What are soul and spirit in Orthodoxy and what is their difference

This term has other meanings, see spirit.

Spirit

— 1) a philosophical concept denoting an intangible principle[1]; 2) the highest ability of a person, thanks to which self-determination of the individual is possible[2].

Determining the relationship between spirit and matter is often considered the main issue of philosophy[1]. Idealism, spiritualism - recognition of the spirit as the origin of the world. The idea of ​​spirit can act as

• concept (panlogism),
• substance (pantheism),
• personality (theism, personalistic concepts)

Rationalistic philosophical systems identify spirit with thinking and consciousness; in irrationalism, determining the essence of the spirit, they consider such aspects of it as

• intuition
• feeling
• will
• imagination, etc.[1]

Ancient natural philosophers of the 6th-5th centuries BC defined spirit as “something gaseous, a vital force moving in the body of people and animals.” The biblical-Christian tradition fills the concept of spirit with a personal absolute and will. In existentialism, spirit is opposed to reason, and neopositivism eliminates this concept as lying outside the sphere of scientific knowledge.

According to Klages, the spirit is opposed to the soul.

Also spirit

can mean a set of character traits, temperament, knowledge and beliefs that gives strength to act in the name of something (warrior spirit).

It is found in the meaning of the universal character of any human community, for example, the spirit of the time (era, century), the national spirit (a certain ideal basis of national character), the corporate spirit.

The spirit of the times, the spirit of peoples, the spirit of historical formations are often found in Voltaire. The main method of his historical thinking included bringing individual features of a time, people, and historical education to a common denominator, which he called spirit. The title of his work names “the morals and spirit of peoples” as its theme, and the author called his work the history of the human spirit in general[3].

The concept of spirit, as something opposite to nature, developed during the period of romanticism and German idealism, and especially in Hegel ( "Spirit is revealed as a gigantic sign of the integral, connecting heaven and earth, good and evil"

- Dreyer).

Hegel also speaks of an absolute spirit, independent of any earthly carrier, identical with the pure divine spirit, considered as an ideal whole.

Passage characterizing the Spirit (philosophy)

The Frenchman looked around uneasily and, as if overcoming doubt, quickly took off his uniform and put on his shirt. Under his uniform the Frenchman did not have a shirt, but on his bare, yellow, thin body he wore a long, greasy, silk vest with flowers. The Frenchman, apparently, was afraid that the prisoners looking at him would laugh, and hastily stuck his head into his shirt. None of the prisoners said a word. “Look, just right,” Plato said, pulling off his shirt. The Frenchman, sticking his head and hands through, without raising his eyes, looked at his shirt and examined the seam. - Well, falcon, this is not a trash, and there is no real instrument; “But it’s said: without gear you can’t even kill a lice,” said Plato, smiling roundly and, apparently, rejoicing at his work. – C'est bien, c'est bien, merci, mais vous devez avoir de la toile de reste? [Okay, okay, thank you, but where is the canvas, what’s left?] - said the Frenchman. “It will be even better the way you put it on your body,” said Karataev, continuing to rejoice at his work. - That will be good and pleasant. “Merci, merci, mon vieux, le reste?..” repeated the Frenchman, smiling, and, taking out a banknote, gave it to Karataev, “mais le reste... [Thank you, thank you, dear, but where is the rest?.. Give me the rest. ] Pierre saw that Plato did not want to understand what the Frenchman was saying, and, without interfering, looked at them. Karataev thanked him for the money and continued to admire his work. The Frenchman insisted on the remainder and asked Pierre to translate what he was saying. - What does he need the leftovers for? - said Karataev. “They would have given us some important little extras.” Well, God bless him. - And Karataev, with a suddenly changed, sad face, took out a bundle of scraps from his bosom and, without looking at it, handed it to the Frenchman. - Ehma! - Karataev said and went back. The Frenchman looked at the canvas, thought about it, looked questioningly at Pierre, and as if Pierre’s gaze told him something. “Platoche, dites donc, Platoche,” suddenly blushing, the Frenchman shouted in a squeaky voice. – Gardez pour vous, [Platosh, and Platosh. Take it for yourself.] - he said, handing over the scraps, turned and left. “Here you go,” Karataev said, shaking his head. - They say that they are not Christ, but they also have a soul. The old men used to say: a sweaty hand is a bit too hard, a dry hand is stubborn. He himself is naked, but he gave it away. – Karataev, smiling thoughtfully and looking at the scraps, was silent for some time. “And the important ones, my friend, will be blown out,” he said and returned to the booth. Four weeks have passed since Pierre was captured. Despite the fact that the French offered to transfer him from a soldier's booth to an officer's booth, he remained in the booth he entered from the first day. In devastated and burned Moscow, Pierre experienced almost the extreme limits of hardship that a person can endure; but, thanks to his strong constitution and health, which he had not been aware of until now, and especially due to the fact that these hardships approached so imperceptibly that it was impossible to say when they began, he endured his situation not only easily, but also joyfully . And it was at this very time that he received that peace and self-satisfaction for which he had vainly strived before. For a long time in his life he was looking from different sides for this peace, agreement with himself, for what struck him so much in the soldiers at the Battle of Borodino - he looked for this in philanthropy, in Freemasonry, in the dispersion of social life, in wine, in heroic deeds self-sacrifice, in romantic love for Natasha; he sought this through thought, and all these searches and attempts all deceived him. And he, without thinking about it, received this peace and this agreement with himself only through the horror of death, through deprivation and through what he understood in Karataev. Those terrible minutes that he experienced during the execution seemed to have washed away forever from his imagination and memories the disturbing thoughts and feelings that had previously seemed important to him. The thought of neither Russia, nor the war, nor politics, nor Napoleon occurred to him. It was obvious to him that all this did not concern him, that he was not called and therefore could not judge all this. “No time for Russia, no union,” he repeated Karataev’s words, and these words strangely reassured him. His intention to kill Napoleon and his calculations about the cabalistic number and the beast of the Apocalypse now seemed incomprehensible and even ridiculous to him. His anger against his wife and anxiety about not disgracing his name now seemed to him not only insignificant, but funny. What did he care about the fact that this woman was leading the life she liked somewhere out there? Who, especially him, cared whether they found out or didn’t find out that the name of their prisoner was Count Bezukhov?

