Mark Wenz, Unity Church of Sun Lakes
This month, let’s examine the various ways major religions define the soul.
In Christianity, the soul is the immaterial essence of a person, distinct from the body but meant to be united with it in resurrection. Christianity teaches that the soul survives physical death and is immortal and that salvation concerns the soul’s eternal destiny (heaven or separation from God). Interestingly, Islamic theology correlates most closely with Christianity in its understanding of the soul. Muslims believe the soul is created by God, inhabits the body, departs at death, and awaits resurrection.
These two religions are unique in their belief that the soul and body are reunited and restored by divine action in the future. Christianity teaches that the soul survives after death but that its final state is a resurrected body at the end of time. Islam teaches that bodily resurrection occurs on the Day of Judgment when the soul is reunited with a transformed body for eternal life or judgment.
A major distinction between Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism) and Western religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) is that the Eastern religions profess that the soul is reincarnated rather than resurrected, and Western religions teach that the soul is resurrected rather than reincarnated (although Jewish beliefs vary widely on this matter).
Thus, the Western traditions hold high esteem for one’s physical self, one’s body, whereas the Eastern religions see one’s body as simply a vessel for one’s light, one’s soul–a vessel that one should cherish yet to which one should not become attached.
Unity philosophy aligns more closely with Eastern than Western traditions on this subject. In Unity theology, resurrection is symbolic rather than physical. Instead of a literal end-time event, Unity thought reframes resurrection as personal transformation, an awakening, an inner renewal in which a “rebirth” into higher consciousness occurs. Another integral component of this symbolic resurrection is an ascension or vibrational upgrade into a higher plane of awareness, which happens within a lifetime, not as a one-time event after death.
Most Unity practitioners accept reincarnation as well, believing that the soul incarnates many times to learn lessons here at the Earth School (to use author Gary Zukav’s term). Unity theology regards karma as neutral (not punitive), functioning as growth feedback, and believes souls choose their life circumstances before incarnating to facilitate spiritual development. Reincarnation is how all souls evolve, and resurrection is the awakening to Christ consciousness, a higher state that anyone can reach. Within this paradigm, Jesus is a spiritual exemplar, and his resurrection is a symbol of human potential, not a one-time miracle. Spiritual evolution eventually results in the activation of a non-physical “light body” that persists after physical deaths and rebirth, eventually becoming the soul’s permanent form after many reincarnations.
We at Unity Church of Sun Lakes unconditionally support our members’ soul growth. Join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. in the Arts & Crafts Room at Sun Lakes Country Club. All are welcome!