms for our complete immaterial being reminds us that Christian growth includes all aspects of our lives. We are continually to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). We are to be “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10), and our emotions and desires are to conform increasingly to the “desires of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:17), including an increase in godly emotions such as peace, joy, love, and so forth (Galatians 5:22).

Learn more in Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology online course.


Wayne Grudem
Wayne Grudem is research professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona. He holds degrees from Harvard (AB), Westminster Theological Seminary (MDiv, DD), and Cambridge (PhD). He is the author of more than a dozen books including the bestselling Systematic Theology. His new Systematic Theology online course is now available.

What Is the Soul? Is It Different from the Spirit?

Whether they loosely believe in a concept like “the human spirit,” or they believe part of them will live on when their body expires, these beliefs about body, spirit, and soul all come from somewhere. You might be surprised to learn that much of what people believe about the soul or spirit doesn’t…

zondervanacademic.com

 

[The Learner]

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Soul​

Soul [N]
The Old Testament. The Hebrew word so rendered is nepes [v,p,n]. It appears 755 times in the Old Testament. The King James Version uses 42 different English terms to translate it. The two most common renderings are "soul" (428 times) and "life" (117 times). It is the synchronic use of nepes [v,p,n] that determines its meaning rather than the diachronic. Hebrew is inclined to use one and the same word for a variety of functions that are labeled with distinct words in English.
Nepes [v,p,n] in the Old Testament is never the "immortal soul" but simply the life principle or living being. Such is observable in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, where the qualified (living) nepes [v,p,n] refers to animals and is rendered "living creatures." The same Hebrew term is then applied to the creation of humankind in Genesis 2:7, where dust is vitalized by the breath of God and becomes a "living being." Thus, human being shares soul with the animals. It is the breath of God that makes the lifeless dust a "living being" — person.
Frequently in the Old Testament nepes [v,p,n] designates the individual ( Lev 17:10 ; 23:30 ). In its plural form it indicates a number of individuals such as Abraham's party ( Gen 12:5 ), the remnant left behind in Judah ( Jer 43:6 ), and the offspring of Leah ( Gen 46:15 ).
Nepes [v,p,n] qualified by "dead" means a dead individual, a corpse ( Num 6:6 ). More significant here is that nepes [v,p,n] can mean the corpse of an individual even without the qualification "dead" ( Num 5:2 ; 6:11 ). Here nepes [v,p,n] is detached from the concept of life and refers to the corpse. Hebrew thought could not conceive of a disembodied nepes [v,p,n].
Frequently nepes [v,p,n] takes the place of a personal or reflexive pronoun ( Psalm 54:4 ; Prov 18:7 ). Admittedly this movement from the nominal to the pronominal is without an exact borderline. The Revised Standard Version reflects the above understanding of nepes [v,p,n] by replacing the King James Version "soul" with such translations as "being, " "one, " "self, " "I/me."
Nepes [v,p,n] is also used to designate parts of the body, primarily to stress their characteristics and functions. It can refer to the throat ( Isa 5:14 ; Hab 2:5 ), noting that it can be parched and dry ( Num 11:6 ; Jeremiah 31:12 Jeremiah 31:25 ), discerning ( Prov 16:23 ), hungry ( Num 21:5 ), and breathing ( Jer 2:24 ). Nepes [v,p,n] also can mean the neck, and the vital function that takes place there, noting that it can be ensnared ( 1 Sam 28:9 ; Psalm 105:18 ), humbled and endangered ( Prov 18:7 ), and bowed to the ground ( Psalm 44:25 ). Even while focusing on a single part of the body, by synecodoche the whole person is represented.

