Do humans have souls

Answer 1

Everything has a soul. Even if it's a bad one. It's what makes things live. Now as far as plants go, I'm not quit sure, but every living thing has a soul. So, long story short, yes , animals do have souls.

Answeri think that cats do have souls.

Answer 2

The majority of humans believe so.

Also, it seems almost unrealistic not to have one, when you think about it. How can a simple mass of tissue and bone thrive together, work together? Sure, a scientific explaination for this can be found, and it is very hard to explain how a soul would work in the larger scheme of things, due to our limited perception.

Answer 3

One view:

You will find it in the same place where it says that "man has a soul" -- nowhere. The Bible reveals that man... and animals... are souls -- they don't have one.

"...and man became a living soul."

It doesn't say that God put a soul into man.

"Soul" is translated from the Hebrew "nephesh," which merely means "mortal creature." The first place God inspired "nephesh" in the Bible is before "man became a living soul." Only the English translators didn't translate "nephesh" as "soul" in that passage. They translated it as "creature."

"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth..." (Gen.1:21).

The KJV Bible translates "nephesh" in a variety of different ways other than "soul":

"any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, them, they, thing."

It says: "...that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts [animals]; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they all have one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above the beast... all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." (Eccle.3:19-20)

The "spirit," of course, is another matter. Men and animals have a "spirit" within them:

The spirit returns to God at death... but our "soul" [the mortal creature that we are] returns to the dust of the earth that it is.

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Eccle.12:7)

Another viewNowhere in the Bible says that animals have souls. If you read Genesis in the Bible you will read about God's creations. Maybe you'll find your answer.

Also:

The word soul appears in the NKJ bible 322 times.

From this verse it appears that people havesouls

Gen 35:18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Deu 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

And the soul lives on after death:

1Ki 17:21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him."

1Ki 17:22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child

came back to him, and he revived.

The soul can be saved

Job 33:28 He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light.

Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

The soul is distinct from the spirit:

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

But nowhere does the Bible mention the soul of an animal.

"Body and soul are the constituents of the man according to Mat_6:25; Mat_10:28; Luke 12:20; Act_20:10; body and spirit according to Luke 8:55; 1Co_5:3; 1Co_7:34; Jam_2:26. In Mat_26:38 the emotions are associated with the soul, in John 13:21 with the spirit; cf. also Psa_42:11 with 1Ki_21:5. In Psa_35:9 the soul rejoices in God, in Luk_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.

Another viewThe Darby Translation does mention that animals and every living creatures are souls in Genesis 1:20-25"God went on to say let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls" vs 21 "and god proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul-that moves about which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds and every winged creature according to its kind and God got to see that it was good " Leviticus 24:18 "and the fatal striker of the soul of a domestic animal should make compensation for its soul" and as for human souls Ezekiel 18:4" Look all the souls to me they belong as the soul of the father belong father so like wise the soul of the son to me they belong the soul that is sinning it itself will die."

Another view

Let us look at Genesis Ch.2 v7 shall we and see what we can deduce from these words. Quote:- 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." End of Quote. If I interpret this correctly it means that both the body and the spirit of man are his soul. Man's spirit is not his soul, according to the bible.

We now have to ask ourselves were the animals organised in the same way? The bible makes no mention of it, we then have to ask ourselves were they organised as man was? Though the bible does not say so, they never the less are living creatures with bodies and spirits, making them also living souls. I have given this answer for your consideration.

A Jewish Viewוַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים וְאֵת כָּל נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה | הָרֹמֶשֶׂת אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם לְמִינֵהֶם וְאֵת כָּל עוֹף כָּנָף לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי טוֹב:

And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that crawls, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged fowl, according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. - Bereishis(Genesis) 1:21

כָּל - All, Every

All living creatures are refered to as נֶפֶשׁ

וּלְכָל חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וּלְכָל עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְכֹל | רוֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה אֶת כָּל יֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב לְאָכְלָה וַיְהִי כֵן

And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat," and it was so. - Bereishis(Genesis) 1:29-30

נֶפֶשׁ - living spririt, soul.

וַיִּיצֶר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה:

And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul. - Bereishis(Genesis) 2:7

נִשְׁמַת - Soul of life, higher level of the soul.

נֶפֶשׁ - living soul, lowest level of the soul.

Everything has a soul at the level of נֶפֶשׁ. People has a higher soul נִשְׁמַת. Animals are driven by there emotions. People are (should be? / can be) driven by there Intellect.

Short AnswerIt doesn't. [Although the Bible says human beings have souls, it does not say or imply animals also have souls. See Discussion (1) ]

Answer 4

There is nothing anywhere to indicate that animals do not have souls.

Answer 5

The Bible emphasizes that Only Humans have Soles!

No other animals have soles!

Answer 6

No where! The Bible states that only we humans have soles!