"Soul" is a relatively new idea. It did not exist in Biblical times... which kinda makes nonsense of an awful lot of "Christian" posturing.

"Soul" is a relatively new idea. It did not exist in Biblical times... which kinda makes nonsense of an awful lot of "Christian" posturing.

Nonsense? In what way? Before answering, please read this

Paywalled.

Is There an Expectation of Eternal Life in the Old Testament?

The New Testament reflects much more specific revelation from God of the afterlife. Yet there are some strong Old Testament indicators, though not nearly as many.

Job had the assurance that although he was going to be eaten by worms, he would receive a new body and in that body would actually see God face to face, obviously conscious. In     he says that “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Then there’s   : “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You, who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.”

Here’s Dan 12:1-3, which is quite clear: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book— will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”

In his book   Hard Sayings of the Bible , Walter Kaiser writes that “ Psalm 49   presents a stark contrast between the end of the lives of the wicked and the end of the lives of the righteous. The wicked are like ‘the beasts that perish’ ( Ps 49:12 , 20) without any hope that they ‘should live on forever’ ( Ps 49:9 ). However, the righteous have the triumphant expectation that ‘God will redeem [them] from the grave [Hebrew,   Sheol ]; he will surely take [them] to himself’ ( Ps 49:15 ). The idea is the same as that of   : God will snatch, take or receive us to himself when we die. If the psalmist had in mind the fact that he would be rescued from death for a few years, though he knows he still must eventually die like the beasts, then the psalm has very little, or no, point.     makes a similar contrast between the wicked and the righteous. Once again there is faith that reaches beyond this life, and it centers on this verb to take (Hebrew,   laqah ). Says the psalmist, ‘You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory’ ( Ps 73:24 ).”

Kaiser also writes that “Accordingly, it can be argued on very strong linguistic and conceptual grounds that the ‘taking’ of a person from this earth implies that mortals are capable of inhabiting immortal realms. For the believer in Yahweh in Old Testament times, death did not end it all. There was life after death, and that life was to be in the presence of the living God. While Enoch did not experience ‘ resurrection ,’ he did experience glorification. He did, along with Elijah, transcend this mortal life and go in his body to be with God. Since Enoch had not died, he could not be resurrected.”

Many have argued that immortality is a New Testament idea despite the fact that passages such as the   Psalms   and     clearly refer to life after death and a bodily resurrection. In the 73rd Psalm a man named Asaph described how he almost lost his faith in God when he considered how evil people prospered and the godly suffered. But then he said he went into the sanctuary of God. From the perspective of worship, he suddenly saw evil men standing on the slippery ground of their mortality. With new insight he confessed, “You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” ().

Other Psalms don’t explicitly deny existence after death and in some places seem to affirm continued existence after death, such as: Ps.16:10 “... will not abandon me to the grave... will... fill me with... eternal pleasures at your right hand.”;     “surely you have granted him eternal blessings.”;     “but God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.”

Various other Old Testament passages also seem to suggest existence after death. David comforted himself with the knowledge that he would see his dead child once again, and Samuel appeared to Saul through the witch of Endor ().

Even the careful attention that the Hebrews paid to the remains of their dead suggest some notion of an afterlife (e.g., burial, burial rites, disinterment and re-burial, defense of dead bodies from predators, rescue of dead bodies being dishonored by enemies, and so on). This is typically used by anthropologists as evidence for such a belief, at any rate.

Finally, consider   , which is a major Old Testament chapter on conscious life after death: “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. Thou also dost open Thine eyes on him, And bring him into judgment with Thyself. Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with Thee, And his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass. Turn Thy gaze from him that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.”

“For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground, And its stump dies in the dry soil, At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant. But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he? As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up, So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens be no more, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. Oh that Thou wouldst hide me in Sheol, That Thou wouldst conceal me until Thy wrath returns to Thee, That Thou wouldst set a limit for me and remember me!  If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait, Until my change comes. Thou wilt call, and I will answer Thee” ().

Interesting. Could you post a link? It's always good to know the source of any information.

I don't pretend to be an expert on the Bible, either OT or NT. On the other hand, I do have some sources which seem to me to be worthy of confidence. They pretty much agree that many of the subjects that are so important to modern "Christians" just weren't on the table two or three thousand years ago.

This text uses the verb "seem" quite a lot. Something like "like after death" cannot be a minor topic for a religion. It's a topic that would necessarily be treated in detail. There would be solid affirmations, not hints.

As I said... interesting.

Interesting. Could you post a link? It's always good to know the source of any information.

Is There an Expectation of Eternal Life in the Old Testament? - Topical Studies (biblestudytools.com)

I don't pretend to be an expert on the Bible, either OT or NT. On the other hand, I do have some sources which seem to me to be worthy of confidence.

Would you share them? 

They pretty much agree that many of the subjects that are so important to modern "Christians" just weren't on the table two or three thousand years ago.

Some examples would be?

This text uses the verb "seem" quite a lot. Something like "like after death" cannot be a minor topic for a religion. It's a topic that would necessarily be treated in detail. There would be solid affirmations, not hints.

Not necessarily. Not if the afterlife was so taken for granted that going into detail about it would be going into detail about how walking off a high cliff will kill you. Even in the paleolithic era, bodies were buried with tools and other status symbols, apparently because they thought it would help the deceased in the afterlife in some way. There is plenty of evidence throughout time that all, or nearly all civilizations held some sort of belief in an afterlife. Why go into detail about what was already understood? For instance, why would King Saul seek out the Witch of Endor to raise the spirit of Samuel if he did not first assume that Samuel still existed in some way? It appears to be a part of his worldview already. 

