home > Hypnotic Therapy > Part of the human soul that gives life. What is the basis of the Orthodox teaching about the dual nature of man (soul and body)? The human soul is an energy field

Part of the human soul that gives life. What is the basis of the Orthodox teaching about the dual nature of man (soul and body)? The human soul is an energy field

arch.

St.

teacher Optina Elders

St.

rights.

St.

teacher

St.

schiarchim.

priest Andrey Lorgus

V.F. Davydenko

The soul is what hurts a person when the whole body is healthy. After all, we say (and feel) that it is not the brain that hurts, not the heart muscle - the soul hurts.
Deacon Andrew

Soul 1) an integral, substantial part of the human, which has properties that reflect Divine perfections (); 2) different from the human part (); 3) person (); 4) animal () and his life force ().

Sometimes the terms spirit and soul can be used as synonyms.

The human soul is independent, because, according to St. , it is not a manifestation of another essence, another being, but is itself the source of phenomena emanating from it.

The human soul was created immortal, because it does not die like a body, being in the body, it can be separated from it, although such separation is unnatural for the soul, there is a sad consequence. The human soul is a personality, because it was created as a unique and inimitable personal being. The human soul is reasonable and, because it has a reasonable power and free. The human soul is different from the body, because it does not have the properties of visibility, tangibility, is not perceived and is not known by bodily organs.

Irritable soul power(παρασηλοτικον, irascile) is her emotional strength. St. calls it a spiritual nerve, giving the soul energy for labor in the virtues. This part of the soul of Sts. Fathers ascribes anger and a violent beginning. However, in this case anger and rage do not mean passions, but jealousy (zeal, energy), which in its original state was a jealousy for good, and after the fall should be used as a courageous rejection. “It is the business of the irritable part of the soul to be angry with the devil,” say Sts. Fathers. The irritable power of the soul is also called.

Lustful part of the soul(επιθυμητικον, concupiscentiale) is also called desirable (desirable) or active. It allows the soul to aspire to something or to turn away from something. It belongs to the lustful part of the soul, which tends to act.

“Curb the irritable part of the soul with love, fade the desirable part with abstinence, inspire reasonable prayer ...” / Kallistos and Ignatius Xanthopoulos /.

All the forces of the soul are aspects of its single life. They are inseparable from each other and constantly interact. They achieve the greatest unity when they obey the spirit, focusing on the contemplation and knowledge of God. In this knowledge, according to St. , there is no trace of their separation, they are in unity like unity.

The human soul is connected to the body. This connection is an unmerged connection. As a result of this union, two natures are present in a person - spiritual and bodily, which, according to the word of St. , are unmixedly dissolved. Of the two natures, God formed one human being, in which "neither the body is changed into the soul, nor the soul is changed into the flesh" (St.). For all that, such a connection is not merged, but it is not inseparable and inseparable, since human body acquired mortality and separation from the soul as a result of sin.

What is the basis of the Orthodox teaching about the dual nature of man (soul and body)?

The Orthodox doctrine of the dual nature of man is based on direct evidence from Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition.

The story of the creation of man clearly states that Adam's body was created from the dust of the ground, and the soul was breathed into him by God (). In this context, one should also understand the words of Ecclesiastes, pointing to death as the separation of the soul from the body: “And the dust will return to the earth, as it was; and the spirit will return to God who gave it” ().

In general Holy Bible repeatedly indicates that each person consists of a soul and a body, for example: “ Therefore glorify God in your body and in your soul, which are God's» (); « Therefore, beloved, having such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.» ().

The fact that the soul is not a product of the vital activity of the body (the central nervous system) is clearly stated in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, from which it follows convincingly that after separation from the body (that is, after the physical death of a person), the soul continues to live, moreover, to live conscious life. So, the soul of a rich man, while in hell, recognizes the souls of Abraham and Lazarus (the latter are in a special area - the bosom of Abraham) (), conducts a conversation with the soul of Abraham (), feels torment and has a conscious desire to ease his torment (), seeks to take care about living earthly life brothers ().

