[Alamo-Girl]

We’ve been down this road before and I know we will disagree because you lean to the Greek and I lean to the Hebrew. Nevertheless, the Hebrew in Scripture - and Jewish tradition - speaks of the soul/spirit in four levels:

1. nephesh – the will to live, the animal soul, or the soul of all living things (Genesis 1:20) which by Jewish tradition returns to the “earth” after death. In Romans 8, this is seen as a whole, the creation longing for the children of God to be revealed.

2. ruach - the self-will or free will peculiar to man (abstraction, anticipation, intention, etc.) – by Jewish tradition, the pivot wherein a man decides to be Godly minded or earthy minded (also related to Romans 8, choosing)

3. neshama - the breath of God given to Adam (Genesis 2:7) which may also be seen as the “ears to hear” (John 10) - a sense of belonging beyond space/time, a predisposition to seek God and seek answers to the deep questions such as “what is the meaning of life?"

4. ruach Elohim - the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2) which indwells Christians (I Cor 2, John 3) – the presently existing in the “beyond” while still in the flesh. (Col 3:3) This is the life in passage : "In him was life, and the life was the light of men..." (John 1)

Paul speaks to these differences in Romans 8 - the one who has heard his Master's call must choose between being carnally minded or Spiritually minded, that if one does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Christ's.)

[kosta50]

A-G: We’ve been down this road before and I know we will disagree because you lean to the Greek and I lean to the Hebrew. Nevertheless, the Hebrew in Scripture - and Jewish tradition - speaks of the soul/spirit in four levels

A-G, thank you for your post. Hebrew concepts are helpful as an introduction, but Christianity is not Judaism, and that includes concepts of spirituality. So, I am not concerned with what the Jews believe. They reject the very essence of our faith (our Lord Jesus Christ), and there is nothing but an unbridgeable divide between us and them.

We read the same Old Testament and see the foreshadowing of Christ in it; they don't. So, what's the point of stating what they believe? We read the OT through the lens of the NT; they don't.

A-G: Paul speaks to these differences in Romans 8 - the one who has heard his Master's call must choose between being carnally minded or Spiritually minded, that if one does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Christ's.)

Saint Paul seems to speak of Trichotomy. The Church disagrees with that interpretation. The Gnostics embraced it, as is the case in some groups to this day.