What do you want? It is important to have? Body. Or the soul. What do you want? of the two important?

They are both the same thing.

Often the soul is equated with the total person. For instance, Genesis 2:7 tates: “God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” The first man, Adam, was a soul.

The understanding that the word soul can mean the whole person is supported by other scriptures. For example, the Bible speaks of a soul’s doing work. Leviticus 23:30 The soul is spoken of as being impatient, irritated, sleepless, fearful, and depressed. Judges 16:16

 Referring to a soul as a person, Romans 13:1 states: Let every soul be in subjection to the superior authorities.” And at 1 Peter 3:20, we read: “In Noah’s days, a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.”

 Nothing in these scriptures indicates that the soul is some immaterial entity that lives on after death.

Therefore, all living creatures are souls.  

Interesting question.

The Bible talks about dead bodies and dead souls, live bodies and live souls.

One must have BOTH to be alive.

The Bibles tells us, when the body dies the soul dies.

One must have BOTH to be alive.

(Genesis 2:7) 7 And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.

(Ezekiel 18:4) 4 Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.

The idea that a person has an immortal soul is not found in God's word, but from pagan teachings.

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If the body left with out soul ,then this body is called dead body or corpse , but soul with out  body then being kept in the hidden zone of GOD  ,waiting for the resurrection day , then GOD would unite body and soul together and call all of  them to come for the judgmental day of GOD . After that the body and the soul of the next life, then would be placed in their finale dwelling place to dwell their in eternally. This is what GOD wants all lives to be both in this world and the hereafter world,

Since the latter animates the former, how is that a choice?

The fact of the matter: The are one, Body and Soul, The soul will either become saved before we die, and the body will be saved when God The Lord Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior will be saved when God comes back to judge the living and the dead and too destroy the heavens and the earth by fire, the second death, where the heavens and the earth shall be burned up, by the hellfires.