Mind, Reason, Spirit, And Soul.
I love reading old spiritual books and especially one by Andres Jackson Davis, one of the remarkable gifted seers in the past. Below is an interesting question answered by AJD.
Question : " The following six words are frequently used in both speech and writing, but they are often confounded—viz : Mind, Reason, Spirit, Soul, Conscience, Judgment. Please give your spiritual definition of these six words."
Answer: Careful and conscientious thinkers employ terms with fixed and definite meanings. For example, a correct thinker will never use the word " infinite," unless he intends to speak of that which is absolutely beyond all human comprehension ; nor the term " eternal," unless he really designs to convey an impression of unending ages.
But the world is full of persons who do not study the best employment of language, and the consequence is manifested in the " confusion of tongues " which everywhere prevails. We would give our correspondent the following definition as the meaning we attach to the terms, both in speech and writing.
1. "Mind." This word is a general term, used to signify all the opposites of Matter. Thus « Mind and Matter " are natural counterparts, or friendly opponents in the organization of everything, from the worm in the oozy bottom of the sea to the brightest angel in the sky-homes of eternity.
2. " Reason." This is also a general term, used to signify the total harmony of all the elements and attributes of Mind. Without such balance and equilibrium of all the feeling and thinking powers, it is incorrect to apply the term ; for, in such case, the state of the mind would be more or less discordant, and consequently only partially or proximately, and not absolutely possessed of Reason. 3. " Spirit," This term is employed to signify the centermost principle of man's existence—the eternizing, divine, and mid-most energy in man's motion, life, sensation, and intelligence, or the life of the Soul of Nature in the constitution of the human mind.
3. " Spirit," This term is employed to signify the centermost principle of man's existence—the eternizing, divine, and mid-most energy in man's motion, life, sensation, and intelligence, or the life of the Soul of Nature in the constitution of the human mind.
4. " Soul." This term is used to express that fine, impalpable, almost immaterial body, which clothes the spirit from the moment of death to all eternity. In this life the " soul " is composed of all the magnetisms, electricities, forces, and vital principles, which, in more general terms, are called motion, life, and sensation, including instinct.
5. " Conscience." This word, when correctly used, signifies the internal knowledge of what constitutes right and wrong —the intuitive power by which the spirit informs the judgment what is, and what is not, just and righteous for the individual to do under all circumstances. But it should be observed that conscience is subject to education, and, until Reason prevails over folly, the individual is as liable to make mistakes as a child is to stumble while learning to walk.
6. "Judgment." This term is used to signify the occupation and decision of the intellectual faculties. The word " understanding " has a similar application and significance. It is common for people to use the terms reason, mind, judgment, intellect, spirit, soul, understanding, &c., synonymously, as though they mean one and the same thing ; but by reflection you will perceive that you cannot properly employ these words without meanings similar to, if not identical with, the definitions above briefly given.