Would you share them?

I subscribe to two Patheos channels, " Progressive Christian " and " Best of Patheos " Vox and The New York Times occasionally have religion / ethics articles, and they're almost always worthwhile.

I subscribe to quite a few other sources which have interesting stuff once in a while. Eclecticism and variety!

Christian theology was not born into existence complete. 

Human beings will inevitably experience self-consciousness, It is not inevitable for robots.

I did a deep search and could not find one ... must explain the dust farts and rust.

Why are all the comments in bold print?

major malfunction

It's called the Outis Glitch.

The comments should be interesting since they will be coming from mostly Christians but I will throughout speak on what most Indians believe when it comes to having a soul. All tribes believe that we have two souls since all other things on earth have a soul. Some tribes believe that we have as many as five souls. 

The Anishinaabe also known as Ojibwe, Chippewa, and Saultex believe that we are comprised of a physical body and two distinct souls. One is the seat of intelligence and experience (jiibay) which leaves the body during sleep and the other is in the heart (ojichaag) where it stays until the body dies and it is freed. We believe that dreams have come from the soul, not the mind. The life cycle and old age are considered paths to a world of profound relationality. It is much more complicated than my short explanation but it will give you an idea of how different the Christians and indigenous people are.

The practitioners of our belief are the Mide who are members of the ancient Midewiwin society also known as the ''Grand Medicine Society'' over a thousand years old it takes them 20 years to reach the highest level of mide which is someone that helps cure the body but also must cure the mind and soul since they are all related.

Looking forward to the comments on this article.

Unfortunately, Outis, I'm unable to open the seed, and in fact most of the seeds you post, so it is difficult for me to comment intelligently on most of your articles.  The only thing I can contribute here is ask you if you have ever watched the movie Bicentennial Man, which might have passing relevance here.  

I'm sorry, Buzz. Truly. If I knew a work-around, I'd give it to you.

You know the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? Well, a video........

It's okay, Outis, I'll follow as best I can cause at least I know you're posting good stuff on the site. 

It’s a mechanical arm by artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu that must continually push a leaking liquid back into its body to function.

It's body is mechanical. So no I would not be sad for it. What is. . . interesting. . . is I found it futile and strangely emotional that it seemed to 'want' to live by replacing what was trying to get away from it. Because of the way the motion of the arm and its adjoining liquid moving away like . . . blood flowing. . . I was 'moved.' 

Then, I realized that its the narrative that needs to change. It is a machine entirely, and specifically a thing. . . not human at all. . . and certainly not capable of understanding itself to be seeking to live beyond the act of sweeping up liquid that surrounds it.

It seems the artist succeeded.  

Please elaborate. 

I'd guess that your reaction is pretty close to what the artist wanted to provoke.

You actually thought about the work, something that most people, sadly, do not do.

Your perception of the work has evolved, as your reflection proceeded. That's what an artist is hoping for.

As a long-term fan ("trekkie-lite"), I saw the original airing of the episode regarding "Data" and his case for personal autonomy and I fully understand and accept the powerful bonding that goes on between humans and animals (in this case a machine ), after all the years long series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was a testament to human and machine interactions  where there were many and mighty crucibles engaged in and won. Thus, a bonding or connection between ' man ' and machine was made concrete through mutual sharing in good times, tragedies, and long periods of interacting together.

Our world has engaged in the phenomenon of family pets 'becoming' more than beasts around the house or yard. They are treated as family: 

Though this one ad is "for the dogs" the sentiment takes place for all sorts of animals that lodge themselves in the human psyche and its households. However, these relationships take place across decades  that bond humans with their animals, respectively.

And while it is possible to talk, listen, and take as a muse a thing like, "Alexa" with its certain name-and its "abilities" to cause us to emote by what it gives us back in return-it is a service-machine processor. It can be made , we say, 'smarter.' But not through its professional or private "experiences" because it can not have those.

Getting back to Data; in the episode. . . the android 's arm is removed during trial to qualify and quantify its autonomy and it is done so with the "permission" of Data. The scene is shocking to the viewer who has come to think of Data as 'family.'

The distinction between Alexa and Data being Alexa is 'static' and the Data is interactive - with people. Data amasses 'interplay' and from it remembers the experiences. 

Therefore, "Data" can be given the sum of its 'being.' It can be granted "existence" and control over its parts too. It can be made to 'feel' through synthetic methodologies, it may even manifest "intangibles" like love for one  person  over another person or group of persons. But, artificial beings can not manifest a state of "soul" or spirit, because do suggest it would be to suggest that as some humans believe in the 'Beyond' . . . machines, Alexa, and Data androids can have religion and a belief in life beyond this world. (Where soul, if it be so, would manifest itself.)

It seems to me that human society may evolve in two principal directions: toward kindness or toward power. The kindness path, I believe, leads inevitably to a recognition that all creatures are worthy of respect. If Putin and Trump have their way, our species will lose decades, but will, i think, eventually get on this path to recognition of animal rights. 

Lab-created "meat" exists already. It fascinates me. (I'm a carnivore, not a vegan... but I'm a dying breed.) Lab-grown "meat" covers all the same nutritional needs as "killed" meat, without any moral qualms. I find it fascinating that some people nevertheless oppose lab-grown "meat" on moral/ethical grounds. To me, that's just more "nothing may change!"

Well, that was quite the discussion "killer" as it touches nothing about the article and the comments made. Better luck next time. 

... and here I thought I was agreeing with you...

I don't see where to connect your 10.1 to my 10. You are worthy of respect, nevertheless! Come back.