How would you differentiate spirit and soul?
91134
In his book "The Spiritual Man", I always liked Watchman Nee's light bulb analogy to explain the differences between spirit, soul and body.  \n\n"God treated man's soul as something unique. As the angels were created as spirits, so man was created predominantly as a living soul. Man not only had a body, a body with the breath of life; he became a living soul as well. Thus we find later in the Scriptures that God often referred to men as souls. Why? Because what the man is depends on how his soul is. His soul represents him and expresses his individuality. It is the organ of man's free will, the organ in which spirit and body are completely merged. If man's soul wills to obey God, it will allow the spirit to rule over the man as ordered by God. The soul, if it chooses, also can suppress the spirit and take some other delight as lord of the man. This trinity of spirit, soul and body may be partially illustrated by a light bulb. Within the bulb, which can represent the total man, there are electricity, light and wire. The spirit is like the electricity, the soul the light, and body the wire. Electricity is the cause of the light while light is the effect of electricity. Wire is the material substance for carrying the electricity as well as for manifesting the light. The combination of spirit and body produces soul, that which is unique to man. As electricity, carried by the wire, is expressed in light, so spirit acts upon the soul and the soul, in turn, expresses itself through the body."
14455
The account of the creation tells us that man is composed of three parts. God first formed the body from the dust of the earth, after which He breathed into it “the breath of life.” He caused His own life, His Spirit, to enter into it. By this union of Spirit with matter, the man became a “living soul.” The soul, which is essentially the man, finds its place between the body and the spirit; it is the link, which binds them together. By the body, the soul finds itself in relation n to the external world; by the spirit, with the world invisible and with God. By means of the soul, the spirit can subject the body to the action of the heavenly powers and thus spiritualize it; by means of the soul, the body also can act upon the spirit and attract it earthwards. The soul, subject to the solicitations of both spirit and body, is in a position to choose between the voice of God, speaking by the Spirit, or the voice of the world, speaking through the senses.
1156896
The soul is what evolves and matures. The body is only the shell the soul resides in. It has to be a complicated mechanized system to be as functional as it is.\nWhy? Scientists can't ansewer that question because it's not a science question, and becuase it's an answer God hasn't allowed us to discover yet.
551103
I believe it is one in the same.  It's like Toe-May-Toe vs Toe-MAH-Toe.  No difference, just what you prefer to call it.  I think more of the old school belief system calls it a soul. To call it your astral body is to view the soul with a more energetic anatomy....take away the body, and you have an energy "tube", complete with Chakras and Nadis...this is our core.  This tube and Nadis (energy lines of force) is what connects us to "All That Is"
998858
There is no correlation between culture and soul.  Soul comes is a personal matter whereas culture is a public and social matter.  Changing your social customs does not change the inner core of a person.
859004
I believe the spirit is the fuel of life from God. The mind exists if the brain works. The soul is yourself which only exist if you mind exists. Without the spirit though, nothing exists.
854497
Soul does exist. But life and soul are not the same. The soul is somewhat closer to the capacity for self-consciousness. The property of being conscious and that too of the self is only found with the humans. Most of us are not even conscious of that. Hence, animals have life but the soul.
1180791
Depends on your definition of "soul". According to the Bible, a living being IS A SOUL...not HAS a soul. In Genesis 2:7, it says that Adam BECAME a soul. It goes on to say that even the animals are souls. Psalms, says that "BLOOD" flows in the veins of a soul. The Hebrew word used to apply to both humans and animals was the same word. "nephesh". The word was used 750 times and translated 472 times as soul, and 282 times as spirit, breath or other words. The translators of the King James did this on their own initiative.\n\nIn I Kings 17:17; is says,"And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. The phrase "BREATH" was also the same Hebrew word, nepheshs.\n                                                                      \nEcclesiastes 3:19-20, shows us, "For that which befallen the sons of men befallen beasts; even one thing befallen them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." Again, the phrase "BREATH" was also the same Hebrew word, nephesh.\n\nAccording to the Biblical definition, a person dies when the lose their "soul" because they are no longer living. In the same sense animals die, they are also no longer a "SOUL".\n\nThe Bible also NEVER states that the nephesh is immortal. Just as our breath and life force cannot live by itself without a body, neither can  the BIBLICAL soul.\n\nScience also agrees with this. When someone dies ... they are dead! The same life force that animates us is the same life force that animates dogs and cats.\n\nBuddhism somewhat agrees with that understanding. According to Buddhism, we have no soul. It is our "life force" that keeps us alive. It is our mind and memory that lives on.
