Is MAN a Trinity?

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Rob_Pierce

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I have heard some people say that Man is a trinity of body, soul, and spirit.

I’ve looked for this teaching in the early church, and haven’t found any thing.

The earliest reference to this teaching is in the 19th Century Dispensationalists.

Is this an ancient Christian belief with Patristic support, or is in an innovation?

Thanks,

Rob
 
I would love to hear some pseudo-theology expert try to explain the difference between soul and spirit.
 
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Apologia100:
I would love to hear some pseudo-theology expert try to explain the difference between soul and spirit.
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I can’t speak authoritatively, my doctorate is in Church History, but I did minor in systematic theology, and I thinkfolks in the 19th century were looking for some kind of parallel between the Trinity and humanity. Since I didn’t minor in “pseud0-theology” I’ll only guess that in saying “Body, soul and spirit” they are referring to “Body, Soul and MIND” when they say “spirit” Anybody’s guess.
 
It seems to me that some translations blur the line between
pneuma, psuche, soma, nous, and cardia. That seems to put this kind of
“Man is a Trinity” teaching on shaky ground, at least from a Sola Scriptura perspective. I’ve heard some independent charismatic preachers make much hay over the difference between, say, soul (psuche) and heart (cardia), only to look the texts up in Strongs and see that psuche was translated as soul in proof-text-1 and as heart in proof-text-2.

From my googling, it seems that this sort of teaching was popular with a dispensationalist named Larkin, and with a man named Watchman Nee, whose theology seems to be suspect in some areas.

I haven’t found any patristic evidence for this theory, and it’s modern companions aren’t looking too good.

Rob
 
Are you saying that dispensationalist theology is suspect? Oh my, say it ain’t so. What will I do with all my “In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned” bumper stickers?
 
Scriptural reference to the trinitarian nature of man:

1Thes 5:23–Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(NKJ)

Apparently the division between spirit and soul is difficult, but doable:

Heb 4:12–For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(NKJ)

Actually, I would be surprised if man were not a trinity. God has put such a major trinitarian fingerprint in everything He did in creation of this universe; why not man as well?

DaveBj
 
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Apologia100:
I would love to hear some pseudo-theology expert try to explain the difference between soul and spirit.
Click to expand...
Likewise! I’ve heard the phrase “body, soul, and spirit” before, but from the viewpoint of classical philosophy, the soul *is * the spiritual component of man.

JimG
 
Rob Pierce:
I have heard some people say that Man is a trinity of body, soul, and spirit.
Click to expand...
How about this “MAN a Trinity” – I’ve been wondering a little myself. There do seem to be a lot of threes in our lives.

Normal Lifetime: Child, Young Adult, Parent

Relationships: my parents’ child, my spouse’s equal partner, parent of my children

Pregnancy: 1st, 2nd, 3rd trimesters – and it isn’t just the doctors who say so. I know from observing my wife that the trimesters do seem quite different from each other. And each trimester is made up of three months each (trinity inside a trinity).

Childhood: Diapers, Preschooler, In School

School: Elementary, Middle, High School

Work Life: Apprentice, Worker, Master (training others)

Our Mind: Will, Intellect, Conscience
 
You forgot an all-important one:

Barbeque: Marinade, Grill, Enjoy!!!
 
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DaveBj:
Actually, I would be surprised if man were not a trinity. God has put such a major trinitarian fingerprint in everything He did in creation of this universe; why not man as well?
Click to expand...
I am very intrigued by this. I have often thought of Man as (1) Self; (2) Expression/Image of Self; and (3) Relationship between the two of them.

What other “major trinitarian fingerprints” have been pointed out in the universe?
 
Additions to above post–my IP address got banned, and I had to get out of AOL and get back in. This banning of IP addresses is getting annoying.

The way I’ve heard it explained (human speculation, not from the Bible) is that the spirit is that part of man that is or should be God-aware, the soul is that part of man that is self-aware (mind, emotions, intellect), and the body is the “earth-suit” that the spirit and soul need to function in a physical universe. The spirit and soul stay together and are immortal; the body is mortal, but will be resurrected.

Other trinitarian aspects to the universe: universe = space, time, and matter (with energy being another form of matter); space = three dimensions of length, breadth, and depth; time = past, present, and future; matter = solid, liquid, and gas, etc.

