What exactly is a Soul?
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Image #1
Is a "soul" something that floats around the air when somebody dies?
Let us see how the bible describes a "soul" in the following verses, using the King James Version.
I Pet 3 (v. 20)....in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water.
Can that be translated as eight ghosts which left their bodies and were saved or was that eight living people saved?
Francis Blackburne states in his book, a section dealing with Martin Luther’s teaching as set forth in his writings: Luther espoused the doctrine of the sleep of the soul, upon a Scripture foundation, and then he made use of it as a confutation of purgatory and saint worship, and continued in that belief to the last moment of his life.[1]
Image #2
What about in this next verse:
Acts 2 (v. 41) Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
So this verse says: that 3 thousand people were baptized and not some invisible ghost-form of a person that died.
In Britain, William Tyndale, translator of the Bible into English, came to the defense of the revived teaching of conditional immortality. In 1530 Tyndale responded vigorously, declaring: And ye, in putting them [the departed souls] in heaven, hell, and purgatory, destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and [Apostle] Paul prove the resurrection....And again, if the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels be? And then what cause is there of the resurrection?[2]
Image #3
Gen 2 (v. 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 or being.
Eccl 12 (v. 6) Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,...(v. 7) Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
We should learn to view our death in the right light, so that we need not become alarmed on account of it, as unbelief does; because in Christ it is indeed not death, but a fine, sweet and brief sleep....until the time when he shall call and awaken us together with all his dear children to his eternal glory and joy. For since we call it a sleep, we know that we shall not remain in it, but be again awakened and live, and that the time during which we sleep, shall seem no longer than if we had just fallen asleep. Scripture everywhere affords such consolation, which speaks of the death of the saints, as if they fell asleep....and awaited the resurrection, together with the saints who preceded them in death.[3]
*****SOUL*****
Genesis 2:7 hebrew [ 5315 ] Nephesh (neh’-fesh) = a breathing creature, in the abstract meaning (vitality), in the figurative sense (bodily or mental).[4]
Gen 2 (v. 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[5] or being.[6]
Image #4
*****BREATH*****
Genesis 2:7 hebrew [ 5397 ] Neshamah (nesh-aw-maw’) = a puff or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect or spirit.[4]
Gen 2 (v. 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[5] or being.[6]
*****LIFE*****
Genesis 2:7 hebrew [ 2416 ] Chay (khah’ee) = alive; as a noun, especially in the feminine singular or masculine plural, life or living; also from [ 2421 ] Chayah (khaw-yaw’) to revive or make alive.[4]
Gen 2 (v. 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[5] or being.[6]
*****SPIRIT*****
Job 27:3 hebrew [ 7307 ] Ruwach (roo’-akh) = by resemblance breath, figuratively (life), by resemblance (spirit) but only of a rational being, including its expression and functions.[4]
Job 27 (v. 3) All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,....[5]
The soul is not just a body!! The soul is the combination of a body and the spirit (breath).
Peter confronts Sapphira..............(Image #5)
What is the difference between a dead Body and an alive Body?
>>>>> the vital breath and mental disposition <<<<<
So, when you “give-up” the ghost ( spirit ) at death, you are really giving-up your vital breath and mental disposition!!
Acts 5 (v. 10)....she yielded up the ghost....and they found her dead....
Man became a living being. Thus the breath, or the spirit, is life's spark─the spirit, or breath, distinguishes a live person from a dead one![7]
Isa 26 (v. 19) Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust....And the earth shall cast out the dead.
More evidence from the Greek: ****Is the soul really immortal?****
*****GHOST*****
Acts 5:10 greek [ 1634 ] eKpsucho (ek-psoo’-kho) = to expire, give (yield) up the ghost, from [ 5594 ] Psucho (psoo’-kho) = a primary verb, to breathe.[4]
Acts 5 (v. 10) Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.[5]
***** SPIRIT *****
James 2:26 greek [ 4151 ] Pneuma (nyoo’-mah) = breath, by figuratively a spirit, by implication the vital principle or mental disposition.[4]
Jam 2 (v. 26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead....[6]
So, in a translation of the root word from the Greek, we can see that:
>>>>> The "spirit" = the vital breath and mental disposition <<<<<
In the bible, the "soul" is a complete person, which consists of two parts: the body and the breath (spirit) which comes from God.[5]
On the next webpage, we are going to discuss: Is a dead person conscious of anything?
References:
1. Archdeacon Francis Blackburne, (1765). Short Historical View of the Controversy Concerning an Intermediate State, p.14
2. William Tyndale, (1530). An Answer to Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue (Parker’s 1850 reprint). Book 4, Chpt.4, pp.180-181. Cambridge: The University Press.
3. Luther’s Works, (1573). A Compend of Luther’s Theology, edited by Hugh Thomson Ker, Jr., p.242
4. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers.
5. The Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version
6. The Holy Bible, New King James Version
7. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion's Gates, p.173, Hart Research Center.
Image #1: KLYKER, (2015). That weird side of the internet. Retrieved from https://klyker.com/that-weird-side-of-the-internet-part-6/
Image #2: Selah, (2015). New christians being baptized. Retrieved from https://frankboulet.wordpress.com/tag/baptized/
Image #3: Image from website private collection, (2017). Man became a living soul. www.GodLooksAtYourHeart.info
Image #4: Living My Write Life, (2013). Favorite C.S. Lewis quotes. Retrieved from https://meganabigailwhite.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/favourite-c-s-lewis-quotes/
Image #5: Bible Daily, (2011). Peter confronts Sapphira. Retrieved from https://bible-daily.org/2017/01/08/john-piper-faking-faith-in-the-presence-of-god-is-a-fearful-thing/
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