How many parts are there to man? Everyone agrees that we have physical bodies. Most people (both Christians and non-Christians) sense that they also have an immaterial part – a “soul” that will live on after their bodies die.
But here the agreement ends. Some people believe that in addition to “body” and “soul” we have a third part, a “spirit” that most directly relates to God. The view that man is made of three parts (body, soul, and spirit) is called trichotomy. Though this has been a common view in popular evangelical Bible teaching, there are few scholarly defenses of it today. According to many trichotomists, man’s soul includes his intellect, his emotions, and his will. They maintain that all people have such a soul, and that the different elements of the soul can either serve God or yield to sin. They argue that man’s spirit is a higher faculty in man that comes alive when the person becomes a Christian. The spirit of a person then would be that part of him or her that most directly worships and prays to God.
Others have said that “spirit” is not a separate part of man, but simply another term for “soul,” and that both terms are used interchangeably in Scripture to talk about the immaterial part of man, the part that lives on after our bodies die. The view that man is made up of two parts (body and soul/spirit) is called dichotomy. Those who hold this view often agree that Scripture used the word spirit (Hebrew is ruach and Greek is pneuma) 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 spirit can be used.
Outside the realm of evangelical though we find yet another view, the idea that man cannot exist at all apart from a physical body, and therefore there can be no separate existence for any “soul” after the body dies (although this view can allow for the resurrection of the whole person at some future time). The view that man is only one element, and that his body is the person, is called monism. According to Monism, the scriptural terms soul and spirit are just other expressions for the “person” himself, or for the person’s “life.” This view has not generally been adapted by evangelical theologians because so many scriptural tests seem to clearly affirm that our souls or spirits live on after our bodies die.
But the other two views continue to be held in the Christian world today. Although dichotomy has been held more commonly through the history of the church and is far more common among evangelical scholars today, trichotomy has also had many supporters.
When we look at the usage of the biblical words translated “soul” (Hebrew is nephesh and Greek is psyche) and “spirit” (Hebrew is ruach and Greek is pneuma), it appears that they are sometimes used interchangeably. This interchangeability of terms also explains why people who have died and gone to heaven or hell can be called either “spirits” (Hebrews 12:23, “the spirits of just men made perfect”) or “souls” (Revelations 6:9, “the soul of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; and Revelations 20:4, “the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus”).
When Rachel dies, Scripture says, “Her soul was departing (for she died)” (Genesis 35:18). Elijah prays that the dead child’s “soul” would come into him again (1 Kings 17:21), and Isaiah predicts that the Servant of the Lord would “pour out his soul to death. In the New Testament God tells the rich fool, “This night your soul is required of you” (Luke 12:20). One the other hand, sometimes death is viewed as the returning of the spirit to God. David can pray, in words later quoted by Jesus on the cross, “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Psalms 31:5). At death, “the spirit returns to God who gave it”. In the New Testament, when Jesus was dying, “he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30), and likewise Stephen before dying prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).
Those who hold to trichotomy will usually agree that the “soul” can sin since they think that the soul includes the intellect, the emotions, and the will. The trichotomist, however, generally thinks of the “spirit” as purer than the soul, and, when renewed, as free from sin and responsive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This understanding is not really supported by the biblical test. When Paul encourages the Corinthians to cleanse themselves “from every defilement of body and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1), he clearly implies that there can be defilement (or sin) in our spirits. Similarly, he speaks of the unmarried woman who is concerned with how to be holy “in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34). The fact that “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit” (Proverbs 16:2) implies that it is possible for our spirits to be wrong in God’s sight. Finally, the fact that Scripture approves of one “who rules his spirit” (Proverbs 16:32) implies that our spirits are not simply the spiritually pure parts of our lives that are to be followed in all cases, but that they can have sinful desires or direction as well.
Those who advocate trichotomy face a difficult problem defining clearly just what the difference is between the soul and the spirit. If Scripture gave support to the idea that our spirit is the part of us that directly relates to God in worship and prayer, while the soul includes our intellect (thinking), our emotions (feelings), and our will (deciding), then trichotomists would have a strong case. However, Scripture appears not to allow such a distinction to be made.
