2024/05/20

144. Soul and Spirit

In discussing the causal relationship between information and demons (unclean spirits), it is worth reviewing how the soul and spirit came to belong to man, going back to Genesis according to the New Testament (see the Figure above). 

God created the various creatures by words. Hence, they are endowed with spontaneity to respond to God's command ("Be!"). God gave food to man and other creatures. That means, at the same time, that he gave them the knowledge and memory appropriate to them (cf. Genesis 1:1-30). So, they have the spontaneity to respond to God's command ("Be!") and the knowledge and memory fit to them. That can be said to be the state of their soul accompanied by their body. Hence, man is in awe of the life of all living creatures. 

Next, God prepared to give man a spirit in his likeness (cf. Genesis 2:1-17). God formed the brain of the man of dust from the ground. Then, he breathed the Breath of Life into his nostrils and made the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil grow in the centre of his brain. 

The Breath of Life is not a creature because it is of God, breathed by God. The spontaneity of God, who is the 'I AM', has been distributed to man. It becomes the spontaneity unique to the person. Therefore, now, man has two kinds of spontaneity, together with that of responding to God's command ("Be!"). 

On the other hand, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil are creatures. God caused these to grow in man's brain so that man might become like Jesus Christ. "After our likeness" (Genesis 1:26) means to be like Jesus Christ (cf. John 10:30; 14:7). Jesus Christ had his own spirit, consisting of divine spontaneity and divine knowledge (cf. Luke 23:46). One's Tree of Life is the interface that connects his Breath of Life with divine knowledge and brings to him his unique Spirit of God (cf. John 4:24). Thereby, the spirit of man becomes like that of Jesus. 

One's Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil connects his unique Spirit of God with the soul accompanied by his body, so that he comes to realise the plan of God for his own. Jesus Christ, the 'I AM', also had a soul like people and other living creatures to be fully human. Jesus' spontaneity in his soul was based on the 'I AM'. So, Jesus said, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father" (John 10:18). In this way, Jesus, like man, had two kinds of spontaneity. 

When the Holy Spirit, sent in the name of Jesus, descended and "there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them" (Acts 2:3), he connected with the disciples at their Tree of Life in their brains. Thereby, the Spirit of God, unique to each of them, was brought to each of them and connected to their Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It further linked with their souls, who had been with Jesus and trained by him and shared his worldview, so that they could realise God's plan and collaborate with the Holy Spirit. 

Therefore, in order for our spirit to live connected to our soul, made up of the spontaneity to respond to God's command ("Be!") and the knowledge and memory appropriate to them, via our Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we must be trained by the Holy Spirit through the Word and the Eucharist, just as the disciples of that time were trained by Jesus and shared his worldview, and acquire the worldview of Jesus Christ through the habit of reading and listening to Revelation to John. 

Just as the Holy Spirit descended on Mary and she was overshadowed by the power of the Most High and conceived Jesus, we are to undergo the formation of the Holy Spirit and acquire the worldview of Jesus Christ. Mary responded to Elizabeth's words in the house of Zechari'ah as follows. 

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation" (Luke 1:46-50). 

We will soon acquire the blessedness of our souls and spirits both magnifying the Lord and rejoicing in God as she did. Mary is the beginning of Christians living in the likeness of Jesus Christ and the Mother of the Church. 

To be continued. 

Maria K. M.