Bible Question: what is your soul |
Bible Answer: Hi, God's Girl... Welcome to the forum! That's a good question. Some of what we see in the Scripture might be open to interpretation. I have seen some good arguments that human beings can be divided into three components (this is called a trichotomy): body, soul, and spirit. Others argue that humans are composed of two parts (this is called a dichotomy): body and spirit (cf Psalm 42:6; Matthew 20:28). Some passages seem to set spirit and soul as differing components (cf Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:22). For completeness sake there are some people -- sorry, I don't have the percentages! -- who deny that man has any components at all (this position is called modalism) -- but I don't think that Scripture supports this perspective at all. The trichotomy view is certainly in keeping with Greek thinking. Nonetheless, there appears to be a distinction in Hebrew, as well. Consequently, we should not be surprised to see some of these perspectives coloring the language of Scripture based on the cultural/historical context of the peoples to whom the particular writings were addressed. To make a quicker answer to your question: the soul could simply be life -- which is what the Hebrew implies. On the other hand, the soul might well be the seat of the emotions and thought. Of course, like any effort to divide and categorize, I think it is important to use caution. Even with introspection we cannot distinguish where our bodies end and our minds begin. Perhaps that is even the point of Hebrews 4:12 (see post #196995) -- what can cut so precisely as to divide soul from spirit? Nothing but the Word! In Him, Doc |