So much for the sola scriptura then. :) All kidding aside, the Jews will tell you that they know the power of God more than any other people on earth.
I agree. But why drag kabbalistic and rabbinical beliefs tainted with neo-Platonic and Persian concepts into Christianity? Again, pre-existence of the souls entered Judaism through Babylon and hellenistic influences, and not through the Torah, as for the Tanakh I am not sure (some parts were written after the Babylonian captivity).
Obviously many were. What's your point?
They were interpreted as trichotomy by some, even to this day.
When I look at their history from Abraham to now, I stand in awe: Jesus, Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles, miracle upon miracle, grace upon grace, righteous judgments and ever a remnant, the irrational hatred of them, the persecution, the endurance, their disproportionate success in science and military campaigns.
They are beloved. May God ever bless them.
Sometimes the Spirit leads to me read pseudepigraphral manuscripts, sometimes the Talmud, sometimes Jewish mysticism, sometimes the Catechism, sometimes the commentary of religious leaders. And I trust the indwelling Spirit to illuminate what He wants me to know, and whether He wants me to embrace or to shun an insight.
Many posters here you included, kosta50 have said things which the Spirit illuminates to me, sometimes causing them to ring true or flow gently over my spirit - and sometimes causing an alarm. Your love of God always flows within me. Likewise hosepipes sense of Gods family coming together.
For me, it seems to always come back to a Name of God. In this case, I AM.
For a Christian, the body is dead, the Spirit is life. The Christian struggle explained in Romans 8, the walk, is to become increasingly aware of this, turning away from the carnal urgings and choosing instead to follow the Spirit. John explains it also using slightly different terms, i.e. walk in the Light.
hosepipe puts it this way: Most humans do not know they are indeed spirits in a body suit..
This is certainly true of newly reborn Christians and is the exhortation of Romans 8, be aware, follow the Spirit.
The Hebrew language insight may support some Calvinist beliefs.
In other words, all living things bacteria to whales have an animal soul, the nephesh. This can be understood as the carnal nature of Romans 8 - survival, dog eat dog, "I" trouble. Some believe none of these animal souls survive death, some believe they do or some of them do. I do not have a leaning in the spirit either way.
But man, on top of the nephesh also has a soul, the ruach. Some see this as the image of God to decide (free will) which includes the ability to intend, analyze, reason, value and so on. Some call this spirit as well as soul. And many believe this survives death though some do not. This is the choosing of Romans 8. The leaning I have in the spirit is that this does indeed survive the first death but the ruach whose name is not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb will not survive the second death. (Rev)
Now for the Calvinist hitch which is also embraced by many Jews, the neshama - the breath of God. These are the elect, the chosen, the ones with ears to hear the ones drawn to Christ by the Father. Some on the Jewish side believe the neshama is passed down from Adam, genetically so to speak i.e. that God only did this once. Thus if a man is not a descendent of Adam, he cannot be saved. Others believe that God gives neshama to whom He wills, probably at conception.
But in either case, the neshama is the breath of God, it is timeless. If the breath of God cannot be destroyed, then the elect cannot resist the calling and therefore because God is timeless, the elect are chosen from the foundation of the world.
Of course there are many who believe every man has the neshama - every man has ears to hear.
I do not have a leaning in the Spirit as to when or how we receive the neshama nor do I want to make any presumptions about it. I do have a leaning in the Spirit (confirmed in Scripture) that not every man has the neshama or "ears to hear."
Still, the neshama is not the Holy Spirit Himself (ruach Elohim). The indwelling of the Spirit is the rebirth when we receive Him were are alive with Christ in God. The Spirit is life, the body is dead. (John 3, Col 3:3, Romans 8 and so on.) His presence is the determining factor, whether our names are recorded and/or not erased in the Book of Life. (Rev 3:5 etc.)
Notice the revelation of the Trinity in the confirmation here: