Finally, someone who can explain complex topics in simple words ...looking forward to his next videos/talks

One of the top 10 channels on KZfaq right here.

Utter babble

I am amazed. Thank you for this one. Makes alot more sense to me now. God bless. Thank you Robert and James.

I'll give Moreland credit... he's very good at making up an argument as he goes along... right up to the end when he concludes "I'm not sure I understand it"... which is probably an appropriate ending to this interview.

I like this guy. He is one of the few guests on this channel who has a firm grasp on what he believes. He gets right to the point with every answer. He doesn't throw a lot of big words around while dancing around the question like so many others.

Question begging - you can't start attributing qualities to something that hasn't been demonstrated to exist. Just because you're afraid of death, doesn't mean you can start pronouncing on reality without incontrovertible, unambiguous evidence. If you were really interested in the truth, you'd simply say, "We have no evidence for a soul, no evidence for survival of death, so the reasonable things to do is assume death is the end."

I suggest that just as our initial birth out of the darkness of our mother's womb allowed us to awaken into the light of earthly consciousness and see what our physical body looks like, likewise, our second and final birth - out of this physical body - and into the transcendent realm of *"true reality"* will allow us to see what our spirit body (i.e., our eternal soul) looks like.

I may not come to the same conclusions as this guy but i love the way he explains it

Way to much "Maybe it's God?" for a channel looking for Truth.

....we argue and accept that no information is lost, but the "thing" that makes a human life has no value beyond its range of living? The very impact we have upon our environment and those we leave to continue speaks against this defeatist mindset.

If we think of the soul as a form of energy and that energy moves between forms then it isn't hard to believe it might exist. Considering science is rewritten from time to time it is even more plausible.

This dude is a master of jibber jabber. So much to say without saying anything at all

Yes. This is just a learning phase/environment.

🧐Great conversant dialogue on this topic 👍

Moreland is clearly a smart guy. It's too bad he's wasted so many years being invested in Christianity when he could have used his brains for something more productive toward bettering humanity. There are some serious moral and scientific issues with the religion that can't be ignored by any modern person. They're upsetting if you're a Christian and they're brought up to you, and they're upsetting if you're not, as you witness the effect of the religion's grasp on government and education systems, etc. Irrationality has won out in many places, not to our benefit but to many of our preference. I do believe that as a species we have a predilection for superstition. Over the years I've listened to a lot of guys like this, and I almost always get a sense of there being some sunk cost fallacy acting, and a greater than normal willingness to self-delude (eg, a bias in what's truly "possible" like he was baldly asserting). It's always saddening. So here I am wondering what could have been with JPM. Maybe he wouldn't have become "famous" but would have had a fulfilling life in other ways. Who knows? I'm happy I got out even after how much it consumed my sense of identity as a young adult and so much of my life before that. I could have wasted so many years of my life.

Lord Krishna says our existence consist of 3 levels 1.Gross body 2.Subtle body i.e mind, intellect and ego 3.Soul. Now conciousness emarges from soul and mind is the interface between outer world and soul. Now because of Lord Krishna is not only supreme concious being but also He exists beyond time frame ,So He is immortal and He is Supersoul, we are tiny little soul but at the same time we are immortal also.

When Robert asks a particularly piercing question and a believer starts his or her confident answer, I almost expect goofy trombone music to fade in underneath it.

JP Moreland is great on this topic.

That's an Alfred Lloyd Tennyson tie he has on; 'Prize me know prizes'

I would like more information about the "immaterial substance" the soul is made of. A substance suggests material, therefore an immaterial substance would seem to be a contradiction of terms. Sounds like another fairy tale to me.

Is the soul immortal? Or is it just a matter of infinite universes and that the soul never gets the chance to expire?

Only in theology asserting a statement is its proof. Incredible.

Bravo Moreland

Excellent videos. I disagree with, however appreciate hearing his points in your video- THANK YOU

I guess the only thing anyone can really say about the soul with any certainty is "I don't know". But I like this guy's view on the subject.

