SPECIAL TOPIC: BODY AND SPIRIT

SPECIAL TOPIC: BODY AND SPIRIT

Body and spirit are not an ontological dichotomy in mankind, but a dual relationship to both this planet and to God. The Hebrew word nephesh (BDB 659, i.e., see SPECIAL TOPIC: NEPHESH) is used of both mankind (cf. Gen. 2:7) and the animals (cf. Gen. 1:20,24,30; 9:12,15,16) in Genesis, while "spirit" (ruah) is used uniquely of mankind.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 is not a proof-text on the nature of mankind as

a two-part (dichotomous, cf. 1 Cor. 7:34; Heb. 4:12)
a three-part being (trichotomous; i.e., Watchman Nee )

Mankind is primarily represented in the Bible as a unity (i.e., "and man became a living being," cf. Gen. 2:7; 2 Cor. 7:1). We do not have a soul, we are a spiritual/physical unity. Our physical bodies are the outer boundary of our personhood.

For a good summary of the theories of mankind as trichotomous, dichotomous, or a unity, see Millard J. Erickson's Christian Theology (second edition), pp. 538-557 and Frank Stagg's Polarities of Man's Existence in Biblical Perspective.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE