What is The Soul?

Man on Fire · Nov 26, 2019

What is the Soul? In Christianity, someone has a Body, Soul, and Spirit. There has seemed to be a lot of confusion about what the soul is. Some people confuse it with Plato? It is important to know what the soul is towards gaining in understanding of God and creation.

5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)

Song to Preface this: Heuy Lewis "Heart and Soul."

About a year ago I lived in walking distance from Duke University. Given someone was a Duke fan, or Duke Alumni, or had a lot of Duke Paraphernalia, they may have loved Duke University. How did they love Duke University? They loved Duke with their Soul or Identity. When Duke wins or has done well, they rejoice? They feel good? In their soul, they rejoice. That is where the soul is. Given anyone has been a sports fan at some point, and has identified as a fan of ___________ their soul rejoices when their team does well.

What is a soul? A soul is a person. In the Bible, given a King has fifty souls, he possibly has fifty servants or subjects. How do those subjects or servants identity themselves? Part of their identity may have been “A servant or subject of King Solomon” or “member of the Tribe of Judah.” They loved something with their Soul. Given someone loves or identifies with one Political Party of the other strongly in 2019, they may be loving something with their identity. Someone identifying with The Democrats, regardless of if they have believed in Jesus or not, may care more about what their friends think, and be prone to certain attitudes that lean towards ungodliness. Are their bad people on The Right? Yes. The State of Tennessee has been known to be Conservative. It is also the most politically corrupt state in the Union, and has accepted more liberal views on morality? There may have been ugly things going on behind closed doors in the State of Tennessee? What was the root of the problem? False teachers and false Prophets promoting sin and immorality, like “Sex Week” at the University of Tennessee, and societies general acceptance of it, in a “Whatever floats your boat” way.

There is a stripping process to growing in Faith. Someone growing in Faith should identify as a child of God, and work to build God’s Kingdom. Someone rejecting the world, and working to please God may end up hated. Faith is not easy.

The Soul and Identity.

The Song of Songs is in the Bible as a representation of God's Love for Israel.
In the New Testament, The Church is a Bride for Christ.
Christ is to man as a man is to woman or Christ is the head of man as man is the head of woman. (1 Corinthians 11:3)

Marriage has been an important part of The Bible and Faith and growing in understanding.

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, (1 Peter 3:1)

Woman is meek before her husband. Man is meek before God. A woman loving her husband with her heart and soul may have taken his name. She is forging a new identity as Mrs. _____________. Someone with a Hyphenated last name is one foot in, one foot out. Who or what does she love more? Her husband or Feminism? Feminists tend towards socialism. Is a woman really married to her husband or more married to The State? Woman is meek before her husband. A man is meek before God.

Episkopos · Nov 26, 2019

We are a living soul...and we HAVE a body and spirit. We are the man in the middle, so to speak.

Now where would we be without our bodily senses? What if we couldn't hear, or see, or sense or feel....or smell? What would we experience?

So mankind has become carnal by relying only on the carnal senses.

But there are also spiritual senses. We can SEE and HEAR and SENSE God in the spiritual realm. These come through our own spirits in the heart by connection to the Spirit of the living God.

Man on Fire · Nov 26, 2019

I have liked to describe the soul like this:

Imagine a whiteboard like in a classroom. Take a black marker, and draw an outline of a person. Not a stick figure, an outline like the police chalking a body. That may be someone's soul at birth. Why is it white? Sins made white, or Jesus clothing us in white, or a virgin bride in a white wedding dress. The soul has not experienced anything nor made much for decisions.

Every time someone experiences something good or bad, that may leave its mark. Next to the white board there may be colored markers. Given some experiences something that left its mark, they make a mark on the soul. Sin makes special marks and wounds. Given no confession or repentance, those would may fester and grow and kill.

Spirits effect motivations. How is someone motivated? Someone with a particular spirit, may have allowed their soul to mold around something. Someone choosing God, and accepting his holy spirit works to develop Godly character.

Helen · Nov 26, 2019

Episkopos said:
We are a living soul...and we HAVE a body and spirit. We are the man in the middle, so to speak.

Now where would we be without our bodily senses? What if we couldn't hear, or see, or sense or feel....or smell? What would we experience?

So mankind has become carnal by relying only on the carnal senses.

