There are many vital issues within society and
culture in this century that stem from a disbelief in an immaterial
supernatural soul or spirit in human beings. Many heated political, economic
and social debates and battles are taking place in communities, schools,
churches and courtrooms across the world. These battles are chiefly due to a
falling out of the belief that humans possess an immortal soul or spirit. The
reality or acceptance of humans possessing a supernatural soul or spirit is
typically the primary factor in determining the side that an individual or group
of individuals will take in these vital issues.
Many
believe and some define the soul and spirit as two separate entities. Both,
however, are under subjection to this argument and as we will discover, one
side argues against the soul and spirit being immaterial and supernatural and
the other argues that the soul and spirit are positively immaterial and
supernatural. For either argument, both entities, regardless if they are one in
the same or different need to both be equally immaterial and supernatural or
material and natural. For ease of explanation in this argument we will
inclusively refer to them both as the soul or human soul.
The
reason the status of the soul is so important to these issues is that most of
these issues in society today rely on the identification of person-hood. You
will typically find that the members on each side of these issues generally
follow the same belief in regards to the human soul. Side A will typically
believe in one aspect of the soul, for instance being immaterial and supernatural
and its opposition, side B, will typically be opposed to this belief, claiming
the soul is simply natural and material. Being that side A believes the soul is
immaterial and supernatural infers to the possibility that or the belief that
humans live past death and infers the belief in or possibility in a god which
places us accountable for our actions and life on earth. Side B in opposition
simply believes that when the human dies they, body and soul, simply cease to
exist and no accountability for life needs to be considered.
The
major issues within society where the existence and definition of the soul
plays a crucial part are but are not limited to:
·
The justification of abortion and
abortion rights.
·
The desensitizing of suicide.
·
The ideas and acceptability of
euthanasia.
·
The thoughts, beliefs and teachings of
the afterlife and the post death state of man.
In each of these topics
the identification of personhood plays a critical role and the element of the
soul is what typically causes the division between the two sides. Take for
instance the topic of abortion. Using the A and B sides as we described earlier
we can see how the definition of the soul plays a vital role in this argument.
Side A, believing in the immortal soul, generally believes the humans
personhood is defined by this immaterial supernatural soul. This belief is
fostered by an inference of a God who exists which the person, the unborn
child, is linked to by this supernatural soul. Since the soul is what identifies
the personhood of man, to abort the child would be murder for you are
separating a soul from the body that soul was connected to. Side B in
retrospect, does not believe in a supernatural soul connecting one with God,
nor a soul creating an identity as a human in that unborn child thus views the
child as simply matter with no identity of its own. To separate the unborn
child from its life and existence would not be separating a life from an
existing, immaterial, supernatural soul.
We can see with just
this simple example how the definition and belief of the soul can cause the
dividing line between many issues. All issues and debate regarding life,
humanity, human rights and much more are influenced by the belief or disbelief
of an immaterial, supernatural soul which may identify every human being, live
past the death of the body and have connection with a creator God. I will be
arguing for the existence of an immaterial, supernatural soul which identifies
every human, regardless of their disposition or belief in a creator God in this
article.
The defining factor in
this argument is the belief in God. I will be presenting my argument from a
Christian point of view but I must first describe the argument from the
opposing side of this belief. This would be the Atheist or Naturalist point of
view regarding the soul. The Atheist or Naturalist will generally argue the
following five points.
1. Humans
are only physical bodies of matter.
2. The
soul is simply part of the human body and dies with the body.
3. The
soul is not supernatural, immaterial or immortal (surviving death).
4. Humans
cease to exist after death along with the soul.
5. If
there is no supernatural, immortal soul linking a human to a God or afterlife
then the soul cannot identify personhood in a human.
What I have shown you
in these five points is the general argument of the Atheist and Naturalist.
