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INTRODUCTION 1.1.Thesis Topic a Study on the Concept of Soul with a Special Reference to Maram Baptist Churches

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INTRODUCTION 1.1.Thesis Topic a Study on the Concept of Soul with a Special Reference to Maram Baptist Churches CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1.Thesis topic A study on the concept of soul with a special reference to Maram Baptist Churches 1.2.Reason for selecting the topic People who talk about the soul themselves are not sure about the concept. The animistic believe has so much impacted on the People today and therefore the Biblical concept of Soul is little known. They just speaks with the traditional definition or concept of soul and spirit as “ra’ngii” or “rakot” (Spirit/Soul) as two separate unseen immortal part of human but synonymous usage makes a hard to clear distinction. Teaching in the churches about soul is just the ancestral developed concept which is different from the Bible. The irrelevant usage of the common term for Soul and Spirit can’t be just an excuse of ignorance and it is too untheological now for the intellectual trend. And we can’t let it be an issue for churches today when the Bible speaks so much about the soul and spirit vividly, it will be so pathetic talking out of the contextual fact. Contradicting to the scripture urged me to evaluate the false conception to provide clear understanding from the Bible for the contemporary churches. The reason of this planned undertaking is not only to understand the theory but practical recommendation is intended in the present churches of Maram. The real confusions are being notice and registered significant from the researcher’s point of view and which are real to the church today. And therefore, engaging in this contemporary audience with this confused and unbiblical explanations is unwholesome diet for growing Christian. Therefore, contemporary obligations is required to translate into biblical validation. The ra’ngii, rakot and akhii connects in an “indistinct mystery”. They have learned that ancient Marams were animists where their worldview were bound by spirits and human soul is one that really engaged so much to be believed in connection with the spirits of the life here and life after. 1.3.Statement of the problem The Maram churches have no clear idea of soul and hardly know the distinction between soul and spirit, and how does it relate to body. 1 1.4.Elaboration of the problem The soul is defined by different people with different understanding or concept. The Maram people has a limited knowledge of biblical concept of soul. From the traditional understanding according to Maram, soul (Rakot) and spirit (Ra’ngii) are not two things but just one with synonymous vocabularies but referring to the same general concept as unseen part of being ‘Ra’ngii’ (Spirit or ghost and sometime even refer to soul) and the Church preaches the traditionally taught concept of soul defined by unconscious assumption. Some are really not sure whether the soul actually exist. The Maram people define soul on the traditional terms from ancestors, the usage which does not correspond to Bible. The animism concept of soul is still not far from some Maram’s pastor’s leaders or teachers, and they were teaching which was derived purely from the cultural understanding. Some (among) believe that in olden days people viewed the person’s shadow (Akii) as one visible immortal soul and the other is not visible life that animate the body. The plural understanding and equating spirit with soul has made people of the contemporary churches with great confusion. The Maram Churches were feeding the unsatisfactory response to the curious post-modern generation with blur knowledge about the Soul. 1.5.Significance of the Study The Maram Churches speak inaccurately about the soul and therefore it need for a reassessment to get it right from wrong concept. Now peoples were misguided by unbiblical ancestral traditional concepts, and misinterpreted the biblical definition of soul. And made me serious realization that soul is a crucial object of inquiry to study analytically. This research project will get the people right with the biblical interpretation of soul, and make sound and deeper understanding of spiritual connection with the body and of God’s creation of man in His image. Exploring the biblical concept of soul will help contemporary Maram Baptist Churches, including myself, in developing the idea and the understanding of life beyond the physical realm and explore how life is connected to a level of unseen realm. Human life is defined by living-body composed of both visible and invisible properties and made it possible to transfer from physical world to unseen world due to God’s special choice. This study is within the range of Senapati district of Manipur specifically Maram Baptist Churches Community of more than twenty churches. 