WHAT IS SOUL? WHAT IS SPIRIT?
The discussion of Gen. 2:7 (as in the preceding chapter), brings
directly before us for solution the question, What is meant by the terms
soul and spirit, as applied to man? Some believers in unconditional
immortality point triumphantly to the fact that the terms soul and
spirit are used in reference to the human race, as though that settled
the question, and placed an insuperable embargo upon all further
discussion. This arises simply from their not looking into this matter
with sufficient thoroughness to see that all we question in the case is
the popular definition that is given to these terms. We do not deny that
man has a soul and spirit; we only say that if our friends will show
that the Bible anywhere attaches to them the meaning with which modern
theology has invested them, they will supply what has thus far been a
perpetual lack, and forever settle this controversy.
What do theologians tell us these terms signify? Buck, in his
Theological Dictionary, says: “Soul, that vital, immaterial, active
substance or principle in man whereby he perceives, remembers, reasons,
and wills.” On spirit, he says: “An incorporeal being or intelligence;
in which sense God is said to be a spirit, as are the angels and the
human soul.” On man, he says: “The constituent and essential parts of
man created by God are two: body and soul. The one was made out of dust;
the other was breathed into him.” This soul, he further says, “is a
spiritual substance;” and then, apparently feeling not exactly safe in
calling that a _substance_ which he claims to be _immaterial_, he
bewilders it by saying “subsistence,” and then adds, “immaterial,
immortal.”
This position strikes us as considerably open to criticism. On this
definition of “soul,” how can we deny it to the lower animals? for they
“perceive, remember, reason, and will.” And, if spirit means the “human
soul,” the question arises, Has man two immortal elements in his nature?
for the Bible applies both terms to him at the same time. Paul, to the
Thessalonians, says: “And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Does
Paul here use tautology, by applying to man two terms meaning the same
thing? That would be a serious charge against his inspiration. Then has
man two immortal parts, soul and spirit both? This would evidently be
overdoing the matter; for, where one is enough, two are a burden. And
further, on this hypothesis, would these two immortal parts exist
hereafter as two independent and separate beings?
This idea being preposterous, one question more remains: Which of these
two is the immortal part? Is it the soul or the spirit? It cannot be
both; and it matters not to us which is the one chosen. But we want to
know what the decision is between the two. If they say that what we call
the soul is the immortal part, then they give up such texts as Eccl.
12:7: “The spirit shall return to God who gave it;” and Luke 23:46,
“Into thy hands I commend my spirit,” &c. On the other hand, if they
claim that it is the spirit which is the immortal part, then they give
up such texts as Gen. 35:18: “And it came to pass as her soul was in
departing (for she died);” and 1 Kings 17:21, “Let this child’s soul
come into him again.”
And, further, if the body and soul are both _essential_ parts of man, as
Mr. B. affirms, how can either exist as a distinct, conscious, and
perfect being without the other?
Foreseeing these difficulties, Smith, in his Bible Dictionary,
distinguishes between soul and spirit thus: “Soul (Heb. _nephesh_, Gr.
ψυχὴ). One of three parts of which man was anciently believed to
consist. The term ψυχὴ, is sometimes used to denote the vital principle,
sometimes the sentient principle, or seat of the senses, desires,
affections, appetites, passions. In the latter sense, it is
distinguished from πνευμα [_pneuma_], the higher rational nature. This
distinction appears in the Septuagint, and sometimes in the New
Testament. 1 Thess. 5:23.” Then he quotes Olshausen on 1 Thess. 5:23, as
saying: “For whilst the ψυχὴ [soul] denotes the lower region of the
spiritual man,--comprises, therefore, the powers to which analogous ones
are found in _animal_ life also, as understanding, appetitive faculty,
memory, fancy,--the πνευμα [_pneuma_] includes those capacities which
constitute the true human life.”
So it seems that, according to these expositors, while the Hebrew
_nephesh_, and Greek _psuche_, usually translated soul, denote powers
common to all animal life, the Hebrew _ruach_, and the corresponding
Greek _pneuma_, signify the higher powers, and consequently that part
which is supposed to be immortal.
