yes exactly that is what I am looking for “some general opinions” since one frequently hears it said or claimed that the Church teaches this or that.I am interested in finding out who she teaches to,what she taught them and what she did not teach etc - so let all and sundry speak up and out and not be obstructed or prevented etc - twinc
That’s an excellent clarification, so I’m glad I asked.
"…one frequently hears it said or claimed that the Church teaches this or that.I am interested in finding out who she teaches to,what she taught them and what she did not teach etc "
These are big issues and extremely valuable, in my opinion.
We can keep in mind, however, when all and sundry speak up — many will not be telling us what the Church teaches, or even what the common opinion among Catholic theologians is. We will get atheists telling us that the soul does not exist – or those looking for scientific evidence, etc.
Then we get into scientific debates about the supposed natural evolution of consciousness or that the mind is just a collection of neutrons.
Ok, good - none of that.
I’ll offer this on the Soul:
In perennial Catholic teaching from the Fathers of the Church, through St. Thomas Aquinas, through Garrigou-Lagrange and Cardinal Newman and the Catholic Catechism … the soul is:
…the ultimate internal principle by which we think, feel, and will, and by which our bodies are animated. The term “mind” usually denotes this principle as the subject of our conscious states, while “soul” denotes the source of our vegetative activities as well. That our vital activities proceed from a principle capable of subsisting in itself, is the thesis of the substantiality of the soul: that this principle is not itself composite, extended, corporeal, or essentially and intrinsically dependent on the body, is the doctrine of spirituality.
– Catholic Encyclopedia – Soul
newadvent.org/cathen/14153a.htm
What about the faculties or functions of the soul?
Those deal with “intelligence and will” and include memory and imagination — and in general “consciousness” or “self-awareness”.
The soul is the source of free-will.
It is also called, in Catholic philosophical terms: “the form of the body”. It is the supernaturally created “internal principle” of the body — united to the body.
What is the origin of the soul?
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God – it is not “produced” by the parents – and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.
De Fide dogma — God directly creates the human soul. It is not the product of evolution, physical laws or matter. It did not emerge gradually by a slow process of mutations.
1703 Endowed with “a spiritual and immortal” soul,[5] the human person is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.”[6] From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude.
Doctrinal teaching — God willed human beings. Humans did not emerge from nature by an accidental, unintelligent, unconscious process — but were “willed into existence”. God knew about and planned for the creation of humans.
1704 The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection “in seeking and loving what is true and good.”[7]
The most important point here is that the soul is not completely independent and separate from the body. They are united and work together. This is obviously true regarding the operation of conscious intellect — it directs the body.
1705 By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an “outstanding manifestation of the divine image.”[8]
