What is the soul?

I would relate it back to Adam and Eve.Spirit is the "breath of life" in man - and in all living creatures. It's what allows us to enjoy living, to enjoy doing things just because we can. Children playing are showing their spirit. Birds singing or flying are showing their spirit.(Most "spiritual" people don't show much spirit.)The soul has to do with the knowledge of good and evil. The "soul" is what we use to decide between good and evil in a specific situation.The soul must be used to be of any value. The sheep will be divided from the goats based on the value of their souls - and the value is based on how well-used their souls are.

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Well, I'm not thinking of Adam and Eve as historical personages, so "before" they ate of the tree is really undefined. Primarily, the story is about why we know good from evil (and how that makes us responsible) - not "when" it happened.But i think the soul does develop within us. As somebody mentioned in another thread far far away, we aren't born knowing good from evil. We have to learn the distinction - and in some cases the distinction can be pretty thin. So it's a lifelong process. Kinda sorta. But the conscience usually just gives us a poke after we've done something wrong. The soul can be preemptive. ("I know my conscience is going to bother me for this.")The soul is also about empathy - the ability to "predict" the effect that our actions will have.

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What has the immediacy of ascension/descension got to do with the existence of the soul?

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“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place” -- Joseph Goebbels