The Soul of Man and the Spirit of Man

By Bob Myhan

A reader recently asked, “What is a soul?” This is a difficult question to answer, in full, because the English word, “soul,” and its Hebrew and Greek equivalents are used in a variety of ways in the Bible. Sometimes, for example, the word, “soul,” means “being.” Compare the KJV and NKJV translations of Genesis 2:7.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man be­came a living soul. (KJV)

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man be­came a living being. (NKJV)

In this verse, “soul” includes the body and “the breath of life” therein. Thus, there is a sense in which man IS a “living soul.” But there is also a sense in which man HAS a soul. Notice:

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:26)

Here, “soul” clearly refers to something man possesses. The Hebrew word is some­times used for lower creatures. It is even trans­lated “creature” in Gen. 1:20, 24.

The Greek word for “spirit” is also used in a variety of ways. For example:

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)

In this statement of Jesus to Nicodemus, the words, “wind” and “Spirit,” are both translated from the Greek word, “pneuma,” which, in some places, is also trans­lated “breath.”

A Distinction between Soul and Spirit

Either of these two words may refer to the inner man in contrast to the outer man but, when they are distin­guished, the "soul" is that part of the inner man that interfaces primarily with the physi­cal realm and the “spirit” is that part of the inner man that in­terfaces with the spiritual realm. Social rela­tionships are, primarily, the interfacing of souls whereas spiritual rela­tionships are the interfacing of spirits.

This distinction comes out in the following passages.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanc­tify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blame­less at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23)

Here, Paul implies that a human being is composed of “spirit, soul and body.” The spirit/soul unit is “the inward man” while the body is “the outward man.” (See also 2 Cor. 4:16.)

For the word of God is living and power­ful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divi­sion of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

The word of God “pierces even to the di­vision of soul and spirit.” Therefore, there is a division between them.

But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, an­other flesh of ani­mals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also ce­lestial bodies and terres­trial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is an­other. There is one glory of the sun, an­other glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from an­other star in glory. So also is the resurrec­tion of the dead. The body is sown in cor­ruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dis­honor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:35-44)

The word for "natural" in verse 44 is the adjective form of "psuche," from which we derive the word, “psyche.” It is the Greek word for "soul" in the New Testament. Thus, the word, “natural,” in this context, means, "of or pertaining to the soul."

The word for "spiritual" in verse 44 is the adjective form of "pneuma," which is the word most often translated "spirit" in the New Testament. Thus, in this life we have a body suited to our souls—to facilitate our inter­face with the physi­cal realm. But at the resurrec­tion, we will receive a body that is more suited to our spirits—to enhance our inter­face with the spiritual realm.

In spiritual matters, we now “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7) because we have only natural bodies and can “walk by sight” only in matters pertaining to the life that now is. But, in that which is to come, “faith will be­come sight” because we will then have spiri­tual bodies. .

Paul goes on to say,

And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam be­came a life-giving spirit. However, the spiri­tual is not first, but the natural, and after­ward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the sec­ond Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot in­herit the kingdom of God; nor does cor­ruption inherit incorruption. (1 Cor. 15:45-50)

From Adam we inherit, at birth, "a natural body" and “natural life.” But from Christ we re­ceive, at conversion, “spiritual life” and, at the resurrection, "a spiritual body." But it is not just the saved that will be given "a spiri­tual body" at the resurrection.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt. 10:28)

It is the "spiritual body" not the "natural body" that will be destroyed in hell. This is not extermination but removal "from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thess. 1:9). Thus, though the lost will receive a spiritual body at the resurrection they will not receive spiritual life but, rather, spiritual death (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29). &

The Deist’s Unloving Creator

By Bob Myhan

It has been mentioned in past articles that one who considers himself a “deist” accepts the reality of a creator but does not accept the God of the Bible as having a real, objective existence. The deist will even ridicule, yea blaspheme, some of the things God is reported to have done. He will go so far as to ridicule the idea that Jehovah is a God of love. But the deist cannot show any evidence whatsoever that his “creator” has any love for any of his creatures. Thus, the deist must believe in an unloving creator.

How, then, did an unloving creator create a being that has the capacity for love? The Creator of man must possess all man’s best characteristics. And, since man obvi­ously has the capacity for love, the Creator of man must also. But where is the evidence of any love on the part of the Creator, if He is not the God of the Bible?

How can a loving God allow such men as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., Jeffrey Dahmer and Eric Robert Rudolph to exist, often eluding au­thorities for years? The Bible answers this question. God has given to man the freedom to choose whether or not to do the right thing, has given him a moral stan­dard by which to determine what is right and will one day hold him accountable for how he has conducted himself (2 Cor. 5:10).

Men such as those named above may have bro­ken the law but they have done nothing morally wrong, if the Creator is not the God of the Bible. Nor may they be judged—by a deist—to have been immoral. Indeed, a deist can make no moral judgments because he has no moral standard.

It is sometimes argued that the God of the Bible cannot be a God of love because He ordered the massacre of entire nations, including innocent children. But the deist cannot deny that the Creator is responsible for mass kill­ings. He allows—perhaps even causes—tornadoes, hurricanes, earth­quakes and other natural disasters to de­stroy hun­dreds, yea, thousands at a time, including innocent children.

It is also argued that a God of love would not have created man knowing that the ma­jority of mankind would reject Him and be lost forever. But this, of course, no man can know and only a willfully ignorant man would argue. For the God of the Bible has warned man time and again of the consequences of living a life of disobedience. And only a fool would not heed those warnings. &