The human spirit

The power of life comes from the organic form of matter, known as the "soul" (anima, psyche) in the Aristotelian tradition.

The soul is the form of the body.

There are two kinds of living souls: plant and animal.

The human soul has God-given spiritual powers that distinguish us from all other living beings: intelligence and free will.

God is pure, uncreated spirit.

The angels are pure, created, spirits.

We are incarnate (enfleshed) spirits--"geist im welt" (Rahner).

The human spirit is not a byproduct of material complexity but is a direct, personal gift from God at the moment of our conception.

Our spirit is our deepest, truest identity.

Our spirit empowers us to receive God Himself. No other living beings on earth have this power; whether there are other incarnate spirits (extraterrestrials) in the universe remains to be seen.

The human spirit

Hebrew

Hayah is the verb "to be."

Wikipedia, "Soul--Judaism"

The Hebrew terms נפש nephesh, רוח ruach (literally "wind"), נשמה neshama (literally "breath"), חיה chaya (literally "life") and יחידה yechidah (literally "singularity") are used to describe the soul or spirit. The soul is believed to be given by God to a person by his/her first breath, as mentioned in Genesis, "And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen 2:7, NAB).

My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior

The Magnificat (Lk 1:46-47) uses both "psyche" and "pneuma" in the same sentence:

Μεγαλύνει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν κύριον,
καὶ ἠγαλλίασεν τὸ πνεῦμα μου ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρι μου

"My psyche" and "my spirit" are different aspects of the same human being who is thanking and praising God with her whole heart for His goodness to her.

Hebrew	Greek	Latin	English
	ψυχή psyche	anima, mens	psyche, soul, mind, heart
ruah	πνεῦμα pneuma πνεύματος pneumatos	spiritus	breath, spirit
	cardios?	cor	heart
	μορφή	forma	form
	ὕλη	materia	matter
nephesh			the whole human being: body and soul

A body without breath is dead

James 2:26

The body without pneumatos is dead.

τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν

The spirit is willing ...

Mt 26:41

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόθυμον ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής.

This is from Jesus' Agony in the Garden; it is a word of compassion about the inability of His disciples to stay awake and pray with him.

The contrast between "spirit" and "flesh" appears in Paul as well.

Galatians 5-6

Romans 6-8

= The Sacred Heart of Jesus

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light" org/bible/matthew/11:28 (Mt 11:28).

The soul is the form of the body

The developed Catholic doctrine of "soul" depends on Aristotelian insights into form and matter (hylomorphism). Following Aristotle Aquinas, Catholics think of the soul as the form of the body.

From this perspective, plants and animals have souls, because they are an organic form of matter. The human soul is elevated above all other kinds of animal souls because it is given the power of intellect and free will at the moment of conception. Aristotle recognized that these spiritual powers make us immortal; they are simple and cannot decompose when we die, even though at death the soul ceases to form (in-form!) the body.