OK – intermediate chapter here.

Writer "autumnrose2010" raised a question in a PM about angels taking on human form being "temporarily carbon based".

Good question, one I had not thought about before.

I PM'd back, rather in jest even that this sounds a lot like a Star Trek transporter.

So, now that this has my brain. I got on the Internet and started looking up whether or not a transporter was even possible. I ran into a science type website that talked about Quantum Teleportation Theory. Well after looking at their explanation, I came to the conclusion that obviously this is theoretically possible. The main question that came up in the article though, was what constitutes our conscience and can that be "transported" just via molecular structures. The problem arises where you have to literally destroy the original to get the information in order to reassemble it some place else. So in essence you'd be "killing" the carbon based entity when transporting it and reassembling it. Of course this raises a Scriptural question, about what constitutes "life", "death" and "the soul". Now the other issue raised in the YouTube video was if you didn't destroy the original and reassembled the duplicate out of a new and different set of molecules, essentially you'd have a "molecular clone".

Cloning:

Now of course we know it's possible to clone. We've done that already. Yet that is taking life that already exists and duplicating it's genetics, not popping apart molecules we'd in essence "killed" and resembling them. God being the giver of life duplicates genetics all the time, so the whole notion of cloning and cloned entities obviously given the "breath of life", and in the case of a human, the clone (or multiple clones - such as in Star War's clone army) would also have its / their own soul(s).

Origin and Function of Souls:

Now of course there is another question as to where do souls actually come from? Are they "made by God" in the "giving of the breath of life"? Were they "eternally existent", or are they part of the conception process?

Scripturally, I don't see that there are a "set number of souls". The waxing and waning reproductive capacity of a planetary system is a fluid thing. It needs to be fluid to be "endlessly creative" as a reflection of God's infinite ability. So, I don't believe God created a certain number of souls at the beginning of time that just await bodies conceived so they can be "thrown into them". The "breath of life" is an infinite "entity" / "a manifestation of God's capacity for infinity".

I think it's safe to say that any created entity does not have an "eternally existent" soul; (meaning having no beginning and no end). That would bear characteristics of the Divine and since we know this created world is not "eternally existent"; neither would a soul be.

Now I believe there are all kinds of "souls" in the world. Plants and animals have "souls" they just don't have the same type of soul as a human. Same thing I think could also be true of NCSB angles. They would have an equivalent to a carbon based life form's "soul", but bear the capacity to be an independent entity apart from "putting on" a material existence. (Which in relation to life on Earth would be "carbon based". Hold that thought a minute, I want to come back here later in this chapter!

Are souls "made by God" in the "giving of the breath of life", or are they part of the natural conception process?

Often times "spirit" and "soul" are thought to be interchangeable; yet it appears that though they "interact" with each other; they bear distinct purposes.

From what we can glean from Scripture; "souls" appear to be separate from the breath of life, but intimately connected to its giving. God "breathed" into Adam and he "became a living soul". Yet when a life form dies; the breath of life returns to God and in the case of humans; the "soul" of the condemned is consigned to Sheol. So the "soul" appears to be the component of the natural creation that makes the individual alive, once given the "breath of life".

The "spirit" appears to be that wherewith God communicates to the portion of the life form, which is the receptacle for the receiving of communication from God.

Let's illustrate using computer terms:

1. Computers need both hardware and software to run.

2. The material body is the "computer hardware". The immaterial soul and spirit are the "computer software".

3. The "material spirit" is the "computer processor" (brain). The "material soul" is the "interphase hardware" (sound card, graphics card = middle ear, retina).

4. The breath of life is the "computer power source".

5. The "internet" is the spiritual realm that sends "data" to the "individual IP address". The "spiritual realm internet" has many "servers". The human will is the "user".

The "interphase hardware" (material soul) relays what's stored in the memory of the operating system to the "interphase package" (monitor, speakers, keyboard = eyes, ears, mouth). The "interphase application software" (immaterial, or "mortal soul") is the part of the operating system that runs those devices. The human user decides both the extent, as well as what output is displayed. The "application software" represents the interplay of what the soul aspect of the human will decides to do with the emotions. This is possible because the "breath of life" is what sustains the soul; who's presence sustains the body.

The "internet application software" (immaterial, or "mortal spirit) is what allows the "IP address" access to the "internet". God's Spirit provides the "data stream". The "data stream" can communicate instructions to the individual which is processed through the "internet application software", even while "moral and ethical subroutines" are constantly "running in the back ground". Both these communications and "subroutines" are what the human will makes choices from. (Humans call it "having a conscience".)

Now of course, humans can be "hearing a voice" they think is God's, but isn't. Which obviously demonstrates that other entities operating on different "servers" can reach the "IP address". This of course does not stop the "moral and ethical subroutines" that are constantly running in the back ground of the operating system. Being created in the image of God prevents humans from being able to delete those "subroutines". They are "Administrator password protected" by God. Despite the fact that many humans expend a lot of energy trying to circumvent those "subroutines"; (denying what the conscience tells them). These "permanent subroutines" will be called to conscious memory upon Judgement Day while all the "malware and viruses" (psychological denial mechanisms) have been deleted. Thus they are "without excuse".