What is spirituality in philosophy

In philosophy, the term spirituality is the definition of a person’s inner awareness, his self-determination in the society in which he lives, the desire to achieve a certain ideal state in his internal development.

Attention! Philosophers of all times have argued about the essence of spirituality and have not come to a common opinion.

Even Plato, a philosopher of ancient Greece, a student of Socrates, defined spirituality as a property of a specific character inherent in a person, and separated it from the physical essence. He believed that this word comes from the word "spirit", which means Spirit in Latin. Spirit is an immaterial principle. In addition, spirit can also mean the highest degree of a person’s ability to self-determinate.

Mystical meaning

What is spirit from the point of view of mystics? A spirit is a kind of supernatural being endowed with intelligence, will and various superpowers, such as clairvoyance, the ability to fly, reading minds, and the ability to see the future. Usually spirits remain invisible to mere mortals. Only a medium or a person endowed with psychic abilities can see them.

Spirits can be both human helpers and hostile to him. Spirits may not manifest themselves in any way, but they can come into contact with a person mentally or by giving other signs. It is believed that spirits are able to inhabit inanimate objects, and then poltergeists arise. They can also penetrate a plant, animal or human consciousness. If a spirit has taken over a person's mind and begins to control his behavior, then the person becomes possessed. Cases of obsession still occur today, although skeptics consider them to be a manifestation of a mental disorder.

Different religions identify different spirits. There are spirits of nature: forests, various bodies of water, wind, thunderstorms, and hearth. In ancient times, people deified the forces of nature. It was believed that with the help of various rituals it was possible to appease the spirits of nature. So, sacrifices were made to the god of rain in the hope that there would be no drought and a rich harvest could be harvested.

There are also spirits of the house: brownies, evil spirits, demons, geniuses, etc. The spirits of deceased people will stand out separately. It is believed that with the help of special techniques one can summon the spirit of the deceased and ask him various questions. At the beginning of the 20th century, spiritualistic seances were popular, where mediums communicated with the other world. If you are interested in how to summon spirits, then you will find the article How to Summon a Spirit useful. You may also be interested in the article How to See Spirits.

The concepts of “soul” and “spirit”

The soul is an immaterial entity that must be contained in the human body. In each case, the soul is assumed to govern the life and actions of the individual. It is required not only for life, but also for understanding the world around us. If there is no soul, there will be no life.

The Spirit is the highest degree of any person’s nature, which paves the way to the Lord. The spirit allows a person to be placed above everyone else in the hierarchy of living beings.

How is it expressed in humans?

Volitional personality traits - what is it in psychology, their formation

Considering the question “Spirituality - what is it in philosophy?”, one cannot help but recall its definition in psychology. After all, “psycho” (ψυχή) is the soul, and it also does not relate to the bodily essence of Homo sapiens.

Interesting. The end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries were marked by increased attention to spirituality in the society of domestic psychologists. They tried to explain it as a result of the mechanisms of the human psyche.

This meant that if spirituality is a combination of psychological processes as a result of a person’s maturation with his personal qualities, then they form a certain system, and it can be studied.

Spiritual development of man

Qualities inherent in a spiritually developing personality:

• creativity in all its forms;
• desire to serve people and share experience with them;
• morality as a life credo;
• love for yourself and everything around you;
• kindness and compassion towards people and animals.

