Here
are my tentative thoughts.
1.
The phrase “body, mind and soul” doesn't appear anywhere in the
Bible, but the following phrases do appear:
a.
You shall love the LORD your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
might. - Deuteronomy 6:5
b.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. -
Mark 12:30
c.
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
of the above quotes are from the ESV.
In
the Deuteronomy quote, the key Hebrew words are as follows:
| English | heart | soul | might |
| Hebrew | lebab | nephesh | mod |
| Strong's reference | H3824 | H5315 | H3966 |
The
reference numbers are from Strong's concordance which gives a number
to every Hebrew and Greek word in the Bible so that you can see if
two words are the same even if you don't read the original languages.
You can get this free with E-sword.
If
you also add in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old
Testament, the table looks like this:
| English | heart | soul | might |
| Hebrew | lebab | nephesh | mod |
| Strong's reference | H3824 | H5315 | H3966 |
| Septuagint | kardia | psyche | dynamis |
| Strong's reference | G2588 | G5590 | G1411 |
2. When Jesus quoted
Deuteronomy 6:5 in Mark 12:30 in response to the question, “Which
commandment is the most important of all?” he adds the word “mind”
(dianoia, G1271) to heart, soul and strength (strength translating
ischus, G2479). It's worth considering why he does this. We should
rule out the explanation that Jesus thought that the command given
through the Spirit in Deuteronomy was inadequate and needed to be
expanded, because that does not fit with Jesus' high view of
Scripture. A better explanation is that the Hebrew word “lebab”
could only fully be translated into first-century Greek by using the
two Greek words “kardia” (heart) and “dianoia” (mind). I can
see that there is an argument for saying that it is “nephesh”
rather than “kardia” that can only fully be translated with two
Greek words, given that “mind” comes immediately after “soul”
rather than “heart,” but for the reasons set out in point 3
below, I tentatively think that mind goes with heart rather than
soul.
Adding an extra row
for equivalent Greek phrases, the table looks like this.
| English | heart | soul | might |
| Hebrew | lebab | nephesh | mod |
| Strong's reference | H3824 | H5315 | H3966 |
| Septuagint | kardia | psyche | dynamis |
| Strong's reference | G2588 | G5590 | G1411 |
| Equivalent first-century Greek words | kardia and dianoia (heart and mind) | ischus (strength) |
3. I think that (i)
heart/mind, (ii) soul and (iii) strength/might in Deuteronomy and
Mark correspond with (i) spirit, (ii) soul and (iii) body in 1
Thessalonians 5:23. The reason I think this is simply because there
is a threefold list describing the whole person that has “psyche”
in the middle of it, just as there is in Deuteronomy, and so one
would expect that the word preceding “psyche” has something to do
with heart/mind and that the word following it has something to do
with might/strength, and this is in fact the case.
Spirit
corresponding to heart and mind
Putting the soul
aside for one moment, I think that Christians have to accept that a
human being consists of a spirit and a body. What I mean by spirit
and body here are illustrated by what happens to a Christian at
death. When a Christian dies, his body rots in the ground, but his
spirit goes to be with the Lord. The spirit that goes to be with the
Lord is the heart of the man, i.e. the centre of who he really is and
the spirit is not mindless, but can communicate with the Lord and
worship him.
Body
corresponding with strength
I
think it is self-evident that the body corresponds with might and
strength and that all of these terms are to do with our actions as
opposed to our thoughts/attitudes. If Deuteronomy just called on
people to love God with their heart and soul, one might come to the
conclusion that our actions don't matter very much and so the Lord
includes “might” in Deuteronomy which corresponds with “body”
in 1 Thessalonians.
The
table now starts to look like this.
| English | heart | soul | might |
| Hebrew | lebab | nephesh | mod |
| Strong's reference | H3824 | H5315 | H3966 |
| Septuagint | kardia | psyche | dynamis |
| Strong's reference | G2588 | G5590 | G1411 |
| Equivalent first-century Greek words | kardia and dianoia (heart and mind) | ischus (strength) | |
| Related words | pneuma (spirit) | soma (body) |
4.
Having put “soul” aside, we now need to return to it and consider
what it means. When I was looking into this, the meaning of “soul”
was what surprised me the most. I realised that the words translated
“soul” in our English translations (“nephesh” in Hebrew and
“psyche” in Greek) do not correspond to what most people mean
when they use the word “soul” in everyday conversation.
In
relation to human beings, “nephesh” first appears in Genesis
2:7 and is translated as “soul” in the King James Version:
“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.”
The
phrase “living soul” translates the Hebrew phrase, “chay
nephesh”.
However,
although this is the first time that “nephesh” is used in
relation to human beings, Genesis 2:7 is not its first occurrence; it
is used in Genesis 1:20 and 21 to refer to fish and in 1:24 to refer
to animals. In other words in Genesis 1 and 2, “soul”
|(“nephesh”) simply means a creature and “chay nephesh” means
a living creature. Therefore, it is not surprising that the ESV
translates Genesis 2:7 as follows:
“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
creature.”
It
seems clear from this that the way that “soul” is used in the
Bible (or at least in the verses considered above) is very different
from the way that “soul” is used in everyday current English.
In
the Bible, “soul” simply means a creature refers to human and
animal life. To lose your soul is simply to die and to save your soul
is simply to stay alive. Using the Bible's definition of “soul”
(as it appears in English translations) it makes no sense to ask if
an animal has a soul, because an animal is a soul.