I would talk about a '' self'' instead of a ''soul''. The self manifestates itself mixed with spontaneity so it is ''alive'' somewhere in the unconscious and is very much (mystical) psychology related. ''self observation'' is something mystics do to get in touch with this personal ''self'', incorperating parts of this personal ''self'' in ones acting conscious life is refered to as ''self realisation''...becoming who you are deep within..that is the ultimate goal . The ''self'' is non physical...understanding is that it goes from body to body ''incarnation'' why that is who knows?

He believes in soul but his concept isnt reality because first he not show up how soul in his concept. It is no sense he declines to explains what really imortal ? In other words he speculations lack honest true hipotesy.

I talked to a Sufi leader in Minneapolis some 25 years ago and he said the soul extends beyond the body to an extent of 6 miles. I was fully agnostic, but interested in possible implications - basically that individual souls are interpenetrating, and affect each other. Or like we know like sports or political events can create temporary "hive/mob mind" from direct senses, but perhaps there's an indirect form of it. Maybe your emotions are affected by the tens of thousands of people within that range. And perhaps it would also give a dimension to what meditation can be about, in part a sort of quieting of the active mind, and then you might be more skilled at keeping your center around other people, whether direct, or a soulful indirect connection.

This is the most irrational, and sorry to say silly discussion, in this usually erudite, intellectually coherent and challenging series. Flaxen Saxon

The soul is a concept, not an actual entity. It is just a loose way of describing an essence or shared state of mind, such as in soul food or soul music. In the phrase "the spirit of '76" we're not talking about a personsl being like Casper the Friendly Ghost, but of patriotism. When Lincoln spoke of "the angels of our better nature" he didn't mean actual heavenly creatures like on Christmas ornaments, he was talking about attitudes and values, which are ineffable things. The soul only "lives" in our minds, and it certainly isn't immortal.

The soul is the entity on the outside of this simulation .. a high level entity that we might refer to as a creation God . But really just another entity given the opportunity to play out an experience within the simulation.... The consciousness that emerges gives us a feeling of individuality at this complexity level .. but animals Under the human level do not experience this one feeling as a consciousness... It's unique to complex systems... Each system in the simulation has a level of consciousness available... And it's capped by it's complexity.. The entity on the outside of the simulation experiences no time so a life time in this simulation is actually nothing outside .. after living the experiences through one simulation life the entity can come back and learn more through the simulation in a infinite selection of possibilities....

I'd have appreciated you had given some information on the exponents of this interesting subject. :(

Immortality is a difficult concept just as something from nothing or the idea of nothing.

So what you do is you take the specifications from the customers and you bring them down to the software engineers?

It seems belief comes from the unconscious mind, then we seek to rationalise that belief through the application of logic. Perhaps, in this way, many God-fearing individuals are faced with the task of figuring out the nature of this deeply felt essence many call soul. No doubt, explaining feelings that were given to us can be challenging. Perhaps to be chosen is to have been given the right senses. Then again, perhaps it was to receive the right explanations. In either case, did we have a choice?

I wish he had included “body” as one of the drawers in the chest of drawers analogy: mind, spirit, and body. To have sensations one must have a physical body. Also, what is spirit?

