© 1994 Meredith Sprunger
© 1994 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
The soul has almost disappeared from contemporary theology. The Urantia Book gives a description of the soul that appears to lay the foundations for a meaningful use of the term again in religious language.
An editorial by this title appeared in the January, 1994 issue of Theology Today, written by Patrick D. Miller, in which he observes, “We don’t hear very much about the soul in theological circles these days.” Television, art, and literature give more attention to the soul than theology. The disappearance of the soul in theological language is largely the result of contemporary psychology’s lack of empirical evidence for the soul, and theological attempts to discard the dualism of Pauline thought about human nature. Theologians have opted for the self as a more holistic and accurate term.
Television, art, and literature give more attention to the soul than theology. The disappearance of the soul in theological language is largely the result of contemporary psychology’s lack of empirical evidence for the soul, and theological attempts to discard the dualism of Pauline thought about human nature.
The authors of The Urantia Book give a description of the soul that appears to lay the foundations for a meaningful use of the term in religious language. The soul, they tell us, is a dual creation of the indwelling Spirit of God and human decisions that are harmonious with spiritual reality. This combined effort creates a new reality, a factualization of human decisions, which is part material and part spiritual. This transitional reality exists between the material and the spiritual and is denominated as “morontia.” As the soul evolves, it has increasingly greater influence in human thought and action. It is a key aspect of personal development. Eventually, in spirit-directed people, it serves as a kind of second or morontia mind. The evolving soul is the indigenous aspect of human personality which is indestructible.
When the flood tides of human adversity, selfishness, cruelty, hate, malice, and jealousy beat about the mortal soul, you may rest in the assurance that there is one inner bastion, the citadel of the spirit, which is absolutely unassailable; at least this is true of every human being who had dedicated the keeping of his soul to the indwelling spirit of the eternal God. (UB 100:2.7)
The root semantic meaning of psychology is “the study of the soul.” Perhaps it is time for theology to restore the soul to a place of significance in our thinking and speaking about human beings. The Urantia Book opens the door to an enhanced understanding of the interrelatedness of mind, soul, and spirit in human psychology.