Does God Have A Soul?

Christ is the Word of God... made flesh (John 1:1; 14)... therefore Christ is the soul (a quickening spirit, 1 Cor. 15:45) of God. God is Spirit.... and the Holy Spirit is the regenerater (spiritual regeneration bringing all things under subjection to God). Therefore what the Spirit gathers is the body, ie body of Christ.

God can be and is described through condescension... meaning ascribing to God what belongs to human and rational beings, irrational creatures, or inanimate things. i.e. Gen. 8:21 "in His heart", Jer. 2:13 "forsaken Me the fountain of living waters".... Is God a fountain of living waters as we know a fountain today out in some park? When the Bible speaks of God's soul or His heart... is to give understanding.... something you can comprehend being in the flesh.

psuche denotes "the breath, the breath of life," then "the soul," in its various meanings. The (nt) uses "may be analyzed approximately as follows:

(a) the natural life of the body, Matt. 2:20; Luke 12:22; Acts 20:10; Rev. 8:9; 12:11; cp. Lev. 17:11; 2 Sam. 14:7; Esth. 8:11;

(b) the immaterial, invisible part of man, Matt. 10:28; Acts 2:27; cp. 1 Kings 17:21;

(c) the disembodied (or "unclothed" or "naked," 2 Cor. 5:3,4) man, Rev. 6:9;

(d) the seat of personality, Luke 9:24, explained as == "own self," Luke 9:25; Heb. 6:19; 10:39; cp. Isa. 53:10 with 1 Tim. 2:6;

(e) the seat of the sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires, Matt. 11:29; Luke 1:46; 2:35; Acts 14:2,22; cp. Ps. 84:2; 139:14; Isa. 26:9;

(f) the seat of will and purpose, Matt. 22:37; Acts 4:32; Eph. 6:6; Phil. 1:27; Heb. 12:3; cp. Num. 21:4; Deut. 11:13;

(g) the seat of appetite, Rev. 18:14; cp. Ps. 107:9; Prov. 6:30; Isa. 5:14 ("desire"); 29:8;

(h) persons, individuals, Acts 2:41,43; Rom. 2:9; Jas. 5:20; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:14; cp. Gen. 12:5; 14:21 ("persons"); Lev. 4:2 ('any one'); Ezek. 27:13; of dead bodies, Num. 6:6, lit., "dead soul;" and of animals, Lev. 24:18, lit., "soul for soul;"

(i) the equivalent of the personal pronoun, used for emphasis and effect:, 1st person, John 10:24 ("us"); Heb. 10:38; cp. Gen. 12:13; Num. 23:10; Jud. 16:30; Ps. 120:2 ("me"); 2nd person, 2 Cor. 12:15; Heb. 13:17; Jas. 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:9; 2:25; cp. Lev. 17:11; 26:15; 1 Sam. 1:26; 3rd person, 1 Pet. 4:19; 2 Pet. 2:8; cp. Exod. 30:12; Job 32:2, Heb. "soul," Sept. "self;"

(j) an animate creature, human or other, 1 Cor. 15:45; Rev. 16:3; cp. Gen. 1:24; 2:7,19;

(k) "the inward man," the seat of the new life, Luke 21:19 (cp. Matt. 10:39); 1 Pet. 2:11; 3 John 1:2.

"With (j) compare a-psuchos, "soulless, inanimate," 1 Cor. 14:7.

"With (f) compare di-psuchos, "two-souled," Jas. 1:8; 4:8; oligo-psuchos, "feeble-souled," 1 Thess. 5:14; iso-psuchos, "like-souled," Phil. 2:20; sum-psuchos, "joint-souled" (with one accord"), Phil. 2:2.

"The language of Heb. 4:12 suggests the extreme difficulty of distinguishing between the soul and the spirit, alike in their nature and in their activities. Generally speaking the spirit is the higher, the soul the lower element. The spirit may be recognized as the life principle bestowed on man by God, the soul as the resulting life constituted in the individual, the body being the material organism animated by soul and spirit.

"Body and soul are the constituents of the man according to Matt. 6:25; 10:28; Luke 12:20; Acts 20:10; body and spirit according to Luke 8:55; 1 Cor. 5:3; 7:34; Jas. 2:26. In Matt. 26:38 the emotions are associated with the soul, in John 13:21 with the spirit; cp. also Ps. 42:11 with 1 Kings 21:5. In Ps. 35:9 the soul rejoices in God, in Luke 1:47 the spirit.

"Apparently, then, the relationships may be thus summed up 'Soma, body, and pneuma, spirit, may be separated, pneuma and psuche, soul, can only be distinguished' (Cremer)."* [* From notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 205-207.]

Greek Lexicon: [psuche/5590]

psuche {psoo-khay'}

from 5594; TDNT - 9:608,1342; n f

AV - soul 58, life 40, mind 3, heart 1, heartily + 1537 1, not tr 2; 105

1) breath

1a) the breath of life

1a1) the vital force which animates the body and shows itself

in breathing 1a1a) of animals

1a12) of men

1b) life

1c) that in which there is life

1c1) a living being, a living soul

2) the soul

2a) the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)

2b) the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life

2c) the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)

Verse Appearances for <5590> in Matthew

11 verse(s) found

2:20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life <5590>. (psuche here is the life of man which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down)

6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life <5590>, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life <5590> more than meat, and the body than raiment? (psuche here is the life of man which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down)

10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul <5590>: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul <5590> and body in hell. (psuche here is the life of man which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down)

10:39 He that findeth his life <5590> shall lose it: and he that loseth his life <5590> for my sake shall find it. (psuche here is the life of man which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down)

11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls <5590>. (psuche e.g. my soul = myself)

12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul <5590> is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. (psuche e.g. my soul = myself)

16:25 For whosoever will save his life <5590> shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life <5590> for my sake shall find it. (psuche here is the life of man which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down)

16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul <5590>? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul <5590>?

20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life <5590> a ransom for many. (psuche here is the life of man which can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down)

22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul <5590>, and with all thy mind. (psuche here expresses all the powers of one being)

26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul <5590> is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. (psuche e.g. my soul = myself)