Personality without Corporeality

In The Ching Ming Festival (1), I referred to two biblical passages to show that Samuel and Moses retained their personal identities even though they had died and were without their bodies. Here is the relevant portion of that article:

For example, Samuel appeared as Samuel to Saul after death but before the resurrection, and Moses likewise appeared as Moses to Christ, implying that personal identity is associated with the incorporeal soul without a necessary connection to the body. Then, Jesus said that we should not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul, as if the two are different and separate, and that the soul is more important. (See Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4–5; 1 Corinthians 5:3, 7:34; James 2:26.)

There was a question about whether these two passages are applicable.

That is, when King Saul went to the witch to conjure Samuel, it was said that she had a "familiar spirit." So it is assumed by some that she did not really have the ability to conjure up the dead, but that when she appeared to communicate with the dead, she was only communicating with this familiar spirit. Thus the question is whether it was really Samuel who appeared.

Then, some people think that the Bible never said that Moses really died, and so we do not know for sure whether he soul was ever separated from his body, or whether he was taken up like Enoch and Elijah.

The following is the response that I sent out in an email:

Actually, the Bible itself says that it was Samuel who appeared. Read the account in 1 Samuel 28. We have no reason to believe that it was not Samuel that appeared.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"

The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?"

The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground."

"What does he look like?" he asked.

"An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said.

Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"

"I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."

Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors — to David. Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."

Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night. (v. 12–20)