What is Christian Anthropology?

Briefly then, to sum up, we have first (1) the different parts of man, which will always characterize him as the creature man. Those parts which he has by his birth as a man will exist in eternity. He will, as raised or changed, always have a body, a soul, and a spirit. (1 Thess. 5:2-3.) But from the saint all taint and presence of sin will be removed, and his body will be fashioned like to Christ's body of glory.

Man as a creature of God is a tripartite being, composed of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23); but these two last are often spoken of under the one term - the soul: "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 Gehenna." (Matt. 10:28.) The soul is immortal, so it never dies, and it never sleeps. Hence all the dead live unto God (Luke 20:38), a solemn thought for the unsaved. But man as such is said to live only when in his body; for he is not complete as a man without it. As for the body it can die; but, if it dies, it will be raised to die no more (Rev. 20); that the person as a whole - body, soul, and spirit, may live for ever, whether in weal or in woe. The death of the body is but temporal. The second death, which is the lake of fire, is not in any sense a ceasing to exist; the person as a whole, who is cast into it, and as alive, will be tormented there for ever and ever. (Rev. 20:10.) Resurrection then of the body is a consequence of death, because man is a responsible creature, and so must render an account of his deeds to God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, before whose judgment-seat we must all be manifested, whether converted or unconverted (2 Cor. 5:10), to receive the things done in the body, according to what we have done, whether it be good or bad. Hence the sleeping saints; i.e. those whose bodies are in the dust, will share in the resurrection from the dead; whilst the ungodly will only share in the resurrection of the dead. For, alas! man is now a fallen creature; and since all are not saved, there will be a resurrection of the just and also of the unjust; a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto judgment. (Acts 24:15; John 5:29.)

The body is not the whole man, for he is often said to be in it or absent from it, clothed with it or unclothed. Thus for faith the body is the clothing of the man, and his "tabernacle," which supposes an inhabitant. Paul has a vision of unutterable things, and does not know whether he was in the body or out of the body at the time he saw them. 2. In the language of sense man is identified with the body; for faith, with what dwells in it. The Lord lay in Joseph's tomb, yet confessedly His divine nature did not lie there. 3. Man is spirit and soul and body. 4. Spirit is not an universal principle floating in the atmosphere, but a separate entity in every individual, "spirit of man," "spirits of men." It was formed within him by the Lord, and all his knowledge is ascribed to it This spirit the beast has not. 5. The soul is not the body, but in the body. Beasts have and are living souls, and man is called a soul to distinguish him from the rest of intelligent creatures, who are called "spirits." The soul is the link also between the spirit and the body, the life of the latter while in connection with it; the seat of affection, nay, of appetite, lusts, etc. 6. It thus characterizes the man himself, so as to be identified with him, soul and person being used as the same thing, while in the intermediate disembodied state the general term for him is that he is a spirit. 7. Again the soul is that through which man was seduced and fell, and which characterizes the natural man as led by it. It is thus specially connected in Scripture with will and lust, with sin and with atonement. 8. By the possession of a spirit distinguishing him from beast man is in relationship with God, the Father and God of spirits, and is a moral, responsible being, made for eternity in contrast with the "beasts that perish."

Let us now gather up the Scripture statements upon the subject we have been examining: — The body is not the whole man, for he is often said to be in it or absent from it, clothed with it or unclothed. Thus for faith the body is the clothing of the man, and his "tabernacle," which supposes an inhabitant. Paul has a vision of unutterable things, and does not know whether he was in the body or out of the body at the time he saw them. In the language of sense man is identified with the body; for faith, with what dwells in it. The Lord lay in Joseph's tomb, yet confessedly His divine nature did not lie there. Man is spirit and soul and body. Spirit is not an universal principle floating in the atmosphere, but a separate entity in every individual, "spirit of man," "spirits of men." It was formed within him by the Lord, and all his knowledge is ascribed to it. This spirit the beast has not. The soul is not the body, but in the body. Beasts have and are living souls, and man is called a soul to distinguish him from the rest of intelligent creatures, who are called "spirits." The soul is the link also between the spirit and the body, the life of the latter while in connection with it; the seat of affection, nay, of appetite, lusts, etc. It thus characterizes the man himself, so as to be identified with him, soul and person being used as the same thing, while in the intermediate disembodied state the general term for him is that he is a spirit. Again the soul is that through which man was seduced and fell, and which characterizes the natural man as led by it. It is thus specially connected in Scripture with will and lust, with sin and with atonement. By the possession of a spirit distinguishing him from beast man is in relationship with God, the Father and God of spirits, and is a moral, responsible being, made for eternity in contrast with the beasts that perish."

“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.” There was first the figure of clay, formed of the dust, concerning which it is written—“Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19). Into this lifeless form, God inbreathed “the breath of life.” The body is spoken of in Scripture as man's “tabernacle,” which he may “put off” (2 Pet. 1:14), in which he may be “at home” (2 Cor. 5:6), or from which he may be “absent” (v. 8). It is said to be “mortal” (Rom. 8:11 ), that is, subject to death, as a result of the fall. Men may kill it (Matt. 10:28 ), and it may see corruption (Acts 13:36 ), from which it will be delivered at resurrection (John 5:28 -29). Materialists say the body is the man, ignoring spirit and soul as Scripture describes them and their functions, and denying consciousness or any survival after death. With Annihilationists, death is the “extinction” of man's being.

