Theology - The Doctrine of Man
(Foundations of Pentecostal Theology - Duffield, Van Cleave)
Man Created a Living Soul (Being)
Man became a living soul - (Gen 2:7) As a result of the creative combination of an earthly element and a heavenly element, man became a living being in the image of his Creator.
Man Is Given a Body
- The Greeks and many of the ancients thought of the body as a prison of the soul and the source of all evil. Gnostics held this low esteem of the body to the extreme of denying that Jesus had a physical body. John countered this: (1 Jn 4:1-3)
- Scriptures teach us to honor and respect the body as God's creation (Gen 9:6)
- The following are ten facts about the body important for the believer to know:
- It is a mortal body that will return to the dust out of which it was fashioned (Gen 3:19; Gen 18:27)
- Man is made of mere dust; but that dust, in the hands of God, became something wonderfully made. (Psa 139:14-16)
- Man's natural, physical body is only a temporary tabernacle for the real person who inhabits it (2 Pe 1:14; 2 Cor 5:1)
- In the resurrection, man will have a new house not made with hands; however, that new body will have a relationship to the present natural body. (1 Cor 15:44; 1 Cor 15:53; John 5:25; 1 Thess 4:16)
Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom (1 Cor 15:50, but Jesus in the resurrection had a body of flesh and bones, but not blood (John 20:27; Luk 24:39). The new body is related to the old as the new plant is related to the seed from which it came (1 Cor 15:44) - The body is redeemed man is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it must not be an instrument of sin. (1 Cor 6:19-20)
- Man's body, when dedicated to Christ's service, is reckoned a living and holy sacrifice. (Rom 12:1)
- The redeemed man may employ his body as a weapon against Satan. (Rom 6:13)
- Redeemed man enjoys certain benefits of Christ's redeeming work in his body, even in this world (Mat 8:16-17) Also (Jas 5:14-15; Rom 8:11)
That this redemption pertains to the present experience, and not just the future is seen in these facts:
- Paul is speaking of believers present victory over the flesh (Rom 8:9)
- He refers to our mortal bodies, not dead bodies. Moral means "subject to death".
- Before the quickening of the resurrection, the bodies will be dead in the grace, not "moral".
- The argument in this verse clearly pertains to the present walk --> (Rom 8:12)
- If the Spirit delivers from carnal domination through faith, so also can the Spirit deliver from bodily infirmity through faith.
- The believer will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ on the basis of things done in the body. (2 Cor 5:10) Also (1 Cor 3:11-15; 1 Cor 9:27)
- Man's body of "dust" which he inherits from Adam, bears the image of Adam as well as the image of God (1 Cor 15:45-49)
Man Is Given an Immaterial Life
A man's immaterial life and personality are derived from God's creative breath and our life's breath depends upon the sustaining grace of our Creator (Gen 2:7; Job 12:10; Psa 33:6; Isa 42:5; Act 17:25)
- The Immaterial Elements
Each of these refers to the immaterial self from a discernibly different point of view, or describes different functions of the self. John describes the Spirit of God as "wind" that "blows". (John 3:8) This could also say, "The Spirit breaths where He wills". See also (John 3:8; John 3:4) - Life (Mark 8:35)
- Soul (Mark 8:36)
- Spirit (Psa 31:5)
- Mind (Rom 7:25)
- Heart (Eph 6:6)
- Strength (Luk 10:27)
- Self (1 Cor 4:3-4)
- Will (1 Cor 7:37)
- Affections (Col 3:2)
- Scripture attributes both soul and spirit to animals (Ecc 3:21; Psa 104:25-30) Man is distinguished from the lower creatures by the quality of his faculties, not the number of them.
- Errors include:
Unregenerate man has only a body and soul, spirit imparted at new birth. This confuses the human and Holy Spirits. Ungodly men also have spirits (1 Chr 5:26)
The soul is a human element, and the spirit is the divine element, again confusing the human and Holy Spirit. (Rev 6:9; Heb 12:23) Soul and Spirit are both attributed to God the Father and Son (Mat 12:18; Isa 42:1; Mat 26:38; Isa 53:11-12; Luk 23:46)
- Arguments for Trichotomy (Body, Soul and Spirit)
- Gen 2:7 - The combination of a body of dust and the breath of God resulted in a third part, the soul.
- 1 Thess 5:23 - specifies three parts of man.
- Heb 4:12 - declares that soul and spirit are capable of being divided.