 

[The Learner]

Nepes [v,p,n] is often used to express physical needs such as hunger ( Deut 12:20 ; 1 Sam 2:16 ) and thirst ( Prov 25:25 ). It can be used of excessive desires (gluttony Prov 23:2 ) and of unfulfilled desires (barrenness 1 Sam 1:15 ). Volitional/spiritual yearning is also assigned to nepes [v,p,n], such as the desire for God ( Psalm 42:1-2 ), justice ( Isa 26:8-9 ), evil ( Prov 21:10 ), and political power ( 2 Sam 3:21 ). Emotions are expressed by nepes [v,p,n] so that it feels hate (so used of Yahweh Isa 1:14 ), grief ( Jer 13:17 ), joy and exultation, disquietude ( Psalm 42:5 ), and unhappiness ( 1 Sam 1:15 ).
Clearly, then, in the Old Testament a mortal is a living soul rather than having a soul. Instead of splitting a person into two or three parts, Hebrew thought sees a unified being, but one that is profoundly complex, a psychophysical being.
The New Testament. The counterpart to nepes [v,p,n] in the New Testament is psyche [yuchv] (nepes [v,p,n] is translated as psyche [yuchv] six hundred times in the Septaugint). Compared to nepes [v,p,n] in the Old Testament, psyche [yuchv] appears relatively infrequently in the New Testament. This may be due to the fact that nepes [v,p,n] is used extensively in poetic literature, which is more prevalent in the Old Testament than the New Testament. The Pauline Epistles concentrate more on soma [sw'ma] (body) and pneuma [pneu'ma] (spirit) than psyche [yuchv].
This word has a range of meanings similar to nepes [v,p,n]. It frequently designates life: one can risk his life ( John 13:37 ; Acts 15:26 ; Rom 16:4 ; Php 2:30 ), give his life ( Matt 20:28 ), lay down his life ( John 10:15 John 10:17-18 ), forfeit his life ( Matt 16:26 ), hate his life ( Luke 14:26 ), and have his life demanded of him ( Luke 12:20 ).
Psyche, as its Old Testament counterpart, can indicate the person ( Acts 2:41 ; 27:37 ). It also serves as the reflexive pronoun designating the self ("I'll say to myself" Luke 12:19 ; "as my witness" 2 Cor 1:23 ; "share our lives" 1 Thess 2:8 ).
Psyche can express emotions such as grief ( Matt 26:38, ; Mark 14:34 ), anguish ( John 12:27 ), exultation ( Luke 1:46 ), and pleasure ( Matt 12:18 ).
The adjectival form "soulish" indicates a person governed by the sensuous nature with subjection to appetite and passion. Such a person is "natural/unspiritual" and cannot receive the gifts of God's Spirit because they make no sense to him ( 1 Cor 2:14-15 ). As in the Old Testament, the soul relates humans to the animal world ( 1 Cor 15:42-50 ) while it is the spirit of people that allows a dynamic relationship with God.
There are passages where psyche [yuchv] stands in contrast to the body, and there it seems to refer to an immortal part of man. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" ( Matt 10:28 ). While Scripture generally addresses humans as unitary beings, there are such passages that seem to allow divisibility within unity.

Carl Schultz​

See also Person, Personhood; Spirit
Bibliography. W. Dryness, Themes in Old Testament Theology; R. H. Gundry, Somma in Biblical Theology; R. Jewett, Paul's Anthropological Terms; N. Snaith, The Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament; H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament.
Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Edited by Walter A. Elwell
Copyright © 1996 by Walter A. Elwell. Published by Baker Books, a division of
Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan USA.

 

[The Learner]

KJV Dictionary Definition: soul​

soul​

SOUL, n.

1. The spiritual, rational and immortal substance in man, which distinguishes him from brutes; that part of man which enables him to think and reason, and which renders him a subject of moral government. The immortality of the soul is a fundamental article of the christian system. Such is the nature of the human soul that it must have a God, an object of supreme affection.

2. The understanding; the intellectual principle. The eyes of our soul then only begin to see, when our bodily eye are closing.

3. Vital principle. Thou son, of this great world both eye and soul.

4. Spirit; essence; chief part; as charity, the soul of all the virtues. Emotion is the soul of eloquence.

5. Life; animation principle or part; as, an able commander is the soul of an army.

6. Internal power. There is some soul of goodness in things evil.

7. A human being; a person. There was no a soul present. In Paris there are more than seven hundred thousand souls. London, Westminster, Southwark and the suburbs, are said to contain twelve hundred thousand souls.

8. Animal life. To deliver their soil from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Ps. 33. 7.

9. Active power. And heaven would fly before the driving soul.

10. Spirit; courage; fire; grandeur of mind. That he wants caution he must needs confess, but not a soul to give our arms success.

