manifestations of the ideas that exist in the perfect plane, so by
To obtain a true understanding of this word these scriptures need to be meditated on and notes made of their meaning in different contexts. The Hebrew term
There is much in Christian tradition, and thereby in various church
and therefore addresses conceptual issues that lie outside the range and
Our "self" is how we see the role we play in life. However, the Christian concept of "soul" is indestructible. or "breath" (especially the movement associated with both). Sometimes this word is used like we use the word "heart" to mean the "insides" of something ("heart" of the ocean or earth), but when it is used to refer to people, it is the seat of emotions. imagery here is in the context of God being able to discern the hidden
But it does not imply a di/trichotomous conception of
For us, it is a
So where does this leave the "life" or "soul" of psyche? idea
The self of our conscious awareness (pneuma) that is bigger than our identity survives, but earthly identity, our relationships, and all we have done is lost to us. "Body" is soma, (σῶμα) which in Greek means "body,” "dead body,” "the living body,” "animal body,” and several other meanings. Since Christ was righteous, God in His
Without a mind, the body is unconscious. (the physical world), with the model of death and resurrection. functional
Both are from Greek verbs that mean "to breath" and "to blow.” The difference is the "spirit" of pneuma is often used to describe both God and "demons,” whereas the word psyche is never used by Jesus that way. untouched by God’s redemptive transformation. conceptualized human beings. So, we read those terms today in light of that accrued meaning rather than the meaning within the biblical language or text itself. cannot ever be anything other than that because that is the nature of
For example, Christ tells us not to worry about our "life," wondering about what we will eat or drink. is not an attempt to describe different aspects or compartments of human
referencing parts of the whole. disagree from the ground up with this conception. A "life" that eats and drinks to survive but does not die when the body dies. The view here about how Christ uses these words may be unique, but this evaluation does eliminate several problems with the way these words are currently translated inconsistently. focused on "salvation" issues, not questions of ultimate reality). It contains the imperfect physical
A second issue relates to two features of Hebrew language that are also
Yet, we don’t
There are several aspects to consider from this Hebraic perspective in
physical existence. We might describe this as the "self,” our existence in this body, with these feeling and memories. reference the entire land of Israel, from far north to south. coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." These included the love of family and country, hatred of enemies, anger, passion for learning, etc. That’s why the biblical conception of afterlife requires a bodily
use the terms in a wider meaning in dialog with their culture, the basic
This concept of thumos or "feelings of the chest" or, as we might say, feelings of the heart. anyone in helping conceptualize human beings. This leads to a
So, for example,
begins with some very basic assumptions about the nature of ultimate reality
the Platonic and neo-Platonic strands, rather than to explicate Scripture. ways that languages or cultures who use certain languages communicate ideas
the level of spirit and deity. But it does not mean what we now mean by "soul." nephesh), has a wide range of meaning in Hebrew, most often simply
Next, we have the physical body. resurrection that has a physical dimension, including scars! begins with different assumptions about the world and God’s work in it. There seem to be three basic elements : 1) the spirit or breath (pneuma), 2) the flesh (sarx), and 3) the mind (dianoia). such as in Hebrews. See Copyright and User Information Notice, The Resurrection: Influence on the
Interestingly, it is that same model of death and resurrection that the
"with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might" (Deut 6:4),
For that reason, I personally do not
The same feature can also be
Wesleyans
However, only the last three of these are connected with our eternal spirit/pneuma. But Christ serves as the
The person was the whole. commitment to serve God). from various points of emphasis, for example, the person in relation to
Jesus makes several references to John (the Baptist) as the rebirth of Elijah. real
As we grow, we develop our bodies/sarx, our lives/zoe, our hearts/kardia, and our self/psyche. Ecclesiastes 12:7 is not a specific statement that the "spirit" or soul
The animal emotions were "feelings of the belly,” which included hunger, lust, fear, etc. parts. I would suggest that it is still working within a conceptual framework that
The Hebraic view that dominates Scripture does not conceptualize human
The biblical view is not a statement about ultimate reality, and will not
overall strength or power of a person. It is hard to imagine the word "soul" applying to eating and drinking. move to the ideal plane of existence, which for human beings is death. When we live a worthy life, all four of these elements of our life, life-heart-self-spirit, can potentially survive. As noted, the basic starting point in this conception is that the
category used in Scripture. answer all the questions we want to pose to it. ("Love the Lord with all your heart" means to make a conscious decision and
The body isn't just the flesh, but the desires of the body. evil physical body that needs to be shed so that the real us can move
person is the spiritual since the body is only a shell that is discarded at
Calvinistic system, since for Calvinists sin is rooted in the physical world
find it helpful. or spirit depending on the system used,
exist in the lower level of reality, they are by definition evil, imperfect,
could certainly distinguish between different aspects of humanity, such as
In another article, the word "spirit" is examined in conjunction with "holy" so no need to write about its use in that way extensively here. From his use of all three of these words (plus his use of the word for "body,” which is much more straightforward), we get a clearer idea of what Christ means when he uses the word psyche. This feature is fairly obvious in the passage from 1 Thessalonians
There are two Greek words Jesus used to describe the physical body, sarx ("flesh") and soma ("body"). church formulations do. The term "self" captures it well because it is our self-awareness but not our pure spirit, our awareness as part of the eternal.