The “Soul” of God

Q: Does God have a soul?

A: The way Scripture talks about God and the way it mentions souls, it’s hard to say. If yes, then I’d say that He doesn’t really have one, rather that He is one, in its purest form. However, I think it more likely that as the Eternal God, He is without one, yet in the Person of Jesus, as true man as well as God He has (and is) a living soul. This is confessed in the Athanasian Creed [21k PDF].

Confused? Me too. But I guess God decided that this wasn’t essential information, or knew that we wouldn’t understand, even if He gave us all the facts.

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Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book What Do Lutherans Believe.