Bible Question:
A co-worker insists that a person's soul and spirit are different. I have always undertood these to be one in the same. Please no personal opinions - I am open to some solid scriptural evidence to back up either case. |
Bible Answer: Dear Dman1959, Scripture uses the word "soul" and "spirit" interchangeably. For example, in John 12:27, our Lord says, "now is my soul troubled." However, in a very similar context, in the next chapter, John tells us that Jesus was "troubled in spirit" (13:21). There are a number of places where it is used in Hebrew Parallelism. See, for example, Luke 1:46-47. Dead people are both spoken of as "spirits" (Hebrew 12:23; 1 Peter 3:19) and "souls" (Revelation 6:9; 20:4). At death, Scripture says either that the "soul" departs or the "spirit" departs (cf Genesis 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21; Isaiah 53:12; Psalm 31:5; Luke 23:46; Ecclesiastes 12:7; John 19:30; Acts 7:59; etc.). The Scripture says that the "soul" can sin or the "spirit" can sin (cf 1 Peter 1:22; Revelation 18:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 7:34; etc.). Indeed, everything that the soul is said to do, the spirit is also said to do and vice versa. This includes thinking, feeling, choosing, and worshiping. Now, to continue the discussion, we get into the debate between the trichotomy versus the dichotomy of man. I can explain why I am a dichotomist, but then I'd be wandering off into stuff that you might deem a personal opinion. I think you might shut me down before I could explain the Scriptural foundations for those opinions. Therefore, I'll leave you with the thoughts above in hopes that you will find them of some value. In Him, Doc |