Posted by Phil on January 19, 1999 at 11:10:06:
In Reply to: man: a tripartite being!!! posted by sam on January 18, 1999 at 01:56:28:
many believers who love the Lord Jesus and seek to grow in Him don't have
any idea of the nature of their being: that they were created tripartite, spirit and
soul and body.
Thanks, Sam, for your comments. This could certainly be a good topic for
discussion.
From what I've read on this, it seems that Paul uses the term spirit (pneuma)
rather loosely, referring sometimes to the human spirit, at others to the spirit of
God. His use of soul (psyche) is also somewhat ambiguous, referring in one place
to mind, in another to psyche.
The prevailing view in Catholicism is that we are body and soul, and that the
soul is spiritual, or immaterial and disposed toward transcendence. The soul is
what makes the body live; the body, in this sense, is the physical manifestation
of soul, so that body and soul make up a unity which is broken at death. The
soul, in this sense, also contains the mind/psyche, and its subjective dimensions
(ego, self, as well).
Anyway, it seems to me that so long as one affirms the fundamental unity of
the human physical and spiritual dimensions, there are plenty of ways to
conceptualize this. The Hindu notion of multiple interpenetrating bodies is one
that I find remarkably parallel to the Christian view, although the language is
somewhat different.
Peace,
Phil