As explained in the main article (Mapping the Brain: The Missing Dimension), the human spirit (or spirit in man) imparts human intellect to our physical brains. It is by far the main factor in making people vastly more intelligent than animals. Yet this spiritual aspect of human existence is nothing like the immortal soul concept widely introduced into Western philosophy by the adoption of teachings of ancient Greek mythmakers.

The spirit in man is not animate of itself. It is not a spirit entity that consciously lives on when we die. As a number of scriptural passages show, this human spirit has no consciousness after death (see Psalm 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:5, Ecclesiastes 9:10). We have no awareness of anything at all after we die. Then at a future time in the resurrection, God will place our individual spirits within new bodies, restoring us back to conscious life.

The first resurrection to eternal spirit life, comprehensively described in 1 Corinthians 15, is that of truly converted Christians at the second coming of Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; Philippians 3:20-21). Then a thousand years later, a second resurrection happens to those who never really knew or heard of Jesus Christ or had no real opportunity for spiritual conversion during their lifetimes. It will be a wonderful opportunity to obtain everlasting life in God’s Kingdom, joining those who are already in God’s spirit-composed family.

To understand these matters in much more biblical detail, read the Bible study aids What Happens After Death? and Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach? The error of the immortal soul concept—and the fact that the "soul" can and does die (Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20)—is covered in both publications.

[Read the article: Mapping the Brain: The Missing Dimension]