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Author Topic:   What is a soul?
dogrelata
Member (Idle past 5311 days)
Posts: 201
From: Scotland
Joined: 08-04-2006


Message 1 of 5 (367137)
11-30-2006 2:15 PM


Given the nature of these forums, I guess it’s no surprise to see frequent references to the human soul. As someone who doesn’t have a spiritual bone in his body, it’s tough to get a real feel for what’s being discussed. Which is not a problem in the sense that my natural sceptic’s instincts tell me this is an area where reality might best be described as blurred. But it’s also one of the reasons for my fascination. What is it that draws people to their beliefs in this area?
In all that follows I will play the role of devil’s advocate, assuming solely for the sake of argument that the human soul does exist. This avoids the need to continually qualify my beliefs on the subject, which may be wrong in any case!
As a starting point I’m curious about whether the soul should be considered as inextricably linked to material existence, i.e. does a person’s soul come into existence only with their corporeal being? If so, does it occur at the moment of conception, or some time later?
Or is the soul something that already exists, waiting to be united with a human body when it eventually arrives on this earth? Or am I completely mistaken in the notion that souls are individual essences, each unique to a single person? Is there any sense in which the soul might be considered a ”global’ essence, with human existence acting as a portal through which to access it?
My next question concerns the idea of ”shaping’. Is it the soul that shapes the corporeal being of an individual, or vice versa? Or neither? And in instances where individuals are unaware of their soul, are their souls aware of them?
There are numerous other questions I’d like to ask, but I think it’s worth waiting to see if this post gets promoted to the status of thread, and gets any responses thereafter.
Before signing off, I think it’s appropriate to remove my devil’s advocate’s hat lest I find it becomes too comfortable.

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by AdminBuzsaw, posted 11-30-2006 8:03 PM dogrelata has not replied

AdminBuzsaw
Inactive Member


Message 2 of 5 (367193)
11-30-2006 8:03 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by dogrelata
11-30-2006 2:15 PM


Hi dogrelata. Welcome to EvC. I believe your OP looks good for promotion to Miscellaneous Topics in Creation/Evolution. Is that good with you? I'll hold off promoting for a spell in case another admin has any suggestions.
In case you're not familiar, if you need info on how to implement quotes et al, find someone else's usage of what you want to do and hit the Peek button on the lower right of the window. Also I advise that you check out the Forum Guidelines if you're not familiar with them. Enjoy!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by dogrelata, posted 11-30-2006 2:15 PM dogrelata has not replied

AdminNem
Inactive Member


Message 3 of 5 (367198)
11-30-2006 8:36 PM


Ready for promotion
It looks good to me, Buz, but I don't see anything related to science in the thread. Perhaps a spiritual thread would be more appropriate, such as, Faith and Belief.

Replies to this message:
 Message 4 by AdminBuzsaw, posted 11-30-2006 10:36 PM AdminNem has not replied

AdminBuzsaw
Inactive Member


Message 4 of 5 (367215)
11-30-2006 10:36 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by AdminNem
11-30-2006 8:36 PM


Re: Ready for promotion
Good. Thanks AdminNem.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by AdminNem, posted 11-30-2006 8:36 PM AdminNem has not replied

AdminBuzsaw
Inactive Member


Message 5 of 5 (367218)
11-30-2006 10:38 PM


Thread copied to the What is a soul? thread in the Faith and Belief forum, this copy of the thread has been closed.

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