On the other hand, the activities of thinking, feeling, and deciding things are not said to be done by our souls only. Our spirits can also experience emotions, for example, as when Paul’s “spirit was provoked within him” (Acts 17:16), or when Jesus was “troubled in spirit” (John 13:21). It is also to have a “downcast spirit,” which is the opposite of a “cheerful heart” (Proverbs 17:22).
Moreover, the function of knowing, perceiving, and thinking are also said to be done by our spirits. For instance, Mark speaks of Jesus “perceiving in his spirit” (Mark 2:8). When the Holy Spirit “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16), our spirits receive and understand that witness, which is certainly a function of knowing something. In fact, our spirits seem to know our thoughts quite deeply, for Paul asks, “What person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11).
The point of these verses is not to say that it is the spirit rather that the soul that feels and thinks things, but rather that “soul” and “spirit” are both terms used of the immaterial side of people generally, and it is difficult to see any real distinction between the use of the terms.
On the other hand, the trichotomist claim that our spirit is that element of us that relates most directly to God in worship and in prayer does not seem to be borne out by Scripture. We often read about our soul worshipping God, and relating to him in other kinds of spiritual activity. “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1). “For God alone my soul waits in silence” (Psalm 62:1). “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” (Psalm 103:1). “Praise the LORD, O my soul!” (Psalm 146:1). “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46).
These passages indicate that our souls can worship God, praise him, and give thanks to him. Our souls can pray to God, as Hannah implies when she says, “I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:15). In fact, the great commandment is to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteurony 6:5). Our souls can long for God and thirst for him (Psalm 42:1 – 2), and can “hope in God” (Psalm 42:5). Our souls can rejoice and delight in God, for David says, “My soul shall rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his deliverance” (Psalm 35:9). The psalmist says, “My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times” (Psalm 119:20), and, “My soul keeps your testimonies; I loved them exceedingly” (Psalm 119:167). There seems to be no area of life or relationship to God in which Scripture says our spirits are active rather than our souls. Both terms are used to speak of all of the aspects of our relationship to God.
However, it would be wrong, in the light of these passages, to suggest that only our souls (or spirits) worship God, for our bodies are involved in worship as well. We are a unity of body and soul/spirit. Our physical brains think about God when we worship and when we love him with all of our mind (Mark 12:30). Moreover, the playing of musical instruments in praise to God is an act that involves our physical bodies as well as the physical materials of which the musical instruments are made. We worship him as whole persons.
Scripture does not seem to support any distinction between soul and spirit. There does not seem to be a satisfactory answer to the question that we may address to a trichotomist, “What can the spirit do that the soul cannot do? What can the soul do that the spirit cannot do?
Those who adopt the trichotomist position have appealed to a number of Scripture passages in support of it. Here are some of the most common ones used.
1 Thessalonians 5:23: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Does not this verse clearly speak of three parts to man?
Response: The phrase “your spirit and soul and body” is by itself inclusive. Paul could be simply piling up synonyms for emphasis, as is sometimes done elsewhere in Scripture. For example, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all of your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Does this mean that the soul is different from the mind or from the heart? The problem is even greater in Mark 12:30: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” If we go on the principle that such lists of terms tell us about more parts to man, then if we also add spirit to this list (and perhaps body as well), we would have five or six parts to man! But that is certainly a false conclusion. It is far better to understand Jesus as simply piling up roughly synonymous terms for emphasis to demonstrate that we must love God with all of our being.
Likewise, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul is not saying that soul and spirit are distinct entities, but simply that whatever our immaterial part is called, he wants God to continue to sanctify us wholly to the day of Christ.
Hebrews 4:12: “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intensions of the heart” If the sword of Scripture divides soul and spirit, then are these two separate parts of man?
Response: This verse, which talks about the Word of God “piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow,” is best understood in a way similar to 1 Thessalonians 5:23. The author is not saying that the Word of God can divide “soul from spirit,” but he is using a number of terms (soul, spirit, joints, marrow, thoughts and intensions of the heart) that speak of the deep inward parts of our being that are not hidden from the penetrating power of the Word of God. If we wish to call these our “soul,” then Scripture pierces into the midst of it and divides it and discovers its inmost intensions. If we wish to call this inmost nonphysical side of our being our “spirit,” then Scripture penetrates into the midst of it and divides it and knows its deepest intensions and thoughts. Or if we wish to think metaphorically of our inmost being as hidden in our joints and marrow, then we can think of Scripture being like a sword that divides our joints or that pierces deeply into our bones and even divides the marrow in the midst of the bones. In all of these cases the Word of God is so powerful that it will search out and expose all disobedience and lack of submission of God. In any case, soul and spirit are not thought of as separate parts; they are simply additional terms for our inmost being.