Now let us inquire what meaning the sacred writers attach to these
terms. As already stated, the original words from which soul and spirit
are translated, are, for soul, _nephesh_ in the Hebrew, and _psuche_ in
the Greek, and for spirit, _ruach_ in the Hebrew, and _pneuma_ in the
Greek. To these no one is at liberty to attach any arbitrary meaning. We
must determine their signification by the sense in which they are used
in the sacred record; and whoever goes beyond that, does violence to the
word of God.
The word _nephesh_ occurs 745 times in the Old Testament, and is
translated by the term soul about 473 times. In every instance in the
Old Testament where the word soul occurs, it is from _nephesh_, with the
exception of Job 30:15, where it comes from _n’dee-vah_, and Isa. 57:16,
where it is from _n’shah-mah_. But the mere use of the word soul
determines nothing; for it cannot be claimed to signify an immortal
part, until we somewhere find immortality affirmed of it.
Besides the word soul, _nephesh_, is translated life and lives, as in
Gen. 1:20, 30, in all 118 times. It is translated person, as in Gen.
14:21, in all 29 times. It is translated mind, as in Gen. 23:8, in all
15 times. It is translated heart, as in Ex. 23:9, in all 15 times. It is
translated body, or dead body, as in Num. 6:6, in all 11 times. It is
translated will, as in Ps. 27:12, in all 4 times. It is translated
appetite, as in Prov. 23:2, twice; lust, as in Ps. 78:18, twice; thing,
as in Lev. 11:10, twice.
Besides the foregoing, it is rendered by the various pronouns, and by
the words, breath, beast, fish, creature, ghost, pleasure, desire, &c.,
in all forty-three different ways. _Nephesh_ is never rendered spirit.
This soul (_nephesh_) is represented as in danger of the grave, Ps.
49:14, 15; 89:88; Job 33:18, 20, 22; Isa. 38:17. It is also spoken of as
liable to be destroyed, killed, &c., Gen. 17:14; Ex. 31:14; Josh. 10:30,
32, 35, 37, 39, &c.
Parkhurst, author of a Greek and a Hebrew Lexicon, says:--
“As a noun, _neh-phesh_ hath been supposed to signify the spiritual part
of man, or what we commonly call his soul. I must for myself confess
that I can find no passage where it hath undoubtedly this meaning. Gen.
35:18; 1 Kings 17:21, 22; Ps. 16:10, seem fairest for this
signification. But may not _neh-phesh_, in the three former passages, be
most properly rendered _breath_, and in the last, a breathing, or animal
frame?”
Taylor, author of a Hebrew Concordance, says that _neh-phesh_ “signifies
the animal life, or that principle by which every animal, according to
its kind, lives. Gen. 1:20, 24, 30; Lev. 11:40. Which animal life, so
far as we know anything of the manner of its existence, or so far as the
Scriptures lead our thoughts, consists in the _breath_, Job. 41:21;
31:39, and in the _blood_. Lev. 17:11, 14.”
Gesenius, the standard Hebrew lexicographer, defines _nephesh_ as
follows:--
“1. Breath. 2. The vital spirit, as the Greek _psuche_, and Latin
_anima_, through which the body lives, _i. e._, the principle of life
manifested in the breath.” To this he also ascribes “whatever has
respect to the sustenance of life by food and drink, and the contrary.”
“3. The rational soul, mind, _animus_, as the seat of feelings,
affections, and emotions. 4. Concr. living thing, animal in which is the
_nephesh_, life.”
The word soul in the New Testament comes invariably from the Greek ψυχή
(_psuche_); which word occurs 105 times. It is translated soul 58 times;
life, 40 times; mind, 3 times; heart, twice; us, once; and you, once.
Spirit in the Old Testament is from two Hebrew words _n’shah-mah_ and
_ruach_.
The former occurs 24 times. It is 17 times rendered breath, 3 times,
blast, twice, spirit, once, soul, and once, inspiration. It is defined
by Gesenius, “Breath, spirit, spoken of the breath of God, _i. e._, _a_)
the wind, _b_) the breath, breathing of his anger. 2. Breath, life of
man and beasts. 3. The mind, the intellect. 4. Concr. living thing,
animals.”
