WHAT IS A "S O U L "?

    MANY THANKS TO ED DICKERSON AND SIGN OF THE TIMES MAGAZINE AUG.2014 ISSUE.


    SOME PHILOSOPHERS AND SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT OUR VALUE AS HUMANS IS NO GREATER THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER ANIMAL. Ed Dickerson responds to this claim.

NOTE: (j.b.) That's the same kind of thinking the Hindus employ in their religion. They will not conscientiously, step on a insect, as it may be an ancestor!

      "There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They are all mammals."  So said Ingrid Newkirk, President of P.E.T.A. [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]
      Think that's extreme? Actually, some object that Newkirk's statement gives special status to animals. Michael W. Fox, former vice president of the Humane Society, made it stunningly personal: "The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect."

Note (j.b.) I wonder how his child felt about that remark? Image your Father placing you on par with one ant!

     IF, you are tempted to dismiss such sentiments as mere ravings of activists or shock statements for an organized agenda to gain publicity, meet Peter Singer, considered by some, to be the most influential bioethicist,  [ (j.b.) a "specialty", less than 100 years old!] alive. Singer declared, "The notion that human life is sacred is just because it is human life is medieval."

      WHAT does the Holt Bible teach us?....
      Psalms 8:4-5  "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor."

Note:  (j.b.) ONE Angel at Christ's tomb, was enough to make 100 roman soldiers act as dead men! So obviously none of the above mentioned people have held a Bible in their hands for very long!
    Only a few centuries ago, William Shakespeare could still declare, "What a piece of work is a man!.... The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals."

      SO, how did human value plummet from being "The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals!" to what R. Buckminster Fuller described as "a self-balancing 28 jointed adapter-base biped, and a electro-chemical plant"?

                                  HUMANS AS COMPLEX MACHINES.

      THE great moral issues of the past 150 years-- genocide, slavery, abortion the role of woman, euthanasia--- all focus on the nature of human beings, (would Y O U agree?)
      In every case, some human beings claim the right to destroy, enslave, or deny dignity to other humans, whom they (j.b. must) regard as inferior!                  (Would Y O U agree?)

      If human are more than complex machines or animals, we protest in vain, when misogynists carry out their natural instincts, in fulfillment of their predatory natures! (would you, again, agree?)

      IF,  these views reflect our reality--- if humans are just another animal species among many---why should we care, if some, or even one human gets mistreated? Within or without the womb?

      Strangely, environmentalists and animal rights activists and ethicist such as Peter Singer, while contending that humans deserve no special consideration above animals, insist that humans take an active role in protecting the rest of nature !{ (j.b.) as Evolutionists, insist we are descended from Apes, thus humans are part and parcel of nature right?] That demand resonates with our sense of responsibility. They would be amazed and astonished to learn the concept of humans as nature's caretakers comes from the Holy Bible!!!!

                               HUMANS AS BREATHING CREATURES.

     PERHAPS, surprising to some, the Bible agrees with science on our human similarity to all living creatures. [(j.b.) How does this simple fact not point to a single, Creator?]
     The word for SOUL in the Old Testament, comes from the Hebrew NEPHESH, which means literally a breathing creature......
   
     Genesis 2:7  "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. "

     Rather than separating humans from the animal kingdom, this word links us to it, for more than 20 times, the word nephesh, in the bible refers to creatures other than humans. [Genesis 1:21,24, 2:19; 9:10,12 Leviticus 11:46,47,; Deuteronomy 12:23]
       Sometimes nephesh refers to both humans and animals at the same time.. [Gen. 9:15,16; Numbers 31:28] Of course, a "breathing creature," can stop breathing and die, which the old Books affirms more than 30 times. For example, when Joshua conquered the city of Makkedah, he killed "everyone", {nephesh}within it. [ Joshua 10:28; also 10:30,32,,35,37, 39; 11:11; Ezekiel 13:19;22:25,27.  So taken together, the many repetitions of this word nephesh in the Old Testament confirms humanity's similarity with animals, not our differences from  them.

