gave it." In the New Testament such return of the spirit to God is assumed in Luke, xxiii, 46, John xix, 30, Acts vii, 59; and in 1 Cor. ii, 11, we read: "Who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth save the Spirit of God." This assumption of likeness between the spirit of God and that of man is noteworthy, and gives importance to the biblical teaching that man was originally made in the image of God (Gen. i, 27), and still exists in that same image and glory (1 Cor. xi, 7). The statement of Rom. viii, 16, that "the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God," also enhances this divine relationship of God and man.

9. The Doctrine of Trichotomy. The words spirit and soul are often employed interchangeably, as in Hebrew parallelism, and the same experiences are often predicated alike of each. But there are texts in which soul and spirit are distinguished, notably in Heb. iv, 12 ("the dividing of soul and spirit"), and in 1 Thess. v, 23: "May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire." In this last cited text, especially, some writers find the doctrine of trichotomy, or the threefold nature of man. It is maintained that the soul is the connecting link between the spiritual and the corporeal natures, and has no distinctive personality of its own.' It is also supposed to be a sort of house of the spirit, as the body is the house of the soul, and so serves as the subtile medium by which reciprocal action is sustained between spirit and matter." Soul and spirit, having once become united in self-conscious personality, are thereafter forever inseparable, but man's superior nature is to be seen especially in the personality of his spirit. So far, therefore, as the Scriptures speak of the soul as a personal entity, we are to understand, according to the trichotomic theorists, that it derives its personality from the spirit. Others, however, hold that the spirit is rather a constituent element of the soul, and that individuality and personality lie really in the latter. For the soul originated in a union of spirit with matter, so

So Delitzsch: "The Soul, made personal indeed by the spirit, is yet in and for itself impersonal. In Gen. ii, 7, we see that man is not already endowed with soul before the spirit is breathed into him, but that it is even by that inspiration that he is endowed with soul."-System of Biblical Psychology, p. 232. Comp. also pp. 263, 264.

In the soul of man the animal and the spiritual meet and combine in a union so intimate that, after their union, their separate existence may be said to be destroyed. Just as oxygen and hydrogen gas, when uniting in certain fixed proportions, lose all the properties of gas and become water, a substance which seems to have little or nothing in common with its two constituent elements, so the animal and the spirit, combined in certain proportions as definite as those of oxygen and hydrogen, though not as easily described by numerical ratios, produce a third and apparently distinct nature, which we call the soul.-J. B. Heard, The Tripartite Nature of Man, p. 49. Edinburgh, 1868.

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that spirit forms in part the substance of the soul and individualizes it.'

(1) Has no Support in Sound Interpretation. But none of these theories of the invisible relations of soul and spirit find support in a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Their speculative character is not in accord with the thought or the popular language of the biblical writers, who show no uniformity in the use of these various words. The mention of spirit, and soul, and body, in 1 Thess. v, 23, has no real parallel in any other scripture. The same apostle, in 1 Cor. vii, 34, speaks of "the body and the spirit" in a manner that implies dichotomy as clearly as the other text implies trichotomy, and the language of Matt. x, 28, may be used with equal propriety to prove the dichotomy of soul and body. On such principles of exegesis we may find, in Matt. xxii, 37, a trichotomy of heart, soul, and mind, without at all including the body. The parallel passage in Luke x, 27, has four terms, heart, soul, might, and mind, and the text in Deut. vi, 5, whence the citation comes, reads heart, soul, and might. The same three words appear in 2 Kings xxiii, 25. In Heb. iv, 12, God's piercing word is said to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and to be expert in judging the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is obvious that the use of these various terms is largely rhetorical, and is so conspicuously diverse as to nullify their value as prooftexts of trichotomy. The sacred writers display no such proclivity to subtile theories of ontology, and the words whole (öhoteλeis) and entire (öλóλпpov in 1 Thess. v, 23) cannot be pressed in the interests of a dogma so as to override all other texts and make that one solitary passage an authoritative dictum on biblical trichotomy. The word duéμTTWS, without blame, might demand equal attention, and a comparison of James i, 4, should not be overlooked in such a contention. The contrast between the natural or soulish man and him that is spiritual, in 1 Cor. ii, 14, 15, has reference to moral and religious qualities, not to elements of the natural constitution.

(2) The Words Used Indiscriminately. It appears, furthermore, that the words for soul and spirit are employed too indiscriminately in other connections to accord with a consistent doctrine of trichotomy. In many passages the word soul is used to

So G. F. Oehler: "In the soul, which sprang from the spirit and exists continually through it, lies the individuality—in the case of man his personality, his self, his Ego; because man is not spirit, but has it; he is soul."-Theology of the Old Testament, p. 150. New York, 1883. Thus, according to Oehler, trichotomy is not taught or warranted by the Old Testament. "Rather the whole man is included in the flesh and soul, which spring from the union of the spirit with matter." But even this seems like an over-refinement, such as never entered the thoughts of the biblical writers.

denote the entire person (Gen. xlvi, 27; Josh. x, 28; Jer. xliii, 6; Ezek. xviii, 20). Flesh, or “all flesh," is often employed in the same sense (Gen. vi, 12; Psa. lxv, 3; Isa. xl, 5, 6). In other passages the same experiences are predicated alike of soul and spirit. Thus trouble, grief, fainting and reviving, longing, searching, thinking, perception, excitement, and purpose are attributed both to the spirit and the soul, and both alike are conceived as departing from the body at death, or are commended to God in the death struggle.

