What is the soul?

In Hebrew (as in English) the soul and the spirit are represented by different words (I believe ruach and nefesh, respectively). Does this mean that the soul and the spirit are different things? I tend to think they are, possibly that the soul is what you get when you combine the spirit with the body.The Skeptics Dictionary treats soul and spirit as being the same thing, as do some (many? most?) Christians, like Billy Graham. Obviously, I don't agree with that interpretation.I do think there is an immaterial something or other that accounts for my ability to know that I exist. I don't know if I would identify it with either the soul or the spirit.Unless there is some compelling and cogent reason to do otherwise, this discussion should go into the Bible Study forum.

Before they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then, did Adam and Eve not have souls?Is the soul the same thing as conscience?

From the Spiritualism in Christianity Today site: I'm not sure that many Christians would describe the soul as a "spirit ball," whether in the chest or anywhere else. However, the point that Christians seem to be willing to equate the spirit and the soul seems to be valid, as does the point that the Bible says that man became—rather than received—a soul.I suppose there may be other passages in the Bible that indicate the writer considered the soul and spirit to be the same, thus contradicting the verses quoted above, but any discussion of those would probably have to take place in a Biblical errancy or inerrancy thread.

Comment: the NIV is not necessarily "incorrect" here, so long as one understands that the comma is conjunctive and not indicating apposition. A couple of questions:

1. Is there any reason to believe that the first "Spirit" means "Holy Spirit" other than it fits in with one's understanding of the Trinity doctrine? It would have been much clearer if Jesus had said "Holy Spirit" if that was what was specifically meant.
2. Why isn't the soul mentioned here?

Does this mean that a human can eventually become part of the Trinity? (I'm sure there are some who would say yes, and that there are others who would reject the Trinity doctine for just that reason.)Well, perhaps we're now straying into topics for another discussion. It seems that Paul conceived of the soul as being something somewhere between the spirit and the body, but not identical to either. This would seem to be at variance with the beliefs of many professing Christians today.

I think the passage in Matthew requires the prepostion in order to translate accurately, and leaving out "and" in front of a prepositional phrase would sound awkward: "...in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."I will address the other issues in the post if I feel I have something to add or if I desire clarification.

This seems to contradict passages saying that one should honor his (or her) mother and father, not to hate, etc. Of course, we can assert (and probably have to, when we get down to the end of the day), that Jesus is teaching different things on different levels.Now, taking this back to the question of the soul, is the soul on a "different" level from the spirit, the body, or anything else?

---

Never overestimate the intelligence of someone who thinks you're wrong.

quote:

---

The soul of man is the seat of three functions:
1.) The mind

​

2.) The emotion

​

3.) The will

​

With the mind man thinks and considers and understands.
With the emotion man loves or hates and generally feels about things.
With the will man decides and chooses.

​

Biblically, the majority of the verses which mention man's soul involve one or more of these activities.

---

Did all or a majority of Bible writers see the soul in all three ways mentioned above every time they used the word nephesh or psyche? More importantly, did they see it in any other ways not mentioned above?