Scripture teaches that a human has both an earthly element and a spiritual element. The earthly element is our physical makeup and something we share with the lower animals. The spiritual element relates to what the Bible refers to as our soul and/or our spirit.
There are two main theological opinions with regards to soul and spirit. The dichotomist view is that soul and spirit refer to the same thing and that a person therefore consists of two elements: a body and a soul/spirit. The trichotomist view is that the soul and spirit are different and that a person therefore consists of three elements, a body, a soul, and a spirit.
The dichotomist view is supported by scriptural passages that in some places refer to people as consisting of a body and soul and other places referring to a body and spirit. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul” (Mt 10:28). “[A]bsent in body but present in spirit” (1 Cor 5:3). It is also supported where death is sometimes referred to as giving up the soul and sometimes as giving up the spirit. “It came about as her soul was departing (for she died)” (Gn 35:18). “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46).
The trichotomist view is supported by several passages that refer to both soul and spirit. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete” (1 Th 5:23). “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit” (Heb 4:12).
The dichotomy and trichotomy views can be largely understood as a matter of definition. From a dichotomy perspective, soul and spirit both refer to the entire spiritual aspect of man. From a trichotomy perspective, soul and spirit together constitute the entire spiritual aspect of man. For the remainder of this section, soul will be used in the dichotomist sense to refer to the entire spiritual aspect of man.
If a person consists of a body and a soul, the question arises as to how and when the soul is created. The dominant views on this issue are referred to as traducianism and creationism. Traducianism holds that souls are transmitted from parents to children just as genetic makeup is transmitted from parents to children. Creationism holds that God creates a new soul for each new person, typically understood to be at conception. Traducianism offers an easy explanation of the transmission of moral and spiritual depravity to each new generation, but it is problematic in that Christ’s human nature would be tainted with inherited sin. Creationism avoids the Christological difficulties of traducianism but puts God in the role of creating pure and sin-free souls and then corrupting them by combining them with sinful bodies. Louis Berkhof tends to prefer creationism, admits that it does not solve all difficulties, and writes, “Caution is required in speaking on the subject. It must be admitted that the arguments on both sides are rather well balanced.”[i]
[Next: Man as the Image of God]
[i] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Eastford, CT: Martino Fine Books, 1941: 200.
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