The "internet application software" (immaterial / "mortal spirit") is also what the "user" makes decisions with concerning what comes into the system from the "internet". Now what comes to the "IP address" depends on what "server" the "user" is on.

Both the "interphase application program" and "internet application program" are part of the computer's operating system. The operating system software is what runs the computer's internal processor. The processor is what communicates with all the other hardware. Our material "computer processor" is our brain.

Now, looking at what happened to Jesus during the atonement; we see a "mortal soul" consigned to Sheol and a "mortal spirit" (which is not the Holy Spirit, but "his spirit") that ascends to the Father upon death.

In computer terms; one can remove the "interphase hardware" (sound / graphics card); thus no "display of sound or graphic". This doesn't mean that the operating system isn't still capable of running the "interphase application software" or to process the information coming off the memory card. The data would only be present as "raw number sequences" or "sound bleeps" to the operating system. Yet if display and sound hardware (monitor / speakers / keyboard) are still present often having their own rudimentary drivers; one could still get a screen display with no color and a sound display with no inflection.

And in the case of Jesus's trial; that's exactly what all who interacted with him got; as obviously his mortal body still possessed eyes, ears and a mouth; even though his soul was "gone".

Now having his soul consigned to Sheol; and no "breath of life" driving the "processor" that drives the "computer hardware"; Jesus's "back up battery" was his Divine nature. And according to Scripture, he did retain his human spirit. Did his spirit still contained enough "operating system" to run the "computer hardware"; or was it the Divine nature that overrode the moral subroutines in the absence of the "operating system"? (I don't know.) We do know though that having been cut off from the Father and the Holy Spirit; Jesus the human was all alone. Was part of his torment the sense of the renting of the Divine nature; thus even cutting him off from his own Divinity? That's certainly possible. For we know that once the Divine nature was rent from the human nature; the "computer" "shut off".

As per "souls" and "spirits" of entities other than men?

I believe the Holy Ghost can also "connect" into animals' spirits with some form of communicable instruction. The she bears that killed the children that mocked Elijah and Balaam's donkey are examples of said communicable instructions. It's just that communicable instructions delivered to animals by God, does not carry the weight of eternal moral accountability upon the animals, as it does with man.

We know that the soul is intimately connected to the "breath of life" given by God. How "soul" interacts with the physiology in the brain concerning neurons and chemical transmitters that facilitate the physical "feeling" of emotion; I don't think we have a way of scientifically measuring because we can't measure something that is real, yet immaterially present. We do know that God's removing the breath of life, removes the entity's soul; which is absolutely necessary to still being considered "alive".

This of course is outside of the unique position of having a Divine nature which keeps the body alive in the absence of the "breath of life". For as we saw with Jesus; post gethsemane, he's morally present yet emotionally absent. This was despite the fact that physiologically his body was still firing neurological and chemical signals in his brain. We see this in that his body continued to "break down" under the stresses of pain, loss of blood and exhaustion. It just seems that what ever the proverbial "computer software" that would normally be present to enable the feeling of emotion was "gone". That "computer software" appears to be "data streamed" through the "breath of life".

Now does the "breath of life" enable more than just emotional faculties? That appears to be the case too; as Adam lost his "living" soul upon the committing of sin. Or at least he lost the spiritual "living" component of his "living soul". That faculty which also appears to be at least initially enabled by the "breath of life"; appears to more involve the decision making process as it's also connected to the spirit and the conscience. God communicates through the conscience; the will chooses to obey or not and the emotions respond. This of course leads to more decision making processes as to what one does to either repent or excuse their behavior.

Certain aspects of these capacities certainly apply to NCSB angels? NCSB's possess some sort of decision making process. Not sure they possess emotions; or at least not in the same application as humans, or even animals. (Yes, animals possess demonstrable "emotion".) We are told NCSB's rejoice. And we are told Satan is "angry".

What NCSB's seem to lack though is what I'd call a capacity for creative thought. Now I don't know if this is true of obedient angles? It does appear they have been given authority to "problem solve" in being "ministering spirits" in an unpredictable material world, which is governed by novel factors. Yet it certainly appears that Satan has lost that ability on account of his sin.

The vast majority of Satan's "bag of tricks" appears to have been gleaned from humans. He observes their behavior and notices contradictions. This is what his description as "subtle" means in Genesis. It appears that Satan picked up on Eve's natural curiosity about the tree of the knowledge of good an evil and "put that together" with the instruction God had given them. Which leads to the other thing Satan is good at. He tends to listen to what God says and repeat its opposite. Not a very sophisticated plan of attack; but the germination of the seed of doubt was effective.

Now, did Satan "plant" the seed; or was that potential inherent in Adam and Eve's ability to discover it? I tend to think it was more the latter simply because Adam and Eve had capacities as being created in God's image that Satan didn't have. And the major capacity I can see is creativity. Creativity is a reflection of the Divine that stands outside of intelligence.