Here we learn that man did not become a living soul in the way that every other animal did. The others were caused to live by the simple fact that God organized them according to His own will; but in man's case there was this essential difference, that he alone became a living soul by the inbreathing of Jehovah-Elohim. Man alone therefore has what is commonly called an immortal soul. His body only is ever said to be mortal. Man alone, as deriving that which gave him the breath of life not from his body but from the breath of Jehovah-Elohim, gives an account to God. Man will rise and live again. Not merely with the elements of his body will he reappear, which is quite true, but besides he will reappear bodily in connection with a soul that never died. It is the soul which gives the unity, and which accounts for the personal identity. All other ways of explaining it are feeble, if not mere trash. But this divine statement, in connection with man's moral relationship with God, here calmly and clearly stated, is the true key. When men reason instead of receiving the revealed light of the Bible, I care not who or what they may be, they only mistake God and even man. They speculate; they give you ideas — and very foolish ideas they often are. The word of God presents to the simplest Christian the perfect account of the matter.

These scriptures show us that man has a body, characterized as the bodies of animals, so far as that is concerned; but the body is evidently not the larger or more important part of his being. There is a spirit. which does not die, and which is conscious when the body is buried. Thus, our Lord, in speaking of death, calls it "sleep," as applying to the body. The soul, the seat of the affections and desires, is spoken of, as in Luke 12: "This night thy soul shall be required of thee." The spirit is not always differentiated from the soul, but in the passage referred to in Luke 16, evidently the man is seen as a spirit. Indeed, while we can clearly distinguish between the two spiritual departments of man, his soul and spirit, they evidently are to be taken together. Thus, it is the man who has desires, affections and feelings, and yet his spirit is a higher department of his personality, including, conscience and the mind. Thus, as to the constitution of man, the Gospels, in harmony with all the rest of Scripture, show him as a tripartite person, with body, soul and spirit united together, all of them essential for the full truth of manhood. We find therefore no lack of teaching as to the resurrection of the body. "Those that are in their graves shall come forth" (John 5). In the resurrection,the natural relationships of the present life, while remembered, are not renewed. They do not die, nor are given in marriage (Luke 20:35-36).

The soul is usually spoken of as the individual; as, "The souls that came with Jacob into Egypt." The body is the instrument of the soul's expression and action; and the spirit, of its capacity and power. John the Baptist came in "the spirit and power of Elias, not in the soul of Elias. Such is man in all the parts of his being and the apostle prays that each part may "be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." He does not say, observe, unto the day of death, but, "unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." This may show thee what an important place the coming of the Lord had in the mind of the apostle, or rather in the mind of the Holy Spirit, and what an important place it ought to have in the minds of all Christians. It is an essential, or at least, a most influential part of christian life. Its place in this passage is perfectly beautiful. The believer, who is now but in part sanctified, shall be wholly then, and in every part of his being — body, soul, and spirit. What a wonderful thought this gives us of what we may now call, poor humanity. Then it will be perfected in each part, ennobled by grace, conformed to the glorious image of Christ Himself, who is the Head and Source of this new life in the glory.

227 In the case of dying the connection of soul and body is lost for the time, but it is not so when the body is changed, for the links go with the body. That was just the difficulty of the Sadducees, in supposing seven men with one wife, when they get into resurrection. In the flesh we have the devil's sin, that is, pride against God, and the spirit's sins in our bodies. In chapter 2:14 of this epistle, we have seen that it is the natural man, the man without the Holy Ghost. A man is not a man without body, soul, and spirit. They may be separated for a little, as when he dies. Sometimes it is called, inner man and outer man, soul and body.

There is an hour when the three parts of which man is constituted, "spirit and soul and body," must for a time be separated. That hour is DEATH. "Man dieth and wasteth away," says Job (14:10), when regarding the body, and Paul in the New Testament repeats it, but follows him beyond the grave. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Heb. 9:27.) Death is the penalty attached to sin. "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5:12.) It is that condition of the body when seen without a tenant. The body is the man's earthly house or tabernacle, the habitation of both spirit and soul, so that while in it he is said to be "at home in the body." While in the body also he is said to be "clothed." (Job 10:11 to Job 2, or Job 5:4, 6.) But he leaves the body at death. Thus we read, "Desiring rather to be absent from the body"; again, "To depart and to be with Christ, which is far better" (Phil. 1:23); and again, "The body without the spirit (pneuma) is dead." (James 2:26.) Here we learn that at death the spirit is not there. But we also read that the death of the body does not affect the soul. "Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" (psukee). (Matt. 10:28.) At death the soul (psukee) is "required" (Luke 12:20), and then all that ministers merely to the body is left behind for others. The body only is that part in man which is mortal. In Heb. 9:27 it is seen to be both capable of, and liable to, death, and after that also to corruption. (Compare Acts 13:36, 1 Cor. 15:42, Rom. 7:12, etc.) "Flesh and blood (of which the body is formed) cannot inherit the kingdom of God." So the remark of Martha "Lord, by this time he stinketh" (John 11:39) though spoken of the man, could only refer to the body. Corruption she knew had begun in it, but the cry, "Lazarus, come forth!" from Him - who was both the Creator and the Life, was answered at once by the whole man, "spirit, and soul, and body." "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." We see therefore that that part of the man, the body in which he dwelt, and in which he is said to be clothed, "Flesh and skin, bones and sinews," this only rested in that grave at Bethany, where corruption had already begun its work.