Human beings, male and female, are tripartite beings. We consist of spirit, soul and body. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23. All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise stated).

The passage the second questioner referenced is 2 Corinthians 4:16: “Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.”

The distinction between soul and spirit is notoriously difficult and has been in some quarters contentiously divisive. The writer of Hebrews speaks of the power and discernment of the word of God in these terms: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Since the word of God is noted for “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit”, it is to the word of God that we shall go.

"Soul"

In some biblical passages “soul” (Hebrew, nephesh; Greek, psyche) is the part of us that lives on after death. For example, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). In describing the death of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, Scripture says, “And as her soul was departing (for she was dying)” (Genesis 35:18).

Often “soul” just means “life,” referring to physical life. The good shepherd lays down his life (psyche) for the sheep (John 10:11). Jesus gives his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Peter promises to lay down his life for Jesus (John 13:37-38). Epaphroditus “nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me” (Philippians 2:30).

That usage raises an interesting question concerning Mark 8:35-37: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” Does “forfeit his life (psyche)” refer to life in heaven or to physical life?

The “soul” is sometimes spoken of as the seat of emotions. “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn” (Job 14:22). The bride in Song of Solomon speaks of “the one whom my soul loves” (four times in 3:1-4). Jesus said to His disciples in the garden, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me" (Matthew 26:38). Simeon prophesied to Mary in the temple, “And a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:35).

In many passages one’s “soul” is what is “saved:” “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). We purify our souls by our obedience to the truth (1 Peter 1:22). “Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).

However, “soul” most frequently just means “a person.” “Eight souls were saved by water” (1 Peter 3:20, KJV) means there were eight persons on the ark. Newer versions translate “eight persons.” Similarly, “All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six” (Genesis 46:26, KJV). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20) means each person will die for his or her own sins, not as punishment for someone else’s sins. Those who responded on Pentecost were 3000 souls, that is, 3000 persons. “Every soul that does good” in Romans 2:11 means “every person who does good.”

“Soul” is used in place of the first person pronoun. Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” meaning “I magnify the Lord” (Luke 1:40).

Generally, then, rather than being described as having a soul, people are called souls.

The creation of man is described in these words, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul” (chai nephesh, Genesis 2:7).

The same expression, chai nephesh, is also found in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24 and elsewhere, and applied to animals generally. The fact that the King James Version translated chai nephesh as “living soul” for man in 1:26,ⁱ and as “living creatures” in the other passages referring to animal life has led to the widely accepted view that human beings are “souls” and the lower animals are not; but the Hebrew text does not support that view.

"Spirit"

While, as we have seen, “soul” is sometimes used for the “inner man,” the part of man that lives on after death, “spirit” (Hebrew, ruach; Greek pneuma) is by far the more usual word for that. At death, “The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). James tells us, “The body apart from the spirit is dead” (James 2:26). “And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’" Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, “And her spirit returned, and she got up at once” (Luke 8:55). Paul told the Corinthian church regarding the incestuous man, “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5).

Often “spirit” represents the mind or the attitude. Paul said, “My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there" (2 Corinthians 2:13). In describing the Holy Spirit as the One revealing the mind of God through the God-breathed speaking and writing of the apostles and prophets, Paul asks, “For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).

Mary’s song of praise popularly called the Magnificat uses “soul” and “spirit” as parallel: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). That further illustrates the difficulty of finding the difference in meaning between these two words. However, in other contexts they are distinguished from one another, as we have seen.

"Body"

Human beings consist of three-parts, spirit and soul and body, not just two (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The body can be spoken of as a “tent” or temporary dwelling place. “For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). And in 1 Corinthians 15, “the resurrection chapter,” Paul refers to our physical (phychikos) bodies in contrast to our spiritual (pneumatikos) bodies. Our physical bodies are perishable, dishonorable and weak; our spiritual bodies will be imperishable, glorious and powerful (15:42-44).

Revelation represents “the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne, crying ‘How long?’ before they would be avenged" (6:9-10). Paul says the Lord will bring with him those who are asleep in Jesus and the dead in Christ will be raised (1 Thessalonians 4:13), all of which assumes a reunion of body and soul.

While the body is the outer nature which is “wasting away,” housing the inner nature, which is “being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16), the body is also an integral part of man. After death comes resurrection. It is our body that specifically defines us as distinct from someone else.

The Pharisees believed in a resurrection, but their concept was more one of revivification: Those resurrected were as when they died, young, old, one-legged, however. That is why they could not answer the Saducees’ question concerning the woman with seven husbands. (It would not have presented a problem to the Jewish mind if it had been a man with seven wives, but a woman with seven husbands at the same time would have been inconceivable.)

Jesus disposed of that problem by asserting, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Paul says, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). In other words, our spiritual, resurrection bodies will not know hunger or sexual desire. In our incorruptible and glorious spiritual bodies, every imperfection, defect and physical need will be gone.

Consider Jesus’ argument with the Saducees proving resurrection. “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:31-32).

Jesus’ argument centers on two truths which the Sadducees would have understood and agreed to. One, God said, “I am,” not “I was,” the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He said that to Moses at the burning bush in Midian, several hundred years after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had died. And two, they would not have disagreed in principle with His statement, “God is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Those two things being true, the necessary conclusion is, “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still living.”

Jesus did not use the word “resurrection” in His syllogism refuting the Sadducees’ view, but the point He made forces the conclusion that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob not only are still living but also that they are still Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Greek philosophy touted the idea of “the immortality of the soul,” and many Christians still use that terminology, but “immortality of the soul” is very different from the Christian hope of resurrection. Greek philosophy, founded on dualism, saw the soul as the real essence of the person and the body as a prison house of the soul. At death the soul, being set free, merges into “cosmic life;” someone said, “like a drop of water falling into the ocean."

Obviously a drop of water falling in the ocean loses its separate identity. The distinction between the Greek concept of “immortality” and the biblical idea of “resurrection” is that in resurrection you will still be you and I will still be me. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We, therefore, can “recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). David can join his son that died (2 Samuel 12:23). We can be reunited with our loved ones who have been redeemed and have gone before. We will know them and they will know us.

Conclusion

"Soul” and “spirit” are frequently used interchangeably for the inner part of man.. “Soul” more frequently is used for the whole person. “Spirit” is the most common word for the part of man that lives on after physical death.

"Soul” is sometimes seen as the seat of the emotions and “spirit” as the mind or thinking/reasoning part. “Body” specifically points to identity.

When Paul was defending himself before the Jewish Council, he said, “It is with respect to the hope and the resurrecton of the dead that I am on trial” (Acts 23:6). “The hope and the resurrecton of the dead” remains every faithful Christian’s hope, guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself. Resurrection means you yourself and I myself can enjoy eternity with God and the Lord Jesus Christ Themselves!

(I am indebted to Dr. Jack Lewis in an unpublished manuscript, “The Nature of Man,” for much of the information on soul and spirit in this response. However, he is not responsible for the conclusions reached.)

- Dr. Cecil May, Dean Emeritus Faulkner University, 5345 Atlanta Highway, Montgomery, AL 36109 1. How does the soul (spiritual) relate to the body (physical)? (J.J.) 2. What is the difference between the soul of man and the spirit of man? The body, I presume, is “the outward man.” Is our soul or our spirit or both “the inward man”? (C.Mc.) <cmay@faulkner.edu>