(3) Yet with Distinctive Connotation. Such facts sufficiently disprove the idea that the Scriptures teach the doctrine of trichotomy. But the words flesh, body, soul, spirit, mind, heart, reason, have their distinctive meanings. Soul and spirit are not strictly synonymous. Spirit has the higher connotation, for the word is commonly employed to designate the nature of angels and of God. And while it may be shown, as above, that there is no clear doctrine of a threefold nature in man to be found in the Scriptures, it does not follow that he is therefore not possessed of such a nature. How the living spirit, existing in God's image and likeness, is united with an organism of flesh and bones and blood, is a mystery which the Bible does not unfold. That there is a spiritual body, a real invisible organism within the fleshly body, seems to be the conception of Paul in 1 Cor. xv, 44, and 2 Cor. iv, 16; and it may well be that, as an intermediate connective between the body and the spirit, there is a psychical organism, a body or house of the spirit, which God gives it to serve the purposes of its being. But these invisible elements of man's spiritual nature are not made manifest to us, and it behooves the theologian and the biblical exegete to refrain from constructing theories of the human constitution out of the incidental and rhetorical language of biblical writers who follow no uniform usage of the same words.

10. General Result. As a general result of this brief study of the natural constitution of man, as outlined in the Scriptures and defined by particular terms, we may affirm with no little confidence that the nature of man is a composite of visible and invisible elements of a most wonderful character. The body, soul, spirit, heart, mind, reason, conscience, and will-power of man present a being which the psalmist appropriately speaks of as "fearfully and wonderfully made." This "offspring of God" is preeminently distinguished above all other living things that move and act upon the earth. We may by careful study and analysis classify the various states and operations of the human soul, and, however we conceive the essence and qualities of man's superior spiritual

nature, we find in the Scriptures numerous illustrative examples of its manifold activities. The human body is a marvelous organism and is conceived as a temple and covering of the invisible spirit. This inner spiritual nature is either designated or implied in the common use of the words soul, mind, and heart, and whatever elements or capacities these several terms may in different connections represent, the personal faculties implied so subsist and work together in the living agent that, in all other literature as well as in the biblical writings, we find these various terms used interchangeably. We are not to look, therefore, in the Scriptures for a scientific analysis and classification of the faculties of the human soul. The biblical writers appropriate the common language of their time, and employ such words as spirit, soul, mind, heart, affections, and thoughts in a popular way, as they were generally understood. It is a delusion to search the Scriptures with the presumption of finding therein anticipations of modern scientific discoveries. The facts or states of human consciousness, which it is the province of the science of psychology to investigate, naturally find more or less mention in the Bible; for all the noticeable facts of one's self-consciousness, such as those of sensation, attention, feeling, sentiment, memory, imagination, reflection, thought, reasoning, deliberation, and volition, must needs have some sort of popular recognition in a literature so extensive and varied as the canonical Scriptures. But this is something very different from the presumption that we may of right search these Scriptures with the expectation of finding therein ancient revelations and anticipations of the results of modern scientific study. We find nothing in these sacred writings which, rationally interpreted, conflicts with any clear disclosures of scientific research. The most lively oracles of the holy men of old, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, are cast in popular and poetic forms, and furnish no certain or authoritative guidance into the facts of physiology and psychology. Continuous investigation of these facts by way of observation, experiment, and all possible appliances of scientific research may yet bring to light many mysteries of the natural constitution of man which were unknown to the biblical writers.

CHAPTER 11

THE MORAL ELEMENT IN MAN

1. The Fact of Moral Sense. A faithful study of the constituent elements of man's nature requires that we observe them in their higher activities and moral aspects. This being of flesh and blood and bones, of soul and spirit, of heart, and mind, and might, exhibits in his various relations the elements of a moral nature. He formulates his thoughts in language and communicates them to his fellow men. By means of his organs of sense he has conscious contact with the world about him, and comes to know that he is part of it and holds responsible relations to it. He sees, hears, smells, tastes, touches; he also thinks, reasons, forms judgments, and expresses his feelings and opinions. He chooses or refuses objects which come within his reach, and so he finds himself gifted with power to determine his own course of action. In these various ways he comes at an early period of life to exercise the functions of a moral sense and to distinguish between right and wrong. The existence of such a moral element in man is a fact as universal as our knowledge of the human race. 2. Conscience. This feeling, power, or capacity of moral obligation in man, by which he distinguishes between right and wrong, is called conscience. It shows itself along with the first operations of intelligence as an intuitive perception, imperatively controlling the judgment in deciding what ought or ought not to be done. A sense of guilt and shame comes to the soul whenever the dictates of this moral judgment are violated. No facts of the intellectual and emotional nature of man are more incontrovertible than these mandatory dictations of conscience, and of this we find abundant witness in the Scriptures.

(1) Old Testament Illustration.-We have a graphic picture of conscience sounding its admonition to the soul in 1 Sam. xxiv, 5, where it is said "that David's heart smote him" because of a disrespectful act toward the king. The same expression appears in 2 Sam. xxiv, 10, in describing David's sense of guilt in his willful sin of numbering the people. In Job xxvii, 6, the word denotes the reproach of heart which one feels as the sure consequence of failure to observe righteousness, and in Dan. ix, 7, 8, we find the strong expression, "confusion of face," as a