as orthodox Christianity teaches but must develop one through a guided series of self -observation...

I suppose that is a unique concept. How would one go about measuring the progress of the growth of one's soul? Might someone also acquire a 'spirit' whilst nurturing the growth of the 'soul'?

What are the implications of this soul theory in regards to the abortion debate?

Does this theory belong to any particular religious denomination, or is it a 'roll-your-own' theory?

it is very brief summation of a system of thought taught, most notably, by a guy named Gurdjieff. Spirit, as it were would be a different thing. It is really a matter of a technical language with regards to spiritual work. When he used the word "soul" he meant the development of a specific, electrical (so to speak) body of a higher vibration than the physical.

A lot of very technical stuff but the gist is, there are two things, machine (that is, the material world, including your body, mind, etc) and then there is what he called beingness. We are slaves to the machine, to the habits that make up what we consider us. The observation of this machine is really the only way to understand it and thus make any headway toward breaking or at least loosening, its grip on us.

I have to go now, but I am happy to discuss this with you more.

Hmmm...

Sounds like Gurdjieff cut his teeth on the Kybalion.

We are slaves to the machine,

This is what Roger Waters struggled against.

Agree completely. A newborn is an empty chalice and is gradually filled thru the experiences of life.

An empty cup is still a cup. An empty soul, likewise. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The empty bag/soul is heredity, expereinces are the refining forces, the Potter's Hands, if you will.

Dd

The soul and the spirit come first, me thinks.

The body is the empty chalace when the soul and spirit depart :-) As far as, when do the soul and spirit enter ........ we all have our different views on that, don't we ;-) ?

Many indiginous peoples, when a new born arrives ( by stalk of course ) rush to see who it is come back to them/ to see if they recognise them. I am not unsympathetic to this idea.

The spirit is the seat of Logic, thought and life force. The soul is the seat of emotion, memory, experience, opinion, desire. The body is the house that contains and gives opportunity for interation with the material world as well as experience those other beings with like attributes.

Take away one, you kill the person.

Man is spiritually dead even while his body lives by virtue of his soul being the property of death.

Only when man is made spiritually alive by the sovereign will of God is the soul redeemed from the former owner, death, by Life in the person of Christ Jesus by the gracious power of God the Holy Spirit Who Convicts of sin and righteousness according to the Will of the Father in Heaven.

Dd

The only soul that means anything to me is exemplified by performers such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding.......

Even Milhouse has it...

it is everything physical, even mental, including our bodies and minds

logic, thought, emotion, memory, experience, opinion, desire, these are all part of the body/mind and have nothing to do with the spirit. Life force is a different issue, I think that is electrical/spiritual in nature. All things have life force.

The last paragraph really makes no sense to me. It is up to us to bring oursevles out of the much, so to speak, not any other external will. I also can't make sense of the idea that someone else convicts us. The path to "God" is narrow, either we can walk it or we cannot, to do so we must shed our identification with those things that weigh us down and throw us off balance. To do that we must know what those things are at their root. This is where the idea of self observation comes in. Christ was a great teacher and one of the things he taught was that we must look to our own actions and take responsibility for our own spiritual lives. He never claimed to be God, that came later.

Or...perhaps ....the soul is what links us all to the univeral ? and the spirit is the path that take us there ?

It seems you and I have little common ground, here. Maybe I can help you understand a little better, even though you are unregenerate and will never probably never understand as one wisened by The Holy Spirit.

"logic, thought, emotion, memory, experience, opinion, desire, these are all part of the body/mind and have nothing to do with the spirit.

=== Body, soul and spirit are so integral that to effect one is to effect the person in his entirety. ===

Life force is a different issue, I think that is electrical/spiritual in nature.

=== It obviously manifests in electrical impulses, alsotugh I don't think that is the spirit. ===

All things have life force.

===All living things are sustained by The Holy Spirit, this is true. ===

The last paragraph really makes no sense to me. It is up to us to bring oursevles out of the much, so to speak,

=== Only in the horror movies do the dead walk the earth. And even they are raised by some outside force. ====

not any other external will.

=== The will of God created and sustains all that is reality. ===

I also can't make sense of the idea that someone else convicts us.

=== Dead people don't know they are dead. To be convicted is to become aware, to become aware is to begin to live. ===

The path to "God" is narrow,

=== Meaning exclusive. Jesus Christ is the only path to God. ===

either we can walk it or we cannot,

=== All can, but not all do. Everyone that does not, refuses to. ===

to do so we must shed our identification with those things that weigh us down and throw us off balance.

=== You must be aware in order to know you are weighed down or off balance. Something instinctual tells man this. It is the truth. The life force in the body and the desires of the soul may, by the grace of God result in sufficient faith to honestly seek God/Truth. ===

To do that we must know what those things are at their root. This is where the idea of self observation comes in.

=== Navel contemplation did very little according to Christ. Self awareness is a by-p[roduct of enlightenment. Become aware of God, seek God, you will then know yourself better because He reveals all things. Maybe not all things to everybody, but all things are revealed by God. ===

Christ was a great teacher

=== Not if you don't believe everything He taught. A great teacher isn't as wrong as The Messiah is according to your own words. ===

and one of the things he taught was that we must look to our own actions and take responsibility for our own spiritual lives.

=== Yes. We are to seek God with our whole heart, soul and mind. He who loses his life for Christ will find it. ===

He never claimed to be God, that came later."

=== Where do you pick up these fairy tales? Jesus claimed to forgive sins, which was the sole province of God. He who has seen Jesus has seen The Father. "These are the Scritures written about Me." He read fro Isaiah and then pronounced that the Scriptures were fulfilled int heir presence, that He was The Messiah, God become Man and come to earth to save His people.

Dd