Attend enough Bible studies and hang out in church circles long enough, and you’re bound to run into the issue of Trichotomy vs. Dichotomy (or the “Tripartite” model vs the “Bipartite” model). Trichotomists believe that human beings are made up of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. Dichotomists, on the other hand, believe that human beings are made up of two parts: body and soul/spirit.
Which view is correct?
Well…the Bible does not explicitly state whether human beings are trichotomous or dichotomous, so this is an area of ongoing debate among biblical scholars and theologians.
What the Bible says
Let’s look at just a few of the many significant Bible passages that use “soul” in reference to human beings:
- And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
- And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. (Exodus 1:5)
- Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them… (Leviticus 4:2)
- For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)
- This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 26:16)
- And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. (I Samuel 18:1)
- And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. (I Kings 17:21-22)
- My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long? (Psalm 6:3)
- The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)
- He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3)
- Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. (Psalm 25:1)
- And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
There are so many. I could easily keep going. But now some Bible verses (out of many) that refer to “spirit” in relation to human beings:
- Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1)
- And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:8)
- And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. (Exodus 35:21)
- But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. (Deuteronomy 2:30)
- But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? (I Kings 21:5)
- Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 7:11)
- Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. (Psalm 31:5)
- Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:2)
- The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (Psalm 34:18)
- Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
- He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. (Proverbs 14:29)
- A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. (Proverbs 15:13)
- Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
- Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)
- The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16)
There are many more, but it should be noted that, quite often, “spirit” (especially in the Old Testament) is in reference to either a spiritual entity or the impact upon a person from such a spirit. And of course, when “spirit” is capitalized (as in “Spirit”), it’s a reference to the Holy Spirit. With the above list of passages, I tried to pick some that focused exclusively in describing the human spirit.
Here are some Bible passages that mention both “soul” and “spirit”–again in the context of human beings:
- And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. (I Samuel 1:15)
- Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 7:11)
- With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)
- And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (I Corinthians 15:45)
- And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 5:23)
- For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Note that all of the preceding passages are in the King James Version. Let’s now take a quick look at how each camp views the above verses.
Trichotomy
According to the tripartite view, each person has a body, soul, and spirit–all three being distinct. Those who hold this perspective are (as stated earlier) called trichotomists. They point to passages like I Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12 which suggest three distinct parts.
According to theologian Millard Erickson, trichotomism enjoyed short-lived popularity in early church history but waned a bit by the Middle Ages.
“Trichotomism became particularly popular among the Alexandrian fathers of the early centuries of the church, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa. It fell into a certain amount of disrepute after Apollinarius made use of it in constructing his Christology, which the chruch determined to be heretical. Although some of the Eastern fathers continued to hold it, it suffered a general decline in popularity until revived in the nineteenth century by English and German theologians.”
Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology (3rd edition). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013
That may be, but it was certainly popular with Martin Luther. You can count him among the tripartite group. About five centuries ago, Luther fully endorsed the tripartite model and famously used the Tabernacle to illustrate it. He wrote:
Let us take an illustration of this from Scripture. In the tabernacle fashioned by Moses there were three separate compartments. The first was called the holy of holies: here was God’s dwelling place, and in it there was no light. The second was called the holy place; here stood a candlestick with seven arms and seven lamps. The third was called the outer court; this lay under the open sky and in the full light of the sun. In this tabernacle we have a figure of the Christian man. His spirit is the holy of holies, where God dwells in the darkness of faith, where no light is; for he believes that which he neither sees nor feels nor comprehends. His soul is the holy place, with its seven lamps, that is, all manner of reason, discrimination, knowledge, and understanding of visible and bodily things. His body is the forecourt, open to all, so that men may see his works and manner of life.
Martin Luther, “Luther’s Works” (American Edition), excerpt retrieved from Bryan Wolfmueller’s blog
Many evangelicals today, including a former pastor of mine, strongly hold to the trichotomy view. And, depending on context and emphasis, they are correct. However…
The website GotQuestions offers an important caution on trichotomy:
Is it important to conclusively decide between dichotomy and trichotomy? Perhaps not; however, a word of caution is appropriate. Some who hold the trichotomist view have erroneously taught that God can bypass our soul/intellect and communicate directly with our spirit; such teaching leads to irrational mysticism. Other churches have used the trichotomous position to teach the possibility of Christians being demon-possessed. Because they see the soul and spirit as two separate immaterial aspects within the Christian, they postulate that one can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and the other can be possessed by demonic forces. This teaching is problematic in that there are no biblical references that those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit can be simultaneously possessed by demons.
“Do we have two or three parts; body and soul/spirit, or body, soul, and spirit?,” GotQuestions.org
Dichotomy
Dichotomists argue that the terms “soul” and “spirit” appear to be used interchangeably as seems to be the case with Matthew 10:28. They say there’s no meaningful difference between the two.
Count John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in this group. In a Q&A from a number of years ago, Pastor MacArthur was asked about the “soul” and “spirit.” Here is his answer:
“Yes, how does the Bible distinguish between the spirit and the soul, and I don’t think it does. I think those are essentially two different words that refer to the same thing, the immaterial part of man. We, in the end, are only two parts. The material part goes into the grave – right? – and decomposes and the immaterial part goes to be with the Lord. That’s all there is.”
MacArthur, John. Q&A at Grace Community Church, March 18, 2001
According to respected scholar Wayne Grudem, dichotomy “has been held more commonly throughout the history of the church and is far more common among evangelical scholars today.” (Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015, epub edition).
And Grudem himself supports the dichotomous view, noting that the Bible often uses the terms “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably, including in passages dealing with death.
“[I]t should be noted that Scripture nowhere says that a person’s ‘soul and spirit’ departed or went to heaven or were yielded up to God. If soul and spirit were separate and distinct things, we would expect that such language would be affirmed somewhere, if only to assure the reader that no essential part of the person is left behind. yet we find no such language: the biblical authors do not seem to care whether they say that the soul departs or the spirit departs at death, for both seem to mean the same thing.”
Ibid
That is an excellent point.
My Thoughts
Personally, I don’t believe this is an issue worth dividing over. There are good arguments on both sides, and I think it boils down to the audience, context, and emphasis.
When it comes to most sermons and certainly everyday, practical conversations, I think it’s fine to use “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably. Most people aren’t going to make a meaningful distinction between the two, and it certainly seems that (with many of the above passages) the biblical authors didn’t seem to make a clear distinction.
I don’t think we should major in the minors.
When it comes to advanced theological studies and discussions, however, it can be helpful to make some distinctions between “soul” and “spirit.” This seems to be the view of Elmer Towns, one of the most prolific authors and academics in Christian evangelicalism today.
“Sometimes the bible seems to use the terms ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ interchangeably, yet at others times a distinction is made. Part of the problem is solved when we study the verses more closely and realize there are actually two ways to look at man. When we consider the nature of makeup of man, he is a two-part being. He consists of both material (the body) and the immaterial (the soul). In activity or function, however, the body, soul, and spirit of man each has a function.”
Towns, Elmer. AMG Concise Bible Doctrines (2nd ed.). Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2006
I agree with Towns.
But (as I think he would probably agree) those distinctions will be lost on or quite confusing to most everyday Christians. Some of this needs to be saved for advanced Bible studies and seminary classes.
What people most need to understand is that there’s more to their life than their bodies and brains. That there is a spiritual, immaterial nature to their life that transcends their brain and will continue on after their heartbeat ceases and all their physical brain activity stops.
That is what is most important.
Your physical body will die. But not your spiritual self. You will continue on. The most important question is whether that will be in God’s presence or under God’s judgment.
The time to know the answer to that question is now.