There are three dimensions that the creator created on earth to live, reproduce and multiply. “Human’s animals and plants “Among these creatures a plant does not have a soul because plants do not have a "blood", but human and animals do have the "blood" in them. Because they have a “soul" But the main thing that separates humans from animals is that humans have a "spirit". Animals don't have it. The reason man was created in the image of God, he has a spirit in his soul. But animals were created only from the earth, which means, they are not the combination of heaven and earth, only they are the product of earth. They have no spirit even though they have a “soul" likewise, The human body was created from the dust of the earth as an animal, but the creator gave man the breath of life that does not mean he gave him oxygen. Human is the combination of heaven and earth elements, in his spirit from heaven and in his physical body from earth. When it comes to plants, plants use carbon dioxide to survive. They get this from humans and animals. But as plants get carbon dioxide from us for their existence, so we also do get oxygen from plants to live on earth. If plants had the blood of humans or animals, they would not be able to live on earth. Because we do get oxygen from plants. This is the main reason why the Creator created plants on different days on the 3rd day and humans and animals on the same day on the 6th day by plan. The reason is that if plants cannot live, they don't provide oxygen to humans and animals. That is why the human body and animals share the same DNA because they were created on the same day, they are the same from the soil of the earth and because they both have "soul blood" and they have "life". Therefore, we humans and animals also have blood, so we need oxygen because human life is in the blood. But this kind of life is not a life related to earthly life or soul. Because man and animals need blood not only because there is life in blood, but also because blood is the main thing to keep man and animals on earth. Without oxygen, blood does not move in our body or in the animal's body. Humans and animals survive on earth because oxygen circulates in their veins. Both humans and animals breathe oxygen because they have “blood" in them. But animals do not have the breath of life. The breath of life is not oxygen, but man has both the breath of life and oxygen as well "life of God." Many people do not know the difference between oxygen and the breath of life, The breath of life is connected with the Creator image or likeness, but the oxygen is interrelated with “soul” and “blood” . That is the main reason humans and animals have a soul because they have a blood in them. Oxygen is not only 100% different from the breath of life, and it is a completely different idea. So, when the Creator gives man the breath of life, it means God gave it his own life. The image of God and life is the spirit. Man is the likeness and image of God, not because he has a physical body or a soul, but because he has a "spirit". Both animals and humans have blood, so they use oxygen to live on planet earth. But the difference between humans and animals is that both their physical body goes back to where it came from, but when the human physical body, not a life is returned to the soil or after death, the spiritual body, which is the image of God, continues. However, there is something that a person should do to live forever and to continue life after death in his spiritual body. Life, whether in heaven or on earth, begins with "birth". (John 3:3) On earth from a biological parent, and in heaven from the Spirit of God the Father. A person lives in the country where he was born, whether on earth or in heaven. The difference is that a person born on earth does not exist much because he lives in the realm of time. But he who was born on earth and born again in heaven lives forever. Because he was born of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, who has the seed of eternal life. When we came to this earth, we came at the will and desire of our parents. Even though children are a gift from God to their parents. But when we leave this earth, it is up to us and our choice. We are the one responsible for our life, whether we go to live forever or perished Whoever seeks life and chooses it will live with the Lord Jesus, (John Gospel 17:3) has eternal life. The one who says no, I don't want eternal life. It’s up to them they can choose whatever they want. Choose eternal life, not death. Therefore, since animals have souls, that does mean they can go to heaven. They cannot enter heaven. Only humans are allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven, because a person created in the image of God, God lives in heaven outside of time and universe in his spiritual body. The angels of God live in the spirit of heaven. The main reason that separates man from the angels of God is that man has a soul, a physical body, and a spirit, so he can live on earth with his physical body and soul, and in heaven with his spiritual body. Because the human spirit has the image of the creator. But God's angels have no earthly body, so they exist outside the universe or time zone. Man lives forever in the heavenly world in his spiritual body, but he can live with his physical body in his soul.

The argument that since it's possible for me to be disembodied, but it's not possible for my brain to be disembodied; therefore, I am not my brain, strikes me as being question-begging because the possibility of me being disembodied is contingent on me not being my brain. If I WERE my brain, then it wouldn't be possible for me to be disembodied.

Where is the soul? Exclusively in us or Contingently in us? Is the soul what "connects" us to this strange thing called life that is so different from scientific matter? Matter in time and Life in time have two different daseins. How are they connected? Is gravity and time what connects life to matter - intention to existence: Nature. Science has discovered other solar systems, galaxies. If Nature is not just local, if Nature is not just planet Earth, then how does Life connect to non-local Nature? Is gravity and time the barrier of dasein? Does light make us blind to life, and if so can it help us reveal more life?

