The value of the soul in the religious views

Abstract

The soul is considered, both for religions and philosophy, to be the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, conferring individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. For most theologies, the soul is further defined as that part of the individual, which partakes of divinity and transcends the body in different explanations. But, regardless of the philosophical background in which a specific theology gives the transcendence of the soul as the source of its everlasting essence – often considered to survive the death of the body –, it is always appraised as a higher existence for which all should fight for. In this regard, all religious beliefs assert that there are many unseen battles aiming to take hold of the human soul, either between divinity and evil, or between worlds, or even between the body and the soul itself. These unseen battles over the human soul raging in the whole world made it the central item of the entire universe, both for the visible and the unseen worlds, an item of which whoever takes possession will also become the ruler of the universe. Through this philosophy, the value of the soul became abysmal, incommensurable, and without resemblance. The point for making such a broad overview of the soul in religious beliefs is the question of whether we can build an interfaith discourse based on the religions’ most debated and valuable issue, soul? Regardless of the variety of religious beliefs on what seems to be the soul, there is always a residual consideration in them that makes the soul more important than the body. This universal impression is due to another belief or instead need of believing that above and beyond this seen, palpable, finite life and the world should exist another one, infinite, transcendent, and available all the same after here. This variety stretches from the minimum impact that soul has on the body, as being the superior essence that inhabitants and enlivens the matter (as in the early Hebrew religious view, in particular of Sadducees’ view), to the highest impact in which soul has nothing to do with matter and is only ephemeral linked to it, but its existence is not at all limited, defined or depended on the matter (as in the Buddhism) , or even placed to the extreme, as the very life of the matter thus this seen universe is merely a thought in the soul/mind (as in the belief of Solipsism, Nihilism or Brahmanism) . In this extensive variety of soul overviews, the emphasis of the soul’s importance gives an inverse significance to the body/matter, from being everything that matters to a thin, dwindle item that has no existence at all outside consciousness. With this last term, consciousness, I introduce in my presentation the last significant attribute a soul has and relates with otherness, or that creates the very importance and value of it. With these two terms in relation, we can then approach a central dogma of religious beliefs that is salvation. From the lowest form of understanding soul up to its elevated, transcendental existence, salvation also came in a variety of acceptations. Thus, salvation is seen as only becoming aware of your Self, empowering it with knowledge (as in the Neoplatonic metaphysics, In conclusion, regardless of the religious belief, we are talking about, the soul and its awareness, have always been the central key-concepts of religious overviews, primarily on salvation. In this hermeneutical key, we can embrace the idea that the significant religious beliefs can find a way of dialogue through their readings on the metaphysics regarding soul, Self-awareness, and salvation.