11. Generosity; nobleness of mind; a colloquial use.

12. An intelligent being. Every soul in heav'n shall bend the knee.

13. Heart; affection. The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. I Sam. 18.

14. In Scripture, appetite; as the full soul; the hungry soul. Prov. 27. Job 33.

15. A familiar compellation of a person, but often expressing some qualities of the mind; as alas, poor soul; he was a good soul.

SOUL - Definition from the KJV Dictionary

Definition of SOUL and SOULED from the King James Bible Dictionary

av1611.com

 

[The Learner]

Immortality of Martyrs.
The point of view from which the Ḥasidim regarded earthly existence was that man was born for another and a better world than this. Hence Abraham is told by God: "Depart from this vain world; leave the body and go to thy Lord among the good" (Testament of Abraham, i.). The immortality of martyrs was especially dwelt on by the Essenes (Josephus, "B. J." vii. 8, § 7; i. 33, § 2; comp. ii. 8, §§ 10, 14; idem, "Ant." xviii. 1, § 5). The souls of the righteous live like birds (See Jew. Encyc. iii. 219, s.v. Birds) in cages ("columbaria") guarded by angels (IV Esd. vii. 32, 95; Apoc. Baruch, xxi. 23, xxx. 2; comp. Shab. 152b). According to IV Esdras iv. 41 (comp. Yeb. 62a), they are kept in such cages (

) before entering upon earthly existence. The soul of martyrs also have a special place in heaven, according to Enoch (xxii. 12, cii. 4, cviii. 11 et seq.); whereas the Slavonic Enoch (xxiii. 5) teaches that "every soul was created for eternity before the foundation of the world." This Platonic doctrine of the preexistence of the soul (comp. Wisdom viii. 20; Philo, "De Gigantibus," §§ 3 et seq.; idem, "De Somniis," i., § 22) is taught also by the Rabbis, who spoke of a storehouse of the souls in the seventh heaven ("'Arabot"; Sifre, Deut. 344; Ḥag. 12b). In Gen. R. viii. the souls of the righteous are mentioned as counselors of God at the world's creation (comp. the Fravashi in "Farwardin Yast," in "S. B. E." xxiii. 179).

Upon the belief that the soul has a life of its own after death is based the following story: "Said Emperor Antoninus to Judah ha-Nasi, 'Both body and soul could plead guiltless on the day of judgment, as neither sinned without the other.' 'But then,' answered Judah, 'God reunites both for the judgment, holding them both responsible for the sin committed, just as in the fable the blind and the lame are punished in common for aiding each other in stealing the fruit of the orchard'" (Sanh. 91a; Lev. R. iv.). "There is neither eating nor drinking nor any sensual pleasure nor strife in the world to come, but the righteous with their crowns sit around the table of God, feeding upon the splendor of His majesty," said Rab (Ber. 17a), thus insisting that the nature of the soul when freed from the body is purely spiritual, while the common belief loved to dwell upon the banquet prepared for the pious in the world to come (see Eschatology; Leviathan). Hence the saying, "Prepare thyself in the vestibule that thou mayest be admitted into the triclinium"; that is, "Let this world be a preparation for the next" (Ab. iv. 16). The following sayings also indicate a pure conception of the soul's immortality: "The Prophets have spoken only concerning the Messianic future; but concerning the future state of the soul it is said: 'Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him'" (Ber. 34b; comp. I Cor. ii. 9, Greek; Resh, "Agrapha," 1889, p. 154). "When man dies," says R. Meïr, "three sets of angels go forth to welcome him" (Num. R. xii.); this can only refer to the disembodied soul.

 

[The Learner]

The soul is the immaterial part of a person from which flow the actions, thoughts, desires, reasoning, etc. It is separate from the physical body. It is the part of the person that makes a person what he is, alive, aware, able, etc. It is the essence of personhood. Biblical theology teaches that the soul is separate from the body and can exist independently of it (2 Corinthians 5:8).

We are to love the Lord our God with our souls (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37). Our souls are alive (1 Samuel 25:26, 1 Corinthians 15:45), can despair (Deuteronomy 28:65), feel pain (Lamentations 3:51), be annoyed (Judges 16:16), grieved (1 Samuel 2:33, Isaiah 19:10), be bitter (Isaiah 38:15), scorn (Ezekiel 36:5), desire (1 Samuel 23:20), hate (2 Samuel 5:8), can love (Song 3:1, 3), be troubled (2 Kings 4:27), can be redeemed (Job 33:28), be dismayed (Psalm 6:3), can hate (Psalm 11:5), can praise (Psalm 30:12), rejoice (Psalm 35:9), can desire evil (Proverbs 21:10), be wary (Proverbs 25:25), etc.