Play Jesus said in the Bible this is human thinking

Such a paradox. To believe there is no soul that goes to the after life makes about as much sense as the souls not existing after death . logically both possibilities make no sense

What if the difference between us, humans and a pierce of rock, its just the scale of complexity in the causal relationships with the environment? It could also mean that everything is predetermined and there is no free will. We are just the product of an immensely amount of interactions, compared to that of a piece of rock. When I tell someone "" I love you" there is no fundamental difference to when i am throwing with a stone. Its just the amount of interactions that i mentioned. This is just a perspective that could be true or not.

The dreams are really something we have no real great understanding of. Many animals dream. I believe there's another dimension. Which dream is a part of. I think death and dreams are interlocking.

Robert should have understand it. It was well explained. I do sense that Robert don’t want to understand it when he asked “did I understand it”?

if information (no hiding theory) and energy, are eternal ...then why energy filled with information could not ?

You gotta love all of the worded detail this man gives with absolutely zero evidence to show any of this, just claims. It truly baffles me how religious people are like , yep that’s all I need to believe !

I don't think the soul is anything more than the set of chronological states one has been in through out there lives. Every experience at every moment in time, stored fully without loss. Using this data, a creator can reanimate any creation at any point in its chronology. Thus, a soul is information, immaterial.

Hinduism or Sanatan Dharm is the only religion which talked about Soul through there Vedas thousands of years back. If we want to date Rig Veda (the most ancient literature on earth) it will go back to 25k-22k years. Hindu Darshan starts from the first question - Who Am I? It shows the inquisitiveness of a man to know who is he? If he is only a body? or he is something else, and body is only a covering. Then another question arises, what is my purpose to be here? Hinduism is the only culutre , the most ancient of all, where its scriptures are filled with all possible dimensions of life parameters, that is why it talks about Mathmatics, Medical Science, Astronomy, Physics, Geology, Animal Science, Yoga, Chemistry etc. But what is going on is western reductionists are playing a game of making people of the west as Hinduphoebic. I think they are good in it, as christians always did it. They eated so many great and old civilizations in the past and turned everyone christians. Like Islam, Christianity is all about hating others..only the thing is they are not on a killing spree like Islamic terrorist. both are one of the same coin.

Where does he gets his info?,

And not at any point did he provide any evidence to support any of these claims.

with scientific advancement we may just get closer to ancient Hindu beliefs

You are the part that animates the meat suit (matter).

Please look at the concept of “Lingdeh” of Hindu or Vedic thoughts.

Do “bodies” have “souls”or do “souls”have “bodies?” If the Ground of All Being, (in a hierarchy of being) is necessary, a ground (a blueprint) seems necessary for the ground of being for category, and individual beings (entities). The question is whether intangible or immaterial existence like Quantum wave function, language, blueprints relates to matter(space) subject to process & time. From a Neoplatonic process theological perspective, how does the Infinite One relate to the many; and if the One has primacy (not a composite in time) are “souls” subject to time (process or change)? Is the ground of all being ItSelf, a separate “Soul,” or is the Kingdom of God at hand” & theosis is a/the state of being that needs to be awakened to? does Omnipresent brute awareness, which can recognize & experience pattern, exist? Like The All in all AND all in All? How does the blueprint relate to the physical manifestation, and Do “souls” GO to “Heaven,” or ….? The answer will be required in a 2000 word essay due by Friday.

Compelling argument Mr Moreland. 👍🏽

What is infinity?

What physics calls consciousness; spirituality calls soul

How do we know that this word salad is true

So when doctors, nurses uses the paddles in a guy that had a stroke and died, then 2, 3 minutes later he cames back to life that means that "the soul" that was going to the ether senses that the body is alive now then has back ? There some holes in this concepts about soul, spirit to me. I want to believe in this idea, but the arguments are fragile.

