Is There a Soul?

[ricmat]

I’m proud of my membership in the animal kingdom – it’s the kingdom as a member of which God became incarnate!

StA - calm down. Your excitement over mankind’s lack of exceptionalism is getting out of control.

 

[itinerant1]

I’m proud of my membership in the animal kingdom – it’s the kingdom as a member of which God became incarnate!

Granny specifically stated “brute” animal kingdom.

Man, by reason of his physical nature is intimately part of the animal kingdom, but as regards his soul, he transcends the animal kingdom. Man lives in two worlds, the physical and the spiritual. He has something in common with both the earth and the angels. This cannot be reasonably be claimed for our friends the anthropoid apes and dolphins.

 

[itinerant1]

Benadam, I have a biologist friend at the University of Washington looking into this question for you. He just instant messaged me the following:

“Plants split off from animals and fungi before the latter two diverged, but as far as I know there’s no evidence that true plants appeared before true animals.”

StAnastasia

That sounds reasonable.

Also, agriculture may have pre-dated hunting and gathering, while monotheism surely pre-dated polytheism.

 

[StAnastasia]

Granny specifically stated “brute” animal kingdom. Man, by reason of his physical nature is intimately part of the animal kingdom, but as regards his soul, he transcends the animal kingdom. Man lives in two worlds, the physical and the spiritual. He has something in common with both the earth and the angels. This cannot be reasonably be claimed for our friends the anthropoid apes and dolphins.

Do you deny that God became incarnate?

 

[Benadam]

Benadam, I have a biologist friend at the University of Washington looking into this question for you. He just instant messaged me the following:

“Plants split off from animals and fungi before the latter two diverged, but as far as I know there’s no evidence that true plants appeared before true animals.”

StAnastasia

Ana, my friend who is an expert in theology emailed your biologist friend and said not to worry about the naivete , the science of biology can’t help reslove the issue anyway, not untill it discovers the biological organs that operate the power to apprehend eternal realities and why those organs don’t operate those powers in any other animal.

As for the biology, you know what I mean.
Living matter operated vegetative powers before they could operate animative powers. Do biologist teach that living matter had the power to eat food and go get it when matter began living?

 

[StAnastasia]

Living matter operated vegetative powers before they could operate animative powers. Do biologist teach that living matter had the power to eat food and go get it when matter began living?

I’ll pose this to the biologists.

 

[itinerant1]

Do you deny that God became incarnate?

The Second Person of the Trinity assumed human form, body and spiritual soul, while retaining His Divinity.

In the Eucharist, Christ is present in His divinity and his human physical body and spirutual soul.

The theological doctrines (de fide) of the Incarnation and Eucharist confirms what I am saying on a philosophical level about the human soul.

 

[Benadam]

Trauma associated with life threatening experience becomes imprinted in emotional memory. This is good in case we encounter the same sensory triggers that happened when our life was threatened. Our cognitive judgement will be overidden by the the intense emotions evoked by the trauma and the behaviour that worked the last time will save our lives next time. This is good for animals so they adapt to the eat or be eaten life natural to them.

But modern humans are made socially dysfunctional by memories that cause involuntary behaviour.

 

[grannymh]

Granny, I eagerly wait to see what supports your scientific rebuttal.

Actually, I did not say what kind of a rebuttal it would be so don’t get your heart set on something particular. As my Irish Mother would say: There is more than one way to skin a cat.

Actually, I like using a Catholicism rebuttal and certainly will continue to do so. Since I believe in a soul which is eternal, I prefer Catholicism over science. It is Catholicism which teaches that there is more to the human person than a material anatomy which eventually rots.

Blessings,
granny

Human life is meant for eternal life.

 

[Zatzat]

[What are your thoughts about the soul?

I was always told I had a soul, so without thinking much about it, I naturally assumed I had a soul…

I now realize that there isn’t any proof that we have a soul and until such time that the soul is proven to exist, I’ll hold the position that no such thing exists.

Believing in an eternal soul is a pleasant belief, but a belief that is completely without evidence…wishful thinking at its best.
[/quote]

 

[StAnastasia]

Actually, I did not say what kind of a rebuttal it would be so don’t get your heart set on something particular. As my Irish Mother would say: There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I look forward to not anything in particular!