1 Corinthians 2:14 – 3:4: This passage speaks of different kinds of people, those who are “of the flesh” (1 Corinthians 3:1); those who are unspiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:14); and those who are spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:15). Do not these categories suggest that there are different sorts of people, the non-Christians who are “of the flesh”,” “unspiritual” Christians who follow the desires of their souls, and more mature Christians who follow the desires of their spirits? Would this not suggest that soul and spirit are different elements of our nature?
Response: Paul certainly distinguishes a person who is “natural” from the one that is “spiritual” in 1 Corinthians 2:14 – 3:4. But in this context “spiritual” seems to mean “influenced by the Holy Spirit,” since the entire passage is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing truth to believers. In this context, “spiritual” might be translated “Spiritual.” But the passage does not imply that Christians have a spirit whereas non-Christians do not, or that the spirit of a Christian is alive while the spirit of a non-Christian is not. Paul is not talking about different parts of man at all, but about coming under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:14: When Paul says, If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful”, is he not implying that his mind does something different from his spirit, and would this not support the trichotomist’s argument that our mind and our thinking are to be assigned to our souls, not to our spirit?
Response: When Paul says, “My spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful,” he means he does not understand the content of what he is praying. He does imply that there is a nonphysical component to his being, a “spirit” within him that can pray to God. But nothing in this verse suggests that he regards his spirit as different from his soul. Such a misunderstanding result only if it is assumed that “mind” is part of the soul – a triochotomist claim that, as we noted before, is very difficult to substantiate from Scripture. Paul probably could equally have said, “My soul prays but my mind is unfruitful.” The point is simply that there is a nonphysical element to our existence that can at times function apart from our conscious awareness of how it is functioning.
Although the arguments for trichotomy do have some force, none of them provide conclusive evidence that would overcome the wide testimony of Scripture showing that the terms soul and spirit are frequently interchangeable and in many cases synonymous.
Some trichotomists today have a tendency to adapt a related error that also was found in Greek philosophy – the idea that the material world, including our bodies, is essentially evil and sometimes to be escaped from. The danger is to say that the realm of the “spirit” is the only things that is really important, with a resultant depreciation of the value of our physical bodies as created by God and “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and therefore as something to be presented to God in service for him (Romans 12:1).
By contrast, if we hold to a view of dichotomy that upholds the overall unity of man, it will be much easier to avoid the error of depreciating the value of our intellects, emotions, or physical bodies. We will not think of our bodies as inherently evil or unimportant. Such a view of dichotomy within unity will also help us to remember that, in this life, there is a continual interaction between our body and our spirit, and that they affect each other: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).
Moreover, a healthy emphasis on dichotomy within an overall unity reminds us that Christians growth must include all aspects of our lives. We are continually to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). We are to be conform increasingly to the “desires of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:17), including an increase in godly emotions such as peace, joy, love, and so forth (Galatians 5:22).
Scripture is very clear that we do have a soul that is distinct from our physical bodies, which not only can function somewhat independently of our ordinary thought processes (1 Corinthians 14:14; Romans 8:16), but also, when we die, is able to go on consciously acting and relating to God apart from our physical bodies. Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43), even though, for both of them, their physical bodies were soon to die. When Stephen was dying, he knew he would immediately pass into the presence of the Lord, for he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (acts 7:59). Paul does not fear death, for he says, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23). He contrasts that with remaining in this life, which he calls “to remain in the flesh” (Philippians 1:24). In fact, he says, “We would rather be away from the body and be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8), indicating a confidence that if he were to die physically his spirit would go into the Lord’s presence and there enjoy fellowship with the Lord at once. The book of Revelation reminds us that “the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (Revelation 6:9) are in heaven and are able to cry out to God to bring justice on the earth (Revelation 6:10).
Therefore, although we must agree that, in this life, Scripture views us as a unity in which body and spirit act together as one person, nonetheless, there will be a time between our death and the day Christ returns when our spirits will be temporarily existing apart from our physical bodies.