The Soul of the Nation

The current talking points from the series of convention days (August 17-20, 2020) promoting the Democratic ‘platform’ includes the notion they must ‘restore the soul of the nation’.

 Since the Democratic National Convention is a secular organization lets first look at the secular definition of ‘soul’

 From dictionary.com

 

The principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.

 The spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come:arguing the immortality of the soul.

 The disembodied spirit of a deceased person:He feared the soul of the deceased would haunt him.

 The emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.

a human being; person.

 

Did you see America or Nation in the definition?

 Merriam/Webster online Definition of soul

 1: the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life

2a: the spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings, or the universe

bcapitalized, Christian Science : GOD sense 1b

3: a person's total self

4a: an active or essential part

b: a moving spirit : LEADER

5a: the moral and emotional nature of human beings

b: the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment

c: spiritual or moral force : FERVOR

6: PERSONnot a soul in sight

7: PERSONIFICATIONshe is the soul of integrity

8a: a strong positive feeling (as of intense sensitivity and emotional fervor) conveyed especially by African American performers

b: cultural consciousness and pride among people of African heritage

Did you see America or Nation in the definition?

 Why do you think the emphasis would be put to restore the Soul of a nation of people? And how would you restore that soul? How does government, in particular the American government, either create a soul or have a soul to restore?

 America, the nation known as the United States of America, was initially a body of ideas brought together, discussed, debated, worked out and finally compiled, voted on, published and enacted. Thereafter, the body of the ideas was called a ‘nation’, in particular, the United States of America, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. It is still only an entity with no breath, with no independent thought, with no independent belief/faith/religion/life nor capacity to create or maintain a ‘soul’. It is a concept outlined on paper and for the most part, a compilation of laws, based primarily on the laws carved in stone Jews and Christians recognize as the Ten Commandments. Thus, this entity was based on Judeo-Christian principles. Also included in the founding paperwork was specific set of responsibilities for the 3 individual branches [notice not collective branches] who each operate within the set of responsibilities of the respective branch. If you wish to make them a collection you can say altogether, they comprise the American Government. It exists as a form of government identified as a federalist-based Republic with the motto ‘E Pluribus Unum’ meaning from ‘out of many, one’. [This motto was replaced in 1956, when then President Eisenhower signing a bill that changed the motto to ‘In God We Trust’.] America is still not a living breathing being.

 So, one must ask, how does one restore a soul to an inanimate thing like a form of government? It may logically be tendered the restoration of the soul of America is merely a turn of phrase, but words matter. When you borrow an idea that is intrinsically related to humans – other animated beings – some defining part of which speaks to a level of morality thence based primarily in/on GOD -- could or does it fit with being something a nation/America can possibly possess to restore? Now, if you wanted to say you wished to restore the individual souls of the people of the nation and then showed how you would proceed that would be a pretty incredible feat. Why? Because then you infer there has been a loss of souls within the individual citizens, a judgment none are allowed to make of another. So, if the Nation/America derives its power from the governed by inference you believe you can ‘restore’ the souls of the governed, then again, that is a judgment that does not fit well with most people because we each have and are responsible for our own soul. And can you really restore someone else’s soul? There is Biblical precedence restoration of  your own soul by the Lord. [See Psalm 23:3a] Doctors, EMS, sometimes the Holy Spirit can revive/restore the soul of a person who has expired and brought back to life. If a person feels impaired in their faith they can seek out their religious leaders for prayer over them for a healing. Individual intercession is an uninvited way you may be able to help restore the soul of someone for whom you are concerned . Again, to say their soul needs restoration is a judgment on and over that person. Your judgment may be lacking details in the person’s life. Back to the nation’s so-called soul.

Which of the candidates or political figures calling for restoration of the soul of the nation do you believe has the ‘moral’ principles you would accept as a healing source? The Christian’s responsibilities include such controversial stands as being pro-life, abortion not an option for birth control. Are pro-life, no abortion stands allowed in their party leadership? Is the act of taking the life of a defenseless human in the womb or even out of the womb if the parent so desires restoring the soul?

 Which among them have the authority from the ONE who actually made the soul to restore it? The school down the street is a building. Does the school have a soul? The WH and Capital Building representing America as buildings. Does the WH have a soul? The Capital Building? No. They only represent the government that derives its powers from the governed. The governed, every citizen definitely has a soul. But only GOD has the power and authority to restore the soul of a nation of people if HE is so inclined. In the past HE was. The nation of Israel was in fact a nation governed by GOD, replete with all the laws and regulations needed to ensure the individual members lived within the body of laws and regulations. Israel was representative of GOD as a nation; the whole nation was condemned from time to time but within the condemnation there was always a remnant of people preserved from and through the condemnation. The buildings key to the nation [the Temple] were considered Holy by GOD and thus HIS people. The building could be defiled but never was it considered to have a soul.