Total non-existence of a God or chance of a supernatural soul linking one to
this God is the key factor to this misconception. If one is not connected to a
God nor has an immortal soul, or a soul or part of them that lives on past
death, then there is no eternal identity of personhood. You simply exist as
matter and upon death cease to exist. This belief of no afterlife or no
spiritual life past death and no accountability to a supernatural God creates a
mindset that places one at ease when making choices such as aborting a life,
committing euthanasia of the elderly or contemplating suicide. For one to
believe and accept the notion of a supernatural and immortal soul would then
place an individual in a place where they could be accountable.
I will now present the
argument from a Christian world view in the positive of an immaterial,
supernatural soul. I will be presenting this with six key points that will
deliver a conclusion supporting the existence of an immaterial soul. Within
these six points I will be countering each of the five naturalist points I
listed above to come to our conclusion.
1. Humans
have an immaterial, supernatural soul.
The naturalist will
argue that the soul is not immaterial or supernatural and that the soul is part
of the natural human. For anything to be natural or material, it has to have
mass, weight, density and take up space. All matter or material things in the
universe fulfill these characteristics. All natural, material things are made
of matter. If you break down any natural thing to its finest molecule it will
still take up space, have a weight and have mass. The atom itself has mass and
takes up space.
If the human soul, that
which contains thought, desire, emotion and ideas where natural it must consist
of these characteristics to be considered natural and materialistic. How much
do thoughts weigh? Do our thoughts and emotions have a weight or a mass? We are
capable of containing vast amounts of thought, emotion and ideas, yet we can
contain it all and we never run out of space to keep it. You can only fill so
much water into a glass because both the glass and the water have mass, weight
and take up space. This is not a limitation of our thoughts, emotions and
feelings contained in our soul.
We cannot apply these
characteristics to our soul therefore we cannot consider the human soul
material or natural. Anything that does not have mass, weight or take up time
and space is not natural or material making it supernatural and immaterial.
2. The
soul is contained in the body but separate from the body.
The human body is mass
and naturalistic. The soul, being free of naturalistic and material
characteristics cannot be attached to or part of the body. If you take a man
and remove his legs, he takes up less mass, he is less of a human body, yet,
you have not removed part of his soul. His soul is still intact. When a human’s
body is inoperable or paralyzed, his mind and soul can still function in what
we call normal capacity. One can do all manners of things to change, alter or
destroy the human body, yet once cannot change a human’s soul, beliefs,
emotions or desires. One can force your body to react or perform to any sort of
stimulus yet, one can do nothing to change the intricate characteristics of
your soul.
If the soul was part of
the body you would not have the many medically reported and documented cases of
near death or out of body experiences. This medical phenomena has thousands of
well documented cases and none could be explained or even considered feasible
if the soul was simply part of the physical body.
3. The
soul does not die along with the body.
This point is true
under the presumption of the first two points I presented. If the soul is not
natural or material and is separate from the body and is not affected in the
same matter as the body, then one cannot claim the soul dies along with the
body. To be able to claim the soul dies along with the body one must prove the
soul is material with naturalistic characteristics and is a part of the
physical body for it to be able to be manipulated along with the body. Since we
see in the first two points that the soul is not material or natural but
immaterial and supernatural we cannot assume the soul would die a physical
death. Something has to be physical to die a physical death therefor an
immaterial soul cannot die along with the material body.
4. The
soul is not natural and is not governed by the natural laws of death.
I explained the soul is
immaterial and not natural and is separate from the body. I explained in point
three that if the soul is not natural or physical it cannot die with the
physical body. If this immaterial, supernatural soul cannot die a physical death
along with the physical body, then it is also free from the natural laws of
death. If the soul is not natural, no natural laws can affect or manipulate it.
Water can only freeze because it is natural and subject to the laws of nature.
The soul cannot freeze because it is not natural so it is not subject to the
same laws. In the same manner in which we cannot weigh or measure our thoughts
and emotions due to the fact they are not physical containing matter, we cannot
apply the same laws of physics or laws of natural death toward our soul.