But there are also spiritual senses. We can SEE and HEAR and SENSE God in the spiritual realm. These come through our own spirits in the heart by connection to the Spirit of the living God.

Agree...and our walk through life with the Lord is.." Which wins...spirt, soul or body.
We soul, get to choose which we will serve...the body or the Spirit...
Nothing wrong with the body, as long as the Spirit is top dog so to speak.

...

lforrest · Nov 26, 2019

This is a fascinating subject, and Ironic that humans for all their "knowledge" don't even understand themselves.

The way I understand it, our soul is part of the mind and is responsible for emotions and such. It is always bound to things. It is bound to the flesh or self before we are regenerated. But the flesh is dying, and should the soul be tied to anything perishable it will suffer loss.

Let us be adorned for the Lord in a way pleasing to him. Like a wife to her husband in Peter 3:3.

Man on Fire · Nov 28, 2019

Soul Ties

Soul ties has been a topic that may have come up around some Christian communities.

The Question: What is a Soul Tie?

Before I may be able to explain Soul Ties, someone may need to be on the same page about what a Soul is. Is a Soul like Plato or is it objectively defined in the Bible? Someone has a Body Spirit and Soul? What is a Soul as defined in the Bible?

Previous Post: "What is a Soul?"

A Soul is a person. You have one soul. Given someone got into some mysticism like Kabbalah talking about Seven Souls instead of Seven Spirits of God, or some Buddhism talking about a "Master Soul," that was leading someone into possession. Someone in that type of mysticism may have been a possessed person. They should go to Church and be prayed over.

Spirits effect motivations. Someone of a Spirit of Prostitution may have been on Tinder? Carl Jung talked about "The Shadow." Given someone were to internet search something like "The Shadow Test" someone who became very in touch with their shadow as taught by someone who was a "Christ Denier" or "New Age Person" may have become possessed. Failing "The Shadow Test" may have been a bad thing. In someone's shadow there may have been a Spirit or Demon. Someone getting in touch with that like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde would be a possessed person. Someone could have been a possessed person with some sort of demon in their shadow, and not known or been aware. They were just in a matrix.

Given I were to look up someone like Fr. Ripperger, who is an exorcist, he may have stated something like "The majority of people that come to me are females who have been sexually assaulted." A Spirit, given someone was in sin, may have may have been passed in sexual immorality, and someone's character or soul was forged around something. Someone may have ended up with something in their sub conscious or shadow. The right answer is choosing God and loving him with your Heart and Soul and Strength and Mind. Someone's soul is developed or molded around the Spirit of God.

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." ( 1 Corinthians 6:16 )

ISIS in Syria or Iraq made sex slaves. They prostituted women. In passing around said women, they may have been passing around a spirit or demon. That spirit may have been sitting in their sub conscious. Universities like Cornell have been known for debauchery and people like Sandra Fluke? They may have similarity been passing around a spirit or demon.

God is Love. (1 John 4:8) When a man and a woman come together in marriage they may ended up with a Soul Tie. A man's wife is part of him? Part of who he is as a man is tied to his wife. They are "One Flesh." They may have been Soul Tied. Given a people in sin, they may have a lot of "Soul Ties." They became "One Flesh."

This is a complex issue. I don't know that I 100% used all the right words. We are working it out? You have Freedom of Choice. Be earnest and repent.

Man on Fire · Nov 28, 2019

Breaking Soul Ties - Dealing With Heartbreak

Introduction Song: Unchain My Heart

A young person who was of The World may have gone into sin. The heart is powerful spiritually. What is in someone's heart? In the subconscious, your average man today may have past loves around there. His heart may be wrapped around some old girlfriends.

The following is a playlist of music meant to help with this process that was God inspired. It is about self reflection and repentance. Shedding those past loves.

Love Letters

Set Fire to Those Nasty Letters.