 So where does the sense to ‘restore the soul of the nation’ come from? It appears from the long-held belief of certain members of our citizenry in the philosophy of ‘collectivism’. It is a philosophical assertion which has been taught in certain segments of our culture via education, entertainment, politics and even certain mass casualty procedures for decades. In education it is taught in many fields of interest to the student, certainly in philosophy and political science to name two. In entertainment, perhaps the most famous link that truly does what no other industry can do, it wrapped the love a fictional character and his demise to the love of a crew of people who we became familiar with in the early 1960’s on television then later in movies. Testament to collectivism is the now infamous saying ‘…the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’.  – Wrath of Khan. It crawled up and took residence in our minds and prepared us for the concept of collectivism. Where does the idea of collectivism come from?

 From Marxists.org/glossary/terms/i/n.htm

Individualism is the ethos which emphasises the autonomy of the individual as against the community or social group. The word was first used in a translation of de Tocqueville's Democracy in America in 1835.

 Collectivism is the ethos which emphasises the priority of the community as a whole or the group as against the individual. The word came into the language in the 1880s as a direct result of the work of the First International, originally as a synonym for common ownership of the means of production.

 Collectivism is the dominant ethos in communities where private property is not dominant, and this includes poor working class communities in modern capitalist societies; powerful social movements also tend to overshadow individualism and trade unions, national liberation and other struggles are generally characterised by a strong collectivist ethos.

 Socialism entails a collectivism which does not suppress the individualism of bourgeois society, and in contrast to the ‘crude’ collectivism of very poor working class communities, is a collectivism which transcends (or sublates) individualism.

 So, in essence, if you are okay with collectivism then you are okay with giving up whatever ‘wealth’ you have earned as an individual to some group, not a choice but the expectation, generally imposed by some authority—currently being forced through mob action and social shaming. If as an individual, you wish to give, bequeath, or donate any portion of your personal things it is called charity. You CHOOSE to do so. But what if you have 2 loaves of bread to feed your family for a period of time and that is all you have? The collectivist takes the 2 loaves, gives you some slices and the rest goes to another or group without your permission. That is collectivism. You may wish to share your 2 loaves on your own if it becomes known to you the need of others,  but again, that is charity. Charity is a commendable act of giving from the cheerful heart. If you have a large home and it is only the two of you would you be okay with the collective telling you strangers will be occupying the home with you? People who may have nothing in common and no desire to show respect or sensitivity to your personal code of ethics, personal integrity, faith, respect for the home they had nothing to do with acquiring, etc.? Of course, if you read the ideology of Socialism ‘property’ is not ‘owner’ based.

Abortion

 For all the clamoring to restoring the soul of America there is an entire group of humans who have had no chance to live in this world outside the womb! The folks who want to restore the soul of America might wish to take a clue from the growing negative response to abortion. Granted, in some groups of women the idea of abortion has been taught in school as part of family planning as early as early 1970’s but has since permeated all of the culture. Some are pro abortion with no regulations while the degree of approval also tightens by a majority to only when the mother’s life is in danger. But among Christians, those who are Bible believing, stand unitedly and  absolutely against abortion PERIOD.

 There is more but for quick review here is a reason many Christians oppose abortion.

“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.

Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” – Pro 31:8-9

 In verse 9, because of the last sentence in vs 8, Lemuel’s Mom directs his character and conscience to the need to speak up but with righteous judgment. And when no one else is doing so, to plead the cause/or case, of the poor and needy. In Strong’s H6041, the poor is defined as: “poor, afflicted, humble, wretched” and the needy [Strong’s H34] : in want, needy, chiefly poor, needy person; subject to oppression and abuse; needing help, deliverance from trouble, especially as delivered by God and general reference to lowest class.”

 Would you not agree that an unborn baby is the lowest class?

https://www.lightwritingmattersactivist.com/2020/02/your-mouth-for-speechless-in-cause-of_21.html

 How is denying the life of a conceived child restorative?

