On another thread I mentioned this subject, and it has been discussed before, but I thought it may be good to revisit the topic in a thread of its own.
There are three views of what constitutes man, and two Christian views
Tripartite is the understanding that man is composed of three parts - body, soul and spirit. This was the most common view in early Christianity to Martin Luther.
Bipartite is the understanding that man is composed of two parts - body and soul/ spirit (soul and spirit being the same thing). This was the view of John Calvin and R.C. Sproul.
The last view is that man has no spirit or soul but is merely an animal with what we often refer to as a soul or spirit being a human brain function. I am unaware of a Christian holding this view, however @Iconoclast (and perhaps a couple of others...I can't recall) have indicated that they know of Christians who believe man was made with just a body (a "lump of flesh" without a spirit). I don't doubt that some (perhaps many) may claim to be Christian and hold this view, but I doubt it is possible for a believer. I suspect he was referring to something like a Catholic by tradition rather than faith, but an open to correction.
I hold to a tripartite understanding. The reason is I view the soul as what constitutes who we are and the spirit as what Scripture often refers to as our "mind" or "heart" (I do not believe God giving us a new spirit means a new soul). I view our soul as our actual identity.
What positions do you hold and why?
There are three views of what constitutes man, and two Christian views
Tripartite is the understanding that man is composed of three parts - body, soul and spirit. This was the most common view in early Christianity to Martin Luther.
Bipartite is the understanding that man is composed of two parts - body and soul/ spirit (soul and spirit being the same thing). This was the view of John Calvin and R.C. Sproul.
The last view is that man has no spirit or soul but is merely an animal with what we often refer to as a soul or spirit being a human brain function. I am unaware of a Christian holding this view, however @Iconoclast (and perhaps a couple of others...I can't recall) have indicated that they know of Christians who believe man was made with just a body (a "lump of flesh" without a spirit). I don't doubt that some (perhaps many) may claim to be Christian and hold this view, but I doubt it is possible for a believer. I suspect he was referring to something like a Catholic by tradition rather than faith, but an open to correction.
I hold to a tripartite understanding. The reason is I view the soul as what constitutes who we are and the spirit as what Scripture often refers to as our "mind" or "heart" (I do not believe God giving us a new spirit means a new soul). I view our soul as our actual identity.
What positions do you hold and why?
