Do animals have spirit?

[Inquirer]

I have two Italian Greyhounds, here's a picture of them:

Are these animals just lumps of matter or is there something more to them? Is it only people that are not lumps of matter?

[Miles]

...explain those Biblical passages that make a distinction between the soul and the person. Passages such as

Psalm 23:3
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Acts 2:27
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.

Matthew 16:26
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

Mark 8:36
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? I.E. "neither people nor animals HAVE a soul (as if a soul is a seperate entity) animals and humans ARE souls."

Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

They are all idiomatic expressions. Soul = life [as a soul ]

...who says "soul" is an idiom for "life [as a soul ]"? Obviously not the Bible.

What do'you mean "obviously not the bible"? You think your four words amount to a counter argument?! Prove me wrong (preferably with words not hamburger).

Oh no you don't. Before I even consider your questions you first have to answer my question, and to my satisfaction: "Other than yourself and perhaps the JW organization, who says "soul" is an idiom for "life [as a soul ]"?


.

[Inquirer]

I have two Italian Greyhounds, here's a picture of them:

Are these animals just lumps of matter or is there something more to them? Is it only people that are not lumps of matter?

They are very cute doggies.

If we are to discuss whether they have souls or not, we must first establish what "soul" means.

Yes they are good lads, great companions, not large, about 19lbs or so.

Well I never said "soul" and that's because that word does not mean what many think it means. The terms for "soul" and "spirit" are different. God is never spoken of as having a "soul" for example.

The term "soul" refers more to our physical existence, material bodies it seems.

But "spirit" is what gives us our mind, our will, our ability to do good or bad, it is not material, not governed by laws of nature, still much of this is indeed a deep mystery.

[Kylie]

I have two Italian Greyhounds, here's a picture of them:

Are these animals just lumps of matter or is there something more to them? Is it only people that are not lumps of matter?

They are very cute doggies.

If we are to discuss whether they have souls or not, we must first establish what "soul" means.

Yes they are good lads, great companions, not large, about 19lbs or so.

Well I never said "soul" and that's because that word does not mean what many think it means. The terms for "soul" and "spirit" are different. God is never spoken of as having a "soul" for example.

The term "soul" refers more to our physical existence, material bodies it seems.

But "spirit" is what gives us our mind, our will, our ability to do good or bad, it is not material, not governed by laws of nature, still much of this is indeed a deep mystery.

The terms still seem rather vaguely defined to me.

[JehovahsWitness]

The terms still seem rather vaguely defined to me.

Biblically ....

SOUL is the person (or the animal) ... you are a person= you are a soul (just two different ways to say the same thing) ie a flesh and blood breathing living creature.

SPIRIT is the force from God that animates all living things (think of it like the electricity that makes your computer work) It doesnt carry the thoughts or personality of the person (anymore than the electricity in your computer isn't "computer electricity" as opposed to "tv electricity".... its just electricity) , its just the power that makes them live.





Is my explanation clear?








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To learn more please go to other posts related to...

SOULS, SPIRIT and ... THE CONDITION OF THE DEAD

[Tcg]

[Replying to Inquirer in post #1]

Humans are animals so if humans have spirit, animals have spirit. It's not terribly complex. Of course, if the concept is absurd, it is absurd even if some pretend that humans aren't animals.


Tcg

[onewithhim]

[Replying to Inquirer in post #1]
Animals have the same "spirit" that humans have. They are souls, just as humans are, and their spirits are the breath of life that God provides for them so that they live, just as we do. Neither animals nor humans have souls....they ARE souls, and the spirit means the breath of life.

[Difflugia]

Biblically ....

"Biblically" the soul is sometimes the whole person and sometimes an ephemeral component of the whole (1 Kings 17:21, for example). If it can only be one or the other for doctrinal reasons, then there are ways of resolving the dilemma, but the result of the process can no longer just be described as "biblically." It's the same situation that we see with the trinitarian debate in that the Bible itself is both trinitarian and nontrinitarian. The doctrinal position that it can only be one or the other is the product of one or another system of theology, not the Bible alone.

[Kylie]

The terms still seem rather vaguely defined to me.

Biblically ....

SOUL is the person (or the animal) ... you are a person= you are a soul (just two different ways to say the same thing) ie a flesh and blood breathing living creature.

SPIRIT is the force from God that animates all living things (think of it like the electricity that makes your computer work) It doesnt carry the thoughts or personality of the person (anymore than the electricity in your computer isn't "computer electricity" as opposed to "tv electricity".... its just electricity) , its just the power that makes them live.





Is my explanation clear?

Okay, so by your definitions, a SOUL is a synonym for organism.

Spirit is some force, but it is NOT the thoughts or personality. Spirit is just what makes them alive.

Okay, so if my thoughts and personality are not in the spirit, they must be in the soul, which, as we have established, is merely my flesh and blood body. Who I am, the being I think of as ME, my thoughts and my personality, is just a result of my squishy brain and that's it. After all, you said that the spirit doesn't play any part in it.

So, do you believe that my personality is just an emergent property of my squishy fleshy body?

BTW, your animation appears to contradict what you said. You said that a soul is equivalent to a body, but then your animation suggests that a soul is a body + spirit.

[JehovahsWitness]

Biblically ....

"Biblically" the soul is sometimes the whole person and sometimes an ephemeral component of the whole (1 Kings 17:21, for example).

Metephorically speaking it'is sometimes refered to as the life of the whole.

[JehovahsWitness]

Okay, so by your definitions, a SOUL is a synonym for organism.

Yes that is correct.

Think of the organisim like a computer. The electricity doesn't carry any information or trace of the computer ... all that is in the computer itself which is made of hardware (the metal/ plastic and glass screen you can see and touch) and software (the program written in code and stored and expressed through the hardware).

So, do you believe that my personality is just an emergent property of my squishy fleshy body?

Yes, that is exactly it. You brain stores your memory, your mind and personality is complex but it all comes down to what is possible when your "software" your programming is powered up.

There are limits to the analogy of course: a computer is limited and can essentially only do what the programmer put in it while you (when powered up) become a self-generating, imaginative, autonimous free-willed organism. It is a testimony to the Creator that each organisme, when powered beccomes a unique exceptional living intelligent being which in the case of humans, reflects the personality of the Divine One.

But like a computer, when the hardware and software is destroyed nothing of the person survives.