Everybody’s Got One?
If you ask anybody, they’ll tell you what a soul is.
My mother used to tell us, “Take care of your body…it houses the soul.” And, in my college psychology textbook, I can barely remember a loose definition confirming its existence in a vague religious context being nestled somewhere within the complex structure of the human psyche.
But it couldn’t be seen, of course…
Merriam Webster’s full definition seemed to be riding the same train: “The immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life.”
I was pretty sure it was in there somewhere.
But things weren’t adding up when I was learning to apply inductive reasoning to my Bible study habits. I knew I was gonna have to determine the true meaning. And the beginning seemed like a good place to start. So I took a deep breath and allowed the narrative of The Lord God’s very personal, hands on creation account of the first man in Gen.2:7 to speak for itself:
“Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being [soul].”
[Hebrew Masoretic Text: נֶפֶשׁ (nê’-phêsh) being, living being, person, soul; Greek Septuagint: ψυχή (psū-kāy’) life, soul, person, individual, self, inner life]
This passage revealed two irrefutable facts about the human makeup of the created man:
- After being hand fashioned out of the elements of the Earth, the man was given the breath of life by his Creator. The flesh of the body (which would include the brain) had first been formed from those elements. But not until it was animated by the Creator could it function and produce conscious thought.
- The Hebrew word נְשָׁמָה [neshamah; breath] and the Greek phrase πνοὴν ζωῆς both define the animating force of life.
Because the reality of His Creational intellect that gave us both human physiology and the nature and properties of matter and energy cannot be ignored for the sake of preserving traditional beliefs. For neither can a light bulb illuminate without electricity nor can a diesel engine turn over without kerosene and pressure.
I could only conclude that the first created man became a soul. Neither grammar nor context gave me any reason to assume that he received one. If I apply basic cake logic to this theological quandary, the truth becomes clear:
I can’t be a soul and have one too.
On the other hand, I was in no hurry to part with my soul. After all, I understood it to be a very relevant part of my existence.
So I kept reading.
In the texts of the Old Testament alone, the Hebrew word translated as “soul” [נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) was used over seven-hundred times. And a quick software search for the Greek equivalent ψυχή (psū-kāy’) used in the New Testament epistles and narratives reveals it was used two-hundred and sixty-three times.
So what did the recurrent usage of this term suggest to me as an inductive reader?
First and foremost, it was imperative that I be able to grasp its meaning in the context of every instance it was used. However, if I read every sentence with a preconceived understanding that a soul is something unseen within me that leaves my body upon death, then I’m likely to apply that particular misunderstanding to its meaning.
But I’d also be hard pressed to try to square this idea with some of the texts of the Messianic Psalms.
These were words out of King David’s mouth, prophesying the future miracle of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death:
“I have set the Lord continually before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall dwell securely, for you shall not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor shall You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” [Psa. 16:8-10] [my emphasis]
The ancient Hebrew understanding of “Sheol” was the place of the dead. The tomb. If David [or any other Biblical authors] understood the human soul to be something that departed from the body upon death, then why would he also have regarded it as something that the Lord would never leave discarded in the tomb?”
And why would he have hoped to be resurrected if he thought some part of himself never died?
He didn’t. He saw the human soul not as a part of someone, but rather as the sum of someone.
So, my hope is the same as what David’s was for himself. If I die before Christ returns, my soul–that is, everything that remains of me, shall also dwell in the grave and undergo decay.
But just like my Firstborn Brother’s flesh, it’ll dwell safely.
He will not abandon it.
“ b. If David [or any other Biblical authors] understood the human soul to be something that departed from the body upon death, then why would he also have regarded it as something that the Lord would never leave discarded in the tomb?”
And why would he have hoped to be resurrected if he thought some part of himself never died?”
Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it.