5. The
immaterial, supernatural soul is immortal and lives past physical death.
If the immaterial, supernatural soul cannot be
manipulated by the laws of nature then it cannot be affected by the natural
laws of death and decay. If the soul cannot die by the natural laws of death
then we cannot claim the immaterial, supernatural soul can die. This fosters in
the notion that there is an immaterial, supernatural soul that lives on past
the physical human death. If the soul lives on past physical death, that makes
the soul an immortal soul, with life after death possible.
6. A
person is identified by their soul and not their body.
When we describe
somebody how do we describe them? Many times we use terminology such as; “He
has a nice soul.” “He has a dark soul.” “She is mean spirited.” “There is
something good about her spirit.” Why do we use these inferences to a spirit or
soul? This could be an intelligent imprint in our own souls allowing us to
identify others by their soul. We refer to the soul of others often. When we do
this we are in no way referring to a physical body. We remember people due to
how they speak, our impression of them or our intuition. We have intuition
about people which is a thought process of understanding another’s soul and
identifying or labeling them according to the impressions we receive or feel
from them.
Why do mothers have
motherly instinct and fathers have fatherly instinct? These are traits
identified and labeled to the person which many can share in common but not all
can possess. We know our children and our family, our spouse, our best friend.
We do not know them because we know their physical body, but because we
understand and recognize their soul. How many times do we meet somebody new and
quickly we become friends so close it is like we have known them for years?
Where do we gain this intuition and identification with somebody to be intimate
and close so quickly?
Another way we can
prove the soul identifies a person is when one is in a comma. Just as when we
cut two legs off a man it does not make him any less then the person he is,
when somebody is in a coma it does not make them any less of a person. If
somebody is comatose we don’t say the patient is no longer a person. If they
are comatose for 15 years and wake up we do not claim they were not a person
for the last 15 years. Their physical bodies may have been completely shut down
and their brain function may have been barely present but we still consider
them a person.
When somebody dies or
passes on, when we reflect back what do we typically say? We say things like,
“They were a good person.” “They were a good father.” “They were a good
friend.” It was not a physical body that made them these things. It was their
spirit or soul that made them these things. It was the soul that provided the
identity of the human. It was the soul that identified the human as a person.
It was the soul that identified the person and imprinted a label of acceptance
or avoidance within your own soul. If you medically where able to completely
remove the body of a person you knew well and leave nothing but a fully
conscious brain, mouth and lungs to talk, minus the body, and the person talked
to you, you could identify them because of their soul. We do not need a
physical body for identification. The soul identifies the person-hood of a
human.
I believe I have
presented valid points to lead to my conclusion. After briefly looking at the
claims of the opposition, I presented six points that argue against their
claims in a matter that dismisses the naturalistic claims for a material,
natural soul. With my points we can summarize this:
·
The soul or spirit of a person is
immaterial and lacks matter.
·
If the soul or spirit of a person is
immaterial and lacks matter it is supernatural.
·
People are defined and identified by
their soul or spirit.
·
Therefore there is a supernatural soul
or spirit which defines ones person-hood.
Understanding we have a
supernatural soul which identifies humans as persons can lead to a better
understanding in the issues of today. We would make better moral decisions
within the scope of family, community and government if this identification
crisis was not an issue. When we understand who we truly are and how we are
truly constructed by a Creator God we can take on an entire new stance in
decision making. The choices we make as a society, a nation, a world and more
importantly, as people, would drastically change the world we live in.
When the world can
understand its identity as well as others, we would find ourselves making a
more positive impact. Unfortunately, the people within our societies are losing
their identity of person-hood and along with that they are stripping personal
identity away from many others. The root cause of this dilemma once again, as I
stated in my opening paragraph, stems from a disbelief in an immaterial,
supernatural soul or spirit in human beings.
C. Speakman
