Here is the way science works:
Hypothesis: Humans have souls.
Define human.
Define soul.
Prove that humans have souls.
You must start with the affirmative statement, then prove it to be true.
Bible study starts with the premise that the Bible is true. Then the next step is to jabber about how it is true.
That is why Bible study is not really study at all, but bogus.
Religion is notorious for conceiving an idea, and then trying to make it true, either by propaganda or by force.
While science makes a discovery and then immediately sets about trying to disprove it, just to make sure that it is correct before everyone makes fools of themselves.
Why do religions persist in the belief that people have souls? Souls are essential to both the carrot and the stick argument. The stick is what you get whacked with if you refuse to believe what the priests say. The carrot is the reward of heaven, which is defined far too vaguely to be much of a temptation.
The priests required sacrifices of animals, especially the more delicious ones. The priests liked beef, mutton and goat, and so they made sure that the faithful would not show up with raccoons, possums, rabbits, rats, bats, cats or dogs. So weekly rituals were convenient. Otherwise, the diets of the priests would be erratic. Hence the concept of the Sabbath. We need to keep in mind that priests, even the wealthy ones, lacked refrigeration.
