This post is part of my year long study of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. To facilitate this course of study, I am following along with Princeton Theological Seminary's "A Year with the Institutes", which also includes an audio reading of the text.
OK! Something has missed my grasp. How to explain?
Man = body + soul (soul = mind + will)
In the Garden of Eden, man was fully alive in body and soul. Then, through a horrendous decision, Adam & Eve disobey God, and eat the apple.
The result? Death.
Death of the body = the body is pushing up daisies some day.
Death of the soul? I suppose this is where I got lost somewhere.
It seems that my construct, for the dead soul, has been literally dead. No life. Therefore, I reasoned, when I was "born again", that literally dead soul was brought back from the dead.
However, the soul is immortal, therefore my previous construct doesn't fly.
So, is this death of the soul (that part of me that requires regeneration), a soul that is still alive? Does this "soul death" suggest a separation from God, and therefore defined as death? Along with Adam's original sin, came expulsion from Eden. Is this the death? Separated from God, with a totally depraved soul?
