The difference (biblically) between spirit and soul.
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Well, because you asked the way you ask, I am presuming you want a pretty much Christian interpretation of that particular question. So that is the answer I will give you first. Genesis 2:7 God formed man out of dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life. Man [thus] became a living creature. This particular quote is from bible.ort.org, a Jewish organization, and one I trust, though the NIV uses the word soul where ORT uses the word creature. The reason for this is that it is not made clear in the scriptures that there really is a difference between soul and spirit.
The Aramaic words for Holy Spirit are Nethqadash schmach, translated Holy Breath. Often the word for breath is used where the concept Spirit is implied. This is the reason that this particular concept has seen great debate from even the most learned among us. The Bible is not clear on the subject.
Now, I will share with you what I have come to understand from learning from both Native and Buddhist teachers, (I attended Lutheran Chatecism as a young person, so have been taught Christianity as well), All of that which has life and movement within the cels or even molecules that make up that particular thing or creature, has Spirit. This is the very basis of life. Read, in this context an interchangability between Spirit and Life. The soul of a human has therefore to do with the individual life lived in a particular body.
It is because of this particular understanding that the comment of Y'shua when he said, "What profiteth a man if he gain his life, and lose his very soul?" Matt16:26 is understandable. By the way, where I have linked for you, there are several translations listed side by side, to give you a smattering of the fairly honest difference in the way the words may be interpreted.
It is when you realize that the only Aramaic version of the gospels we have are the Peshutta, a translation back from the Greek, and that without Y'shua's exact words in the language he spoke, (most likely Aramaic or Temple Hebrew, depending on the occasion,)we cannot stand and insist to someone that Y'shua said this or Y'shua said that. We do not know exactly how he said any of the teachings he gave. Pity, isn't it? Unfortunately, that little factoid renders most heated discussions over NT scripture pointless.
So, according to Native American teaching, you have a Spirit, and so does a tree. You have a soul, or personality. Most Bible scholars insist that this is not the case with animals. I am not sure I agree with that estimation, I have had compainion animals who were quite close to having sentience and who definitely had personality. The Natives feel that plants, trees, rocks, all have Spirit. But that they do not have soul, for it is the soul that makes you a thinking individual.The scriptures do not make it clear which is eternal truth, so I guess this one is where you will have to choose for yourself.
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Thanks, I very much appreciate your answer! If you are even interested in my perspective, which prefers spirituality to religion, (one no longer presumes one's own "rightness" therefore leaving room for other folk's interpretation) my hub on The Principles ~ http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Principles, pretty much is the beginning spot for me, then you go into what ever interpretation you need to make it work for you.
Su
i'm a little confused.
you say people can't quote Jesus saying, "Jesus said [this or that]."
which native american language are you fluent in? as a native american, i find your ideas a little humerous. any idea which native american said what - or in what language it was said? um .. which tribe even? or even which chief? i would say that your interpretation of native languages into english is about four times more removed than that of aramaic to greek and hebrew.
the same could be applied to buddhism too. there are over 400 strains of buddhism in more than 120 languages. english is pretty far down the food chain.
you quote "native americans and buddhist teachers" as a foundation for authority, but your generalisation exposes a vacancy in your logic as you attempt to dismiss the claims of those who were with Jesus when he spoke.
Hi Hawaiibeachkid,
I like that name, BTW. My native teachers, as I have said before are Shawnee and Lakota. I never tried to learn the way of the Apache, though I now live down in Southern Texas, because it is too confusing, even though most of the tribes use the Medicine Wheel, even there there is a difference from tribe to tribe, and even from holy person to holy person, at least where particulars are concerned. I try to stay with general teachings that are commonly held by many of the elders, as I am not a Native Teacher, having only an eighth Native bloodline.
I do the same with Buddhism, though the Buddhism that is closest to what I have learned is SGI, http://www.sgi-usa.org/. I agree with the numerous translations, transliterations and permutations. There is no one authority on anything. Just conceptual perspectives, thanks for reading and commenting. It's nice to know they are being read, even when folks don't necessarily agree with one's own perspective.
Su
Hi there.
I posted a section on my hub that covers this, and will also give you all the meanings to the words with recorded history where they are used and what their purposes are
Man is made of three things.
SPIRIT, SOUL, and BODY.
The meanings of these words actually describe what they are.
