im not really sure, but does it have to do with your concious? when you sin or commit a crime; you feel guilty and something is not right. Maybe that means your soul is in sorrow or your soul is telling you that you have to fix your mistake. I know this is not the best answer, but i thought i would give it a shot.
Also, you could tell the person you are debating with that when you die your sould goes to heaven (or hell). If we did not have a human soul, then nothing would go to Heavne or hell when we die.
(Please correct me if I am wrong) But the rational soul is what differentiates us from other animals -notice how we are the only ones, through Jesus Christ our God and Savior, who can "refuse" temptation or sin while other animals don't go walking around as monks or preach the Gospel. In addition the point mentioned above, when God created angels He created them as just pure souls, while animals are just pure flesh and natural instinct; we have both (temperal) flesh and an (eternal) soul; so were not animals nor are we angels but we are the magnificent creation of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Furthermore, from our fall from eternal life we have not only corrupted ourselves but also the nature of animals, but we still inherited the authority from God over all the animals (Why isn't a monkey studying engineering in university? Or turning mankind into salves? Becuase God blesses the animals with what they need and blesses us with what we need, and has given unto us all the authority) Therefore, our soul are rational and it will always try to find God and start a relationship with Jesus Christ our God and Saviour to satsify it's thirts, it was blessed with the authority over all animals; without a rational soul we needed would be only animals. I hoped that helped, if not may God bless us and show us the answer. God bless everyone!
most people (except those who make a big effort to close their minds to religion) have questions about the meaning of life, and through their experiences in life conclude 'there must be something up there' and search for answers in religion, nature, crystals, other planets etc.
animals don't do this. this part of ourselves that looks for a connection or feels connected to a bigger force is the soul. many philosphers and theologians use the terms 'soul' and 'spirit' interchangeably. this does not matter. what matters is that most humans recognise there is something else outside of them.
if your friend does not recognise this, it is not something that can easily proved by philosophy. it is better, in my opinion, to describe some of those times you have been aware of the presence of God (eg not being hit by a car that came very close, or knowing that your friend was in trouble before he phoned asking for help etc). generally, people are convinced of the existence of God by seeing Him in the lives and the love of those around them, rather than being told repeatedly that they should believe something they did not yet see evidence for.
i hope this helps, may God give you His strength and His love in this Holy week.
ask him "why are you alive?" he will probably have a smart-guy answer like because of his parents, then u have the opportunity to introduce to him the meaning of a soul and how everything living has a soul but only humans have spirits.. etc'
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Also, you could tell the person you are debating with that when you die your sould goes to heaven (or hell). If we did not have a human soul, then nothing would go to Heavne or hell when we die.
Please pray for me
ilovestmark has a point.
But maybe you could tell him that without the soul, we would not exist since our soul is what keeps us alive.
And when we die, only our physical body dies off, but never our soul.
Please pray for me.
most people (except those who make a big effort to close their minds to religion) have questions about the meaning of life, and through their experiences in life conclude 'there must be something up there' and search for answers in religion, nature, crystals, other planets etc.
animals don't do this. this part of ourselves that looks for a connection or feels connected to a bigger force is the soul. many philosphers and theologians use the terms 'soul' and 'spirit' interchangeably. this does not matter. what matters is that most humans recognise there is something else outside of them.
if your friend does not recognise this, it is not something that can easily proved by philosophy. it is better, in my opinion, to describe some of those times you have been aware of the presence of God (eg not being hit by a car that came very close, or knowing that your friend was in trouble before he phoned asking for help etc).
generally, people are convinced of the existence of God by seeing Him in the lives and the love of those around them, rather than being told repeatedly that they should believe something they did not yet see evidence for.
i hope this helps, may God give you His strength and His love in this Holy week.
please pray for me and my weakness
Rabena mawgood