I can’t see, or touch my soul, how can I know it is there? If I can’t sense it, is it really there?
Q: How do you know that you have a soul?
A: Because the Bible tells me so.
(Matthew 10:28; Mark 8:34–38; 12:30)
If you have been following along with our studies, you might notice that the passages that are given for how we know we have souls as well as bodies are exactly the same passages given as proofs for our having souls. At first glance this may seem odd, yet upon reflection it makes perfect sense. When God speaks in the Scriptures, he actually expects us to glean all that we can from them. Several times throughout the Scriptures God tells us to pay careful attention. But those are not the only parts of Scripture that he expects us to pay attention to.
Remember, when God told Moses “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Gen 3:6) he was identifying himself to Moses. He was telling him who He is. Flash forward to the ministry of Jesus. When Jesus called the Sadducees out for failing to believe in the resurrection he pointed to this verse. Jesus expected them to glean from these words that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still lived. If God holds us accountable for knowing and believing in the resurrection based on a passing reference he made when telling Moses who he was talking to, how much more so what he explicitly states. Even if what he tells us is beyond our personal experience?
In this life we have no real awareness of our souls. Our only knowledge of our soul is that God has revealed to us in his Word that we are made body and soul. This teaching (or to use an older word, doctrine) is an excellent example of how we ought to come to the Scriptures. No matter what our personal experience, we must submit our beliefs to the Word of God. We must think deeply about what God has revealed in his word, and then even if we do not like it, we must believe it. I wouldn’t ever want to receive the rebuke that the Sadducees received from Jesus, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). Ouch!
The same is true of our traditions. So many of us come from a church background that hasn’t placed a high priority on church history, on the creeds, or the confessions, but that doesn’t mean we are without traditions. We just think we are. Jesus confronted the Pharisees over just such an issue. The tradition they received from the elders, they assumed went all the way back to Moses. The problem? It was nowhere in the Scriptures. Jesus Rebuked them saying they were “thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down” (Mark 7:14). We must avoid this rebuke from Jesus at all costs. To do so we must be willing to evaluate everything we believe based on the Word of God.
How do I know that I have a soul? Not because Grandma, or the pastor, or the Sunday School teacher told me. Ultimately, as useful as this catechism is, not because the catechism says so. I know that I have a soul because the Bible tells me so. We ought to be a people who can say that about much more than simply the reality of our souls.
Yours in Christ,