However,
when “soul” is used in everyday current English, I think what is
meant is much closer to what the Bible means by “spirit”.
I
have not looked at every verse in the Bible that mentions “nephesh”
and “psyche”. Although “nephesh” refers to “every living
creature” (Genesis 2:19), when it comes to people, I have a
suspicion that it can also refer to one's mood or emotions (see Psalm
42:5) and that the meaning of the word developed a greater range of meaning over
the period during which the Old Testament was written, so that it has
a wider range of meaning in the Psalms than it has in Genesis.
Likewise, it wouldn't surprise me if the use of the word “psyche”
in the New Testament sometimes corresponds more closely to what it
meant in the Septuagint and at other times corresponds more closely
to the secular Greek conception of the soul. I need to look into this
further and my conclusions above may well need to be modified.
5.
So to answer the question posed on facebook, my tentative conclusion
is that each living human being, together with every other living
creature is a soul. Every human soul consists of a body and a
spirit. In our spirits, we worship God with our hearts/minds and with
our bodies with worship God with our strength/might through our
actions.
6.
There is at least one verse that doesn't fit very well with my
conclusion that the mind is linked to the heart and that both are
part of the spirit. In 1 Corinthians 14:14 Paul writes,
“If
I pray in a tongue, my spirit (pneuma) prays but my mind (nous) is
unfruitful,”
drawing
a distinction between the mind and the spirit. Although the word for
mind here, “nous” is different from the word for mind in Mark
12:30, “dianoia”, I don't think that this removes the challenge
to my conclusion. However, the fact that Paul distinguishes here
between mind and spirit does not necessarily mean that the mind is
not part of the spirit. I think it means that one can pray with the
spirit without praying with the mind, because the mind is not the
totality of the spirit, but when one prays with the mind a part of
one's spirit is involved, because the mind is located in the spirit.
7.
Everything I've said above are just my thoughts based on looking at
the Bible and Strong's concordance, which are freely available on
E-sword. I should probably go and read some proper articles on this
now!
I've looked at the all the references to "soul" (psyche) in the KJV New Testament. If, it is the case that the word is used consistently on every occurrence and if it also the case that "pscyhe" is only translated as "soul" in the KJV, the meaning of soul may well be "one's whole self". In Matthew 10:28, Jesus tells us not to fear those who can only kill the body but who cannot kill the soul, but to fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell. One could interpret this in a way so that there is a total contrast between body and soul, almost giving soul the same meaning that I have given to spirit above. If that is the case, then one has to conclude that the "psyche" is not used consistently throughout the Bible. However, another way to understand it, is that "soul" here means the whole of you, body and spirit and so Jesus is saying, "Do not fear those who can just kill your body, but cannot kill the whole of you, instead fear him who can destroy your body and the whole of you in hell." Clearly, once the body has been destroyed, the only thing that is left of the soul is the spirit and so for application purposes, the soul and the spirit can be used interchangeably at this point even though they still have different meanings.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that "soul" refers to that part of life that we share with the animals has given me a revised perspective on the place of sex and sexual desire.
ReplyDeleteSex is something that we share with the animals. Our sexual desire is animalistic, but God has called us to express our sexuality in a spiritual context. He has given sex a spiritual dimension for us. We need to be careful not to over-spiritualise sex. We need to be careful not to under-spiritualise sex. God calls us to use sex differently from the animals.
My thinking on this is shaped by Henry Scougal's comments in "The Life of God in the Soul of Man". (His reference to "soul" in the extract below should really be a reference to "spirit"
WHAT THE NATURAL LIFE IS.
Before I descend to a more particular consideration of that
divine life wherein true religion doth consist, it will perhaps be fit to speak a little of that natural or animal life which prevails
in those who are strangers to the other: and by this I
understand nothing else, but our inclination and propension
towards those things which are pleasing and acceptable to
nature; or self-love issuing forth and spreading itself into as
many branches as men have several appetites and
inclinations. The root and foundation of the animal life, I
reckon to be sense, taking it largely, as it is opposed unto
faith, and imports our perception and sensation of those
things that are either grateful or troublesome to us. Now these
animal affections, considered in themselves, and as they are
implanted in us by nature, are not vicious or blamable; nay,
they are instances of the wisdom of the Creator, furnishing his
creatures with such appetites as tend to the preservation and
welfare of their lives. These are instead of a law unto the brute
beasts, whereby they are directed towards the ends for which
they were made: but man being made for higher purposes,
and to be guided by more excellent laws, becomes guilty and
criminal when he is so far transported by the inclinations of
this lower life as to violate his duty, or neglect the higher and
more noble designs of his creation. Our natural affections are
not wholly to be extirpated and destroyed, but only to be
moderated and overruled by superior and more excellent
principle. In a word, the difference betwixt a religious and
wicked man is, that in the one divine life bears sway, in the
other the animal life doth prevail.
My thinking on this was also shaped by a song I heard on Spotify this morning which has the line in it, "I know you want it. But you're a good girl." - Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, which should be at least a 15 rating.
DeleteIf you want to do a bit more study you may find Roger Price's series on The Healthy Christian worthwhile. He discusses the differences in language and thought between modern English and ancient Hebrew and Greek. His core premise is from Genesis: Body + Spirit = Body + Spirit + Soul. I think you'd find it interesting. You can get the mp3's here:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/o6cltmk