The Essential Nature of Man
What does Scripture mean by “soul” and “spirit”?
Are they the same thing?
- Dichotomy – Man is made up of two parts: 1) Body and 2) Spirit/Soul
- Scripture seems to use “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably
- John 12:27, 13:21. Jesus is troubled in soul/spirit.
- Luke 1:46-47. Mary’s soul/spirit rejoices.
- Scripture says that the “soul” or “spirit” depart at death.
- Scripture never says that their “soul and spirit” departed at death.
- Man is either “body and soul” or “body and spirit”
- Matthew 10:28
- 1 Corinthians 5:5
- Scripture seems to use “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably
- Trichotomy – Man is made up of three parts 1) Body and 2) Spirit and 3) Soul
- Soul is our will, spirit is alive after conversion Romans 8:10
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23
- Hebrews 4:12
- Scripture speaks of an immaterial part of man that can exist without his body
- Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life
- Luke 23:43 – Paradise
- 2 Corinthians 5:8 – absent from the body…
- John 11:25, 6:51 – We are eternal
- Where do our souls come from?
- Creationism – God creates a new soul for each person and sends it to that person’s body before birth.
- Knit me together in my mother’s womb – Psalm 139:13
- Isaiah 42:5 – Look up
- Traducianism – The soul as well as the body of a child are inherited from the baby’s mother and father at the time of conception.
- Genesis 1:27 – made in the image of God, the ability to create other human beings like ourselves.
- We reproduce according to our ‘kinds” – Genesis 1:24 – by making souls.
- Explains how the sins of the parent are passed on to that of the child.
- Creationism – God creates a new soul for each person and sends it to that person’s body before birth.
- Application
- Are you aware that you are more than just a physical body, that you have a nonphysical part that might be a soul or spirit?
- At what times to you especially become aware of the existence of your spirit?
- When you are praying or singing praise to God, is it enough simply to sing or speak words, without being aware of what you are saying without really meaning it?
- If you really mean the words with your whole being, then what aspects of your person would be involved in genuine prayer and worship?
- Read 2 Corinthians 7:2. Since Scripture encourages us to grow in holiness in our bodies as well as our spirits, what specifically would it mean for you to be more obedient to that command?
- Are you aware that you are more than just a physical body, that you have a nonphysical part that might be a soul or spirit?
- Ontological Argument
- It is possible that a maximally great being exists.
- If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists in some possible world.
- If a maximally great being exists in some possible world, then it exists in every possible world.
- If a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world.
- If a maximally great being exists in the actual world, then a maximally great being exists.
- Therefore, a maximally great being exists.