The soul is a Greek concept, invented by the Greek philosophers. It was not a part of Jewish thinking until Greek thought came to dominate all of the mideast, at and after the time of Alexander.

It was not even a concept of eastern religion until Alexanders time. For example, Buddhism, which invented the concept of reincarnation, did not have a soul concept, even though what was reborn lifetime after lifetime was left unspecified.

The concept of the soul and what it is has developed further since the time of Alexander.

The only link I could find is the following:
http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0439.htm
which talks about 'ensoulment' at forty days after conception. This was apparently Christian thinking before the 17th century.

The implication is of course that the soul was not created at conception. But instead came into the body from someplace else.

Both the New and Old Testament speaks of Ressurrection of the Body as the afterlife process of importance. No reference to a soul that I can remember.

But perhaps those more familiar with the bible than I can elaborate on the evidence for the soul in the bible and at what time the soul is created.

Today my understanding is that- the many religions that have adopted the concept of the soul from the early Greeks- that most of them consider the soul to be a part of god. This is certainly true of modern eastern religions. But not true of modern christianity of both the born again and the Catholic varieties. However, the above link indicates that Catholic thinking on the soul has been changing over time.

• I'm confused - aurino1 - October 17, 2002 - 13:46 UTC
  • Excellent direction - carefuluniverse - October 17, 2002 - 16:56 UTC
    • I know about my soul - yaniru - October 17, 2002 - 18:12 UTC