Thus, flattering to man’s self-love, useful as an engine of power, affording an easy explanation of mysteries in life and death, this belief in a soul really rising in “the mists and shadows of sleep,” has come down to us as god-revealed from on high.—C. T. Bingham, in “Progress,” London, England.
“When a Man Dies what Becomes of his Soul?”
A friend of mine meeting me in the streets of Chicago one day, without much ceremony propounded the above question; “Say, Brother Bell,” he began, “I would like to have you tell me what becomes of a man’s soul when he dies?” In reply I said, “Do you see that man walking on the other side of the street?” “Yes,” he said, “that is old Johnson.” I then called his attention to the peculiar movement of the old gentleman. “See what a peculiar gait he has.” He assented that our friend’s gait was peculiar. As we were contemplating him, he stopped to look in a store window. When he halted I turned to my questioner and asked, “Where has Mr. Johnson’s gait gone since he stopped walking?” He very candidly acknowledged that a man’s gait was not a thing, not an entity, but a mode of motion, and that when the body ceased to move, there was no gait. I asked him if thinking (the soul) was not a motion or activity of the brain, and that when it ceased to act, if there was any soul or thinking left. I have a very distinct remembrance that he talked a long time and said nothing.
Some Soul Questions.
1. Where does the soul come from?
2. Is the soul an entity or nonentity?
3. Of what is the soul composed?
4. When does the soul enter the body, before or after birth?
5. In what part of the body is the soul located?
6. If the soul is located in all parts of the body what becomes of that part of the soul contained in an amputated part of a living body?