ABSTRACT
People undergo constant change throughout their lives. They change physically from a babe in someone’s arms to a robust adolescent to a less robust elder. Throughout their life they engage in a multitude of various activities, think all sorts of thoughts, and undergo changing moods and emotions. Yet, in spite of the ongoing flux that people undergo during their lives, they still sense that underneath the changing surface of their lives, they are essentially one and the same person. In the Western tradition, this self-sameness and unity was attributed to having a soul. Who one was, was essentially one’s soul. At birth (or conception) one’s soul entered one’s emerging body and remained connected to the body until the body perished. Then the self-same soul continued to exist after the death of the body. Thus, personal identity was bestowed at birth and lasted for eternity. For some theological positions, a person’s lifetime actions and/or faith was judged and on the basis of this judgment, one’s soul went to heaven or hell where it remained for eternity or until the second coming.