 

[PJM]

=itinerant1;6499004]Most ancient cultures believed, however inaccurately understood, that man has a soul. Yet modern man seems unable to find his soul. Interpretations of modern brain studies tend to identify all human cognitive activities with brain states. However, contrary to the prevailing myth of our times that says we think with our brains, I maintain that the evidence, both scientific and philosophic, indicates rather, that we do not think with our brains, though we do not think without them.

Conceptual or abstract thought can only be a function of an immaterial soul. This proposition opposes the position of extreme Darwinians and other materialists who claim that the soul (or mind) is the product of natural evolutionary processes. Is this conflict of views resolvable in such a way as to provide a definitive answer?

What is the nature of the soul and what is its relation to be body? Are there proofs for the immaterial nature of the human soul? Is the mind identical with the soul? Is the will a power or faculty of the soul? Is the soul intrinsically immortal? These kinds of questions are of utmost importance for modern man and will comprise the subject matter of this thread.

What are your thoughts about the soul?

"The soul is 'Spirit and Life." The Soul, like ones mind, intellect and freewill which can be demonistrated but not quantifed because all of these are Spiritual Things.

None of them can be “killed” and all operate in conjunction with the soul.

***The precise reason all of humanity is so Blessed and so Created is that in the entire Universe ONLY humanity holds the possibility of acknowledging God’s magnificent universe; only man can thank God and freely choose to [OR NOT TO] love God in return for all that God is and does for us.

The soul, intellect, mind and freewill, as Spititual Things, MUST live forever either as a Just Reward for choosing God; or The Just and Fair reward of NOT chooing God; ***Eternal hell!

Love and prayers,

 

[StAnastasia]

in the entire Universe ONLY humanity holds the possibility of acknowledging God’s magnificent universe; only man can thank God and freely choose to [OR NOT TO] love God in return for all that God is and does for us.

Interesting claim. Is it merely an assumption, or do you have evidence from all the other galaxies to prove that no beings like us exist?

 

[grannymh]

I’m proud of my membership in the animal kingdom – it’s the kingdom as a member of which God became incarnate!

You missed a key word in my post. Maybe you didn’t know what it meant. No wonder you have trouble understanding Catholicism and its relationship to science.
I am really sorry about that.
:sad_yes:

 

[itinerant1]

I was always told I had a soul, so without thinking much about it, I naturally assumed I had a soul…

I now realize that there isn’t any proof that we have a soul and until such time that the soul is proven to exist, I’ll hold the position that no such thing exists.

Believing in an eternal soul is a pleasant belief, but a belief that is completely without evidence…wishful thinking at its best.

The evidence which you assume does not exist not only exists but it is conclusive.

What do you assume to be the source of your skeptical thoughts? The brain?

 

[grannymh]

Interesting claim. Is it merely an assumption, or do you have evidence from all the other galaxies to prove that no beings like us exist?

Why do you have to ask?

The quote you chose from PJM is straight up Catholicism.

 

[StAnastasia]

Why do you have to ask?

Because I’m wondering how much you know about the universe. It’s a big place, with 300 billion galaxies averaging a hundred billion stars each. If even only a tiny percentage of those stars have life-bearing planets, the fecundity of God’s creativity is mind boggling.

 

[itinerant1]

For those of you going extra-terrestrial, I recommend the following update on the issue of intelligent life somewhere else, but not on earth, from the Vatican’s perspective:

- Guy Consolmagno Gold, Frankincense and Mars

 

[Benadam]

Living matter developed the power to be increasingly cognizant of it’s internal and external environments. To the point of dysfunction it seems. Yet as the human psyche seeks happiness in everything so does living matter seek greater cognizance.

In light of the natural instinct to continue being.

What biological advantage is there to being able to apprehend the eternal reality that the living matter of my being will not continue being?

If there is no reasonable answer from the biological sciences, if the sciences are not able to provide proof that it has a biological function, why do other fields have to meet those standards to be believable?

The only reason that seems fitting is that it is unnatural for me to not continue being.

 

[ricmat]

Interesting claim. Is it merely an assumption, or do you have evidence from all the other galaxies to prove that no beings like us exist?

Because I’m wondering how much you know about the universe. It’s a big place, with 300 billion galaxies averaging a hundred billion stars each. If even only a tiny percentage of those stars have life-bearing planets, the fecundity of God’s creativity is mind boggling.

Interesting claim. Is it merely an assumption, or do you have evidence from any of those other galaxies and planets to prove that they are life bearing?

If you’d like to actually get some data on this, I suggest that you read Privileged Planet. And Signature in the Cell.