Soul

The soul is the immaterial part of a person from which flow the actions, thoughts, desires, reasoning, etc. It is separate from the physical body. It is the part of the person that makes a person what he is, alive, aware, able, etc. It is the essence o

carm.org

 

[The Learner]

What is soul care? What is care of the soul? | GotQuestions.org

What is soul care? What is care of the soul? What does the Bible say about soul care?

www.gotquestions.org

What is the difference between the soul and spirit of humanity? | GotQuestions.org

What is the difference between the soul and spirit of humanity? Is the spirit part of the soul, or are the two entirely separate?

www.gotquestions.org

Soul​

In religion and philosophy, the soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, that which confers individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. In theology, the soul is further defined as that part of the individual which partakes of divinity and often is considered to survive the death of the body."^[1]^

Soul vs Spirit​

The soul and the spirit are the two primary immaterial aspects that Scripture ascribes to humanity. It can be confusing to attempt to discern the precise differences between the two. The word “spirit” refers only to the immaterial facet of humanity. Human beings have a spirit, but are we not spirits. The word “soul” can refer to both the immaterial and material aspects of humanity. Unlike human beings having a spirit, human beings are souls. In its most basic sense, the word “soul” means “life.”^[2]^ Specifically, in Genesis 2:7, we see that God breathed the breath of life into Adam, causing Adam to become a “living soul.”

Creationism vs Traducianism​

Creationism teaches that God directly creates all souls individually at the time of conception. Traducianism is the theory that a soul is generated in the process of procreation by the physical parents along with the body.

Problems with the Creationism view​

• God is not the immediate cause of evil. So how can He be the direct creator of a sinful soul? Creationism seems to only work with a Traducian view of the sin nature.
• Creationism makes God's work of creation continue past the Genesis sixth day where we are told that God ceased his creation activity.

Resources​

• J. P. Moreland and Scott B. Rae, Body & Soul: Human Nature & the Crisis in Ethics. IVP, 2000.
• Joel B. Green and Stuart Palmer, eds. In Search Of The Soul: Four Views Of The Mind-body Problem. IVP, 2005.
• Joel B. Green, Body, Soul, and Human Life: The Nature of Humanity in the Bible. Studies in Theological Interpretation. Baker Academic, 2008.
• https://www.theopedia.com/soul

 

[The Learner]

Is There a Difference Between the Spirit and the Soul? – Q&A for July 29, 2021 - Enduring Word

Today's lead topic is, "Is There a Difference Between the Spirit and the Soul?" Pastor David will answer several questions from readers.

enduringword.com

2 Corinthians 5:1-8
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord — for we walk by faith, not by sight — we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

In these two passages, a clear distinction is drawn between the body and the soul. In the Matthew passage, although the word for “soul” (psuche) can be translated in a number of ways, the most reasonable inference here is Paul’s use of the word to describe our dual nature as physical beings with immaterial, everlasting, “souls”. These souls cannot be destroyed by the death of the body. Paul calls the soul our “house” made by God; as soon as we are away from the body we are at home with the Lord. We can learn a lot from these (and other) passages describing the clear disembodied life of the soul (I’ve posted an entire section on the nature of the soul at the ColdCaseChristianity.com website). Here is a quick summary of what the Bible teaches about the nature of our souls:

We Are Immortal Living Souls
There are two realities in the universe: the unseen, immaterial, spiritual realm and the visible, physical, material world. The soul does exist and we, in fact, are living souls. We live, even when our bodies die. (Refer to the passages cited in “What the Bible Does (and Doesn’t) Say About the Life (or Death) of the Soul”)

Souls Return to God
The spiritual world is the realm of God, and as living souls, we are spiritual beings. Therefore, the moment we are not living in the physical world, we will be living in the spiritual world with God. (Refer to Luke 16:19-31, Luke 23:39-43, 2 Corinthians 5:1-8)

