DISPUTED DOCTRINES -- Chapter Eighteen

QUESTION OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF MAN'S BEING

On this question there are two schools of thought. One holds that man is composed of three parts, body, soul, and spirit; and distinguishes soul and spirit as two distinct immaterial essences. The other holds that man is composed of two parts, body and soul or spirit; and maintains that soul and spirit are one and the same essence distinguished only as expressions of different relations. Theologians, even in our Lutheran Church, are divided on this subject.

Trichotomists, those who teach that man's nature is composed of three parts, endeavor to substantiate their position by appeal to certain passages of Scripture in which each of these is mentioned, as e. g., when Paul says, "And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 5: 23). And again when we read in Heb. 4:12, "Piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit"; and in the Magnificat, "My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

But the connection in which these passages stand shows that they are not intended to teach that man has three parts to his nature or that there is an essential distinction between a man's soul and his spirit; but only to show that there is a permeation of man's nature or a filling of it with that of which the context speaks.

Other passages show that soul and spirit are used synonymously. In Matt. 10: 28 Christ warns, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." And while it is said in Matt. 27: 50, "And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit," He says (Matt. 20:28) in prophesying of this event, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life (psyche, soul) a ransom for many." Passages could be multiplied to show that soul and spirit are applied in the Scriptures to the one and self-same immaterial substance of man. The Trichotomist theory is therefore unsatisfactory.

The theory of the Dichotomists, who bold that man is composed of only two parts, viz., body and soul or spirit, is Biblical. It agrees with the account of man's creation as given in Gen. 5: 9, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Here two parts of man, and only two, are mentioned -body and soul. Never are soul and spirit used together in the Scriptures to describe the death of a man; but one or the other is used indifferently.

It is true, however, that there is a distinction of relations between these in their application to the immaterial part of man's nature. Soul always carries with it a reference, past, present, or future, to the body. God is spoken of as Spirit, never as Soul. The angels are also called spirits, but never souls. Another distinction is that soul is used when the description pertains to earthly relations and spirit when the reference is to higher and heavenly relations; but both refer to the one and only immaterial part of man's being. Mind, which is used when intellectual considerations are had in view; and heart, where the emotions and affections are concerned, also designate this one single immaterial part of man's composite nature.

Dichotomy stands the test of Scripture: Trichotomy does not.

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