2 1.6.Literature Review Soul is one of the most debated subject with different views from different scholars since the time immemorial till date and all views survives with evidences. The origination of the concept of the soul can be trace back to the book of Genesis. Later the Greek philosophers adopted and developed the concept into more complicated definitions and moved onto Christian era. The idea has become more complex as the scholars interpreted it in the context and influence of Greek and Judaism. Worth mentioning “The western world has also contributed so much to revive the Greek philosophic concept and the churches were taught the ancient unbiblical concept and this is how we are teaching and preaching about the wrong concept today. This thesis is a study of soul from Philosophical, Theological, and Biblical perspectives and attempt to construct the conception of soul by making survey from historical account and applied it into the contemporary Maram Churches to teach and preach the concept originally. Then sketch the sort of critique from different scholars to establish the truth biblically. Many books of different writers were used in this study but for limitations factor particularly opted out few scholars for literature review purpose. The following are some of the reviews of the philosophers, Scholars, Theologians and writers briefly expounded their opinions for this proposed undertaking: 1.6.1. Nancey Murphy Nancey Murphy, in her book Bodies and souls, or Spirited Bodies is a thorough research from the Ancient philosophy and early Christian thought, how early Christian theologians developed their accounts of human nature in conversation with Hellenistic philosophers, and impacted on Christian theology. And progressively carry on to the Medieval and Reformation developments to the mid-twentieth-century. And She (Author) draw conclusion by stating that the Bible teaches a holistic view somewhat like contemporary physicalism and that dualism came into Christian teaching only later under the influence of Greek and Roman philosophy. Being a proponent of physicalism, and moreover teaching at a seminary where biblical authority is paramount, she (Author) unequivocally state that physicalism is the position of the Bible. But as the author further argue from scientific and theological development raised the question of whether humans are purely physical from the issue of human nature or there is non-material component which is essential for our humanness? In sum, the author definition changed from scientific reductionism to “social embodied” that we 3 are living and animated by mystery and has dimension which touch the reality beyond this visible realm. 1.6.2. Bert Thompson The author in this book The Origin, Nature, & Destiny of the Soul define soul as life, or life principle, Emotions or inner thoughts of a man or portion of a person that is immortal and thus never dies. Man’s immortal nature (i.e., his soul or spirit) is originated from genesis 2:7 when God breathed into Adam nostril, and this immortality is not in other animals that makes human different from the rest. To him life (soul) begins at time of conception when two gametes (male’s and female) join to form the zygote (Isaiah 49:1, 5). Man possesses a soul or spirit (soul/spirit” designation used synonymously) and survives the death of the physical body. And he concluded by saying that God created man as a dichotomous being who consists of both a body and a soul and no soul has to go to hell but all will be saved finally. 1.6.3. Bob Smith Bob Smith in his book, Dying to Live state that human is composed of body, soul, and spirit and tri-unity like God. According to him, Soul and Spirit are two different thing (Heb. 4:12a). The soul is the realm of self-consciousness and spirit is the realm of God – consciousness. Man is designed to be the dwelling place of God, therefore, the distinction of soul and spirit can be seen through the spiritual quality of being able to relate to God and is what makes man unique from the rest of the animals. Animals has also soul but not place for God. 1.6.4. H.H. Pope Shouda III According to H.H. Pope III in his book, What is Man? Man is consist of three parts that is Body, Soul and Spirit with scriptural support from apostle Paul’s teaching 1 Thess. 5: 23; Heb. 4: 12 etc. He defined this way, Soul means the whole human (Gen. 2:7), by ‘the soul’ is sometimes meant ‘the spirit’, the breath that God breathed into Adam’s nostril’s the human spirit not the Holy Spirit. He made distinction between soul and spirit though sometimes used interchangeably by stating that Soul gives life to the body or it is just animating principle to the flesh and Spirit gives the person life with God. Animals souls are mortal but human soul is immortal (Lev. 17:11). 4 Shouda further gives three significances of the soul: Soul is the sources of life to human, that human’s life is in the blood and if human blood is shed then life goes off.
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