Souls Animate Bodies
The soul animates the body. While the soul obviously lives without the body, the body cannot live without the soul. When a soul returns to a lifeless body, the body is said to “rise from the dead” or to be “revived”. We are living souls, and our souls are “seen” in this physical world when they are united with, and animating, our physical bodies. (Refer to Luke 16-19-31, 1 Kings 17:19-23)

Souls Are Active
Even after our bodies die, as living souls, we are not passively waiting for our resurrection bodies. In the time between our physical death and our resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ, we will not be in a state of dormancy. We will be active and available to God. (Refer to Ecclesiastes 12:5-7, Matthew 17:1-3)

Souls Interact
Souls are aware of each other in the spiritual realm. They are able to fellowship and communicate with each other, but it Heaven and Hell are separate spiritual realms. There is no Biblical evidence to support the idea we will have awareness or interaction with the physical world after our physical death. (Refer to Luke 16-19-31)

Souls Have Experiences
Our souls are alive, and for this reason, they share some traits commonly held by physical, living persons. It is possible, for example, for the soul to experience great joy and great torment. (Refer to Luke 16:19-31)

Souls Are Subject to God’s Judgment
Physical death does not end our life. God has complete control over our true life (as living souls), and our final death is not dependent on our body, but is instead dependent on our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. (Refer to Luke 23:39-43, John 11:17-26, John 8:51)

We come to these conclusions about the soul based on what the Scripture teaches us, but none of these characteristics violate or contradict what can be understood about the soul by way of analytical and philosophical reflection. God’s Word makes sense of the world around us. His natural revelation confirms what He’s already revealed to us in His Word. The Bible has much to say about our true nature as living souls created in the image of God.

What Does the Bible Teach About the Nature of the Soul? | Cold Case Christianity

The Bible has much to say about our true nature as living souls created in the image of God.

coldcasechristianity.com

 

[The Learner]

"In his correspondence with the Corinthians, Paul provides two different but complementary accounts of the resurrection, in one emphasizing the resurrection of the body from the earth and in the other the descent of resurrection from above. In 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection is a recreating of the body at death and decomposition, which Paul denotes as a “spiritual body,” imperishable, with its distinct “glory” (15:41)." Created Body and Soul - The Gospel Coalition

 

[The Learner]

Humans have three parts: Body, Soul, and Spirit

The Bible teaches that humans consist of three parts: the body, the soul, and the spirit. This helps us understand sin and regeneration.

redeeminggod.com

What Exactly Is a Soul?

What is a soul, and what does the Catholic Church teach about it? Click here to read a thorough explanation of this ancient Christian doctrine.

www.catholic.com

soul (Heb. nephesh, Gr. psychē, Lat. anima) Primarily, “soul” is the life
principle (Gen. 2:7). For Hebrews it indicated the unity of the person as a living
body. The NT term also refers to one’s life (Matt. 2:20) or existence after death
(Luke 21:19).
soul, creationist view of the The view that God directly creates a new soul
at the instant of one’s conception. This would mean that the soul is not
transmitted naturally by parents.
soul, immortality of A Greek view that the human soul has lived and will live
forever. The phrase has sometimes been used to express Christian belief in
future, eternal life. Yet Christians do not believe a human soul has existed
forever. See also immortality; preexistence of souls.
soul, origin of the The issue of when the soul begins in or as a human body.
soul, traducianist view of the See traducianism

https://www.mybibleteacher.net/uploads/1/2/4/6/124618875/the_westminster_dictionary_of_theological_terms_by_donald_k._mckim__z-lib.org_.epub.pdf

 

[The Learner]

. Thus is Christ the
sum of all that is divinely authoritative for the
life of humankind. But this progressive unveiling
of God, which culminated in Christ, has been
given perpetual form in the biblical writings.
Scripture consequently participates in God’s authority, so that Christ’s relation thereto is decisive as vindicating its authority.
Jesus read “all the Scriptures” of the OT
...
. The emphasis on revelation in history was used to attack both the conservative position, which holds that the Bible contains eternal truths and serves as a deposit of right doctrine, and the liberal position, which claims that the Bible contains a process of evolving religious discovery or simply progressive revelation. The emphasis on revelation stressed the divine self-disclosure and shifted the content away from propositional revelation and doctrine to the neo-orthodox concept of encounter without propositional content.

