Is there any solid evidence that the soul exists?

The concept of the soul was invented in the late fourth century by St. Augustine. He took Plato's and Aristotle's Idealism (originally used to define conscious awareness) and used it to explain how Christ's promise of immortality was possible. The idea was that a bit of God's own immortal essence was loaned to each human for the duration of their life. God's essence was transformed into a human soul by the experience of having lived. After death, the soul returned to God in Heaven. Thus, St. Augustine's "soul" explained how both consciousness and immortality were possible.

Persons who are Idealists are invariably also Solipsistic thinkers. This means they imagine their own subjective experience actually is reality and the world around them is an illusion created by their mind. During the Dark Ages, the mechanics of Galileo (and later Newton) proved conclusively that objective (physical) reality was absolutely real and not related to conscious awareness. Meanwhile, the Church was burning free-thinkers at the stake by the thousands for the heresy of Materialism. Materialists believed that consciousness was the natural result of being alive. Rene Descartes (at considerable risk to himself) introduced a compromise philosophy called Dualism that supported Idealism as an explanation of consciousness and immortality and also supported the Materialist's view that the objective (physical) realm was also real. Meanwhile the Church continued to execute people for denying Solipsism and for the heresy of Spiritual Materialism. The last known Catholic stake-burning occured during 1850, in Mexico, and the victim was a medical doctor who insisted that his living brain was the seat of his consciousness awareness.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the discovery of the electronic vacuum tube allowed the invention of the high impedance differential amplifier, which led directly to the first practical electroencephelographs (EEGs). This device proved beyond any possible doubt that the origin of human conscious awareness is a living human brain. All our perception, thoughts, emotions, and memories originate in our brains. All animals with substantial brains possess a limited form of consciousness. The Materialists had been correct all along and the Catholic church has never accepted responsibility for the countless thousands of free-thinking heretics who were brutally murdered by their supposedly "infallible" eccleasitical courts.

As you have just read, the soul described by St. Augustine cannot possibly exist because Idealism is not a valid explanation for consciousness. Our mind is created by our living brains and our subjective experience is a model of what we imagine reality must be like, based on the inputs of our senses. A soul is not required to explain human conscious awareness and there is no longer any valid reason to assume the soul even exists. God is entirely imaginary and so is the human soul.

Take a look in the mirror and smile. That's your body and live soul starring back. God formed man out of dust, then God breathed into his nostrils and man became a living soul. I think what you mean here is the spirit. The soul dies, the body returns to dust, but the spirit goes back to God.

For me the best "proof" that there is a soul is the fact that we are aware of ourselves and our existence and the fact that we are able to think and feel. If we did not have a soul how could we do all that? I find it hard to believe that chemical reactions in the brain are responsible for every thought and feeling we have.

No solid evidence but I have faith and i believe we all have souls.

Consider the soul you speak of as the "You", your personaility-Consciousness; your perceptions of "You" are grounded in Corporeal form as you sense and place your consciousness within the body you inhabit.

To your question: Yes, the overwhelming corroborative evidence of "Life after death" is made clear by countless witnesses, whom, after having an NDE(near death experience) have attested to such matters.

The evidence of the matter is made clear by massive corroboration; almost all whom have had an NDE tell the same, or simalar stories of what occured.

This is the evidence.

In the event some elect tom dismiss this, it is fine, however, one must define evidence and agree to it's terms in all matters and not simply elect to dismiss matters as it fails to fit within your personal box of reality; this is fair assessment.

What occured during "A TYPICAL" NDE is the "person" left the body, and even saw their own "dead body" and describe many events within the room the body was upon their death; such events included, but are not limited to the Doctor's words and to whom the Doctor or medical staff spoke to as they lay "dead" absent any signs of "life";

further, many went into the typical "tunnel of light", met others they had known in "life" whom had died earlier ; met others from lives of prior reincarnation and "recognized" them as old friends, but not of the past recent world they "died" in ; many were met by higher awarness beings who gave warnings of events, personal consultations regarding issues they needed to take care of on Earth ; and further, many were given the choice to stay of go back;

With the above in mind, Consider that not one or two make such claims, but thousands.

I would have to submit, this is evidence any court would agree to, and remember, not all evidence is physical in nature as this is the nature of our being so grounded, if we can't "personaly see it"; it never happened?

If it is not understood by our science, it can't be...

Were does "faith" lie if not with your own species?

In response to other contributors I see that Diogenes concepts are Grounded in that the body provides the consciousness; the idea is supported by science.

It is the other way around as consciousness came before the body; the mechanics of the brain are simply mechanics of corporeal "life"; the brian runs the body, not the personality, whom in effect, created the body. Upon the brian being "scanned" while test are done to isolate "consciousness, consider that the method used is mechanical in nature and designed to detect brain waives From The Brain. It is no surprise that when it "detects a pattern" it can easily be associated with thinking; this is evidence of the brians function within the body and Not Consciousness in any other form.

If one were to agree to argue this, one would have to agree as to what defines evidence and move forward from there. Absent that, it is all finger pointing.

Solid? Umm, does solid waste count?

NO

because the quran says ::

((And they ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning the Rûh (the Spirit); Say: "The Rûh (the Spirit): is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little." (17:85)

You can't see a soul, it's not really physically there. It's who you are, it's how you think and function as a human...not just your brain, but your feelings. It never dies, and only humans have it. Your soul is your spiritual organ. When you die, it's your eternal body.

Yes

When God breathed the breath of life into Adam, he became a living soul. We are therefore all living souls.