✨ The Weight of a Soul ✨
- OakvilleJoe
- Oct 6
- 2 min read
I read an article in Popular Science by Leah Hudson, published September 18, 2025, entitled “The 21 grams experiment that tried to weigh a human soul.” （https://www.popsci.com/science/21-grams-experiment/...）
It told the story of Dr. Duncan MacDougall, who in 1907 placed dying patients on a scale, hoping to prove the soul had physical weight. He claimed the body lost 21 grams at the moment of death — and the idea stuck. More than a century later, books, movies, and even anime still reference “21 grams” as the supposed weight of the human soul.
But science was silent. The experiment was flawed, the results inconsistent, and no one has ever proven the soul can be weighed. Yet the fascination continues because people are still asking, and the article ends with the same question: Are we more than just a body? Does something in us live on after death?
The Bible already answers what science cannot. “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
For believers, Jesus promises: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Paul longed “to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23).
For those who reject Him, Scripture warns of Hades and judgment (Luke 16:23; Hebrews 9:27).
The truth is clear: the soul is spirit, not substance. It cannot be weighed on a scale — but it carries infinite worth in God’s eyes. Science may ask, but Scripture answers. When science is quiet, faith speaks.
And I can’t help but wonder: had Dr. MacDougall known the Bible’s truth about the soul and trusted Christ, he would have found more than an experiment. He would have found salvation — and perhaps one day I might meet him in Heaven.
📖 “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
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