Ahhh… now THIS question interests me!
How is it that we conclude that the body and soul are inseparable?
Is there warrant for that position in the bible. It certainly isn’t Gnostic. Thoughts?
Okay – I’m trying to show off here and you’re not helping! What really smarts, though, is where did you get that picture? Have you been in contact with my mom!!! 
2 Likes
Let me be your first holdout!
I entirely reject that proposition. To me the body is a channeling device… like a radio.
Radio waves exist independently of radios. And each body is like a radio tuned to the frequency of your soul…
I attribute the “sleep” model as endorsed by a pharisaic school.
-
I have not confirmed that the Essene position is not in the Bible.
-
I be able to fully respond to @RLBailey’s thought question… all options must be on the table for comparison.
I think that’s an important step if you want this view to have any relevance to the Bible. Some engagement with the relevant scholarly literature will be necessary.
Surely the scholarly consensus should be on the table as well, and you should address that first.
Okay, that is what I am trying to figure out.
I certainly don’t endorse the existence of a soul prior to birth. That leads to Mormonism et al (sources I’ve read but can’t cite) with prior gods etc.
Existence of the soul after physical death seems to be the reigning theory at this point.This is (generally assumed) to mean either the existence of the soul alone, (2 Co 5:1-10) (perhaps though “building” is such a strong body analogy).
2Co 5:1-10 NASB For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2) For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, (3) inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. (4) For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. (5) Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. (6) Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— (7) for we walk by faith, not by sight— (8) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (9) Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Or soul and body together, (which is a better interpretation of the above).
1 Cor 15:52 NASB "…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
(BTW, how do I do one of those Internet box quote boxes like you do? I can’t find an instruction for it)
From this we must presume the link between body and soul is there at least for those who are alive at the “change”. Because of this, theologians have had to resort to Elohim creating some place (re Bosom of Abraham, sleep, purgatory, and so forth) to park the dead until called to the appropriate re-entry into the timeline.
If the soul is separable from the body, then the creation of bodies for the purpose of parking would not be necessary. However, since our cognitive abilities and our identity as a personality is shaped and contained by our physical structure, then I find it hard to grasp being a body-less “naked” soul (Is that what Paul is referring to in 2 Cor 5?).
Note what it says in 1 Cor 5:52
“…and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
If the people of the last trump are “raised imperishable” then the presumption is strong that those who die are also “parked” imperishable as well. Some with an imperishable body fit for everlasting life, and others fit for an eternity burning in hell (gahh! I hate that part!).
Of course, we know of plenty of theologians (not Evangelical at least) who espouse disembodied floating on a cloud in heaven (gahh too!).
To me the conclusion is that the soul, like the body, is created at birth, and lasts co-coterminous with the body until the everlasting part is established by judgement. That Christians are already granted everlasting life upon acceptance of Yeshua the Messiah (the “pledge” in 5:4 above), then must be compared to the lost, who are possibly given another “mortal” body (probably a copy of their original body before death) in which they inhabit until sent to the “second death” of both body and soul in the Lake of Fire Both body and soul burn to ashes and the judgement is finished. I prefer to believe it is not an everlasting fire, but a consuming fire as most pre-English translators prior to Wycliff prefer.
So I feel it is the exact opposite of what you say. The soul is irrevocably tuned to our bodies. The soul is shaped by our body as much as our body is shaped by how we think (which is shaped by the body…) in a heterodyne. Even if it goes the direction of your analogy, you can’t have one without the other. The soul is the “unseen” half of the “seen” body. Both together make up “human”.
(I have complete study on Seen and Unseen in John 3 applied to Gen 1:1-2 for another topic)
I also take the position that we will be living on the New Earth as specified in Rev 19-20. That requires a body. So no disembodied souls would be needed for such a life, though we will apparently have ability to travel in space/time we do not have now (Yeshua appearing and disappearing, rising up in the sky and so forth).
Amen brother! Preach it! Glad to meet you brother-o-mine!
Personal Note:
I used to have nearly perfect memory (not quite eidetic). I could read things and recall them by visualizing a page and quoting it. Since about 2006 I have struggled with depression. I have been on low dose Lexapro since. And since then I have lost my memory. I know and can see things I have read, but I no longer can come up with who wrote it. I despair when writing like this because I’d have to look up each citation. I just can’t remember it. So please help me out if you recognize something should be cited and let me know.
Post here deleted … I accidentally posted it in the wrong thread!
I would have to start adding a whole lot more citations to my own stuff before I could start criticizing anybody else for any alleged deficiencies of their own. This is an open forum! Relax. You’ll get challenged on anything dubious you write if it needs a citation. That said, citations are nice, and I like to think this particular forum probably has more helpful citations volunteered than most others!
You answer @RLBailey the way you want to, and I’ll answer Ray the way I want to.
[Sidenote: Only one other person used to write things like this to me … sayyyy… do you have a cousin named “Eddie”? ]
Thanks for the support Mervin (funny, I first typed Marvin who is my cousin!) Sayyy… as for George, well, I am not so sure I want his help if he draws so much fire! Ha! 
Well I’m just pointing out that you aren’t answering the way you said you would answer. You said all options should be on the table, when in fact you’ve removed most of them and you’ve only added the ones you want.
As I recall, @Jonathan_Burke, you asked me some specific questions… so I was answering your specific questions.
Measurement - You forget tolerances and limits of accuracy. No measurement is exact. Your other point is that everyone in a discussion must be working from the same dictionary.
This topic was automatically closed 6 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.