March 2, 1917
Haifa
As to the question concerning the soul, know thou, verily,
that "soul" is a term applied to numerous realities, according to the
exigencies of the following relations in regard to development in the world of
existence:
(1) In the mineral kingdom, soul is called "latent force,"
silently working for the disintegration of the substance of the mineral.
(2) In the vegetable kingdom it is called “virtue
augmentative," or the power of growth, which attracts and absorbs the
delicate materials of inorganic substance found in the mineral kingdom of
matter, and transforms them into the condition of growth. Thus the inorganic
substance found in the mineral kingdom becomes growing vegetable life through
the effect of the word of God. This vegetable soul, i. e. "virtue
augmentative," or power of growth, is a quality which is produced by the
admixture of elements, and appears in accidental organisms, of which
contingency is an essential attribute.
(3) In the animal kingdom it is called "sense
perceptions" (or instinct). This soul term, as applied to the animal
kingdom, is also a natural quality resulting from the mixture of the elements,
and it appears from their mingling and combination, for it is a quality which
results from the composition of bodies (organisms) and is dispersed at their
decomposition. From this we are to understand that the animal soul is not
endowed with the capacity of attaining immortality, as the life force is
dispersed at the decomposition of the animal tissues.