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Origen
Guest
It was St. Augustine who articulated a philosophy of mind following the analogy of the Trinity. See books 8-15 of St. Augustine: On the Trinity.
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jpusateri
Guest
The distinction Mr. Sheed was making was by giving examples of both. God and angels are spirits. Animals have a life-principle, called a soul. Man has a soul that is also a spirit. One difference therefore is that man’s soul can exist apart from his body by virtue of it being a spirit.
Clearer?
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Walimu
Guest
I have heard this teaching from noncatholics but they said man was an imperfect type of trinity (mind, body, and spirit). They said in this way man was made in the image of God. They went on to say that the star of David symbolized the union of of man and God, one triangle for the trinity of God and one triangle for the imperfect “trinity” of man. I don’t know what to make of this but it sounded clever.
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Philologus
Guest
Racer X:
Kevin
The doctrine of “Trichotomy” is not what we are talking about here. I read the quote you posted in context and we are not talking about the same thing when we say “tripartite”. It is true that the difference between soul and spirit makes it hard to discern where one begins and one ends. However, to say that man is not spirit AND soul AND body is to go beyond scripture or not as far as scripture. It’s always safe to stay with scriptural terminology as much as possible.
Kevin
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asquared
Guest
Man is not a trinity. The Trinity is 3 divine persons in one divine nature. Man is one human person in a human nature with billions of persons. Is this IP addres thing another reason to loathe and abominate AOL?
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Apologia100
Guest
No, the reason to loathe AOL is because they are a corporate sponsor of Planned Parenthood.
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RBushlow
Guest
Not really. I was hoping for something like " the dfference between a soul and a spirit is . . . . . ".
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Rob_Pierce
Guest
Thank you all for your replies and discussion. It’s very enlightening.
I think one of the problems I have when I hear someone making a big point of the supposed tripartate nature of man, is that some people use it to show that the body is not really part of us – it’s just a suit that can be discarded (or swapped, like in bad science-fiction where two -people- swap the bodies they happen to be using). That seems to lead to gnosticism, antinominism, and so forth.
Also, others here have made the point that we are not a -trinity- since we are one person, not three.
I wonder how we can say we are -only- three parts. Body, Soul, Spirit; and mind, heart, will, strength. . . what else? If will is a part equal with body and soul, how does that affect our understanding of the two wills in Christ? Monothelitism, anyone?
Interesting how anthropology leads to christology, no?
Rob
I think one of the problems I have when I hear someone making a big point of the supposed tripartate nature of man, is that some people use it to show that the body is not really part of us – it’s just a suit that can be discarded (or swapped, like in bad science-fiction where two -people- swap the bodies they happen to be using). That seems to lead to gnosticism, antinominism, and so forth.
Also, others here have made the point that we are not a -trinity- since we are one person, not three.
I wonder how we can say we are -only- three parts. Body, Soul, Spirit; and mind, heart, will, strength. . . what else? If will is a part equal with body and soul, how does that affect our understanding of the two wills in Christ? Monothelitism, anyone?
Interesting how anthropology leads to christology, no?
Rob
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EOTD
Guest
I employ the Thomist terms “essence” (or “substance”) and “existence” to arrive an understanding of man as a tripartite being.
It is generally agreed that man has a nature that is both material and spiritual. So, in keeping with that, I say that the material existence (“body”) and spiritual existence (“spirit”) are combined to make up one human essence or substance.
To be more specific, the essence of his material existence and the essence of his spiritual existence are combined at conception to form a new, singular, and homologous essence, called the “soul”.
This enables the essence or substance of man’s body to become immortal by virute of its union with the immortal essence or substance of his spirit.
Now, I don’t believe that this is a process where, somehow, the spirit has a pre-existence. This, all “happens” instantaneously at conception.
Stated simply, the essence of man’s nature is called his “soul”, which is a new, unique essense formed, by God at conception, from the essenses of his body and spirit.
I believe speaking this way avoids any Gnostic, materialistic, or dualist notions of man. It preserves man’s incarnational nature.
It is generally agreed that man has a nature that is both material and spiritual. So, in keeping with that, I say that the material existence (“body”) and spiritual existence (“spirit”) are combined to make up one human essence or substance.
To be more specific, the essence of his material existence and the essence of his spiritual existence are combined at conception to form a new, singular, and homologous essence, called the “soul”.
This enables the essence or substance of man’s body to become immortal by virute of its union with the immortal essence or substance of his spirit.
Now, I don’t believe that this is a process where, somehow, the spirit has a pre-existence. This, all “happens” instantaneously at conception.
Stated simply, the essence of man’s nature is called his “soul”, which is a new, unique essense formed, by God at conception, from the essenses of his body and spirit.
I believe speaking this way avoids any Gnostic, materialistic, or dualist notions of man. It preserves man’s incarnational nature.
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jmm08
Guest
Chapter 19 “Things Left Unsaid” of Fulton Sheen’s autobiography “Treasure in Clay”, he writes in part:
"… Not only are we made in the image and likeness of God Who is triune, but we are remade in the three purifications mentioned in Scripture: crosses, cups and tensions.
"… Not only are we made in the image and likeness of God Who is triune, but we are remade in the three purifications mentioned in Scripture: crosses, cups and tensions.
- Crosses come from without. …
- Cups filled with bitter dregs come from God. …
- Tensions between persons come from within the Church, …
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knanfito
Guest
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says man is body and soul (327, 355, 362-365 and 383). I believe it is St. Thomas Aquinas that distinguishes two parts of the soul, one that is tied to the body and one that is spiritual in nature.
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LetsObeyChrist
Guest
It is unfair to judge sola scriptura by its failure to interpret prophecy correctly which by design is obscure lest history not progress naturally. Besides I am not aware of any Magisterium exposition of this book which is odd for a body men claiming to be God’s Teaching Authority. Providing such would be an excellent way of proving they really are guided into all the truth.
As for man being a trinity, he is the reverse of a trinity.
He is one person in three substances while God is Three Persons in one substance.
Man is the “mirror image” of the Trinity.
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hlgomez
Guest
Or rather say, Man reflects the Trinity.
What are those substances that exists in a man?
Pio
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FelixBlue
Guest
I ditto the above that St. Augustine’s On the Trinity is a must read for reflection on the image of the Trinity in man. He explores it on many levels. His goal was to better understand the Holy Trinity by contemplating various trinities within man. In the end, of course, he throws up his hands after having come to no solid conclusion.
I would also argue that this image is more profoundly found in the trinity (three persons) of husband-wife-child; that when God said, “Let us make man in our image,” the “man” can be seen as both singular and plural.
I would also argue that this image is more profoundly found in the trinity (three persons) of husband-wife-child; that when God said, “Let us make man in our image,” the “man” can be seen as both singular and plural.
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Bob_Baran
Guest
Rob Pierce:
I remember reading once that man was “like” the Trinity in the sense that he has three parts…intellect, will, and memory.
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