a question of spirit

[cacian]

This is really intriguing because in religion it is often referred to 'SPIRIT'.
I have thought about it and questioned the relevancy of the word spirit.
As a human with a biological functional body I tend to associate body and mind as one.
A spirit I am not sure what it actually means and what it its function.
And therefore I put it to you:

Is there such a thing as spirit and if it is what is its function?

[Charles Darnay]

"Spirit" comes to English through Latin-via-Greek, and it means "breath". In religious connotations it is compared to the Soul, but they are very different. Spirit is not eternal, but it is the "breath" of all living things. Other cultures would call it Energy, or Chi, or Aura - it's all the same.

[JackCharles]

I personally do not believe that the mind and body are one. I believe that the body is an instrument through which the mind functions. I feel that even after the body dies the mind continues on, but I don't see it as a "spirit".

[BienvenuJDC]

I think that both of you are correct in your thinking.

Here is what Paul the apostle wrote in his first letter to the church in Thessalonica. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He made a distinction between the three. Equating that there is 1) a physical body, 2) a spirit of man, and 3) an eternal soul. As far as how the soul and spirit differ, I'm not totally sure.

[cacian]

I personally do not believe that the mind and body are one. I believe that the body is an instrument through which the mind functions. I feel that even after the body dies the mind continues on, but I don't see it as a "spirit".

I don't know. I find it hard to believe anything lives after a body died. It just does not make sense why would it plus it would not have a shape.

[cacian]

I think that both of you are correct in your thinking.

Here is what Paul the apostle wrote in his first letter to the church in Thessalonica. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He made a distinction between the three. Equating that there is 1) a physical body, 2) a spirit of man, and 3) an eternal soul. As far as how the soul and spirit differ, I'm not totally sure.
I did look up the definition of spirit and it does not seem to separate the two:

Soul:
1.The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
2.A person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity.

[JackCharles]

I don't think you need to have a shape to exist. Look at water, it gets it's shape from the vessel in which it is in yet it does exist. I can however understand that it can be difficult to believe in something that has no shape, yet millions believe that a god exists that they have never seen, so does he or she have a shape? or do we as a society project the image that we are most comfortable with onto him or her.

[BienvenuJDC]

I like what C.S. Lewis had written, "I do not have a soul. I AM a soul. I have a body."

[cacian]

I don't think you need to have a shape to exist. Look at water, it gets it's shape from the vessel in which it is in yet it does exist. I can however understand that it can be difficult to believe in something that has no shape, yet millions believe that a god exists that they have never seen, so does he or she have a shape? or do we as a society project the image that we are most comfortable with onto him or her.

Hi Jack and thank you for posting.
I think I was thinking along of the word of 'organism'. And so a spirit needs to have one in order to be. Haha I am thinking spirits in bottles of alcohol now only joking.
God I compare to a temperature it goes up and down according to beliefs and so god and belief are linked like mercury in a thermometer. One is not without the other.
Spirit one does not need as a condition. It apparently is after the person is dead and so relies on nothing. For something to be it has to have a reliant.
I am not sure again it is talking out loud.