Greek dualism? What exactly is this?

[convicted1]

I have been reading on this a bit, and being a dichotomist, I have always viewed the soul and body as being seperate, with the soul coming from God. I got an email from a precious Brother who was showing me something. I then, through searching, stumbled upon Greek Dualism. Is man a trichotomist being with the body and soul coming at conception, and God giving us a spirit that allows us to breathe, have emotions, etc? Ecc. 12:7 does state that the spirit goes back to God who gave it. So is this the scriptural concept that the soul and body are together at conception, with the spirit coming from Him that makes us breathe, feel, hunger, etc? Please help me.

Was what I was believing as the soul and body being seperate(soul making the body functional in breathing, heart beating, etc) Greek Dualism?

 

[Inspector Javert]

You are going to get different Points of View on this, and I don't think it serves to be dogmatic, but I am a tri-chotomist. I view the Body and Soul as existing at birth and that the "soul" is what you might call the "mind" (or at least that the "mind" is part of what we call the "soul" and is the source of emotions and will and thought and awareness etc...

I would argue that (at least the "higher forms") of animals have a "soul" to varying degrees.

The "Spirit" is something I believe is possessed only by mankind and is the essential thing which explains the Imago Dei. And it is that, and that alone which gives us an eternal life.

However, I do not think that a "dichotomist" view, which, as far as I can tell, is little more than classifying the "Spirit" and "Soul" as being one and the same is heretical in any way. It doesn't (to me) seem to be an issue of Orthodoxy.

 

[convicted1]

What I am asking is the body and soul intertwined....iow, you can't have one w/o the other? Is the soul marred simultaneously with the body in Adam's fall, and we suffer from it? I have been a dichotomist, but I see where the "tri" has merit.

 

[Aaron]

What I am asking is the body and soul intertwined....iow, you can't have one w/o the other? Is the soul marred simultaneously with the body in Adam's fall, and we suffer from it? I have been a dichotomist, but I see where the "tri" has merit.

Very simply, from a biblical point of view, the soul (or spirit if you prefer) is who you are, and the body is, more or less, a tabernacle for the soul. Your soul may be dispatched if one removes your head and kills your body, but your soul "lives" on. The word "lives" is in quotes, because whether or not you pass into eternal death or eternal life, you are conscious, either weeping, wailing and "knashing your teeth," or in fulness of joy.

 

[preacher4truth]

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

 

[Inspector Javert]

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Reading your post....it makes me think that this passage is differentiating between soul and spirit. Interesting. I've been quoting and using this passage for years as an obvious testament to the power of God's word...but even though I've known it for years, I've never seen that OBVIOUS statement!

Inexhaustible treasure the Scriptures are. Nice post P4T. :wavey:

 

[12strings]

I have been reading on this a bit, and being a dichotomist, I have always viewed the soul and body as being seperate, with the soul coming from God. I got an email from a precious Brother who was showing me something. I then, through searching, stumbled upon Greek Dualism. Is man a trichotomist being with the body and soul coming at conception, and God giving us a spirit that allows us to breathe, have emotions, etc? Ecc. 12:7 does state that the spirit goes back to God who gave it. So is this the scriptural concept that the soul and body are together at conception, with the spirit coming from Him that makes us breathe, feel, hunger, etc? Please help me.

Was what I was believing as the soul and body being seperate(soul making the body functional in breathing, heart beating, etc) Greek Dualism?

I am a firmly commited dualist (as oppose to tri)...I simply don't think there is any discernable scriptural difference between the soul & Spirit in function...throughout scriptures, you can find a soul doing the same things the spirit does, and vise-versa. I'm convinced that they are 2 words for the same thing. I believe when a believer dies, the immaterial part goes to God, the material part stays put...for a time, untill the ultimate resurection...

...which is why I think even dualism can get carried too far... we are whole beings, and in the intermediat time between our death, and the return of Christ, we are in an un-natural, separated state that God recognizes and remedies at the new creation.

 

[Aaron]

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

What are thoughts without intents, joints without marrow, and soul without spirit?

Soul and spirit are synonymous.

 

[12strings]

Could someone show in scriptures something that either the soul (or spirit) does that the other does not do? I think you will have trouble.

(For further reading on this, see Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology).

 

[DrJamesAch]

Reading your post....it makes me think that this passage is differentiating between soul and spirit. Interesting. I've been quoting and using this passage for years as an obvious testament to the power of God's word...but even though I've known it for years, I've never seen that OBVIOUS statement!

Inexhaustible treasure the Scriptures are. Nice post P4T. :wavey:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thess 5:23

Also in Hebrews 4:12, there are 3 parts in that as well, not only the dividing of soul and spirit, but the body ("joints and marrow").

 

[Van]

Spot On

I am a firmly committed dualist (as oppose to tri)...I simply don't think there is any discernible scriptural difference between the soul & Spirit in function...throughout scriptures, you can find a soul doing the same things the spirit does, and vise-versa. I'm convinced that they are 2 words for the same thing. I believe when a believer dies, the immaterial part goes to God, the material part stays put...for a time, until the ultimate resurrection...

...which is why I think even dualism can get carried too far... we are whole beings, and in the intermediate time between our death, and the return of Christ, we are in an un-natural, separated state that God recognizes and remedies at the new creation.

It would be a shame to pass up an opportunity to agree with a Calvinist. I think there is a slight difference between Spirit and Soul (with much overlap in scripture), but the way I see it, the Soul refers to the core attributes of the Spirit. When the Spirit departs, the body dies, thus the soul goes with the Spirit, and thus seems to be part of the Spirit, referring to the core attributes.