The practice of prayerful commemoration of the dead is connected with the belief in the afterlife of souls, as well as the practice of prayerful communication of believers with the saints who have died in the Lord. Thus, the denial of a substantial soul in man is the grossest opposition to Orthodoxy, to the Church.

The concept of the soul

The soul is something special power, present in a person, which constitutes its highest part; it revives a person, gives him the ability to think, sympathize, feel. The words "soul" and "breathe" have a common origin. The soul is created by the breath of God, and it has indestructibility. It cannot be said that it is immortal, because only God is immortal by nature, while our soul is indestructible - in the sense that it does not lose its consciousness, does not disappear after death. However, it has its own "death" - it is ignorance of God. And in this regard, she can die. That is why it is said in Scripture: “The soul that sins, it will die” ().

The soul is a living, simple and incorporeal essence, by its nature invisible to bodily eyes, rational and thinking. Having no form, using an equipped organ - the body, giving it life and growth, feeling and generating power. Having a mind, but not different, in comparison with itself, but as the purest part of it - for as the eye is in the body, so is the mind in the soul. It is autocratic and capable of wishing and acting, changeable, i.e. voluntarily changing because it was created. Having received all this by nature from the grace of the One who created her, from whom she received her being.

Some sectarians, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists, reject the immortality of the soul, considering it to be merely a part of the body. And at the same time they falsely refer to the Bible, to the text of Ecclesiastes, which raises the question of whether the human soul is similar to the soul of animals: everyone has breath, and man has no advantage over cattle, because everything is vanity!” (). Then the Ecclesiastes himself answers this question, which the sectarians neglect, he says: “And the dust will return to the earth, as it was; and the spirit returned to God who gave it. And here we understand that the soul is indestructible, but it can die.

Soul powers

If we turn to the patristic heritage, we will see that usually three main forces are distinguished in the soul: mind, will and feelings, which manifest themselves in different abilities - thinking, desire and desire. But at the same time, one must understand that the soul has other powers as well. All of them are divided into reasonable and unreasonable. The unreasonable beginning of the soul consists of two parts: one is disobediently reasonable (does not obey reason), the other is obediently reasonable (obeys reason). To higher powers souls include the mind, will and feelings, and the unreasonable include the vital forces: the power of the heartbeat, seed, growth (which forms the body), etc. The action of the power of the soul animates the body. God deliberately made the vital forces beyond the control of reason, so that human mind was not distracted by the control of the heartbeat, breathing, etc. There are various technologies related to the control of the human body that are trying to influence this life force. What yogis do intensely: they try to control the heartbeat, change breathing, control the internal processes of digestion and are terribly proud of it. In fact, there is absolutely nothing to be proud of here: God deliberately freed us from this task, and it is stupid to do this.

Imagine that, in addition to your usual work, you will be forced to do the work of the housing office: organize garbage collection, cover the roof, control the supply of gas, electricity, etc. Now many people are delighted with all sorts of occult, esoteric arts, they are proud of the fact that to some extent they have mastered the regulation of this life force of the soul, which is beyond the control of the mind. In fact, they are proud of the fact that they changed the job of a university teacher for a job as a sewer. This is due to the foolish idea that the mind is better able to handle the body than the unreasonable part of the soul. I will answer that in fact it will do worse. It has long been known that any attempts to rationally build life lead to very irrational consequences. If we try to use the power of our mind to manage our body correctly, it will be complete nonsense.

On the Soul of the God-Man Jesus Christ

By human nature, Christ had a body and a soul. Since the human and Divine natures are united in the Person (Personality) of the Son of God, it can be argued that the soul of Christ is the soul of the incarnated Son of God.

“Christ, in order to bring us to God, once suffered for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, having been put to death according to the flesh, but revived by the spirit, by which He and the spirits in prison, having descended, preached” ().

From the Easter Hours: “In the tomb of the flesh, in hell with a soul like God, in paradise with a thief, and on the Throne you were, Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, fulfilling everything, indescribable.”

