The human spirit includes our intellect, emotions, fears, passions, and creativity. In the models of Daniel A. Helminiak and Bernard Lonergan, human spirit is considered to be the mental functions of awareness, insight, understanding, judgement and other reasoning powers.
The human spirit is a component of human philosophy, psychology, art, and knowledge - the spiritual or mental part of humanity. While the term can be used with the same meaning as "human soul", the human spirit is sometimes used to refer to the impersonal, universal, or higher component of human nature in contrast to soul or psyche which can refer to the ego or lower element. The human spirit includes our intellect, emotions, fears, passions, and creativity.
In the models of Daniel A. Helminiak and Bernard Lonergan, human spirit is considered to be the mental functions of awareness, insight, understanding, judgement and other reasoning powers. It is distinguished from the separate component of psyche which comprises the entities of emotion, images, memory and personality.[1]
Olaf Stapledon defined the human spirit as consisting of love, intelligence and creative action. [2]
John Teske views human spirit as a social construct representing the qualities of purpose and meaning which transcend the individual human.[3]
Distinction from the soul [ edit ]
According to historian Oswald Spengler, a distinction between spirit and soul has been made by the West and earlier civilizations which influenced its development.[4] The human spirit can be seen as the heavenly component of human's non material makeup - the part that is impersonal or universal. Whereas souls are the personal element unique to each individual. As Spengler writes in The Decline of the West:
... more important than all this is the opposition of Spirit and Soul (Hebrew: ruach and nephesh, Persian: ahu and urvan, Mandasan: monuhmed and gyan, Greek: pneuma and psyche) which first comes out in the basic feeling of the prophetic religions, then pervades the whole of Apocalyptic, and finally forms and guides the world-contemplations of the awakened Culture - as seen with Philo, Paul and Plotinus, Gnostics and Mandeans, Augustine and the Avesta, Islam and the Kabbalah. Ruach means originally "wind" and nephesh "breath." The nephesh is always in one way or another related to the bodily and earthly, to the below, the evil, the darkness. Its effort is the "upward." The ruach belongs to the divine, to the above, to the light. Its effects in man when it descends are the heroism of a Samson, the holy wrath of an Elijah, the enlightenment of the judge (e.g. Solomon passing judgment), and all kinds of divination and ecstasy. It is poured out. As in Isaiah xi, x, the Messiah becomes the incarnation of the ruach.[4]
Some Christians believe that the Bible identifies humanity's three basic elements: spirit, soul, and body. They emphasise that the human spirit is the 'real person', the very core of a person's being, the essential seat of their existence. They believe that, when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Saviour, it is their human spirit that is transformed as they become 'new creatures' in Jesus Christ. The soul which is the seat of the will, mind, and emotions does not get converted but needs to be renewed on a daily basis through the recommended Christian disciplines such as prayer and reading the Bible.[5] In Islam, Muslims are viewed as having their own spirits, but one that in a sense is one with God's spirit. For Spengler, the perception of unity this idea led to was important for the emergence of the "consensus" that maintained harmony in Islamic culture, especially during the Golden Age of Islam.[4]
Bibliography [ edit ]
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God's life-changing word overflows with his promises of real love, forgiveness, salvation, peace, hope, and joy for everyone who trusts in his Son, Jesus. These five passages encourage followers of Christ to patiently love one another, because love covers many sins and produces unity and holiness.
God’s life-changing word overflows with his promises of real love, forgiveness, salvation, peace, hope, and joy for everyone who trusts in his Son, Jesus.
These five passages encourage followers of Christ to patiently love one another, because love covers many sins and produces unity and holiness.
“I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. Love each other as I have loved you. This is what I’m commanding you to do. The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends.
John 15:9-13
Be humble and gentle in every way. Be patient with each other and lovingly accept each other. Through the peace that ties you together, do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives.
Ephesians 4:2-3
We also pray that the Lord will greatly increase your love for each other and for everyone else, just as we love you. Then he will strengthen you to be holy. Then you will be blameless in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all God’s holy people.
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
Love each other with a warm love that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other.
1 Peter 1:22
We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers.1 John 3:16
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