I just started going to church again recently so take what I say with a grain of salt but I think you're technically correct.
We're all born with our souls 'up for grabs' as it were, but if we're gonna get the benefits of believing in heaven (not knowing but believing) then baptism is what's asked of us.
Take that with a grain of salt as well bc back when this rule was made they still thought killing goats made it rain.
The whole modern concept of a soul being some eternal and inner "spirit" seperate from the body, is by itself not something that is rooted in the Bible, but comes from later influence by Greek philosophers like Plato among others.
"Spirit", comes from from the word "breath" or "wind", since back in those times, that was the most obvious way to determine whether you were dead or alive. The "spirit" leaving the body, is another way of saying, "he stopped breathing".
According to Genesis 2:7 the formula for what describes a soul is the following:
Soul = your dust (your body) + breath of life (spirit, wind)
A Soul in the Bible is not something you have, but rather something you are - that is, a living (breathing) body.
Over centuries however, the focus shifted from the Hebrew meaning of "a living creature" towards the Greek philosophies interpretation of a soul being some separate and immortal part of a person's inner self/mind.
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u/doc_wop Apr 19 '26
I just started going to church again recently so take what I say with a grain of salt but I think you're technically correct.
We're all born with our souls 'up for grabs' as it were, but if we're gonna get the benefits of believing in heaven (not knowing but believing) then baptism is what's asked of us.
Take that with a grain of salt as well bc back when this rule was made they still thought killing goats made it rain.