Is creativity the capacity that constitutes being created in God's image?

That I'm not sure; but I am convinced that creativity is part of it. What do we have that's unique to us that is most similar to the character of God? Creativity is one; and the capacity for altruistic self sacrifice is another. We also have an inherent drive for justice. Even when humans deny the moral and ethical standards of God; we still easily get bent out of shape when we feel wronged. That propensity demonstrates an internalized sense of "fairness".

Animals acting among other animals don't demonstrate an understanding of fairness; (but will demonstrate empathy to their pack). Animals acting on account of interaction with humans will demonstrate a revelation that fairness "makes sense" to them though. Which animals are quite like Satan in the sense that they are astute at picking up on behavioral cues. They will learn to model human behavior, as well as the behavior of other animals that tends to getting them positive human attention.

And of course animals are capable of learning constructive behavior from other animals. (Monkeys who've learned from other monkeys how to use "tools" to catch bugs by inserting sticks into burrows of insects to catch the insects so they can eat them.) This obviously is a display of intelligence. Yet we can't determine if this was a self actuated creative solution that originated in the mind of the monkey, or if it was observed at some point in the past, of monkeys seeing humans using tools? This also demonstrates though that intelligence encompasses the ability to translate actions observed from one environment to another as a monkey would have to realize: 'Hey, I can use a stick to get bugs' from watching humans operate a similar action, even if in a different context, like spearing fish. Although it is also entirely possible that a human "once upon time" taught a pet monkey how to get bugs with a stick and that monkey passed on that knowledge to their posterity.

Of course some "tricks" learned by animals are purely "happenstance trial and error". As birds in urban Japan have learned to drop nuts too hard for them to crack themselves; from traffic lights for cars to run over so the birds can now eat those nuts. Somewhere in the mix, some bird had to learn the nuts were edible, (having been cracked open by humans, with remnants left behind?) and than "put together" what trees these nuts grew on; so they could harvest them themselves and than that they also could actually use cars as "nut crackers". Then on top of that; these birds would have to learn to identify traffic patterns, so they'd know when the lights turned red, it was safe to collect the nuts. Now that behavior requires a complex set of factors to organize and remember, which of course could represent certain skills birds are endowed with that other mammals aren't. Birds learn a large repertoire of migratory behavior from other birds; even from other birds that aren't the same species. So thus it would make sense that urban birds would collect repertoires of "all the city birds are doing this" and create their own Japanese bird version of TicTok.

In the realm of emotion and empathy; animals can naturally display both, outside of even passive training from observing humans. Animals can feel sadness, joy and anger. Elephants, apes, cats and dogs have displayed depression as the consequence of the death of a pack member. They can also exhibit the ability of self directed cooperation. A skill demonstrated in pack hunting.

Which of course, makes me wonder if animals have actually "become smarter" from exposure to human behavior, as well as other tricks learned from other animals learned from observing human behavior? It's obvious that animals (both domestic and wild) that live in and around human settings develop sets of behaviors that animals with little exposure to humans don't develop; just as urban dwelling humans are clued into different types of danger that wilderness dwellers aren't.

So seeing how we see these traits in animals and read about aspects of them in Scripture related to NCSB angels. I think it would be safe to assume other non-Earth dwelling entities in the universe would possess at least some of these traits.

Angels and Quantum Transportation Theory:

Now back to angels and the capacity to be a living independent entity apart from a material based existence. Obviously, we know that we as human beings can't do that. We have to be both body and soul; one complete entity to be considered "alive". Angels (who are not disembodied saints) though, obviously are not that way. They can be a living independent entity apart from a material based existence. Now since they are complete already in that state, could they be "putting on" material form in much in the same way quantum transportation would work?

Theoretically and practically speaking, that seems entirely plausible to me. Angels would be able to "appear" and "disappear" in the world of quantum transportation without being disembodied because the essence of what they are is not materially based to begin with. Or at least not "carbon materially based". Their equivalent being that they could "dawn form" much the same way we "dawn clothing".

Yet, we don't know if angels materializing, actually do so by some carbon based means? We believe so, based on the assumption that those who've materialize have actually "eaten" material food they've been offered. If we think about that though; why would an entity that has no need of carbon based substance actually "eat" carbon based nutrition? It's not like they'd actually be able to digest it, because they are not of the kind of entity that is of need to do so. Yet we also don't know if NCSB's actually require some sort of "energy nutrition"?

It's an interesting question seeing how demons appear to "grow" off of the negative "spirit energy" of carbon based life forms. Is this one purpose of that "spiritual internet" entities both carbon based and not "plug" into? And is the energy source that "feeds" that internet some byproduct of the "breath of life". That's another good question! (I don't know the answer.) Although it seems entirely plausible because even in the material world we have "data transfers" that "travel" across immaterial wavelengths. (Wifi uses radio waves). Either way; some interesting concepts to ponder!

Thank you autumnrose2010!