New topic (although feel free to continue posting to the older ones as well). What is a soul?
I know know a man who teaches at a well known university, who has great knowledge of many religions (he teaches religion and anthropology and has PhD in the same) who's knowledge of biblical history and spiritual things has always amazed me and I always love to hear him speak. Recently, he spoke on the nature of a soul and I'd like to share some of that information with you.
Basically, he said that a soul is a combination of our bodies and our spirits. Both of which require nourishment and exercise. For the body, nourishment is of course the nutrients that we eat and drink and exercise is the physical labor that we do. If we do too much of one and not enough of the other, the results are not good and could at times actually be disastrous.
The spirit is the same way, but the nourishment for it is things such as prayer, reading the scriptures and attending religious services. These activities nourish our spirits, but they alone are not enough. We also need to exercise our spirits. This exercise is done through service. Service to our fellow man and service to religious institutions. If we do too much of one and not enough of the other, the results are not good and can also be disastrous. For example, always volunteering and doing service can burn you out and exhaust you if you do not nourish your spirit with prayer and scripture study.
I found all of that very interesting, especially the part about a soul being both body and spirit.
What do you think?
What is a soul?
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2 comments:
This is a tough one. From childhood I was taught that the soul is your spirit that goes to Heaven when you die - your body doesn't go along with it. We don't need bodies in Heaven. We become like the angels.
But what about ghosts (on earth)? What does your religion teach about ghosts, lost souls, or whatever you call them?
Do you believe in ghosts and haunted houses and such things?
The belief of the religion I practice is that we will not have mortal bodies in heaven, but that we will have bodies. (perfect ones, not ones with the imperfections we have now) When we die, our spirits and our bodies separate and it is just our spirit that continues the journey. At some point, we will be resurrected, just like Christ was, at which point or spirits will be joined with a new body, a perfect and immortal one.
Also taught by my religion is that there are those who never received bodies. They were kicked out early on by siding with Satan and thinking that his plan for mankind was better than God's plan. These people are just spirits without bodies and are or can be around us here, although we could rarely see them or (at least knowingly) feel any influence from them. Also, spirits of people who have lived but since passed on, could be permitted some level of contact with those still in this life under certain (and rare) circumstances.
Personally, I don't believe in "ghosts", but do believe in both of the aforementioned types of spirits and any report of a "ghost" that is in fact real, would have to be one of those two things. If it was an unpleasant experience, it must be the former and if it was a pleasant experience it must be the latter. Although I have to say, I don't know for sure.
I do not believe I have ever seen a ghost or a spirit, but I have had feelings (both good and bad) at different points that I believe came from the influence of a spirit that I could not see, but that was there none the less.
I also believe that the bad spirits can only have as much an impact on us as we allow them to, which means that doing certain activities could allow them more influence and interaction with us, so certain people may be more prone to "ghostly" experiences than others. But I feel no desire to try to experiement to see if I could have such an experience myself.
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