J.P. Moreland sounds like a native witch doctor belonging to a remote tribe who'd never come into contact with modern humans before.

Interesting but he severely underestimates the intelligence of frogs and other animals.

Once religions and magic unicorns come into the argument, out flies the credibility.

Everyone has the right to his interpretation of a soul, spirit, ghost, that makes it interesting, if we observe the many added ideas to a word that could fill a book. This has a reason, it may belong to the development process of consciousness, sorting useful information for future wisdom. That's what we've been going through since humans exist.

The soul doesn't exist. When he talks about feelings and sensations, they are in the mind, it's the mind interpreting signals from our body and which is essentially something we've evolved to have. Feelings are chemical reactions within the body that get interpreted in the mind and again, we give those feelings different names because it helps us distinguish between them when describing them to others and in some cases, to ourselves. This again all happens in the mind. The soul is nothing more than some religious belief that once again, can't be proven to exist. Religion likes to use such things because it requires you to believe in them, without proof. Because some people are willing to do that then they are able to use it as another way to support their belief in a god!

I agree, the soul is immortal and will continue past the death of the physical body. However, we can never fully understand the soul because we are just one "faculty" (I'll use the same term they used) or one aspect of the soul. A part of the system can not understand the system as a whole- it lacks the perspective and necessary data to do so. So, we are a part of this system of a soul that we can not fully understand. No wonder there is confusion.... My favorite is when people think the brain "generates" conscioussness or creates conscioussness.... Consciousness is not an equation, ha, ha.

Soul as furniture. The expression "substantial soul" is suspicious when used to describe the part of us that does not have substance or need material support. To invoke the "possibility of truth" to validate any story is the hallmark of a true charlatan.

Had to watch twice, excellent. Thanks again.

Something being possible is not proof of any kind leading to existing. It’s just the beginning of a possibility with much more evidence needed to call it real or truth.

The Hebrew word "nephesh," which is often translated as "soul," can refer to both humans and animals alike, it can refer to a person, it can be kidnapped, it can refer to a pronoun, it can refer to a life or an individual, it can eat, it can live, it can die, would not function without the blood, can refer to a dead body, could be touched, has feelings and desires, is related to breathing, and can be associated with the throat or neck. Despite our opinions, a comprehensive examination of the Old Testament's usage of "nephesh" indicates a primarily physical nature. J.P. Moreland is overcomplicating this topic. I believe the biblical understanding of "soul" is as simple as Genesis 2:7 lays it out - we are living beings. A soul isn't a ghost in the machine, but a physical, organic, creature.

Yes there is no other explanation that makes sense. Listen to the Chief Rabbi on this, Rabbi Mirvis. We are here in the physical world on an away day return, from an eternal spiritual world,.

Does “Infinity” and “Unlimited” exist!? That is the Quintessential conundrum? Whichever conclusion you come to, does not change reality!? Just change the two Primates into “Soul” and “God”!? Then ask the same question? And whichever gives you the best resting place when bedtime calls each day, answers the Now “Personal” conundrum!? If you choose to replace the Quintessentials with other Primates then by default You agree with the original question - And they Do “Infinity and Unlimited” exist!? Your next question Now Please?

There is only one soul and we are it.

There are times when I think: What a waste of intellect - or at least, it would be.

"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clearheaded science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about the atoms this much: There is no matter as such! All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. . . . We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.” Max Planck, The New Science

Material atom during evolution happens to be conscious and that conscious atom's nucleus is called is SOUL.

You could perform nonsensical mental gymnastics to explain the soul or you could just say it doesn't exist.

When these interviewees start pointing at the tables and chairs to explain things... - my favourite type of soul is an “R” soul :)

"And they ask you (O Muhammad{pbuh}) concerning the Ruh (the Spirit).Say: "The Ruh (the Spirit): it is one of the things,the knowledge of which is only with my Lord.And of knowledge,you (mankind) have been given only a little." Holy Quran 17:85

Mr Kuhn does a great job asking the right questions. All of Mr. Moreland arguments rests in the believe that there is a God. So far there is no prove of such God. As a matter of fact, as his creatures we are very, very imperfect!