Included shower

shower outside

Special types of shower

Known special types of showering:

Contrast shower - alternately with hot and cold water
Shower used for the purpose of massage (Hydromassage)
- Charcot shower - strong jet of water from a hose
- Circular shower - a cabin that pours water from all sides at the same time.
- Alekseev's shower is a high-pressure needle hydromassage.
- Underwater shower (also see Jacuzzi)
- A rain shower is a water supply system for washing the body, in which water comes from a special grate, and not from a hose, as in a conventional shower. LEDs are usually built into the grille, allowing you to adjust the lighting (chromotherapy). Rain showers are often equipped in luxury hotels.
- Thermal wave shower - a shower that provides body massage with a thermal wave moving along it with a modulated average temperature, contrast and speed.
Hygienic shower - a compact replacement for a bidet, designed for washing. This is a shower hose mounted near the toilet. At the exit from the wall, as a rule, a tap or built-in mixer is installed, at the working end of the hose there is a small watering can with a valve. Very popular in Islamic countries where water is preferred to toilet paper.

Notes

Literature

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

The history of the development of the concept

According to modern ideas, the concept of the soul goes back to animistic concepts of a special force that exists in the body of a person and an animal, and sometimes even a plant. Since ancient times, man has wondered about the difference between living and non-living things. In the course of the development of mythological thinking, the concept of the soul as some attribute of a living being was formed. Observation of the breath of the living, which disappeared after his death, contributed to the emergence of ancient ideas about the soul as a breath that occurs from the outside. Corresponding observations on blood and the termination of life with its great loss led to the fact that the bearer of the soul was seen in the blood. Dreams led to the idea of the soul as a substance that exists independently of the body.

Due to the fact that the soul is understood as a substance, the properties of the finest substance in the blood are first attributed to it, as was the case with most of the pre-Socratics in Greek philosophy (Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus). According to Plato, the soul is immortal and immaterial and precedes existence in physical body. Before the birth of a person, the soul contemplates ideas in the non-material world, and after it inhabits the body, it “forgets” them. Hence Plato's judgment that all knowledge is only a recollection of forgotten ideas, known by the soul before birth. Aristotle calls it the first entelechy of a viable body; only the rational human soul (spirit) can be separated from the body and is immortal.

The concept of the soul in philosophy

The focus of a person's spiritual life is self-consciousness, consciousness of oneself as unique human being, individuality.

The soul began to be considered as a philosophical concept accessible to rational analysis among the ancient Greeks. All the pre-Socratics wondered about the soul and especially about the connection between it and the body - two fundamental dimensions of human existence. From Plato's point of view, the soul and body exist separately from each other, while for Aristotle they are inextricably linked. “The soul is the first entelechy of the natural body, which has life as a possibility. (…) So, the soul is inseparable from the body; it is also clear that any part of it is inseparable if the soul by nature has parts, for some parts of the soul are the entelechy of bodily parts," writes Aristotle, for whom "all natural bodies are the instruments of the soul."

Soul in Abrahamic religions

Judaism

According to the understanding of some Christian writers (for example, Tertullian), the soul is material (treatise De anima), while others - the Church Fathers (for example, Augustine) consider it spiritual, just as in classical patristics, the understanding of the soul as a non-spatial, non-material substance prevails.

Immanuel Kant spoke out against such an understanding, which is dominant in Christianity. An appeal to an immaterial principle in the name of resolving the question of the soul is, according to Kant, "the refuge of a lazy mind." For him, however, the soul is an object of inner feeling in its connection with the body, and not a substance; the theory of the substantiality of the soul must give way to the theory of its actuality.

Soul Immortality

The doctrine of the immortality of the soul is integral part the creeds of all Christian denominations, with the exception of Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and some few denominations.

The basic idea of this creed is that the soul continues its conscious existence during the period of time between death and the general resurrection. She either immediately goes to heaven or hell, or else stays for some time in some intermediate place. This can be either the so-called bosom of Abraham, or purgatory (for some souls, the teaching catholic church). According to these views, the fate of the soul is decided at the so-called private court, immediately after the death of a person. And after the universal judgment, the soul unites with the resurrected body and either eternal life or eternal torment in hell (fire hell) awaits it.

