Welcome to part 10 of our weekly series on the soul. This week we have two videos, both from the Thomistic Institute and their Aquinas 101 series, Powers of the Soul: A First Look and A Closer Look. The human soul shares much in common with other souls, but there are also some things that set us apart.

There are many videos in that series that I think you’ll enjoy. I’ll probably include some more in this series or another one later. Right now I’m halfway through reading a book about the soul from which I plan to begin sharing text next week. Links and notes are at the end of this post.

Video: Powers of the Soul – 1st Look

Video: Powers of the Soul – A Closer Look

I’m keeping this post brief. There is more than enough in those two short videos to give us plenty to think about. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go back to earlier parts of the series to review what Dom Wiesinger had to say about the soul and its relation to the body and spiritual concerns. The chapters on the Body-Soul, the Spirit-Soul, the Partly Body-Free Soul, and the Body-Free Soul (we covered the Body-Free Soul in parts four and five) would be worth re-reading here, if you have a copy of the text. You can get a copy Dom Wiesinger’s book here: Occult Phenomena in the Light of Theology. I’ll include a note at the end about these terms.

Thanks for following the series. I hope you’re enjoying your visit. Until next time, whoever and wherever you are, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may the peace of Christ be always with you.

Links and Notes

• Video: Powers of the Soul – 1st Look
• Video: Powers of the Soul – A Closer Look
• Book for next week: The Human Soul and Its Relations with Other Spirits, by Dom Anscar Vonier, OSB, “the most gifted dogmatic theologian writing—and preaching—in England during the inter-War years.” (From a column by Fr. Aidan Nichols, O.P., for Ignatius Insight, August 2007.)
• Image: The Good Shepherd, by William Dyce. (Jesus, the Shepherd of Souls)

Based on the Glossary in Wiesinger

• Body-Soul: The soul in so far as it works through the body.
• Spirit-Soul: The soul in so far as it reaches beyond the body.
• Body-Free Soul: The soul after death, when it is no longer distracted by the things of the body and can focus on things of the spirit.
• Partly Body-Free Soul: The soul when temporarily and not completely freed of the things of the body and can more or less focus on the things of the spirit, as during times of sleep or unconsciousness or during deep states of prayer. 

Series Navigation
Annotated Table of Contents for the Weekly Series On the Soul.
Annotated Table of Contents for all series.