Soul

If there is one truth that we need to know, it is the fact that this is one topic that is not easy to explain. Whereas, it is easy to distinguish the body from the spirit and soul, the difference between soul and spirit is not given in the Bible. This has made the topic a matter of much human conjectures. The foundational idea behind the three terms is found at the creation of mankind. The Bible says,

 “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.” (Gen. 2:7 KJV).

Here, we see that the physical body of human which was formed from the soil of the ground was lifeless like a corpse. It was the breath of God that put life into the lifeless body and made it a living soul, which means a living person or being. We see here this simple equation:

BODY + SPIRIT = SOUL (LIVING BEING).

This basic idea of the three terms runs all through the Bible. There are, however, two verses of the Bible that have stated that the human being is made up of three parts – spirit, soul, and body. They are Heb. 4:12 and 1 Thes. 5:23. This has led to the development of two schools of thought:

 Dichotomy: This is the view that the human being is made up of two parts – the material or physicalpart called the body, and the immaterial or non-physical part called the soul or spirit. This school of thought believes that soul and spirit are interchangeably used for the same thing. There are in fact many scriptures that support this view.

Trichotomy: This is the view that a human being is made up of three parts – the body, soul and spirit; where the spirit and soul are two different entities. Those who hold this view define the three partssomewhat like this:

The body is said to be the physical part of the human being that uses the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch to communicate with the physical realm. This is the part of the human that is composed of flesh and bones and it is the part that poses no difficulty in identifying.

The soul (Hebrew: nephesh; Greek: psuche)according to trichotomists,is that part of the human being which perceives things in the psychological realm. With our soul we think, reason, consider, remember, and wonder. With it we experience emotions like happiness, love, sorrow, fear, anger, relief, compassion, et al. It is said in other words to be the source of our personality, judgment of things, intellect, hate, and love.

The spirit (Hebrew: ruakh; Greek: pneuma)is said to be the part with which the human connects with God and covers such things as faith, trust, worship. The spirit is that part of the human being that needs regeneration in a person who does not know God.

Although teachers have defined the soul as the centre of human emotions, the Bible has in many texts given the spirit as the centre of emotions. The spirit has been said to be overwhelmed (Psa. 77:3; 142:3; 143:4). Anger is also said to be in the spirit (Eccl. 7:9). The spirit can be grieved, that is, made sad (Isa. 54:6; Dan. 7:15; Eph. 4:30) or troubled (Dan. 2:1,3). A person can have a haughty spirit (Prov. 16:18) or humble in spirit (Prov. 29:23) or have a contrite spirit (Isa. 66:2). All these are issues associated with a person’s emotions or personality. The Bible also says that we understand things in our spirit (Job 32:8). This means that intellect is also a function of the human spirit. We see therefore that, whereas our teachers want us to believe that the soul is the source of intellect, emotions, personality, all these are also said to be functions of the human spirit. It is evident therefore that soul and spirit have been frequently used to mean the same thing.

Any Difference between the spirit and the soul?

Those who hold the trichotomist view derive their belief from two verses of the Bible which are:

 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12 NKJV).

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thes. 5:23 NKJV).

While I see no reason to disprove the trichotomist notion in the two verses, I have not seen any strong biblical support for it. It is my opinion that Paul may have meant something quite different from what we read in the English versions of the Bible. What has been seen plainly in the Bible is that soul and spirit have been used interchangeably. A few examples are given here.

• The Bible says that, at death, the human body returns to the ground from which it was formed, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Gen. 3:19; Job 34:14-15; Eccl. 12:7). At the point of death Jesus committed His spirit to the hands of God (Luke 23:46). Stephen did the same at the time of his martyrdom (Acts 7:59). But in Rev. 6:9 John saw the souls of martyrs crying to God for vengeance. Coupled with this are the words of Jesus Christ which are, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28 NIV; emphases added throughout). We see in these passages that the spirit which God has put in humans (Zech. 12:1), which no man can kill because it is invisible and incorporeal, and which goes to God at death has been interchangeably called spirit and soul.
• Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, (Luke 1:46-47 NIV; cf. Isa. 57:16). Here, the favoured lady used soul and spirit as synonymous parallelism which is very common in Jewish communication.
• In James 5:20 the Bible talks of the salvation of the soul, while in 1 Cor. 5:5 it speaks of salvation of the spirit.
• Trichotomists say the soul is the centre of emotions, will, mind, intellect, personality. But we have seen from many biblical texts that these are said to be functions of the spirit. The Israelites were said to have made God’s spirit angryto the point that God turned to be their enemy and fought against them (Isa. 63:10). They also made Moses so angry at the waters of Meribah that he spoke rashly with his lips (Psa. 106:32-33). They angered not his soul but his spirit. Hannah had a sorrowful spirit (1 Sam. 1:15). Ahab had sadness in his spirit (1 King 21:5). The wisdom and wealth of Solomon overwhelmed the spirit of the Queen of Sheba (1 King 10:5). It is the spirit that gets troubled or grows faint (Job 21:4).
• We see also Jesus Christ saying in John 10:17 of laying down His life (Greek: psuche, the word for soul). But coming to John 19:30, we see Him giving up His spirit (Greek: pneuma). Luke said in Luke 23:46 that He had committed His spirit into the hands of the Father before His  life leftHis body.

We see from these passages that “soul” and “spirit” have been interchangeably used to mean life. It is therefore seen that no definite distinction is made between the spirit and the soul in the Bible. Therefore, the definitions of the spirit and soul by theologians can be accepted as sheer guesswork. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2003 Edition) says, “Though some interpreters appeal to Heb. 4:12 and 1 Thes. 5:23 in an attempt to distinguish these two components, the vast majority of texts demonstrate that they are not distinct. The NT [New Testament] does not make a fundamental distinction between soul and spirit in the person but sees them as interchangeable.” – “Soul,” page 1523, words in square brackets added by me.

Conclusion

While it is easy to know of  human as made up of the physical and nonphysical components, it is not easy seeing any difference between a human spirit and soul. While I accept that the conjunction “and” (Greek: kai) used between spirit, soul and body in 1 Thes. 5:23 means the terms represent three entities, I make bold to say that the Bible has not provided any clear distinction between spirit and soul. WhatI have seen in the majority of Bible passages is that the word “soul” has varied meanings, including its use as a synonym for “spirit.” Whatever Paul may mean in 1 Thes. 5:23, his prayer is that we present our whole life to God to be completely sanctified. This is somewhat similar to Christ’s words which are:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30 NKJV).

Here, the Lord does not mean that man is composed of four entities but that we should love God with all of our being, physical, psychological or spiritual. The same way, a Christian is expected to dedicate his/her entire being to God.

There may be a subtle difference between a person’s spirit and soul. But this difference is not distinctively defined in the Bible. No one has been able to know the point at which the soul and the spirit meet or divide. Moreover, many of Paul’s writings have been misunderstood and therefore misinterpreted by men (2 Pet. 3:15-16). It is therefore not impossible that Paul did not intend to teach that the soul and the spirit of a person  are two distinct entities, one relating to the psychological composition of man and the other relating to his spiritual makeup. The teachers who have attempted to distinguish the psychological from the spiritual components of the human being have only further confused the subject than clarify it.

Conclusion

As clearly seen from the Bible, at times, the human being is called a soul (Gen. 2:7; 12:5; 17:14; 46:18, 22, 25, 26, 27; Exod. 1:5; 12:4; 1 Pet. 3:20). Many other times, the soul and the spirit are used interchangeably. Therefore, we do not need to dissipate too much time and effort on the two verses in the Bible which seem to teach that mankind is trichotomous in nature.