Soul

The soul is the spiritual principle that gives life to the body and, together with it, forms a human being.

The soul is spiritual and therefore cannot be observed by the senses, but it can be known through the actions it performs. For example, through meditation.

The soul is immortal because it is spiritual. Material beings can be crushed, decay, or be split into parts. However, none of this affects spiritual beings.

The human soul is spiritual because it performs spiritual actions. For example, it can understand this website, where ideas are related to one another, without confusing ideas with images, which are sensible realities.

Babies, some mentally ill people, those who are asleep, or those in a coma have souls and are living human beings. But in their case, the spirituality of the soul does not manifest itself fully.

In life the body deteriorates, and there comes a time when the soul is unable to keep it alive. Then death comes: the body becomes a corpse and the soul goes to heaven or hell, or temporarily to purgatory.

Faith helps us discover some realities, but the spirituality and immortality of the soul are not known only by faith; they can also be known by reason. If man performs actions of a spiritual kind, it is because he has a spiritual principle that we call the soul, and the spiritual cannot die, as already discussed. Heaven, hell, and purgatory, however, are known through Christian doctrine.

The body and the soul improve by acquiring new qualities. The body progresses in material capabilities; the soul increases its spiritual qualities. In both cases, progress is achieved through the repetition of good acts. Thus isolated actions become acquired qualities, giving ease and confidence to continue along the same path.

The soul advances faster if God intervenes with His gifts. This happens when God wills, but we can hasten the process if we pray earnestly and seek to please Him with generosity. The soul also receives graces through the sacraments.

The soul worsens in several ways:

• On the human level, the soul is impoverished when its faculties are not exercised. Intelligence and will need exercise for their development. In this sense, laziness and carelessness cause much damage.
• On the supernatural level, the greatest damage to the soul is caused by sin. Union with God and receiving divine graces or gifts is what most benefits the soul. Therefore, sin is most damaging, since any sin weakens union with God.
• On both the human and supernatural levels, the soul is harmed by the repetition of bad acts; the soul becomes vicious and more inclined to evil.