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Podcast
Human Soul
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Transcript
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I'd like to talk a little bit about what the Bible says
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about the human soul.
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I realize the word soul can be used in different ways, so first I'll give you my definition.
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The human soul is the spiritual essence which constitutes the true self of a human being.
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I think I'm using the word the way most people do.
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It's our true self, our spiritual essence.
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In a minute we'll look at the distinction between the two words, but for a basic definition,
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understand that the two words soul and spirit are inseparably connected.
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First let's consider two basic questions.
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Where did our human soul come from, and where is it going?
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Genesis 2 tells us the human soul was created when God breathed into Adam's nostrils the
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breath of life, and he became a living being.
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The next question then is, does God create a new soul every time a person is conceived,
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or is the spiritual nature of man passed along from Adam and Eve down through our parents
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onto us?
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While talking about Adam's encounter with Melchizedek, the author of Hebrews in 7, 9,
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and 10 says this, and so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid
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tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
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Levi, who was several generations away from being conceived, was in the loins of his great
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grandfather, or great-great-grandfather, let's see, it's Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, however
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many greats it is.
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Anyway, it seems that the essence of our soul comes from our parents.
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In Psalm 51, 5, David said, in sin my mother conceived me.
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David is saying what my mother conceived was me.
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Our individual human soul begins at our conception and leaves the body when it dies.
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The human soul of unbelievers then goes to Hades to await the great white throne judgment,
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and the human soul of believers goes to the presence of God.
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But what exactly is the human soul?
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One of the complications involved in studying this is that the Greek and Hebrew words for
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soul and spirit do not always, or usually, refer to the human soul.
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Soul can just mean a creature with personality, and spirit can just mean a creature with breath,
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or just breath.
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Often the words soul and spirit are used interchangeably.
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So like always, we need to look closely at each context.
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We get some good insight from Genesis 35, 18.
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Speaking of Rachel's death while giving birth to Benjamin, Moses wrote, it came about as
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her soul was departing, for she died.
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This tells us that the human soul is possessing our body, but not part of it, because when
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Rachel's body died, her human soul left.
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It also seems that the human soul does not leave the body until the body dies.
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The human soul does not leave the body when it's comatose, or there's no brain activity.
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The soul only leaves when the body dies.
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After death, the human soul is always seen as existing in some sort of bodily form, either
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in the heavenlies or in Sheol, Hades, but never a disembodied spirit.
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Demons are followed angels, and they may cause various manifestations or apparitions, but
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there's no such thing as a ghost, a disembodied human soul roaming the earth.
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But when the body dies, the soul does leave.
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The human soul is not only distinct from the body, but it is our true self.
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This was also true of Jesus.
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Psalm 61, 10, David said, you'll not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your
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holy one to undergo decay.
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Peter pointed out that David was referring to the Messiah, because David did indeed die
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and undergo decay.
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David was referring to the Messiah, who was Jesus, the God-man.
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Being a man, the body of Jesus died, and Jesus himself was separated from his body.
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The difference is, when Jesus left his earthly body, he was immediately in a resurrected
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body.
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When David referred to his own human soul in Psalm 49, 15, he wrote, but God will redeem
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my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.
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Notice again here, David equates my soul with me.
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In other words, David does not distinguish between his soul and himself.
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Solomon also saw the human soul as a person's true identity, when he said, he who is wise
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wins souls.
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Luke does the same when he writes Acts 2, 41, in that day there were added 3,000 souls.
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Both believers and unbelievers have a human soul.
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God told Ezekiel, behold, all souls are mine, the soul of the Father as well as the soul
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of the Son is mine.
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Our human soul can also be either troubled or at rest while we're in the body.
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Remember telling his disciples, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle
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and humble in heart.
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Jesus said that what God told Jeremiah, and you will find rest for your souls.
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This is what makes human suffering and human comfort more extensive than that of animals
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who could only suffer and be comforted physically.
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The website gotquestion.org credits George MacDonald with saying, quote, you don't have
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a soul, you are a soul.
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Seems to me that's a pretty good distinction, although they are often mentioned together.
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We have a human heart.
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We have a human body.
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We have a human mind, but we are a human soul.
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We have a physical body, as do plants and animals.
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Our heart and mind refer to aspects of our personality, our intellect, emotion, and will,
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which animals also have, but animals do not have anything comparable to our human soul.
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The human soul is our spiritual nature, which reflects our thoughts about morality, purpose,
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destiny, justice, and creativity.
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These we share with God and angels, but not plants and animals.
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Our spiritual nature is in our human soul, and there's nothing comparable to it in animals.
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Let's review that just a bit.
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There are three kinds of living things on this planet in the universe, plants, animals,
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and humans.
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Plants have a body, which is physical, but that's all.
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Animals have a body and a personality, intellect, emotion, and will.
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You think of your dog or something, he has an intellect, he has emotions about that,
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and he'll make decisions by will.
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And personality develops society, so we see many societies, many times elaborate societies,
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in animals.
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Humans have a body and a personality, so they have intellect, emotion, and will, but they
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also have a spirit, which is a sense of morality, which leads to a sense of justice, purpose
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and destiny, who am I, what am I for, why am I here, where am I going, and creativity.
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Spirituality develops culture.
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Animals don't develop culture because they don't have a spirituality, no matter how smart
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a dolphin or ape you might find, they don't create a religion, they don't sing a song,
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they don't write a poem, they don't have the spiritual nature.
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All right, let's get back to our other points here a minute.
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Is there a distinction between soul and spirit?
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One passage that mentions them separately is 1 Thessalonians 5.23.
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Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body
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be preserved completely without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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But the point here does not seem to be to separate the soul and spirit of man,
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but rather to emphasize that the whole man should be sanctified entirely.
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Most of the discussion about separating the soul and spirit centers around Hebrews 4.12.
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For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword,
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and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow,
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and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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Here's Ryrie's comment from his study Bible, quote,
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The meaning is that the word pierces to the depths of the soul and spirit, not between the two.
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They stand for the innermost facets of our immaterial nature,
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just as joints and marrow the material aspects. Both soul and spirit can be involved in what
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pleases or displeases God. Close quote, that was from the Ryrie study Bible.
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It does not seem that soul and spirit are two separate aspects of man,
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except where soul only refers to personality.
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If there's a distinction between soul and spirit within the human soul,
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it's most likely that the spirit emphasizes the core motivation and the drive for sanctification.
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When God declares that a whole generation of disobedient Israelites would not go into the land,
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he also added this about Caleb. He said, but my servant Caleb, because he's had a different spirit
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and has followed me fully, I will bring you into the land which he entered.
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Paul exhorted the Corinthians, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit,
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perfecting holiness in the fear of God. In conclusion, the human soul is spiritual,
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not physical, unless it's used to represent personality. The soul is the spiritual aspect
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of human beings. It begins at conception, leaves the body at death, continues on in some bodily
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form, ultimately to be resurrected either to the new Jerusalem or to the lake of fire.
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It does not exist in plants or animals, but for us humans, it's the innermost facet of
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our immaterial nature. It's our true self. We do not have a soul, we are a soul.
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Well, thanks for listening. If you're interested in my paper on the human soul,
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it's available on our website relationalconcepts.org.