There are two directions in which human spirituality can be considered: social and religious. Social science, as a subject of pedagogy, defines what spirituality is - it is the will and mind of an individual, focused on moral social values, his desire for ideals and high thoughts.

Important! Spirituality is not a belief in God and a measurement of the degree of religiosity, but a state of the soul in which it is in continuous development and self-improvement.

The spiritual world of man

Emerging Spirit Components

Whom a person worships and serves is his god. Christians, regardless of their level of development, know that everything in life is guided by the Creator.

Spiritual Filling Leads Christians to Hunger for God

He is the Judge and Savior, punisher and merciful; the symbol of the Christian faith is the Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The fear of God is the main component of spiritual fulfillment.

You love power, money, fun parties, you do everything in anger, according to your own will and desire, which means you are not afraid of God, while your soul is controlled by satanic forces.

The guiding spiritual force is conscience, which makes a person fear the Lord, please Him in everything and follow His instructions. Conscience guides the spiritual qualities of Christians, directing them to the knowledge of holiness, grace and truth. Only through conscience can believers determine what is pleasing or contrary to the Lord.

Only those who have a living conscience can fulfill God's law. Spiritual fulfillment leads Christians to a thirst for God, when no creation of human hands can give that grace that a person acquires through communication with the Almighty in fasting, prayer and fulfillment of the Law.

You know everything

We see some statements that apply to ALL believers

- you know everything. Not “you will know.” You already know. WHO YOU ARE"? Of course they are born again believers.

– we have all received the anointing, which is true and not false, which teaches us. WHO are “WE” and WHO are “US”? Again, we are the born again. But please note that the conversation is NOT ABOUT THE FLESH. Because you cannot live according to the flesh, the flesh will not inherit the Kingdom - why then invest in it? Moreover, we say that we have died and live no more, but Christ lives in us.

Now we see that there is something or someone in us who teaches us.

The connection between spirituality and religion

Existential crisis - what does it mean?

From the time when the church was separated from the state in Russia, it became clear that spirituality is not blind worship of God, but the acceptance of God as the highest form of love.

Any religion (Catholic, Christian, Muslim and other) is aimed at attracting as many people as possible under its leadership. Crusades were carried out under the banner of Christianity, and under the slogan “There is no god but Allah,” terrorists blew up buildings along with hundreds of people.

Symbols of religions

Reasoning about what spirituality is in religion boils down to the fact that it is a connection between a person and God: re-ligio (restoration of connection), and the holy spirit is the spiritual beginning of the human essence. However, religion has two sides:

• external - paraphernalia and rituals;
• internal – one’s own experience of God in the soul.

By the way ! The external side of religion is always social in nature. Internal is a purely personal experience in search of God in oneself and the world around us.

Spirituality, the definition of which for a religious person is the path to God through the atonement of sins, has few positive aspects. Religion teaches that the “spiritual principle” is a bright and positive phenomenon and includes everything good that is in a believer. It turns out that everyone who does not live according to the laws of a particular religion is infidel. This is not just about Islam.

Attention! A religious person and a spiritual person both go to God, just in different ways. The first is through a culture instilled from the outside, and the second is through one’s own thoughts, feelings and criteria established independently.

Spiritual realm

What is the difference between soul and spirit: theses

• The soul presupposes a person’s connection with the world around him, the spirit presupposes aspiration to God.
• Any living creature can have a soul, including pets, wild animals, birds and reptiles. Only man can have the spirit.
• The soul must revive the human body and provide the opportunity to understand the world around us and the possibility of active activity. The spirit must be personified by the soul.
• The soul is always given at the birth of a person or other living being. The Spirit can only be received through sincere repentance.
• The spirit is responsible for the mind, the soul is responsible for the feelings and emotional component of a person.
• The soul may experience physical suffering, the spirit is not ready for any sensory, emotional sensations or experiences.
• The spirit is immaterial, therefore only contact with the soul is assumed. At the same time, the soul can be connected with the spirit and body of a person.
• A person can control the soul, but any power over the spirit is completely absent.
• The soul faces the risk of encountering sin. The spirit must contain Divine grace, therefore any contact with sin is successfully prevented.

Levels of soul development

1. A young soul can be compared to an animal: a person is controlled by instinct and finds himself absorbed in the struggle for life. There is no mental, cultural development, or the ability to evaluate oneself.
2. The educational class of the soul is represented by people of not very high culture, but with certain interests.
3. At the next level, the desire for culture and art, spiritual development, deepening of morality, and the emergence of morality is manifested.
4. At the highest level of the soul there is the possibility of working for evolution and profound influence on the history of all mankind.

By developing the soul, each person becomes a full-fledged personality.

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