And God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 KJV
Unto thee, O Lord, I do lift up my soul Psalm 25:1 KJV
A recent newspaper column raised the question: will artificial intelligence someday have consciousness? The column went on to say that the very nature of consciousness has been an unanswerable question for as long as the concept has been expressed. What is it that transforms a living body into a person?
I want to suggest, first of all, that consciousness is what differentiates us from the animals. It is what makes it possible for a person to step outside of himself or herself and contemplate themselves. Second, it is what the Bible is talking about when it uses the Hebrew word nephesh. When Luther was translating the Hebrew Bible into German, he chose for nephesh the word seele “core,” “central strand (of a rope),” and the English versions copied with the cognate soul. Modern English translations have struggled with “soul,” coming up with “being,” “self,” “mind,” “heart,” etc., in various contexts. Part of the reason for this is modern biology’s, and psychology’s, very naturalistic understanding of life. Life is body and what arises from certain cellular combinations, period.
But indeed, the Bible has it right. There is body and spirit, and we humans share those two with the animals. Spirit animates the body, and when the body dies, the spirit goes away. But the Bible says that humans exhibit a third aspect. Call it what you will: consciousness, self, or soul. It is that which still exists when the body has died and is no longer inhabited by spirit. It is this which we can, indeed, must, offer up to God. The Psalmist has it right: “Here, Lord, this is me, and I give me to you, irrevocably and forever. You gave me to me, and now I give me back to you, for me can only continue to live in you.”
George Matheson had it right:
“O Love that will not let me go.
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths it flow
May richer, fuller be.”
Called To Be Transformed 