Was Jesus Souless?

[J.Kennedy]

We believe everyone has a soul at the point of conception and it resides in the body until death, after which it will reside in one of two places for all time and beyond. Eventually the soul will be re-united in a new, perfected version of earthly bodies. Correct?

Since Jesus was God incarnate, he didn’t need a soul, he was divinity itself. Is this correct? So he didn’t have a soul on a “technicality.”

This question is like the question about “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin.” It’s really if no importance to the faith, but I was just curious.

Thanks for your help.

John F. Kennedy
Cincinnati

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Actually, the question is indeed important, because if Jesus did not have a human soul he could not have been a human being and that would mean that the Incarnation had been incomplete. Jesus Christ was true God and true man and so he must have had a human soul. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (471) explains:

Apollinarius of Laodicaea asserted that in Christ the divine Word had replaced the soul or spirit. Against this error the Church confessed that the eternal Son also assumed a rational, human soul.

For more information, please refer to paragraphs 470-483 of the Catechism.