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Originally Posted by chandersanja
How can we define soul in scientific terms?
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First we would define it and possible variations in application. The etymology would be crucial. The original applications had to do with binding. Superstitious people believed that binding the wrists and hands of the deceased would prevent harm from the dead. That's very primitive and difficult to source.
The word itself has to do with water for the same reason. People believed the soul was, upon leaving the body at death, confined in the nearest body of water, like a sea or lake.
Plato, quoting Socrates said of the soul (Greek ψυχή psykhe) "that death is the separation of the soul from the body" - [Phaedo (64C, 105E]
The Bible writers didn't believe that. To them, the soul was the life of any breathing creature. Human or animal. The soul is mortal, destructible. (Ezekiel 8:4; Matthew 28:10)
In the summer of 332 BCE Alexander the Great was conquering the world and was welcomed into the Temple of Jerusalem and shown the Biblical prophecies of his conquest. (See Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem, the 1736 painting by Sebastiano Conca). His influence was tremendous, even in Israel. The Jews adopted many of the teachings of Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates. Later, in 325 CE the Christians would do the same under the influence of Constantine the Great.
So, the tradition of the immortal soul comes from Greek philosophy rather than the Bible. In a literal sense it is the life. The blood. Life and blood we can attest to scientifically speaking, but the supernatural concept of the soul from Greek philosophy can't be tested by science.