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Psyche / Soul

Writter: Evangelos D. Kepenes (April 19, 2025, 22:35)

Psyche / Soul

The word “psyche” (ψυχή) means “breath” and derives from the verb “ψύχω” which means “to blow // to breathe // to cool // to refresh,” from which the word “refreshment” (αναψυχή) also comes. It is the Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Hebrew “nephesh,” which means “breath // vital force // life // and the being that breathes,” thus denoting either an animal or a human. In at least five other languages—Hebrew, Indian, Slavic, Assyrian, and Latin—the equivalent word for “psyche” also derives from verbs meaning “to breathe.” So the formed earthen man, the dust-based body, became a “living psyche,” that is, a “living being,” because God breathed into his face “the breath of life.” It does not say that a psyche /soul was given to him, but that he became a “living psyche,” in other words, a “psychical being / psychical man”.

Psychical man: One who belongs merely to material life, animalistic, carnal, the mortal natural man—as opposed to the “in Christ” spiritual man. (1 Cor. 2:14; 15:44–49; Jude 1:19)

Likewise, as “living psyche” (ψυχή ζώσα), it refers to every living being

“And God said: “Let the waters bring forth reptiles of ‘living psyches’ (ψυχῶν ζωσῶν), and flying birds upon the earth […] and God created the great whales, and ‘every psyche of living reptiles’ (πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ζῴων ἑρπετῶν) that moveth, which the waters brought forth, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good”. (Gen. 1:20–21. Grk txt)

And God said: “Let the earth bring forth living psyche/soul by gender, four-footed, and reptiles, and beasts of the earth by gender and it was so.” (Gen. 1:24. Grk txt)

“καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν κατὰ γένος τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως” (Γέν. 1:24. Ο’)

Ancient beliefs on the erroneous idea of dualism and the psyche’s (soul) immortality

God did not create, nor did he have a stock of "immortal souls", which he then distributed/embodied by name into clay molds/bodies, with predetermined destinations of punishment or bliss. This perception of the descent of the soul into matter came from pagan religious thought, after interactions between ancient civilizations that had deified Time or Aeon, the Planets, the Sun which was embodied by the emperors, etc. It is found in various versions, among the Homerics, the worshipers of Dionysus, the Orphics, the Pythagoreans, the Platonists, and in Eastern religions that believed in the pre-existence and immortality of the soul, which God imprisoned in the material body, and also in reincarnation, that is, the continued imprisonment of the soul in a new form of life until it is purified and returns to its heavenly homeland.

In Pythagorean myths, any soul can be clothed with any earthly body (Aristotle, On the Soul, A 404a, 22-3, p. 86).

For the Orphics, the psyche/soul knows all the knowledge about life and creation, but with its descent/incarnation into matter it ceases to remember, therefore knowledge is not conquest but remembrance. In the philosophy of Plato, a student of Socrates, the pre-existing soul is superior to the body and its ruler and through representations recalled in memory and discussions, the soul remembers and man acquires knowledge, truth “αλήθεια” (from, α-λήθη, λήθη means oblivion, α-λήθη, i.e. return from oblivion) and the understanding that everything that exists in the present world, the material one, are imitations of the true beings, i.e. the heavenly world from which it originates. These views were the background of the ancient Mysteries and later the Gnostics.

According to the perception of primitive people, death does not cause an interruption of the existence of the deceased, but a transformation of his life, and he continues to live, transferred to another state.

In Babylonian theology “Neither the people nor the religious leaders ever considered complete annihilation of something once brought into being. Death was simply a passage to another form of life.” (The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, M. Jastrow, 1898, p. 556)

Ancient Egyptians believed the dead continued to live, which is why they mummified bodies so the psyche/soul could return. Ancient Celts also believed in the soul’s immortality. (Religious and Moral Encyclopedia (of Orthodox theology), Ath. Martinou, Vol. 9, (Athens, 1966), pp. 377-379.)

The dogmatism of “Patristic Hellenistic Christianity” is as follows: “Our God, the creator and benefactor of all creation, created man from a sensible and earthly body and a mental and immortal soul…” (DIMITRIEVSKI, Opisanie 2, 547)

The “Fathers” borrowed from ancient religion the doctrine of the immortality of the psyche/soul, although they did not share its reincarnation. These ideas infiltrated and were consolidated in the Christian confession, by the Apologists, the Confessors and the "philosopher fathers" the perpetrators of the adulteration of the pure apostolic teaching with the contradictory Greek thought. Thus was formed the false belief that the ontology of hell and the pre-existence of the immortal soul, divided from the body but ruling over the body, have a Jewish-Christian origin.