Denying the immortality of the soul

The denial of the unconditional immortality of the soul (as inherent in the very nature of man) is sometimes found in early patristics. In particular, Tatian wrote in his "Speech against the Hellenes":

The soul itself is not immortal, Hellenes, but mortal. However, she may not die. The soul that does not know the truth dies and is destroyed along with the body, and receives death through endless punishments. But if it is enlightened by the knowledge of God, then it does not die, although it is destroyed for a while. In itself, it is nothing but darkness, and there is nothing light in it. This includes the words: "the darkness did not embrace the light." For it was not the soul that preserved the spirit, but it was itself preserved by it, and the light embraced the darkness. The Word is the Divine light, and the darkness is a soul alien to knowledge. Therefore, if she lives alone, then she turns away to matter and dies with the flesh; and when she is united with the divine spirit, she is not without help, but ascends where her spirit leads her. For the dwelling place of the spirit is in heaven, but the soul has an earthly origin. (Tatian. Speech against the Hellenes 1:17)

Ideas about the conditional immortality of the soul are contained in the work of Theophilus of Antioch "Epistle to Autolycus":

But someone asked us: was man created by nature mortal? no. So, immortal? We won't say that either. But someone will say: so, he was created by neither one nor the other? and we won't say it. He was created by nature neither mortal nor immortal. For if God had made him immortal at the beginning, he would have made him God; if, on the contrary, he created him mortal, then he himself would be the cause of his death. So, He created him neither mortal nor immortal, but, as was said above, capable of both, so that if he aspires to that which leads to immortality, fulfilling the commandment of God, he would receive immortality from Him as a reward for this, and would become God; but if he strays to the works of death, disobeying God, he himself would be the cause of his own death. For God created man free and sovereign. So, what a person has brought upon himself by his carelessness and disobedience, God now forgives him according to His philanthropy and mercy, if a person obeys Him. Just as by disobedience a person brought death on himself, so by obedience to the will of God, the one who wishes can secure eternal life for himself. For God has given us the law and the holy commandments, by fulfilling which everyone can be saved and, having reached the resurrection, inherit incorruption. (Theophilus 2:27)

During the Reformation, the denial of the immortality of the soul was found among some Anabaptists. A well-known proponent of beliefs about the conditional immortality of the soul (the "sleeping soul" notion) was Martin Luther, for which he was criticized by John Calvin.

At present, some religious directions, including Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses, have different ideas from other Christian denominations about the nature of the soul. The main feature of these ideas is that the soul itself does not have an immortal nature, the soul is mortal.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the soul ceases to exist when a person dies. These views are supported by the following Bible verses: "The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing"(Eccl.); “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it according to your ability; for in the underworld where you are going there is no work, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom.”(Eccl.), "The soul that sins, it will die"(Ezek.),

soul salvation

In Christianity, the concept of "soul" is inextricably linked with the concept of salvation. The salvation of a person's soul is understood as the salvation of the person himself from death, which is also considered a consequence of sin, and from eternal punishment for sin (in hell or fiery hell). Most Christians believe that after the resurrection of the dead, the souls of the saved will be reunited with the bodies and in these bodies the saved will be guaranteed eternal life.

About the soul in the Bible

In theology, the following meanings of the word "soul" in the Bible are distinguished:

Human.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Gen.2:7 (akin to Pet.3:20; Rom.13:1; Acts.2:41)
Creature.

And God said, Let the water bring forth reptiles, living creatures; and let the birds fly over the earth, in the firmament of heaven

Gen. 1:20 (akin to Gen. 1:24)
Life.

He who saves his soul (life) will lose it; and he who loses his soul (life) for my sake will save it

Mt.10:39 (akin to Lev.17:11; Mt.2:20; 16:25; Jn.13:37; 15:13)
Human inner world.

The multitude of those who believed had one heart and one soul; and none of his possessions called his own, but they had everything in common

Acts 4:32 (akin to Ps. 103:1)
One of the three essences of man.