929245
Dear Bruno cs:  We generally recognize that we seemingly have two parts of Mind inside of ourselves.  One we tend to think of as the human Intellect - our human awareness or consciousness.  \n\nMany of us also recognize that something else seems to exist within us - which is our spirit or soul.\n\nI see both parts as my singular Self.  In the physical world we use a human thing called Intellect, to learn of the world we find ourselves in.  But, I experience my soul/spirit as guiding me to Thoughts that are sublime, transcendent and morally higher than what my Intellect perceives and offers to me.  And, so I perceive that both parts exist within me.\n\nSince all earthly things have emanated from the All Knowledge of something greater than humans, I have determined that something greater must be the Absolute Knowledge of Spirit.  The first Spirit is - as I contemplate it - the Creator - whether or not it Created the physical world.  What it DID Create is more of it's Self - other Spirit-Minds.\n\nI see the physical body as a home or temple for the Spirit that I am - the Altar in this temple of my flesh - is my soul or Spirit-being.  The flesh is temporal and ages and withers.  It experiences a death.  HOWEVER, body is an empty thing, an empty vessel  - without YOU operating it.\n\nSoul or Spirit is eternal.  When Jesus demonstrated the Resurrection, he showed a re-appearance of body and a continuation of it - for as long as he desired.  Did he demonstrate this as a special ability of his own?  Or, did he mean for it to demonstrate a Truth about each of us, and that he was similar to us?  I choose this latter sentence.\n\nEternal-ness is an attribute of Soul/Spirit.  I do not believe physical birth is a beginning.  It is a continuing of Soul/Spirit which was, originally, Created  -  not made (as in human procreation).\n\nI believe you canNOT die, even through Free Will, because the Creator of our true Self, Spirit, created in His Own Likeness and, therefore, Eternal-ness belongs to us.  Physical life is like a continuum. . .the Soul makes appearances ; through a process human Intellect accepts and has named procreation.\n\nWe do not die.\n\nBest regards, Lana
235322
We need to distinguish between Mind and Soul.  The mind is indeed a function of the brain, and the Soul is mostly indistinguishable from it while the brain is functioning.  We therefore leave open the question of whether the Soul is something quite apart, which can exist without the physical "housing" of the brain.  I personally think it is something different, and does exist apart from any physical structure, but my reasons are all spiritual/religious, and not in the least scientific.  The most scientific analogy is an idea or a concept, perhaps an archetype.  They clearly exist outside of any physical structure, and I believe the soul does, too.  My real question is whether it is an individual soul, and therefore there are billions of them, or whether we share souls at a higher dimension/level than we normally perceive.  The jury is still out on that one.
27109
In the Old Testament, the soul is the entire individual, his body and mind.\nSpirit is the breath of God, who breathes life into the soul. A life force.\n\nGreek influence on Judaism and Christianity, created a dualism between the body and soul. The soul leaves the body at death. Spirit is sometimes used as the same soul. Deepak Schopa (not spelling that right) makes a distinction between all 3.
914453
Well, the "in between" are still dead, but yes, there are souls that don't know they're dead.  This happens primarily when a person dies a tragic death, e.g. in an accident.  Sometimes, when they don't want to go to the Light, because they feel they have something to take care of, they will also be Earth-bound.\nIt has been reported that on occasion, a spirit could drain a person's energy, but that is also true for the living.\nSpirits see both, dead and alive.  You can't guarantee anything, including what you will WILL yourself to do after your body dies.
647985
I believe there is a soul.  "Personality" could be used in place of "soul". \n\nI think the soul is a cumulation of a lifetime's worth of experiences, thoughts, learned behaviors, hard lessons learned, acquired knowledge, and memories.
491876
Start journaling down your thoughts,allow yourself to awaken spiritually,vist churches,religious places of worship,compare religions,explore,research and evaluate,study and percieve.Get a copy of the Bible, Quran,the Torah,the Bhagavad Gita and make your decision what is truth! then open your eyes and realize your soul has a voice!
489765
SOUL is individual identity located in subconscious mind.It is also individual subconsciousness.It is present in self-awareness.\n\nntadepalli
1157099
The difference is:\n\nSpiritual Man: The spiritual man is the person beneath the skin.  The person's voice that you hear inside of you.  Spiritual Man can also mean Spiritual Person, one being very "centered" or "religious conscious" or one who has understanding beyond "reality".\n\nFleshly Man:  The fleshy man operates in the flesh, in other words they are led by there emotions, things they see, things they feel (to touch).  The person can also be defined as superficial.  Ex: To operate "in the flesh" is to take no consideration of "spiritual" things.\n\nPhysical Man:  The physical man is the natural body in its state.  Your eyes, skin, etc. \n\nEx:  You must nourish your physical man with food and you Spirit Man with truth.
67778
In my eyes I think they are not the same but they do work hand in hand! A soul is something that u have that represents the person that u are now and tomorrow and forever. A Spirit is something that moves u... that makes u how u are. That makes u that better person, that motivates u into being bad or good or doing bad or good.