The Big Question: Do Soul Mates Exist?

“There is no indication that God made just one person for you. The whole concept that there is one person who is absolutely perfect sets up impossible expectations. It’s up to us to pray, to expect God to be involved in the process, but also to use our own judgment and wisdom and to look for a person that we can commit to for life.”—Dr. Joe Beam, author of The Art of Falling in Love

“Soul mates certainly do exist! Though it’s not helpful to think about them as necessarily romantic relationships, or as happening only once in a lifetime. Soul mates are that handful of people with whom we connect—profoundly, deeply, magically, even mystically—over the course of a lifetime.”—Stephen Cope, author of Soul Friends

“I don’t think everyone is a potential soul mate, but I do think there are lots of potential soul mates out there for each person. The beauty of human relationships is that there are so many different ways we fit together with one another.”—Reverend Kyle Oliver, Episcopal Priest

“Soul mates exist, whether they are predestined or are forged in this life. They bring out one another’s potential and also mirror one another’s unhealed places so that they can grow. Often together soul mates achieve their higher purpose and better the world.”—Dr. Paulette Sherman, psychologist and author of Facebook Dating: From First Date to Soul Mate

“Your ultimate soul mate is God, not another human being. Only God can meet you at that deep soul level. Once you discover that, you open yourself up to having a soul mate on earth. You become more able to connect on an incredibly close level with another person.”—Justin Buzzard, pastor and author of Date Your Wife

“In Judaism, there is a -concept that people have a b’shert, one person with whom they are meant to spend their life. Many believe that your b’shert is destined, but it can also be the right person you meet at the right place and time in your life.”—Rabbi Deborah K. Bravo

“Yes! My wife and I were friends a long while before we discovered we were soul mates—that couldn’t have happened without the divine. There’s no reason why good friends can’t be soul mates too. Think of David and Jonathan: ‘…the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul’ (1 Samuel 18:1). The word soul is used here for a reason.”—Rick Hamlin, author of Pray for Me