Biblical Definition of Life

[sastark]

What is the biblical definition of life? How do we, biblically, determine if a creature is living?

(Yes, this question has been asked on PB before, but it was not answered. See: http://www.puritanboard.com/f15/biblical-definition-life-25563/)

 

[Leslie]

Is this in reference to humans only or humans and animals or anything living, such as plants, animals, and microbes? Are you asking about living vs. dead or living at all (such as are viruses living organisms or complex chemicals)?

 

[Pergamum]

Whatever has breath seems to be one definition. Respiration I guess then is one indication of life?

 

[TimV]

Respiration in science doesn't mean breathing, it has to do with cellular metabolism. I was going to answer in that way, but then you get what Mary is hinting at, that some "things" like viruses don't really fit into easy definitions. Even Biblically. Were they created with plants or animals? Are they alive? Probably.

I don't really see that you're going to get closer than anything very general. Christ spoke of a seed living, so plants are in, (thus "life is in the blood" verses would be too narrow as is breathing) and obviously animals, but as to anything more specific if there was an easy definition it would have been made by now and widely accepted.

Great question, though.

 

[Leslie]

In the scriptures "alive" is used in the sense of "being responsive to". There are phrases such as alive to God or dead to sin. However, I took your OP initially to be a biological question particularly since you chose this forum.

 

[KMK]

I did a word study on this a couple of years ago and noticed that overwhelmingly the OT defines 'human' life as 'breathing'. Furthermore, there was nothing in the NT that changed, clarified or spiritualized that definition.

I concluded, therefore, that the resurrection shall be life very much like we know it now. We will breath and therefere there will be air and most likely gravity. I just can't buy into the 'spiritual vision' model of eternity where everyone floats around on clouds.

 

[staythecourse]

I'm going to be a jerk and say: It's life when God puts a spirit of life in it and it is dead when it is removed.

 

[staythecourse]

Regarding the respiration issue: It came up in ethcs class and the prof said if a person cannot breathe you can "pull the plug." Thank God I instantly raised my hand and said, "What about people in an iron lung?"

"You know I haven't thought about an iron lung in a long time. Is anybody on them anymore?"

And the reason I had remembered it was because a Christian woman was still on one to that day!

Therefore, the definition is still elusive to me beyond what I've concluded above.