- 1 Cor 2:14 to 1 Cor 3:1 - Paul speaks of men as "carnal", "natural" (soulish), and "spiritual", referring to three parts.
- Arguments for Dichotomy (Body and soul/spirit)
- Gen 2:7 - only 2 distinct parts are mentioned, the body of earth and the breath of God. The living soul is not a third part, but the result of body and spirit. It does not say that man had a living soul, but "became" a living soul.
- John 12:27 - The terms soul and spirit are used interchangeably. See also (Gen 41:8; Psa 42:6; Heb 12:23; Rev 6:9; Rev 20:4)
- Ecc 3:21; Rev 16:3 - The terms soul and spirit are both used of animals and men.
- Jer 9:9; Isa 42:1; Isa 53:10-12; Heb 10:38 - The term soul is attributed to Jehovah.
- Mark 12:30 - The highes spiritual exercises are atributed to the soul as well as to the spirit. See also (Luk 1:46; Heb 6:18-19; Jas 1:21)
- Mark 8:36 - According to Jesus, to lose the soul is to lose everything. See also (Mark 8:37; Mat 16:26; Mat 10:28)
- 1 Thess 5:23 - The dichotomist says that Paul does not imply that body , soul and spirit are three distinct and separable parts of man, but uses the terms similar to how Mark does in Mar 12:30, as attributes.
- Heb 4:12 - The dichotomist answers this passage by saying the passage doesn't speak of dividing the soul from spirit, but penetrating into the deepest recesses of one's being, even to "the thoughts and intents of the heart.
W. E. Vine - "The Word of God pierces through all the lies deepest in human nature, not actual separating soul from spirit and joints from marrow, but piercing and laying bare the inmost being, cutting through the most secret recesses of the spiritual life, penetrating the soul, and deeper still, the spirit as through joints to their very marrow.
- The dichotomist does not say that there is no difference whatever between the words soul and spirit. Although they are frequently used to designate the same immaterial part of man, more precisely, they refer to man's inner-self in different relationships.
When the words are distinguished in meaning, the soul faces earthward, and the spirit heavenward. The soul is man in his earthly relationships, the spiritual is man in his spiritual and immortal relationships.
Man Becomes a Living Soul (Being)
The two views, tri and di chotomy are not greatly different, and no other major doctrine is affected by the difference.
- Man as a Unity
There is a strong tendancy among conservatives to think of man as a unity rather than divisible parts. The soul is separated from the body at death, but only until the resurrection. Paul speaks of the soul as naked without the body (2 Cor 5:1-4) See also (Rom 8:23; 1 Thess 5:23; Mark 12:30)
- The Origin of Man's Soul or Spirit
- Preexistence - A theory of Transmigration of souls is the position held by Hinduism, Theosophy, Rosicrucians, and many occult religions.
- Creationism - held by Roman Catholics and many reformed theologians. Holds that the soul is created directly from God in each newly conceived person sometime between conception and birth, only the body is propagated by the parents. Scripture quoted in defense are (Zec 12:1; Isa 42:5; Isa 57:16; Ecc 12:7; and Heb 12:9)
It is urged against this position that it makes God the creator of sinful souls or represents God as putting a pure soul in a depraved Adamic body. It can also be shown that the scriptures in support of direct creation of each soul would with equal force support the indirect agency of God in procreation.
- Traducianism - (The preferred theory among conservative scholars.) The human race was created in Adam, and from him, both body and soul were procreated by natural generation. (Job 14:4; Job 15:14; Psa 51:5; Psa 58:3; John 3:6; Eph 2:3)
Dr. Strong - "Traducianism holds that man, as a species, was created in Adam. In Adam, the substance of humanity was yet undisturbed. We derive our immaterial as well as our material being, by natural laws of propagation, from Adam - each individual man after Adam possessing a part of the substance that was originated in him.
Arguments in favor of Traducianism:
- There is no biblical record of God's creating a human being more than once. (Gen 2:2)
- It best explains the inherited sinful nature (Psa 51:5)
- Strongly supported by a vital statistic of Jacob's family (Gen 46:26)
- Seth was begotten "in the likeness" of Adam (Gen 5:3)
- It explains personality likenesses between children and parents.
The traducianist, however, does not posit a purely natural origin for new souls; he maintains that all souls since Adam are indirectly created by God as the Sustainer of the process of procreation (Heb 1:3; Col 1:17)
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