Testimonies of theologians and encyclopedias highlighting the gap between Platonic dualism and biblical anthropology

“This idea of the immortality of the psyche/soul, which originated in the mystery religions, was later taken up by Philosophy. Plato is the first Greek philosopher who, after taking it from the Orphic tradition, systematized it and taught it. Immortality, Plato teaches, belongs to the nature and essence of the soul. This philosophical concept of immortality had such power and exerted such an influence on Christianity that even today, after the passage of two millennia, it is considered among various philosophical and theological circles as a characteristically Christian teaching, while in essence it is an ancient Greek philosophical concept.” (Biblical Theology and Ancient Greek Philosophy, by I. Karavidopoulos, as published in the theological journal Gregory Palamas, Orthodox Metropolis of Thessaloniki, January-February 1963, p. 85.)

“We must separate the concept of “psyche/soul” in the Septuagint translation from Platonic dualisms and take into account the biblical understanding where people are treated in relation to their own self, an idea that we find in the Old Testament in the concept of “nephesh”. It is fundamental to regain the concept of “psyche/soul” as used in the New Testament as the relationship of the individual with God and each other. Let us study the relationship of “living psyche/soul” and “image of God” that lead to an interrelated creation united with the creator who breathes life into people. Biblical scholars in the twentieth century consider that Biblical anthropology does not divide man into soul and body, but treats him holistically. Dualism misinterpreted human nature due to influences from Hellenistic Platonic doctrines.” (Ioanna Sachinidou "Dualisms within Man: Soul - Body", magazine "Star of the East September 2015 Issue 8")

Also, the Encyclopedia of Religion states: “Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 330–ca. 395), Nemesius (bishop of Emesa toward the end of the 4th century), and the Greek theologian Maximus the Confessor (ca. 580–662) interpreted biblical views on the psyche/soul following the Platonic line, generally adhering to the tradition of Origen and his school.”

As early as 1906, the Jewish Encyclopedia rejected the idea that the Hebrew Scriptures teach the soul’s immortality, stating plainly: “The belief that the soul continues to exist after the dissolution of the body is nowhere expressly taught in the Holy Scripture. The belief in the soul’s immortality came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and principally through the philosophy of Plato, its chief exponent.”

“There is no dichotomy of body and soul in the Old Testament. The Israelites perceived reality tangibly and holistically, and thus viewed humans as individuals, not as composite entities. The term ‘nephesh’, although translated in our language as ‘soul’, never means the soul as something separate from the body or the individual.” (W.E. Lynch, “Soul in the Bible”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Thomson Gale, 2003, 2nd ed., vol. 13, p. 336.)

“Corporality as a human entity is emphasized by Judaism. According to Hebrew scholars, ‘man does not have a body and a soul, but is both at the same time’. Man is considered a psychosomatic entity […] it is worth noting the priority of corporeality and materiality, which is indicated by the earthiness as the raw material of man. The soul comes as the culmination of vitality, which is also due to God and does not constitute a self-existent or autonomous property of man […] therefore, according to the Old Testament, humanity is the composite of divine vitality and human earthiness. Corporeality is reduced to a primary factor of man’s humanity. (Marios P. Begzos, former dean of the School of Theology, University of Athens “Israelite” pp. 44-5)

The Soul according to Biblical anthropology is the living being

“Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living being, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?” (Job 38:14. Grk text)

In Jewish and later in Jewish-Christian thought of the first century, the term “psyche/soul” denotes man, “the living soul”, “the living being ” as a single and autonomous being who dies and not as a synthesis or opposition, of the immortal soul with the earthly mortal body. Soul and body exist as a complete existence and the dualism of man of the Ancient Religion is not supported.

“And for from the beginning Adam on the sixth day was formed from the earth and receiving the breath he became alive.” (Epiphanios, Panarion ch. 4)

“Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Rom. 13:1. ERV)

“And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.” (Acts 7:14. ERV)

“for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life (Grk txt ψυχή/soul) to complete what was lacking in your service to me.” (Phi. 2:30)

“but he that slayeth a beest, shall paye for it. Soule for soule.” (Lev. 24:18 Coverdale bible of 1535)

The psyche/soul dies

“Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” (Eze. 18:4 ESV2011)

“neither shall he go in to any dead body (Grk txt ψυχή/soul), nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;” (Lev. 21:11)

“saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life (Grk txt ψυχή/soul), are dead.” (Mat. 2:20)

“Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!” (Ps. 22:20)

“lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.” (Ps. 7:2)

“& (Samson) saide: My soule dye wt the Philistynes …” (Jdg 16:30 Coverdale bible of 1535)

Conclusion

a) “The Christian separation of body and soul originated from ancient Greek philosophy and was introduced into Christian theology by Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4th century AD) and Saint Augustine (mid-4th-mid-5th century AD).”—Papyrus Larous Britannica, Papyrus Publishing Organization, Vol. 61, p. 428.

b) Hellenistic Platonic dualism misinterpreted human nature, which is a “living psyche/soul.” In biblical anthropology, man is not divided into Psyche/soul and body, but the psyche/soul is the whole man.

c) No posthumous existence of life exists outside of the gift of eternal life that Christ gives

Flee from religions. Christ our live

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