by Burke McKay

Created on: February 13, 2008

Is there a difference between the Soul and the Spirit? The Greeks certainly thought so as they had different words, with completely different meanings, to describe each one.

The Greek word for spirit' is pneumatos (new-ma-tos) which means air, or wind. Today we have a number of words that stem from this Greek root word; pneumonia and pneumatic are just two representative samples. It would seem that wind/air is also associated with the quality of having life, or being alive.

The word "Soul" goes back to the Greek root psukios (soo-kee-os), which means mind, the seat of human consciousness, and cognition. From this root we have psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychotic, and psychic; all having to do with the mind, mentality, and thinking.

These two terms are primarily used in the realms of Theology and religion; with the more popular being religion. When we hear someone speaking of a soul, or a spirit, do we get even an inkling of what they are? Rarely, if at all; this leads us to question why this is. Does it somehow serve some purpose to obfuscate these words and make them appear to be other than what they are?

When Jesus said that the Father is Spirit, and that He would send the Holy Spirit, was He saying that the Father is wind, or air; or that He would send Holy Wind or Air to His followers? This is unlikely, though the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles is described as a mighty rushing wind. If He'd meant simply air, then both the Father and the Holy Spirit would be confined to existence within an atmosphere, or so it would seem to me. I think it much more likely that Jesus used "spirit" to indicate Life instead of air, or wind; perhaps even that which makes us "alive". This would certainly fit with "all things are made new", and "we are new creations in Christ". I should note as well that what we refer to as a ghost was also referred to by this same word, hence the interchangeability of ghost and spirit.

What follows I must present as anecdotal, as it reflects my own experiences regarding the soul'.

I have seen much resistance to the idea that the soul' is actually the mind. In every description of the soul' I've endured, it seems that the thinking part is what is to be avoided at all costs. When they can't get me to understand their concept of the soul I am usually accused of having no "heart knowledge" as though God doesn't want those who actually bother to think about the Scriptures. I've even been told that intelligent people are children of Satan with some reference to an inability to be innocent as lambs. I've even known people to be invited out of churches because they had the audacity to say to a teacher or preacher, "That's not what the Bible says."

If there is misunderstanding about what the soul and spirit are, it is my considered opinion that it is promulgated by those churches connected with the mind-set I've described in the previous paragraph. How long this has been going on I cannot say, but I would venture that its roots are probably over 1,500 years old. Intelligence and abstract thought are not anathema to God; they are gifts from God for His children. Imagine that, thinking as a Spiritual Gift {a gift to enhance Life}.

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