@Tacky

Is there a difference in assuming something exists,assuming it might and being unable to believe on the basis of no evidence?

Do I assume the existence of the soul is possible? Of course,I'm a skeptic. Plausible? Not to me. Likely? I don't believe so..

As a skeptic and atheist ,I'm acutely aware I'm in the minority. In my position I believe only a fool would engage in personal certitude based on lack of evidence.Hence I call myself an agnostic atheist.

Its is also my belief that if there is a god,he won't be the cranky bastard worshiped by the lunatic fringe. I will be accepted as I am.

My soul exists in another realm, free of the limitations of our three dimensions and time, able to see the world from any vantage point, able to be spoken to after my death, able to communicate my feelings and spiritual warmth to anyone who needs comfort. My soul is the liberated essence of my being, separate and distinct from my earthly body. My soul is a free and flighty bird, existing before and after my life and beyond into eternity. There is no such thing as death. We are all free souls. In my imagination.

This is the only soul I believe is eternal:

(September 12, 2010 at 8:05 pm)Existentialist Wrote: My soul exists in another realm, free of the limitations of our three dimensions and time, able to see the world from any vantage point, able to be spoken to after my death, able to communicate my feelings and spiritual warmth to anyone who needs comfort. My soul is the liberated essence of my being, separate and distinct from my earthly body. My soul is a free and flighty bird, existing before and after my life and beyond into eternity. There is no such thing as death. We are all free souls. In my imagination.

I highlighted the key word for you

@padriac - I believe there is something different from the three. I wasn't attempting to put you or anyone on the spot for their atheism. I recognize I asked a question about a soul on an atheist forum. I also wasn't trying to convey something absolute as "Well I know I have a soul and it's not eternal". It was actually more of a poll on whether or not people here would endeavor to see the possibility enough to imagine it's attributes. If someone tells me to imagine santa and asks me to describe his suit I could do it, whether I believed in it or not. I also wanted to poll the theists (who believe in a soul) on here and see what their basis for their beliefs about the attributes of a soul was.

I disregarded all of the other posts (read them and laughed at the jokes, but didn't consider anyone else's words when considering the question) and gave it an honest try. I asked myself; If I believed that 'souls' exist, would I think that they would exist eternally or not?

It turns out that, after really giving it some thought, I cannot answer the question, because the question asks me to suspend disbelief in a lot more than just the existence of souls in order to give it true consideration. I was forced to choose option 3.

This question is a bit like asking, "If I could shoot laser out of my eyes, how many inches of steel could the lasers punch through?" I chose "no" because, when I believed in souls (astral substance), I also believed in a spirit which was the origination of being and only used the soul as an energy body to interact with the material body. I believed that after death if you were saved by Jesus your soul would be preserved within Abram's bosom and move into a permanent, perfect body at the end times. If you were not saved by Jesus the soul would decay and the spirit would get another go 'round to figure out that Jesus was Lord. That was also when I thought the creator of the universe would guide me to touch people and heal their sadness and minor ailments, so, maybe my epistemic structure was a bit shakey.

Dude, your epistemic shakeyness was about an 11 on the Richter scale.

@paul, fair enough.. I appreciate the try
@ Rhizo.. thanks for your input. That was the essence of my question what is the foundation of belief of those who believe (or can imagine) in a soul and is it biblical.

I beleive we have a soul, as all things with awarness do!

No, I don't believe the soul is eternal!

Without a body and a brain we have no means by which to sustain the soul!

It would be nice to live forever, and the thought of Death is significant, but eternal life is the easy way!