https://library.mibckerala.org/lms_frame/eBook/TI1/EVDICTTHEO.pdf

 

[The Learner]

Progressive revelation The writing of the books of the Bible was spread over more than a thousand years, and throughout that time God was progressively revealing his purposes. He made known his purposes for the human race not in one moment at the beginning of history, but stage by stage as he prepared people for the fuller revelation that came through Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-2; 1 Peter 1:10-12). There is therefore a basic unity to the Bible; it is one book. Although readers may understand each of the individual Bible books in its own context, they must also understand each book in the context of the Bible as a whole (see BIBLE). It is therefore important to understand where each book of the Bible belongs in the developing purposes of God. This is especially so in the case of Old Testament books. By interpreting a book in relation to its place in God’s ongoing revelation, Christians will avoid two extremes. They will not treat the book as if it is merely an ancient document of historical interest, but neither will they try to ‘christianize’ the book by giving ‘spiritual’ meanings to its details. The Old Testament exists as Scripture in its own right (2 Tim 3:15-16) and Christians should recognize this. But because of their knowledge of the New Testament, they may see added significance in the Old (cf. Lev 16:1-28 with Heb 9:6-14). (For further details see QUOTATIONS; TYPOLOGY.) However, the Christians’ knowledge of the New Testament does not change the meaning of the Old. The Old Testament revelation might have been imperfect, but only in the sense of being incomplete, not in the sense of being incorrect. It was like the framework of a building still under construction. The fuller revelation in Christ does not correct the Old Testament revelation, but develops it and brings it to fulfilment (Heb 10:1; 1 Peter 1:10-12). Accepting the Bible’s authority Even when readers allow for variations b

 

[The Learner]

SOUL
Like the word ‘spirit’, the word ‘soul’ has a variety of meanings in English. There is some variety
also in the usages of the original words from which ‘soul’ has been translated. In the Hebrew of the Old
Testament the word is nephesh. In the Greek of the New Testament the word is psyche.
Old Testament usage
The writers of the Old Testament did not speak of the soul as something that exists apart from the
body. To them, soul (or nephesh) meant life. Both animals and people are nephesh, living creatures. Older
English versions of the Bible have created misunderstanding by the translation ‘man became a living
soul’ (Gen 2:7), for the words translated ‘living soul’ are the same words as earlier translated ‘living
creatures’ (Gen 1:21,24). All animal life is nephesh (or psyche; Rev 8:9), though human nephesh is of a
higher order than the nephesh of other animals (Gen 2:19-22).
From this it is easy to see how nephesh came to refer to the whole person. We should understand a
person not as consisting of a combination of a lifeless body and a bodiless soul, but as a perfect unity, a
living body. Thus nephesh may be translated ‘person’; even if translated ‘soul’, it may mean no more than
‘person’ or ‘life’ (Exod 1:5; Num 9:13; Ezek 18:4,27). A reference to someone’s nephesh may simply be
a reference to the person (Ps 6:3-4; 35:9; Isa 1:14) or the person’s life (Gen 35:18; 1 Kings 17:22; Ps
33:19).
New Testament usage
Similarly in the New Testament psyche can be used to mean no more than ‘person’ (Acts 2:41,43;
7:14; Rom 2:9; 13:1). Again, a reference to someone’s psyche may simply be a reference to the person
(Matt 12:18; 26:38; Luke 1:46; 12:19; 1 Thess 2:8; Heb 10:38) or the person’s life (Matt 16:26; 1 Cor
15:45; Phil 2:30; 1 Peter 4:19). Sometimes ‘soul’ appears to be the same as ‘heart’, which in the Bible
usually refers to the whole of a person’s inner life (Prov 2:10; Acts 4:32; see HEART; HUMANITY,
HUMANKIND).
A person characterized by psyche is an ordinary person of the world, one who lives solely according
to the principles and values of sinful human society – the ‘natural person’, in contrast to the ‘spiritual
person’. The latter is one who has new principles and values because of the Spirit of God within (1 Cor
2:12-16; cf. Jude 19; see FLESH; SPIRIT).
Human uniqueness
Both Old and New Testaments teach that when people die they do not cease to exist. The body
returns to dust (Gen 3:19; Eccles 3:20), but the person lives on in a place, or state, of the dead, which the
Hebrew calls sheol and the Greek calls hades (Ps 6:5; 88:3-5; Luke 16:22-23; see HADES; SHEOL). The
Old Testament does not say in what way people live on after death. Certainly, they live on as a conscious
personal beings, but that personal being is not complete, for it has no body (Ps 49:14; Ezek 26:20).
The New Testament also is unclear on the subject of a person’s existence after death. It speaks of the
bodiless person after death sometimes as a soul (Acts 2:27; Rev 6:9; 20:4), sometimes as a spirit (Heb
12:23; 1 Peter 3:18), but again the person, being bodiless, is not complete. Also, this existence as a
bodiless person is only temporary, just as the decay of the body in the grave is only temporary. That is
why the Bible encourages believers to look for their eternal destiny not in the endless existence of some
bodiless ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’, but in the resurrection of the body to a new and glorious life (1 Cor 15:42-53;
Phil 3:20-21).
Since there is more to a human life than what people experience during their earthly existence, psyche
naturally developed a meaning relating to more than normal earthly life. Eternal destiny also is involved
(Matt 10:28; 16:26; Heb 10:38-39).
From this usage, psyche developed an even richer meaning. It became the word most commonly used
among Christians to describe the higher or more spiritual aspect of human life that is popularly called the
soul (Heb 6:19; 13:17; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:9,22; 2:11,25; 3 John 2).