What's a soul?

Surely JP needs to establish the soul exists before going any further?

Immortality is the most desirable thing of all! Immortality does not exist for souls but for human beings. But,...it presupposes something that many people don't know: it presupposes a glorious body! What is that? It is a body so perfect that it generates infinite happiness. In other words, whatever its owner does, his happiness never changes and is always at its highest! As the "production" of a glorious body requires a modus operandi and information that science can never achieve, only God can give us immortality!

Well it’s a nice theory but there’s nothing to back it up.. so it’s just a nice theory..

Ezekiel 18:4 Ecclesiastes 9:5,6

The Soul appears to be Temporary'"Attachment" that will fade In Time and merge with the Spirit which is essentially Eternal but for Reasons beyond the Scope of this Topic. You cannot Conflate these things and get anywhere! Be Well. Be Smart Safe Folks

I think in substance dualism how immaterial soul interact with material this is main reason behind dont believe in soul , i think soul is more related god substance so this depend on us how can we use this substance in our life this is important, soul is not always charge this depend on us who will take charge .God substance is just guide to us not control to our body.

Moreland : "The soul is an immaterial substance that contains consciousness and animates and makes living the body". If instead he had said... "The soul is an immaterial _existent_ that contains consciousness and animates and makes living the body" then his statement would be far less problematic. Why? Because there are plenty of immaterial existents but there are no immaterial substances and that's because "immaterial substance" is a contradiction in terms. Process is an abstract concept. Abstract concepts are immaterial existents. Being conscious, animated and living are processes of the body. Immaterial existents, being abstract concepts, means that they exist in minds only. Minds of course are made entirely of thoughts thereby rendering Moreland's soul to be nought but a thought. If one believe that thoughts live on after death then how is it that most of one's thoughts one is able to forget? One could reasonably assert that a permanently forgotten thought is non existent. It's not soul type thoughts that keep us living for those of us who have learned about such processes as photosynthesis, Krebs cycle and Brownian motion, not to mention hearts beating, bodies breathing and neurons discharging. An electric chair is not a soul sucking device. It is a neuron and muscle fiber paralytic. Moreland is employed because some memes have unbelievably massive cultural inertia. Gods, angels, souls, ghosts, the afterlife, etc. are all memes manifest as side effects of the millennia long process that three thousand years ago turned unconscious bicameral folk into conscious people.

Where did he get this “information”? And he’s delivering it with a straight face!

Yes, yes it is.

Yes.

Ezekiel 18:20 20The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. Not even the Bible support an Immortal soul.

Are humans designed to understand this?

his "apriori whole precedes the parts" argument sounds like the "intelligent design " of the paramicium flagella argument... and is ignorant of the principles of appearance of complexity via evolution by natural selection

If there is soul I would go away from my body just now. It is dilapidated. But I have none. Maybe I mix free will and soul. Which both not exist.

And I believe that the soul is the air inside a potato chip's bag... who cares what others believe... please...

The point is between operation and reaction emerging from this great talk. Now operation does require an operator of certain characteristics and in absence growth of a cell is not possible. Whereas a reaction is parameters governed process like acid base reaction for example DOSEN'T requiring any OPERATOR to GROW in a assigned path isn't a question. Thanks.

The tricky thing about the soul is the combination/decombination problem as birth and generally death are processes so at which point does the soul enter the baby and at which point does it leave the person dying?

I find his argument strong and mush at the same time. I think Descartes had a similar argument for mind-body duality and it apparently uses Leibniz principle of indiscernibles and a form of identitification which Saul Kripke makes clear has 6 possible real outcomes, either of which make the argument fallacious

As every entity in this universe is basically and widely - acceptable a series of information, then the soul is immortal as any information. UNLESS as physics says, drawn into a black hole.