What’s the Difference Between Soul and Spirit in Antiquity?

Описание: In this episode, we explore one of the most confusing questions in ancient religious and philosophical thought: what’s the difference between the soul and the spirit? We dive into Greek terms like pneuma (πνεῦμα) and psyche (ψυχή), and how early Christians—especially Paul—used them in conversation with Stoicism and Platonism. We look at how ancient thinkers imagined the soul as the essential “you,” often identified with mind or heart, and how spirit was understood as a divine, ethereal substance—God’s very breath, capable of animating, transforming, and even replacing the body. What did resurrection mean in this worldview? How did the ancients imagine post-mortem transformation? Tune in as we break down what ancient authors really meant when they used these words—and how it shaped early Christian theology.

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Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Gabelli Senior Scholar at the University of Miami, specializing in early Christianity and Greco-Roman literary culture. She is the author of The Origins of Early Christian Literature (Cambridge, 2021) and a frequent contributor to both academic and public-facing publications.