So far I have had some interesting ideas on what these terms mean. Most people try to explain these terms from sources apart from the Bible. What do you think the difference between the soul and the spirit is?
Jehovah's Witnesses believe the following about the soul and the spirit.
In the Bible, “soul” is translated from the Hebrew ne′phesh and the Greek psy‧khe′. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. To many persons, however, “soul” means the immaterial or spirit part of a human being that survives the death of the physical body. Others understand it to be the principle of life. But these latter views are not Bible teachings.
The Hebrew word ru′ach and the Greek pneu′ma, which are often translated “spirit,” have a number of meanings. All of them refer to that which is invisible to human sight and which gives evidence of force in motion. The Hebrew and Greek words are used with reference to (1) wind, (2) the active life-force in earthly creatures, (3) the impelling force that issues from a person’s figurative heart and that causes him to say and do things in a certain way, (4) inspired utterances originating with an invisible source, (5) spirit persons, and (6) God’s active force, or holy spirit.
How do they compare to your understanding of these terms?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
pretty close. Spirit is the breath, or life force, and I AM a soul. I do not HAVE a soul.
Soul and Spirit are not the same thing, they are different.
SPIRIT:.......
A person can have a good spirit... or a bad spirit. have you ever heard of a good soul, or bad soul?
1 Sam 16:14,15. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.kjv
A person can be of good spirit (of heart) example. Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit with in me. vs. 12 support me with a free spirit or a willing spirit.kjv
a spirit is also what keeps a person alive or actually God's spirit is what makes a person alive...
Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.kjv.
The Spirit of a person--which IS the person's life force that keeps him alive is what returns and rest with God, NOT the Soul. Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the --spirit--- shall return unto God who gave it.kjv.
Now on to the
SOUL:.....
The soul is the persons life. It didn't say he had a soul but that he IS a living soul.
Genesis 2:7 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.kjv.
soul is the persons life; if not Abraham would not have said: Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
So the soul IS the life of a human being and Abraham knew that the Soul Can die.
James 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a SOUL from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. kjv.
Joshua 11:11 And they smote all the SOULS that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them:kjv
Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.kjv
Psalms 56:13 For though hast delivered my SOUL from death:kjv
So whoever said that the soul survives death..... I would like for them to show you and me ( just as I have scripturally) Where in the bible does it say exactly that.
so to reiterate the point.
The spirit is what keeps the soul alive.
The spirit can be taken away and the soul can die.
This is very interesting:
"Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. "
So, what constitutes "animal" here? Would an ant qualify? And therefore an ant has a soul? How about a clam? A jellyfish?
The Soul or spirit is you and me, the "individual", and not the body, mind, or anything else...Now per the Bible, Jesus,
"John 3:3-8 Jesus said "I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus, obviously confused by his declaration, then asked "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"
Jesus then answered "I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
And to reinforce the reality of his point, he then added "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Ok, that seems pretty simple. We all know the concept of spirit and the Bible is clear as to the meaning. The word spirit in the phrase "Spirit is spirit" is translated from the Greek word pneuma, pronounced pnyoo'-mah, meaning; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze. This certainly agrees with the widely accepted understanding of what spirit means. And, we can see that Jesus clearly describes the nature of "spirit" by using wind as an analogy. It should be noted that the word "tell" in the phrase "but canst not tell whence it cometh" comes from the word eido, pronounced i'-do and means; properly, to see (literally or figuratively).
So, Jesus is saying the spirit is like the wind; it goes where it does and you can hear it, but you cannot see it. In the simplest of terms; the spirit is invisible. Nothing complicated about that. Jesus simply says that "every one that is born of the Spirit" is like the wind, which you can't see or, therefore, is invisible. Jesus first said that spirit is "not" like flesh, the prime physical component of the human body, which can be seen, and then clearly confirms that anyone, who is "born again" is not flesh, but spirit, which is invisible. "
The spirit and soul are two different things. The spirit is who we truly are. The soul is the will, mind and emotions. We were created in God's image. This does not mean we have his nose. This means we were created as a human trinity. We are a spirit that has a soul that lives in a body. Without my spirit I am dead. Without my emotions, will or mind I have no life. You are not a living being without all three.
Your soul is where your emotions, your mind and your will are.
The spirit is defined as the "Holy Spirit" of God. Believers are the temple of God.
2 cor 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
So your soul and Spirit must unite against the body (flesh). The Holy Spirit cannot control you but your soul can control who it wants to obey.
Your soul and body are not saved. Only your Spirit. The other two must cooperate to complete the salvation.
This can explain more: http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1027
God bless you!
One verse should make it ALL clear: Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life(spirit); and man BECAME a living soul. KJV GOD bless
I'm glad you asked that.
They don't really mean a damn thing. Sure, they're words that have definitions, but neither term refers to an actual thing. They are concepts that exist only in the human mind. When the body dies, those concepts go with it.
As with the first answerer, they don't mean shiiat. They're just a fictitious word used to describe a fictitious process for achieving a fictitious afterlife.
Why would you think someone would take the time to try to teach this to you after you seek a way to deprogram people?