What does the soul do?

[Paul3144]

This is a question I’ve never really seen addressed. We know from the Holy Scriptures that the soul exists, is immaterial, can be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, can exist without the body temporarily during the intermediate state, and some other things. But what exactly does it do? I’ve got some of my own thoughts on this, but I’ll save them for later until I get some other people’s thoughts.

 

[spockrates]

One might say the soul is what animates the body. Socrates had a playful analogy. He said the soul drives the body as though it were a chariot pulling two horses–one that desires to do what is righteous and the other desiring to do what is sinful.

 

[JimG]

The soul is the animating principle of the body. There are two faculties of the human soul: intellect and will. Through those two spiritual faculties we are able to know and to love. It should be noted that the soul, though immortal, is not independent of the body. Body and soul together comprise a human being. Even the spiritual faculties of the soul depend on bodily (name removed by moderator)ut from the senses to fulfill their function.

 

[RoryMcKenzie56]

St. Thomas Aquinas addressed the activity of the soul in Part I, Q. 77, of the Summa Theologica. This is not necessarily the final word, but it is assuredly compatible with Catholic doctrine.

1. 
   *]Is the essence of the soul its power?
   *]Is there one power of the soul, or several?
   *]How are the powers of the soul distinguished from one another?
   *]The orders of the powers, one to another
   *]Are the powers of the soul in it as in their subject?
   *]Do the powers flow from the essence of the soul?
   *]Does one power rise from another?
   *]Do all the powers of the soul remain in the soul after death?

 

[LilyM]

You compare a dead body to a living person - the difference is produced by the soul, which is one thing the living person possesses but the dead body doesn’t. So you get a fair idea of at least some of what the soul does.

 

[peary1]

This is a question I’ve never really seen addressed. We know from the Holy Scriptures that the soul exists, is immaterial, can be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, can exist without the body temporarily during the intermediate state, and some other things. But what exactly does it do? I’ve got some of my own thoughts on this, but I’ll save them for later until I get some other people’s thoughts.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “The soul may be defined as the ultimate internal principle by which we think, feel, and will, and by which our bodies are animated.” The soul manifests itself in our ability of self-reflective thought and morality. By all practicality of observation, the soul manifests itself through our brain.

Genesis 2:7 states: “the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.” Another translation has it that “God formed man out of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Being has always been identified with the existence of the soul.

Because of original sin, we must experience death and the separation of the body and the soul until the Last Day, when we will become a complete holy being once again. A biblical interpretation has it that both the body and soul live and grow together, one influencing the other from the moment of conception.

 

[KathleenGee]

I like John Paul II’s description of what is a human soul…it was made out of love for love and truth…it lives off of truth…