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NASB | Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 22:37 And Jesus replied to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' [Deut 6:5] |
Bible Question: I have heard it said many times by Christians that the 'soul' is the 'mind, will, and emotions' ... if this is so, then why does the Bible say (Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37) 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' - clearly differentiating between the soul and the mind? |
Bible Answer: When it comes to the make up of man there are two basic views: the view that the Bible teaches that man is made up of two parts, the body and that which God breathed into man variously called soul, spirit, mind, heart, inner man, etc; and the view that the Bible teaches that man is three parts, body, soul and spirit. Those that view man as a trichotomy use such verses as the one under which this thread is posted and 1 Thess 5:23. 1 Thess 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those that see the biblical view as a dichotomy find support in such verses as Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. and Matt 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell...." I think the important thing to remember in terms of explaining the Gospel to our neighbors in our humanistic/atheistic culture is that man is the image of God his Creator. Our culture views man as only a sophisticated biological machine pschologically conditioned by its environment, and not the wonderfully significant creature that he is, capable to love, beauty and morality. Our culture sees man as only a body. The inner man is only an illusion, the product of evolution. The mind, spirit, soul, or thought is really only an electro-chemical process of the brain. Real thought, real spirit or mind is an illusion for the truly modern man. I'm not saying that it's not important to see what the Bible really says about the dichotomy/trichotomy issue, just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Peace, |