May the God of peace Himself sanctify you in all its fullness, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved without blemish in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The spirit (life force) gravitates towards God, and the soul (man) towards material principles:

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword: it penetrates to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Immortal human spirit. The soul, as a spirit, is conceived even without a body:

I know a man in Christ who, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I don't know; out of the body, I don't know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.

2 Corinthians 12:2 (similar to: 2 Pet. 1:14)

The soul, as spirit, is eternal and immortal:

Therefore we do not lose heart; but if our outer man smolders, then the inner one is renewed from day to day ... the visible is temporary, and the invisible is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16,18 (similar to Matt. 22:32)

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.

Attitude towards the death of the Apostles:

For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. But if life in the flesh bears fruit for my cause, I do not know what to choose. Both attract me: I have a desire to resolve myself and be with Christ, because this is incomparably better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.

Philp. 1:21-23 (similar to 2 Cor. 5:8)

Soul and King Solomon

The book of Ecclesiastes (Solomon) in the Bible is unique in its kind, since it gives a lot of intermediate and limited reasoning, views on the life of a carnal skeptic who accepts only what is “done under the sun”, experiences everything, relying solely on his own mind . The original premise of Ecclesiastes about the soul is pessimistic and mundane: And I praised the fun; because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat, drink and be merry (Eccl. 8:15). Everything and everyone is one: one fate for the righteous and the wicked, the good and the [evil], the pure and the unclean (Eccl. 9:2). The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and there is no longer any reward for them, because the memory of them is also forgotten (Eccl. 9:5).

And yet, after philosophical reflection, the final conclusions that Ecclesiastes comes to are as follows: Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let him eat your heart joy in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; just know that for all this God will bring you to judgment (Eccl. 11:9). Let us listen to the essence of everything: fear God and keep His commandments, because in this is everything for man (Eccl. 12:13). And the dust will return to the earth as it was; and the spirit returned to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).

Soul in other religions and teachings

Buddhism

Theosophy

Attempts to discover the material manifestation of the soul

In 1854, the German anatomist and physiologist Rudolf Wagner came up with the hypothesis of the existence of a special “substance of the soul” at the physiological congress in Göttingen. (English) Russian , which, however, had no consequences in the scientific world.

In 1901, the American physician Duncan McDougall set up a series of experiments on the direct weighing of the soul, in full accordance with the scientific methodology of his time. McDougall used a floor scale that allowed weights from one ounce (28.35 g) to 250 pounds (113.4 kg) to be weighed. The doctor performed 6 measurements of the soul of dying people with their consent. In five dimensions, he found a post-mortem weight loss ranging from 15 to 35 g. Once he failed to accurately record the moment of death and the experiment was rejected. McDougall later repeated his experiment 15 times on dogs - this time with zero results. McDougall concluded that during life a person has a material soul, while animals do not have a soul. McDougall published the results of his experiments only 6 years later. They were published in well-known journals such as American Medicine and the American Journal of the American Society for Psychical, and were later retold by the Washington Post and the New York Times. At the same time, McDougall emphasized that for the scientific evaluation of his findings, new accurate experiments in large numbers are needed. However, no new scientific experiments in this area have been published.

About the soul in works of art

Victor Hugo in The Man Who Laughs wrote:

The approach of a storm was felt in the air... The moment of that disturbing premonition has come when it seems as if the elements are about to become living beings and before our eyes there will be a mysterious transformation of the wind into a hurricane... The blind forces of nature will gain their will, and what we take for a thing will turn out to be endowed with soul. It seems that all this is to be seen firsthand. This is what explains our horror. The human soul is afraid of meeting with the soul of the universe

Victor Hugo, collected works in 10 volumes, M.1972, v.9, pp. 55-56

Notes

Sources used in the article

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Saint Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky). Spirit, soul and body. Brussels, 1978.
Positive teaching Orthodox Church and holy fathers The human soul. Its god-like essence, infinity, abilities, actions and the afterlife / Blessing of the Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna Yuvenaly. - Kostroma: Holy Trinity Novo-Golutvin Monastery, 1992. - 160 p.