Hope It is Gonna Rain

Fire

Getitright · Dec 2, 2019

A soul is a living being. Genesis 2:7 tells us what a soul is.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.1 (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

Here we see that God created the man (body) and breathed into it the breath (spirit) of life and man became a living soul. We see that man consists of the elements of the earth. Then God breathed His breath or spirit, same word, into the man and a transformation took place. The man became a living soul. Animals are also called souls. We can see from this that a soul is a living being. However, the words translated soul, nephesh in Hebrew and psuche in Greek, are used in two ways. They are used concretely of a living being and abstractly of life. These two words are also translated life in the Scriptures.

prism · Dec 2, 2019

Getitright said:
A soul is a living being. Genesis 2:7 tells us what a soul is.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.1 (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

Here we see that God created the man (body) and breathed into it the breath (spirit) of life and man became a living soul. We see that man consists of the elements of the earth. Then God breathed His breath or spirit, same word, into the man and a transformation took place. The man became a living soul. Animals are also called souls. We can see from this that a soul is a living being. However, the words translated soul, nephesh in Hebrew and psuche in Greek, are used in two ways. They are used concretely of a living being and abstractly of life. These two words are also translated life in the Scriptures.

That's right and I believe the soul is the result of an inseparable interrelationship between the spirit and the body.

Enoch111 · Dec 2, 2019

Helen said:
Nothing wrong with the body, as long as the Spirit is top dog so to speak.

1. That is exactly what is found in the New Testament. Indeed, Paul lists the spirit first, then the soul, and finally the body, when referring to them in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole [1] spirit and [2] soul and [3] body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. So it is through Scriptures that we learn that man is a tripartite being, and from God's perspective the spirit has primacy. Both the spirit and the soul are IMMATERIAL (not tangible or visible) and IMPERISHABLE (but mortality and immortality apply to the body). The cults deny that the soul is imperishable, but the Bible affirms this.

3. Today, at the time of death (which is the separation of the body from the soul and spirit) there are just two destinations for human souls and spirits: (1) Heaven, to be with Christ and (2) Hades to be with all unbelievers and evildoers. And there are no second chances after death. Souls and spirits will exist eternally.

4. We also see from Scripture (Heb 4:12) that the spirit and the soul are distinct from each other, and yet closely bound up with each other. In other words, while they are joined, they have distinct functions. The spirit is dead at birth while the soul (the person himself or herself) is very much alive. Therefore it takes the New Birth to bring the spirit to life, and that is also why Jesus said that the New Birth is imperative to both see and enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-8). And it is the spirit that communicates with God and engages in worship. It is also the spirit which receives and discerns spiritual things, which are *foolishness* to the natural man.

5. We also see that the Holy Spirit takes up residence within the spirits of believers, and it is by the power of the indwelling Spirit that sin cannot (and must not) have dominion over the Christian.

6. On the other hand the soul (which contains the mind, the heart, and the will) is also the seat of *the flesh* (the old Adamic sin nature). And Christ said that is from the *heart of man* (his innermost being, his soul) that all sin originates. Therefore it is not foods or meats that pollute the soul. The pollution already exists within.

7. When mediums communicate with the dead (supposedly) it is not the dead who are in communication. It is evil spirits masquerading as dead loved ones. We see this clarified in the account of the Witch of Endor. Similarly those who say that they have seen ghosts should not be dismissed. Ghosts too are evil spirits (not the spirits of the dead which are confined in Hades).

8. Animism teachings that everything in nature is connected to spirits. These are the elemental spirits, and no doubt they are also evil spirits. But evil spirits are constantly at work in this world in individual lives as well as influencing world events and governments. Franklin Graham has astutely noted recently that the overwhelming attacks on President Trump are demonic in their origin. This is also confirmed by the fact that actual witches have been casting spells on Trump ever since his taking office.
'Demonic power': Franklin Graham claims supernatural element behind attacks on Trump

Helen · Dec 2, 2019

@Enoch111

Excellent post bro.

* Two thumbs up. *

Davy · Dec 4, 2019

Too much fantasy proposed outside of Scripture on this subject. Discipline in God's Word reveals our 'soul' is definitely not flesh.

Matt 10:28
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
KJV

Even famous Bible lexicons are confused on what that "soul" is there that continues even after flesh death.

Eccl 12:5-7
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
KJV

Jewish tradition likes to argue that the soul only manifests with flesh, i.e., the "living soul" idea about God forming Adam. And that "spirit" above in Eccl.12:7 some argue and say that only means animate spirit, like the same spirit that is in plants and animals.

The reality once one studies 1 Corinthians 15 reveals that "spirit" there is actually about the "spiritual body" with something attached to it that is still "mortal" without Christ.

