Relda,

In Broca’s Brain, Carl Sagan suggests religion fundamentally mystical and “…the mystical core of region is neither literally true nor perniciously wrong. It is a rather flawed attempted to make contact with our earliest and most profound memories”. Here, I was surprised Sagan surmised religion as an attempt to re-connect with our birth. Jung, perhaps, Sagan, I wouldn’t have guessed.

Attempts by the Neo-Cortex to reconcile the primal survival drives of the Limbic System would seem a more likely source to me. Here, interestingly, incense stimulates the olfactory centres of the Brain, heightening Limbic response.

The Tibetan Buddhists ask, “How do you stop a single drop of water from ever evaporating”? The reply: “By throwing it into the sea”. My personal interpretation is, in Sumara, individual souls, after transmigration, return to the universal.

Christianising the Buddhist concept, I wonder whether the core mysticism is being as One with Christ’s in His “substitionary ransom”. The individual Christian soul survives in Christ’s sacrifice and is reborn in the resurrection. The Buddhist belief, if I interpret it correctly, is universal; whereas, the Christian is exclusive, in keeping with its Jewish heritage. In the latter case, only Christians are “returned to the sea”.

Sells,

Did Jesus have a human soul? If so, when was Jesus' human soul conceived?

Oliver

According to Christian orthodoxy Jesus was fully human ie in every possible way that we are human so was Jesus. Therefore if possession of a 'human soul', whatever that is, is integral to being human then Jesus possessed such a soul (according to Christian orthodoxy).

Beware, however, to distinguish between a dualistic notion of soul and the metaphorical use of the word 'soul' which does not require any metaphysical dichotomy of body and soul. Metaphysical dualism has become very common in popular evangelical Christianity. It is not, however, universal to Christian understanding and in its popular form does not represent Christian orthodoxy but rather derives from Persian religion and Greek philosophy (Im sure you know that already).

If you are asking what the Orthodox view is then body and soul are indivisible and together constitute the fullness of being human for Jesus as for anyone else. Consequent upon this is the theological doctrine of the resurrection of the body as per the Apostle's Creed.

jesus has a human soul..[we all do..it houses our spirit, once the soul and our animus/spirit..leave the flesh]

our spirit belongs to god..[our soul can be given over to evil..[thats why it is said the devil can buy your soul..[yet not your god given holy spirit]..the body/soul/spirit is the holy trinity...despite what others may think

at death our spirit is housed in our soul body..[the soul body is a reflection of our physical body..[occasionally called our aether body]or more commonly our astral body...the demons in hell have hidious deformed soul/bodies..often being so degraded they resemble beasts[in who's nature they revel in]

every vile we do..adds layers of vile/that veil over our soulbody..[so that the saying of having a dark soul,..becomes clear..especially in the next realm,..the good have almost a vaperous/luminous soul body..[their god given holy/spirit radiates out from it]

anyhow its a facinating topic..[jesus returned in his soul body]..but heck read the book yourselves,..he came he returned to prove we are all born again in the next realm,..thus we all must..'get'..that we live on after our apparent death..[each revealing our very truth as reflected by the soulbody,..so much so that the truth of..nothing be concealed becomes clear to all]

yet the truth of..more shall be given..[and to who much is given much is expected..love god by loving neighbour..[and knowing thy fathers l;iving/loving voice],..becomes as apparent as the blind leading the blind..[or planting good seed on barren soil]...lol

UOG

Thank you!
I think you've just illustrated my last point and perhaps also my point about the narcissism of highly 'invidualised' spiritualities.

Individualised! I wish you could edit your posts here. In some forums you can edit your old posts.

waterboy,

Thank you for your reply.

O.