 Do you know what other countries do with regard to family planning? Collectivism in China has denied the multiple births of children in their country. For 4 decades one child policy was enforced in China. It recently changes to limit of 2. Don’t think with the population control folks looking forward to net zero population control the collective prone form of government won’t impose their own child policy on families. That is where socialism and communism [collectivism] takes a country.

Let’s look at the soul discussion from the perspective on ‘individual choice’ which the current American Constitution promotes based on the Judeo-Christian principles of its founding.

 

The Biblical Definition of Soul in Hebrew

Hebrew from Strong’s number H5315

 

I.                  Soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion

A.   That which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man

B.    Living being

C.    Living being (with life in the blood)

D.   The man himself, self, person or individual

E.    Seat of the appetites

F.    Seat of emotions and passions

G.   Activity of mind

i.                   dubious

H.  Activity of the will

i.                   dubious

I..Activity of the character

i.                   dubious

 

 נֶפֶשׁ nephesh, neh'-fesh; from H5314; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental):—any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, × dead(-ly), desire, × (dis-) contented, × fish, ghost, greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, × jeopardy of) life (× in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, slay, soul, tablet, they, thing, (× she) will, × would have it.

 “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”—Eze 18:20

 Definition in Greek via Strong’s number G5590

 breath

the breath of life

the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing

of animals

of men

life

 that in which there is life

a living being, a living soul

the soul

the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)

 the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life

 the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)

 ψυχή psychḗ, psoo-khay'; from G5594; breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from G4151, which is the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from G2222, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew H5315, H7307 and H2416):—heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

 

*NOTE: We are grateful for references from Strong’s Lexicon found at blueletterbible.com

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”—Heb 4:12

 From the whole Gospel message what is the Christian? Individual or Collective? Here is where the logic of the Bible answers the question ‘can you restore the ‘soul’ of the ‘nation’. Jesus gave HIS life for the sins of all people. He resurrected and ascended to heaven where HE presented HIS sacrifice ONCE for all time, a concept called propitiation. So, while HIS blood was shed for all how is the benefit of that shed blood realized?

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” – John 3:18

 Notice SALVATION or “Soteriology” is not a ‘collective’ event. While GOD gave HIS SON, salvation comes from the individual [whosoever] believing in Jesus. You can sit in a church anywhere in the world – they may a wonderful church but sitting there does not transfer salvation by association. YOU, the individual, must believe in Jesus and accept the free gift of salvation. YOU – in vs 18 either believe and live or do not believe and remain condemned. We are talking about individual souls not one soul for the whole of the church.

 So, we wrap back around to the question, what indeed is the idea behind ‘restoring the soul of America’? Will you have the curiosity to research – will you engage critical thinking to reason – will you take responsibility to understand that while the words ‘feel’ good, may be an answer to a ‘wish’ you had for a time when people seemed to be nicer and more tolerant. Are they? More tolerant? What about the other part of America whose hearts are not depressed, bogged down in personality issues, rushing to have their ‘feelings’ upset? Don’t they have the same right to their ‘peace’ as you do? How is that worked out? Remember, the government derives it’s power from the governed. That is done periodically through voting.

 Christians however, while they are in the world, they are not part of the world. Thus, if the vote cast ushers in a collective society as the governing authority, we obey so long as it does not go against GOD’s laws. So, in a wonderfully transcendent way we are not tethered to the vote with our ‘feelings’ or ‘wishes’ we are tethered to our LORD with our entire being. Sometimes the vote is good; sometimes it can be difficult but our happiness, our soul is in no way tied to any collective outcome of a vote. We may worship corporately in church, but we stand before GOD individually.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” – John 14:27

 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 5:1

 Can you say, ‘all is well with my soul’? Then no other can bring you more! No candidate, no political party, no collective, NOONE!

 If not, please consider the following: If you are feeling inclined or feeling led to want Jesus as your Savior, your leader, your King, your source of Peace and Joy but are feeling woefully inadequate, uninformed on how best to get to know HIM, or find yourself at wit’s end because you believe yourself trapped and in need of GOD, please know Jesus stands ready to welcome you with HIS Holy Spirit. Believe these words: “¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “—John 3:16

 ^“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” – Acts 3:19-20

 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [a]again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” – John 3:3-8

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DISCLAIMER: The thoughts published on this blog, in total, are the opinions, thoughts and considerations of the writer/author of every post published. It is assumed that research by the reader will lead the reader to their own conclusions. It is not the writer’s intent to make a judgment of anyone but to allow GOD’s Word to do what it does. “For the word of GOD is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from GOD’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:12 [NIV]

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