https://www.bridgeway.org.au/books/BibleDictionary.pdf

 

[The Learner]

"Souls" can only exist on earth.....there are no "souls" in heaven. Souls breathe......animals are "souls" as you were shown. Souls die.
Adam became a "soul" when God started him breathing. He returned to the dust as God said....no immortal soul was ever mentioned.

"Absent from the body" and "being present with the Lord" is members of the elect giving up their flesh and blood existence here on earth, to be transformed into spirit beings....the only kind of life that can exist in the invisible realm.....the whole purpose of which is to be united with Christ in heaven to rule over redeemed mankind here on earth. That is why they are going to heaven...to be "kings and priests" for us. (Rev 20:6)

Nothing will convince a person who does not want to see what the scriptures actually say.....and in keeping with the Bible's total narrative, its not what they have been led to believe....but its our choice to believe as we want to.

As you can see doctrine is progressive in the bible. When one sticks with primivate parts, then they lack serious understanding of the bible.

 

[The Learner]

I am not calling anyoine a fool. One looks foolish & very ignorant when they repeat the same nonsense without reading links and posts of others which is why I put them on ignore.

 

[The Learner]

What is the rule of faith? | GotQuestions.org

What is the rule of faith? Does the phrase 'rule of faith' occur in the Bible? Is the Bible alone supposed to be the rule of faith?

www.gotquestions.org

Abstract​

One of the features of the Theological Interpretation of Scripture movement is the use of the rule of faith in biblical interpretation. However, a comparison of evangelical scholars in this movement shows that there are significant disagreements on the concept of the rule and its hermeneutical role. The present study attempts to clarify these disagreements and briefly analyze them. This article suggests that an engagement with Cullman’s notion of apostolic and post-apostolic traditions and with aspects of Irenaeus’s concept of rule of faith might be helpful for the understanding of the concept and role of the rule of faith.

The Rule of Faith and Biblical Interpretation in Evangelical Theological Interpretation of Scripture - The Gospel Coalition

The last two decades have witnessed the development of a movement that attempts to recover theological interpretation of Scripture.1 In its appreciation of aspects of patristic exegesis,2 contemporary Theological Interpretation of Scripture (hereafter TIS) emphasizes the concept of rule of...

www.thegospelcoalition.org

Concerning these doctrines we steadfastly maintain their truth, and avow our full confidence in them … In the presence of God Almighty, and of our Lord Jesus Christ we testify, that thus we have believed and thought from our heart and soul …

We are moreover prepared to prove to you by undeniable evidences, and to convince you that in time past we have thus believed, and so preached. (as quoted by Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History I:8)

The Rule of Faith

Each of the early churches had a Rule of Faith. This was a set of basic doctrines learned and confessed at baptism, somewhat centered around a confession of the Trinity.

www.christian-history.org