1 Cor 15:53
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
KJV

To have eternal life through Christ Jesus, our flesh body ("corruptible") must put on "incorruption" (the "spiritual body"), AND... our "this mortal" must put on "immortality". So what's that "this mortal" part? It can't be our spirit because that's about our "spiritual body" Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 15:44. That "this mortal" phrase is pointing to our 'soul', which is about our person, what distinguishes us from each other, even in the heavenly dimension.

Earthly dimension = a body of corruption (flesh) within which is our spirit and soul. Our outward image likeness is what our flesh body reveals.

Heavenly dimension = a body of incorruption (spiritual body) which is attached to our soul (person). In the heavenly, it's our spiritual body that supplies our outward image likeness. When our Lord Jesus returns we will no longer need a flesh body, as Jesus said in the resurrection they are as the angels of God in heaven.

The "silver cord":
In Eccl.12:6 it mentions the loosing of a "silver cord" at flesh death. That reveals there is a cord attaching our spirit to our flesh body. It further proves that our spirit is definitely not of the same dimension order as flesh. When that silver cord is severed, that is when our spirit with soul departs our flesh body, and our flesh goes back to the elements of the earth where it came from. Sorry, but earthly flesh is not our real origin per God's Word. Our spirit with soul came from God like Eccl.12 says.

Man on Fire · Dec 4, 2019

The soul is a non-physical thing. When someone is growing in Faith, a relationship with God, it may be like a man's Soul is woven or wrapped with God's Holy Spirit. A man becomes more one with God.

Compare and contrasting different forms of mysticism............when someone finds someone talking about more than one soul, or a "master soul" that may have been leading to some kind of possession. Understanding the character of God is important to growing in Faith. Different spirits may have had different characters. Spirits effect motivations. Someone soul may have been molded with something "Not-God."

We have 7 Spirits in Isaiah and 7 Spirits in Revelations.

What are the seven spirits of God? | GotQuestions.org

We have 7 Jewish Souls in Zohar/Talmud/Kabbalah.

What Are the Seven Types of Souls?

Given The Bible, there is one Truth. Do you have 7 Spirits of God as in Isaiah or 7 Jewish souls which only a Jew could have? Spirits come from God. A Soul is intrinsic. There is a big difference.

In Buddhism, someone may have read of a "Master Soul." That was leading to some kind of possession.

Zhuan Falun (Turning The Law Wheel) : AcademicReligion_Myth

The compare and contrast is helpful once someone understands what a Soul is in the Bible, and has a relationship with God.

Getitright · Dec 4, 2019

Davy said:
Too much fantasy proposed outside of Scripture on this subject. Discipline in God's Word reveals our 'soul' is definitely not flesh.

Matt 10:28
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
KJV

Even famous Bible lexicons are confused on what that "soul" is there that continues even after flesh death.

Eccl 12:5-7
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
KJV

Jewish tradition likes to argue that the soul only manifests with flesh, i.e., the "living soul" idea about God forming Adam. And that "spirit" above in Eccl.12:7 some argue and say that only means animate spirit, like the same spirit that is in plants and animals.

The reality once one studies 1 Corinthians 15 reveals that "spirit" there is actually about the "spiritual body" with something attached to it that is still "mortal" without Christ.

1 Cor 15:53
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
KJV

To have eternal life through Christ Jesus, our flesh body ("corruptible") must put on "incorruption" (the "spiritual body"), AND... our "this mortal" must put on "immortality". So what's that "this mortal" part? It can't be our spirit because that's about our "spiritual body" Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 15:44. That "this mortal" phrase is pointing to our 'soul', which is about our person, what distinguishes us from each other, even in the heavenly dimension.

Earthly dimension = a body of corruption (flesh) within which is our spirit and soul. Our outward image likeness is what our flesh body reveals.

Heavenly dimension = a body of incorruption (spiritual body) which is attached to our soul (person). In the heavenly, it's our spiritual body that supplies our outward image likeness. When our Lord Jesus returns we will no longer need a flesh body, as Jesus said in the resurrection they are as the angels of God in heaven.

The "silver cord":
In Eccl.12:6 it mentions the loosing of a "silver cord" at flesh death. That reveals there is a cord attaching our spirit to our flesh body. It further proves that our spirit is definitely not of the same dimension order as flesh. When that silver cord is severed, that is when our spirit with soul departs our flesh body, and our flesh goes back to the elements of the earth where it came from. Sorry, but earthly flesh is not our real origin per God's Word. Our spirit with soul came from God like Eccl.12 says.

