Does God have 1 soul, 3 souls, or "what"?

[CatsAndDogs]

I’ve been under the impression that each person (God’s-3-persons/angelic/demonic/human) has it’s own soul.

Do God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit each have their own soul?

I tend not to use the term “soul” very much, except as in the phrase “body and soul”, where it designates the “other” part of the person which isn’t his body.

So, since I can’t seem to find an answer to my (probably ill-formed) question, can you please help me out here with a reference or explanation that is ONLY thoroughly Magisterially Catholic, please?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tobias]

My thoughts are that since it was the Holy Spirit (breath of God) that made man a living soul, it would seem that the Holy Spirit is the soul of God. I was taught that, being in the image and likeness of God, we are triune in that we have body, mind and spirit (soul). Not thtat we are 3 persons, but likeness and image.Or I am ill informed on the matter too.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

My thoughts are that since it was the Holy Spirit (breath of God) that made man a living soul, it would seem that the Holy Spirit is the soul of God. I was taught that, being in the image and likeness of God, we are triune in that we have body, mind and spirit (soul). Not thtat we are 3 persons, but likeness and image.Or I am ill informed on the matter too.

I’m just after a simply declarative statement as to the title question from someone who actually knows the Magisterium’s understanding of it.

I’d suggest you start a new thread if you have a further question than what I’m after.

Thanks for your patience with my being a bit dismissive with your question. If you toss it out there on a thread of it’s own, I might weigh in at some point.

 

[Contarini]

I’ve been under the impression that each person (God’s-3-persons/angelic/demonic/human) has it’s own soul.

Do God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit each have their own soul?

I tend not to use the term “soul” very much, except as in the phrase “body and soul”, where it designates the “other” part of the person which isn’t his body.

Exactly. That is the answer to your question. A “soul” is a spiritual substance animating a body. God has no body, so God (speaking in terms of the divine nature) has no soul. Jesus, of course, does have a (human) soul as well as both a human and divine nature.

Some folks would talk about God as the “soul of the world,” but this has generally been rejected by Christians because it implies that God exists only in relation to/within the world.

Edwin

 

[Katholish]

Edwin’s is a fairly good explaination. It is certainly correct to say that God is not, or does not have, a soul. A soul is the form, or animating principle, of a material body, and as such, only things that have material bodies have souls.

However, I am fairly certain that there is a problem calling a soul a spiritual substance since the substance of man is the body/soul composit. The soul is not its own substance, but belongs to a material body (which is also not its own substance).

The implications of this are that not even angels have souls. Angels certainly are spiritual substances and are “pure form” if you wish to look at it that way. Thus, angels have many similarities to souls in that they are form, but are not themselves the form “of something”–hence making them their own substance.

It is fair to say that souls are not proper to “persons” per se, but only proper to living material things.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

However, I am fairly certain that there is a problem calling a soul a spiritual substance since the substance of man is the body/soul composit.

Katholish,

Although I don’t want to get into a tangent and derail from CatsandDogs original question, I believe it is correct (and traditional) to say that a soul is a spiritual substance, adding the qualifier *incomplete. *A soul is an incomplete substance.

VC

 

[Contarini]

Katholish,

Although I don’t want to get into a tangent and derail from CatsandDogs original question, I believe it is correct (and traditional) to say that a soul is a spiritual substance, adding the qualifier *incomplete. *A soul is an incomplete substance.

VC

That makes sense.

Edwin

 

[Katholish]

Katholish,

Although I don’t want to get into a tangent and derail from CatsandDogs original question, I believe it is correct (and traditional) to say that a soul is a spiritual substance, adding the qualifier *incomplete. *A soul is an incomplete substance.

VC

Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification.

In so far as the soul is subsistent, it is a substance, in so far as it is a thing which subsists, the man is the substance. It is one of those questions that is affirmative in one sense, negative in another, as explained by St. Thomas. But in truth, I should be careful taking it in one sense without explaining the other.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

Exactly. That is the answer to your question. A “soul” is a spiritual substance animating a body. God has no body, so God (speaking in terms of the divine nature) has no soul. Jesus, of course, does have a (human) soul as well as both a human and divine nature.

Some folks would talk about God as the “soul of the world,” but this has generally been rejected by Christians because it implies that God exists only in relation to/within the world.

Edwin

Excellent! Thank you so much.

As most probably know by now, I tend to “center” any conversation that I get into around some misunderstanding or other of the meaning of “person”, and it suddenly occurred to me that I wasn’t sure what is meant by “soul” when it’s used in a way other than the “human soul” of the human person, and that the other types of persons might or might not have this “thing”!

Thanks so much for clearing that up. Sometimes some of the more “subtle” (for my simple mind at any rate) elements of the theological lexicon evade me, especially if they’re so elemental that it’s difficult to find a “simple” answer in the Catechism or the New Advent Encyclopedia.

Do a search in the CCC or New Advent for “soul”, and the volume of information will, as Brezhnev said, bury you!

 

[CatsAndDogs]

[SIGN]**Thanks Y’all!
Go raibh maith agat!

I, the OP, being of sound mind and not overly battered body, have gotten my answer, so I hereby allow the mods or anyone else to hijack and/or close this thread forthwith as they see fit.**

Is there a way to close one’s own thread!?

[/SIGN]

 

[CSJ]

I would recommend reading Frank Sheed’s book - Theology for Beginners. In it, he explains in plain terms about the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

For starters, think of God as simply existing outside of time and space. He simply “IS”. He is all knowing and all loving.

In brief, God (Father) is so complete in Himself and knows Himself so well that even the mere thought/knowledge of Himself is an entity unto itself - which is Jesus. Because the Father and Son are also the completeness of Love, that Love is also an entity unto itself which is the Holy Spirit. They all share one nature (God), but exist as three entities. Each is a separate “person” and each is also fully God.

As humans, we have a limited understanding of this concept, but think of God as a “family” of persons. The “family” is a typology of God in a finite sense.

 

[JimG]

Just to go back to the original question for a moment, and taking the word “soul” as meaning a “spiritual substance,” the answer has to be that God is Spirit, and God is ONE spirit, One spiritual substance, one spiritual essence. He is one Being, one entity. (Just to use up all the possible words that apply to his Being!)

The Persons of God are not distinct or separate entities, rather they are relations. So the Father is not a separate spiritual substance from the Son or Holy Spirit (forget the incarnation for a moment.) The Son and the Holy Spirit are not separate beings, but they are distinct persons.

 

[M0nkey]

[SIGN]Is there a way to close one’s own thread!?
[/SIGN]

Unfortunately I don’t think you can. This is coming from a guy that’s posted some regrettable nonsense on this forum. :doh2:

I’ve been under the impression that each person (God’s-3-persons/angelic/demonic/human) has it’s own soul.

Do God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit each have their own soul?

To sum up your question: there is mystery when dealing with the most holy trinity. I mean that in a very humble sense of the word ‘mystery.’ St. Augustine is said to have once dwelled on this mystery so much, that he dreamt that he was in a beach while observing the sea, then a child approached him and said, can you put the waters of the ocean into this bucket? That is similar to understanding the mysteries of the trinity in your mind. This child is later revealed to be Jesus once he said this in his dream.

In the practical sense, God can be considered three persons, but three persons in one God.

Human beings also have a soul as somebody mentioned unfinished until the last day.