DaveBj
 
I think I would prefer to use the word “tripartite” rather than “trinity”. That is having three parts to our makeup or what makes us human as opposed to being animals. To me it does not matter whether the Patristics taught the tripartite nature of man but whether the Bible teaches it? The verses above and many others seem to show that there is “distinction”.

One thing that I have observed about this subject is how often it is misquoted. Most people will almost always put the “body” first and the “spirit” last saying body, soul and spirit and yet Paul puts the “spirit” first and the body last saying spirit, soul and body. In my mind it shows that God is interested in the “whole” man and not just part of him.

Kevin
 
Thomas Merton, a Trappist Monk, has some incredibly insightful thoughts on the whole “Man as a Trinity” concept, in a book called “New Seeds of Contemplation”. There is too much for me to get into here, so check it out if you are really interested.
 
Another very good three (from Bishop Sheen):

Three stages in vocation:
  • A Sense of the holiness of God.
  • A profound sense of unworthiness.
  • Response – “Here I am, send me.”
A great example of this is the prophet Isaiah.
 
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Philologus:
I think I would prefer to use the word “tripartite” rather than “trinity”. That is having three parts to our makeup or what makes us human as opposed to being animals. To me it does not matter whether the Patristics taught the tripartite nature of man but whether the Bible teaches it? The verses above and many others seem to show that there is “distinction”.

One thing that I have observed about this subject is how often it is misquoted. Most people will almost always put the “body” first and the “spirit” last saying body, soul and spirit and yet Paul puts the “spirit” first and the body last saying spirit, soul and body. In my mind it shows that God is interested in the “whole” man and not just part of him.

Kevin
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Good point, and I agree. A human being is not three persons in total unity with each other, as the Holy Trinity is; he/she is one person, apparently made up of three constituent parts.

DaveBj
 
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DaveBj:
Good point, and I agree. A human being is not three persons in total unity with each other, as the Holy Trinity is; he/she is one person, apparently made up of three constituent parts.

DaveBj
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Dave, That’s it. We are one person, not three.

“Tripartite” would be better, since “Trinity” is a false analogy that might lead to modalism.

But Is it just three parts? Spirit, soul, body . . . and heart, mind, will, etc.?

Rob
 
A concordance will show that pneuma, translated as “spirit”, and psyche, translated as “soul”, have almost interchangeable meanings. Each literally mean “breath” or “wind” and are used figuratively as the animating principle in man. And throughout the NT they are used interchangeably.

The two verses cited that seem to distinguish them are probably just rhetorical emphasis on the spiritual side. Hebrews 4:12 is certainly the case, where “spirit and soul” (spirit) is contrasted with “joints and marrow” (flesh).

The “Trichotomy” of man is identified by the Church as an error, according to the Catholic Enclyclopedia entry on Soul:
The Gospel language is popular, not technical. Psyche and pneuma are used indifferently either for the principle of natural life or for spirit in the strict sense. Body and soul are recognized as a dualism and their values contrasted: “Fear ye not them that kill the body . . . but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

In St. Paul we find a more technical phraseology employed with great consistency. Psyche is now appropriated to the purely natural life; pneuma to the life of supernatural religion, the principle of which is the Holy Spirit, dwelling and operating in the heart. The opposition of flesh and spirit is accentuated afresh (Romans 1:18, etc.). This Pauline system, presented to a world already prepossessed in favour of a quasi-Platonic Dualism, occasioned one of the earliest widespread forms of error among Christian writers – the doctrine of the Trichotomy. According to this, man, perfect man (teleios) consists of three parts: body, soul, spirit (soma, psyche, pneuma).
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Frank Sheed’s Theology for Beginners says that a soul is the “life-principle”. So that animals have souls too. However in the case of Man, his soul is ***also ***a spirit and endures apart from the body. Angels and God are spirits too.

This is an interesting distinction, no?
 
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RBushlow:
So, once again, What is the difference between soul and spirit?
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The summary of this thread is that Sacred Scripture does not tell us what the difference is. It does tell us that they are so closely entwined that only the sharp sword of the Word of God can differentiate between them. Beyond the statements of Scripture (or a definitive statement from the Magisterium), all we can do is what we have been doing for these however-many posts–speculate. It’s fun, but it’s not necessarily authoritative.

DaveBj
 
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