Dude, this isn't right. Gen. 2:7 tells us what a soul is. It's a physical body infused with the breath/spirit of life from God. Man is a physical being. He is not a spirit. When man dies the body returns to the dust and God's breath/spirit returns to Him.

Davy · Dec 5, 2019

Getitright said:
Dude, this isn't right. Gen. 2:7 tells us what a soul is. It's a physical body infused with the breath/spirit of life from God. Man is a physical being. He is not a spirit. When man dies the body returns to the dust and God's breath/spirit returns to Him.

Genesis 2:7 is telling you what happened when God put Adam's spirit with soul into a flesh body. The "spirit" of Eccl.12:5-7 that goes back to God is not just some animate force as if it were a drop of water out of a huge ocean of God. That idea is what the eastern religions believe. That "spirit" includes man's soul, the person, which is what Jesus showed, and what Apostle Paul also showed.

Matt 10:28
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
KJV

At the end of Luke 16, Jesus also showed what happens at flesh death with the example of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus died and angels carried him to the bosom of Abraham on one side of a great gulf, but the rich man died and he was in hell on the other side in Paradise. And to make sure we know it wasn't his flesh that was taken to hell, we were told his flesh body was buried.

In 1 Cor.15, as I have already shown, Apostle Paul revealed the resurrection body is a "spiritual body", not a flesh body. He was specific that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Cor 15:48-50
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
KJV

2 Cor 5:1
5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
KJV

Those stuck on Jewish traditions about this need to update their understanding according to New Testament Scripture. The 'dead in the ground' theory is an old Jewish tradition. Lord Jesus and His Apostles have revealed more about the difference between flesh and spirit since then.

John 3:6
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
KJV

By that John 3 verse, my Lord Jesus revealed that only one's spirit can be born of The Spirit. And to think that our spirit is a fleshy thing, or is dissolved at flesh death, is to go totally against what He and His Apostles revealed.

Getitright · Dec 6, 2019

Davy said:
Genesis 2:7 is telling you what happened when God put Adam's spirit with soul into a flesh body. The "spirit" of Eccl.12:5-7 that goes back to God is not just some animate force as if it were a drop of water out of a huge ocean of God. That idea is what the eastern religions believe. That "spirit" includes man's soul, the person, which is what Jesus showed, and what Apostle Paul also showed.

Matt 10:28
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
KJV

At the end of Luke 16, Jesus also showed what happens at flesh death with the example of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus died and angels carried him to the bosom of Abraham on one side of a great gulf, but the rich man died and he was in hell on the other side in Paradise. And to make sure we know it wasn't his flesh that was taken to hell, we were told his flesh body was buried.

In 1 Cor.15, as I have already shown, Apostle Paul revealed the resurrection body is a "spiritual body", not a flesh body. He was specific that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Cor 15:48-50
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
KJV

2 Cor 5:1
5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
KJV

Those stuck on Jewish traditions about this need to update their understanding according to New Testament Scripture. The 'dead in the ground' theory is an old Jewish tradition. Lord Jesus and His Apostles have revealed more about the difference between flesh and spirit since then.

John 3:6
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
KJV

By that John 3 verse, my Lord Jesus revealed that only one's spirit can be born of The Spirit. And to think that our spirit is a fleshy thing, or is dissolved at flesh death, is to go totally against what He and His Apostles revealed.

Before we start jumping all over the place let's address the passage at hand.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.1 (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

The passage says that God created the man from the dust of the earth. So we know that man consists of the dust of the earth. That's all he is. Then we see that God breathed something out of Himself and into man. That was the breath or spirit of life. So we know that this breath or spirit is something of God because it came out of Him. Then we see that when God breathed this breath or spirit of life into the man a transformation took place and the man became a living soul. There is nothing here about God putting a soul in man. It says man became a soul. We also see that the spirit that God put in man isn't man, it's something from God. It comes out of God.

If the way you understand those passage above doesn't fit with this scenario you may want to reconsider them in light of what Gen 2:7 says.

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What is The Soul?

Man on Fire

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Episkopos

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Man on Fire

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Helen

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lforrest

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Man on Fire

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Man on Fire

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Getitright

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prism

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Enoch111

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Helen

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Davy

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Man on Fire

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