The Immaterial Aspect of Humanity

Binoy Samuel. 

 

Material behavior is based on immaterial choices and responses. Just as people have physical characteristics, so they have characteristic personalities. So, there is more to us than just a body. What immaterial aspects, humanity consists of is a difficult question.

 

Man is like a diamond with many facets. These facets are not separate entities (i.e., they function independently, not relative to other things); rather they are reflections of various aspects of the whole piece. They may serve similar or overlapping functions, yet they are distinguishable. What we see in the scripture is an emphasis on the individual’s relationship to God as a whole creature, even where more specific words may be found. The Scripture also shows man as relational beings. We are rational beings.  We seek to know and understand ourselves and our environment in the context of life (creation) around us.

 

Are we then made up of two parts or three? 

 

Trichotomy vs. Dichotomy

 

The trichotomous theory has been summarized as follows:

“This theory holds that man consists of three distinct elements, body, soul, and spirit. The body is material part of our constitution; the soul is the principle of animal life; and the spirit is the principle of our rational life.”[1]       

 

Those who hold this view consider the spirit superior to the soul, and the spirit and soul superior to the body. The soul is seen as a lower power consisting of man’s imagination, memory, and understanding; the spirit is a higher power, consisting of reason, conscience, and will. The body is seen as world-conscious, the soul as self-conscious, and the spirit as God-conscious.

 

The two Scriptures that are most frequently cited in defense of this position are I Thessalonians 5:23, I Corinthians 2:14 – 3:4 [natural (fleshly), carnal (soulish), spiritual (spiritual)] and Hebrews 4:12 [distinction between soul and spirit], each of which seem to distinguish between soul and spirit as separate aspects of mankind’s immaterial nature.

 

The dichotomous theory has been summarized as follows:

“...man is made up of two parts (body and soul/spirit … Scripture uses the word spirit more frequently when referring to our relationship to God, but such usage is not uniform, and the word soul is also used in all the ways that spirit can be used.”[2]

 

“The dichotomous theory maintains that it is proper to speak of only two parts, material and immaterial, and that the immaterial part may be spoken of as the “soul” or the “spirit.”” [3]

 

Hodge cites Luke 1:46 – 47 and Philippians 1:27 in support of this position, which seems to use the terms “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably.

 

In some passages the term “spirit” is used to indicate the entire immaterial part of man (I Cor. 5:3; 6:17; 7:34; James 2:26), and in other passages the term “soul” is used of the entire immaterial part of man (Matt. 10:28; I Peter 2:11). “Soul” and “spirit” seem to be used interchangeably in Luke 1:46 – 47 and Genesis 41:8 and Psalm 42:6.

 

In light of such passages, do we consist of two parts or three? Theissen suggests a compromise by saying that we have two parts, material and immaterial, and that the immaterial part is made up of two parts, soul and spirit. The fact of the matter is that it is more complex than even that! The terms are neither interchangeable nor distinct. The partially overlapping fields of meaning in the usage of such terms as “soul,” “spirit,” “heart,” and “mind” demonstrate that they may be distinguished from one another but not to the extent that one aspect may be isolated from the others.