I've missed some of this, but in the Bible there are only two verses -- one
in the OT and one in the NT -- the that define what a soul is :
Gen 2:7
"the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." NIV
"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." KJV
And
1Corinthians 15:45
"So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" ; the last
Adam, a life-giving spirit." NIV
"And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last
Adam was made a quickening spirit." KJV
In other words we do not have souls in us, but rather we are souls (living
beings) as long as we are alive. A soul = a body + the Breath of life (AKA
ruach = spirit)
Death is just the opposite, A soul - Breath of life (AKA ruach = spirit) =
dead body.
PS 146:4
"When their spirit [breath of life] departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing." NIV
ECC 12:7
"and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit [breath of life] returns to God who gave it." NIV
The Soul ceases to exist. Souls are not immortal.
Ezekiel 18:4
"For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son--both
alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die." NIV
Ezekiel 18:20
"The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt
of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. ..." NIV
And, only God has immortality in and of Himself.
1 Tim 6:15-16
"...God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has
seen or can see. ..."
But our mortal souls will eventually 'put on immortality' after the war
between good and evil is won and finished and there will be no more death.
1 Corinthians 15:53-54
"For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal
with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
We are souls, we do not have souls. There is no "ghost in the machine."
We -- i.e. our souls -- are not immortal. When we die, we die. There is no
eternally burning hell where immortal souled sinners are tortured for ever
and ever by a vengeful, sadistic god who is worse than Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao
and everyone of the same ilk put together. The sinners will simply cease to
exist.
When we are resurrected we are again alive with a heavenly body that has the
breath of life.
Allen
> > Here is a link to a talk by Malcolm Jeeves that deals
> > with the concept of the soul in light of
> > neuropsychology:
> >
> > http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/cis/jeeves/index.html
> >
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