    BY the time of the New Testament, the language and culture of the Greeks dominated the world. Thus, the New Testament writers substituted the Greek word Psuche [SUE-Kay']  for the Hebrew word nephesh  And, again psuche can refer to both animals and humans, and it can die or be killed... {Revelation 8:9 and..

    Revelation 16:3  "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." 
    Romans 11:3  "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. "

                           
                             HUMANS AS MORTAL, BEINGS.

      THE Bible clearly teaches that immortality belongs only to God, look at how Paul contrast this with God and humans...
       Here we see the human imaginations at work.....Romans 1:20-22  "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, "

Note (j.b.) Now you also learn just what God thinks of these human ideas, right? But read on....

     Romans 1:23-25  "And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."
NOTE: did Y O U catch that? "Who worshiped and served the creature more that The Creator..."  THINK!

    We human, for the most part, do seek immortality, but the gift of eternal life belongs to god to bestow upon those who have a relationship with Him founded upon loving obedience! Until Christ's return, all shall "rest" in the graves, until He calls us forth, either to righteousness or to condemnation, 1000 years latter!

     1 Corinthians 15:52-54  "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

    1 Timothy 6:15-16  "Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen."

   Even in the earliest accounts of O.T. shows any honest reader, that we are NO LONGER immortal, because of sin. It is only due to many humans accept and teach that Satan's lie, that we even need to address this question! ...
     Genesis 3:3-4  "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Note: "Ye shall surely NOT die"  Well God meant for them to live forever, yes, but they rebelled, as He knew they would! Yes He could have removed Adam and Eve, and begin over, but that's not how God's love works!

     Genesis 3:22  "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:"

      So He removed them from the garden of Eden.

     SO, if we humans do not possess an immortal soul that distinguishes us from other creatures, does this validate the viewpoint that gives us the same moral status as ants and slugs? Obviously NOT!  As virtually every detail of the Creation account testifies to the unique status of humanity.
     I n Genesis, God brought the entire plant kingdom into existence by speaking. On the fifth day, He populated the waters and the skies by saying the words.But when it came to creatures with breath...

     Genesis 1:24-25  "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
Note: God made.... 'ASAH [aw-saw'] to do, or make.

                                     HUMANS AS "SCULPTED BY GOD. 

     Genesis 1:26-27  "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

     As, previously shown in Gen.2:7 above, God formed man from the earth's dust, then "BREATHED"  into his nostrils, His "breath of life." Thus man became a living soul. If this was any easier, He's have to use pictures, right? Sadly few are they that study, not just read, but study His word. Must be better to let other tell us what in it, right? Of course no man ever lies right:?   Is this the why of this...

    Matthew 24:4  "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you."

    Note Please read all this 24th chapter, but please do not, NOT compare this to the world-wide news, you just may wake up if you do!

      Genesis 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Note: read the above over several times and close your eyes,. Now, who is so jaded, that they can NOT see God cradling Adam's head in his arms, while giving him the "The Kiss of Life"?   Plus who can fail too see, that God invested our own, creation with the same personal attention He gave Adam, because HE created us all into His own image?
     In God's own image, as His stewards, Adam and Eve received the responsibilities, and dominion over, the rest of  this earthly, creation...
   
     Genesis 1:26-28  "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

     WE, still feel that sense of responsibility, and why the environmentalists, animal rights activists and philosophy professors can all still philosophize on this matter, and it still touches us!

                                               SO. . . .WHAT IS MAN?


     THE  Bible clearly portrays human beings as the special object of God's love and care, as His crowning achievement of Creation, the caretakers of the planet!
    Yet, our rebellion against Him only reveals a greater depth and scope of the Creator's  unimaginable love,  when He sent His, Son, Jesus to be our payment for our sins, His pure life for our fallen natures.

     Matthew 10:29-31  "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Note: Please allow me to add this... for this sums up the Bible...

 

      1 John 4:6-9  "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."


THANK Y O U FOR YOUR TIME.

Want to learn more? Visit your Seventh day Adventist church, ANY Saturday/Sabbath @ 9:15 AM. You'll be very glad that you did!

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