The latter, _ruach_, occurs 442 times. Spirit in every instance in the
Old Testament is from this word, except Job 26:4, and Prov. 20:27; where
it is from _n’shah-mah_. Besides spirit it is translated wind 97 times,
breath, 28 times, smell, 8 times, mind, 6 times, blast, 4 times; also
anger, courage, smell, air, &c., in all sixteen different ways.
Spirit in the New Testament is from the Greek, πνεῦμα (_pneuma_) in
every instance. The original word occurs 385 times, and besides spirit
is rendered ghost 92 times, wind, once, and life, once. Parkhurst in his
Greek Lexicon, says: “It may be worth remarking that the leading sense
of the old English word ghost is breath; ... that ghost is evidently of
the same root with _gust_ of wind; and that both these words are plain
derivatives from the Hebrew, to move with violence; whence also _gush_,
&c.”
_Pneuma_ is defined by Robinson in his Greek Lexicon of the New
Testament, to mean, primarily, “1. A breathing, breath, breath of air,
air in motion. 2. The spirit of man, _i. e._, the vital spirit, life,
soul, the principle of life residing in the breath breathed into men
from God, and again returning to God.”
We now have before us the use and definitions of the words from which
soul and spirit are translated. From the facts presented we learn that a
large variety of meanings attaches to them; and that we are at liberty
wherever they occur to give them that definition which the sense of the
context requires. But when a certain meaning is attached to either of
these words in one place, it is not saying that it has the same meaning
in every other place.
By a dishonorable perversion on this point some have tried to hold up to
ridicule the advocates of the view we here defend. Thus, when we read in
Gen. 2:7, that Adam became a living soul, the sense demands, and the
meaning of the word soul will warrant, that we then apply it to the
whole person; Adam, as a complete being, was a living soul. But when we
read in Gen. 35:18, “And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing,
for she died,” we give the word, according to another of its
definitions, a more limited signification, and apply it, with Parkhurst,
to the breath of life.
But some have met us here in this manner: “Materialists tell us that
soul means the whole man, then let us see how it will read in Gen.
35:18; ‘And it came to pass as the whole man was in departing; for she
died.’” Or they will say, “Materialists tell us that soul means the
breath; then let us try it in Gen. 2:7: ‘And Adam became a living
breath.’”
Such a course, while it is no credit to their mental acumen, is utterly
disastrous to all their claims of candor and honesty in their treatment
of this important subject. While we are not at liberty to go beyond the
latitude of meaning which is attached to the words soul and spirit, we
are at liberty to use whatever definition the circumstances of the case
require, varying of course in different passages. But in the whole list
of definitions, and in the entire use of the words, we find nothing
answering to that immaterial, independent, immortal part, capable of a
conscious, intelligent, active existence out of the body as well as in,
of which the popular religious teachers of the day endeavor to make
these words the vehicle.
And now we would commend to the attention of the reader another
stupendous fact, the bearing of which he cannot fail to appreciate. We
want to know if this soul, or spirit, is immortal. The Hebrew and Greek
words from which they are translated, occur in the Bible, as we have
seen, _seventeen hundred times_. Surely, once at least in that long list
we shall be told that the soul is immortal, if this is its high
prerogative. Seventeen hundred times we inquire if the soul is once said
to be immortal, or the spirit deathless. And the invariable and
overwhelming response we meet is, _Not Once!_ Nowhere, though used so
many hundred times, is the soul said to be undying in its nature, or the
spirit deathless. Strange and unaccountable fact, if immortality is an
inseparable attribute of the soul and spirit!
An attempt is sometimes made to parry the force of this fact by saying
that the immortality of the soul, like that of God, is taken for
granted. We reply, The immortality of God is not taken for granted.
Although this might be taken for granted if anything could be so taken,
yet it is directly asserted that God is immortal. Let now the advocates
of the soul’s natural immortality produce one text where it is said to
have immortality, as God is said to have it, 1 Tim. 6:16, or where it is
said to be immortal, as God is said to be, 1 Tim. 1:17, and the question
is settled. But this cannot be done; and the ignoble shift of the
taken-for-granted argument falls dead to the floor.