SPIRIT (RUAH)
Hebrew
RUAH - occurs 442 times and is translated in 16 different ways in the Old Testament
Spirit - 232 times
Wind - 97 times e.g. Gen 8:1; Ex 10:13; Num 11:31; 2Sam 22:11; Job 1:19; Ps 1:45
Breath - 28 times e.g. Gen 6:17; 2Sam 22:16; Job 4:9; Ps 18:15; Ecc 3:19
Smell - 8 times e.g. Gen 8:21; Ex 30:28; Lev 26:31; Deut 4:28; Job 39:25; Ps 115:6
Mind - 6 times e.g. Gen 26:35; Pro 29:11; Eze 11:5; Hab 1:11
Blast - 4 times e.g. Ex 15:8; 2Kings 19:7; Isaiah 25:4
Another word translated as "spirit" in the Old Testament is "Nshahmah" this occurs 24 times translated :-
Breath - 17 times e.g. Gen 2:7; Deut 20:16; 1King 15:29; Job 27:3
Blast - 3 times e.g. 2Sam 22:16; Job 4:9; Psamls 18:5
Spirit - 2 times e.g. Job 26:4; Prov 20:27
Inspiration - 1 time e.g. Job 32:8
Greek (PNEUMA)
PNEUMA occurs 385 times in the New Testament.
Spirit - 291 times
Ghost - 92 times e.g. Matt 1:18; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:15; John 1:33
Wind - 1 time John 3:8
Life - 1 time Rev 13:15
I hope you don't mind looking up all these verses to see the meaning of both RUAH and PNEUMA to see what the spirit is.
SOUL (NEHPHESH)
Hebew
NEHPHESH - occurs 745 times in the Old Testament.
Life or Lives - 120 times e.g. Gen 1:20+30; Ex 4:19; Lev 27:2; Num 35:31
Person - 30 times e.g. Gen 14:21; Ex 16:16; Lev 27:2; Num 5:6
Mind - 16 times e.g. Gen 23:8; Deut 18:6; 1Sam 2:35; 2Sam 17:8; 2Kingts 9:15
Heart - 15 times e.g. Ex 23:9; Lev 26:16; Deut 25:15; 1Sam 2:33
The Dead - 13 times e.g. Lev 19:28; Num 5:2; Hag 2:13
Creature - 9 times e.g. Gen 1:21; Gen 9:10; Lev 11:46
Will - 4 times e.g Deut 21:14; Ps 27:12; Ps 14:2; Eze 16:27
Appetite - 2 times Pro 23:2; Ecc 6:7
Lust - 2 times Ex 15:9; Ps 78:18
Thing - 2 times Lev 11:10; Eze 47:9
Greek (PSUCHE)
PSUCHE - occurs 105 times in the New Testament.
Soul - 58 times e.g.Matt 10:28; Mark 8:36-37; Luke 1:46; John 12:27; Acts 2:27;
Rom 2:9; 1Cor 15:45; 2Cor 1:23
Life - 40 times [e.g. Matt 2:20; Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9; John 10:11; Acts 15:26;
Rom 11:3; Phi 2:30; 1John 3:16; Rev 8:0
Mind - 3 times Acts 14:2; Phi 1:27; Heb 12:3
Heart - 2 times Eph 6:6; Col 3;23
Us - 1 time John 10:24
You - 1 time 2Cor 12:15
Now that you have read these verses, I hope you can see the distinct difference between the "spirit" and the "soul". In short, the spirit is the breath of life, the part that keeps the body alive - the soul is the person's personality, his psyche, it is him or her, the part that is eternally lost or eternally saved.
Out of curiousity, what does the Native American interpretation of body soul and spirit have to do with the biblical? The bible clearly says, in itself, what these three things are--all in genesis. I completely agree with hoowantstono. Soul is soul life (God breathed into man the breath of life) body is physical, clearly (he formed man from the dust of the ground) and then he created man in his image. you must carefully look at the difference between creat and make in genesis. god only CREATED three things. he did not create mans body (it was already existing in the form of the earth which he made it from--he formed this) breath life, or soul life was already in existance (the great whales and creatures, creature i believe is the hebrew or greek word nephesh, litterally meaning soul) but when he 'CREATED man in his image' he 'made' something new. clearly god is spirit. we all know that, so, when he did this he gave man holy spirit. this holy spirit, however, is not constant. when adam and eve sinned god warned them that they would 'surely die' does god lie? no. so what died? their bodies were clearly not dead, nor their soul life, so it must have been their spirit life. however when you get born again you gain holy spirit... read romans 8. in case youre interested, holy spirit is the seed of god--spiritually 1pe 1:23. i appologize for any spelling errors im 14 :3
great works. please, are you a christian? if so, do you believe in the lord jesus christ? do you believe in the rapture and ressuration? kindly make me understand what your organization stands for. god bless you and your works. amen.
belief713 3 years ago
Thank you for your reply. I will look up the verses you link to in more context. I also do appreciate the different "religious" views that you have shared. I am not for religion, but more for knowledge or understanding - I don't believe in religion. It was made by man and causes separation and I do not believe God wants us to stand separate, but instead united as he made each one of us unique.
That being said, the reason I asked this is because of an article I was reading today that referenced bod, spirit, and soul. I always thought soul and spirit were pretty much one in the same.
By the way, I don't agree that animals don't have souls or spirits - I believe they do.
Again, thanks for your time and interest in answering my request.
P.S. I'm a tree hugger also ;-)