TABLE OF
CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION (3)
CHAPTER 1 MAN HAS THREE SEPARATE AND REAL NATURES (4)
CHAPTER 2 THE PNEUMA\RUWACH: THE SPIRIT NATURE OF MAN (5)
Is The Spirit Nature Of Man
Personal Or Impersonal?
God’s Angels
Are Personal Spirit Beings
Satan And His
Angels Are Personal Spirits Beings
The Angels Of
God Who Sinned In Noah’s Day, Were Personal Spirit Beings
Demons Are Personal Disembodied Spirit Beings
The Personal Ruwach\Pneuma
Of Man
The Spirit Of
Man Has Intelligence
The Spirit Of
Man Has A Will
The Spirit Of
Man Has Emotions
Man’s Spirit Is The Place
Where God’s Holy Spirit Chooses To Dwell In Man
God Created And “Squeezed”
The Spirit Into Man
The Spirit Of Man Belongs To
God, Who Gave It To Him
God Is The God Of Man’s
Spirit
CHAPTER 3 THE PSUCHE\NEPHESH: THE SOUL NATURE OF MAN (12)
Is The Soul Of Man Personal
Or Impersonal?
Man As A
Person Is Called A Soul
Man’s Soul Is
Not His Blood Or Physical Soul Body
The Personal Nephesh\Psuche
Of Man
Man’s Soul Has
Intelligence
Man's Soul Has
Volition Or Will
Man’s Soul Has
Emotions
Man’s Soul Leaves His
Physical Body At Death
Man’s Soul And Physical Body
Dwell In Two Different Places After Death
Man’s Soul Has A Spiritual
Tangible Body?
Man’s Soul Can Be Saved Or
Lost
Man's Soul Is Mortal And
Subject To Temporal And Eternal Death
Summary
CHAPTER
4 THE SPIRIT AND SOUL OF
MAN: HOW THEY OPERATE IN THE PHYSICAL BODY (19)
The Life Functions Of Man’s Spirit And
Soul
Man’s Spirit
Is Composed Of Air And It Controls The Body’s Ability To Inhale And Exhale
Man’s Soul Controls The Blood And Air Flow In The Body
CHAPTER
5 THE THREE MINDS OF MAN:
THE SPIRIT, SOUL, AND PHYSICAL BRAIN (25)
The Thinking
Function Of The Three Minds Of Man, According To The Bible And Medical Science
Medical
Beliefs And Experiments On The Brain
Man’s Spirit And Soul Can
Pray, Worship, And Commune With God
Man’s Spirit And Soul United
Together Is Called The Inner Man
What Is The Origin Of The
Spirit And Soul Of Man?
CHAPTER
6 APPENDIX (38)
Every Scripture Containing The Following Greek Words Pneuma And Psuche
Are Presented In One Or More English Translations, And The Beza’s 1598 Textus
Receptus Greek New Testament; The Hebrew Words Ruwach And Nephesh Are Presented
In One Or More English Translations, The Greek Septuagint, And The Hebrew
Masoretic Text.
The Definition
Of Pneuma/Ruwach Or Spirit (38)
The New
Testament Usage Of Pneuma Or Spirit (42)
The Old
Testament Usage Ruwach And Pneuma Or Spirit (81)
The Definition
Of Psuche/Nephesh Or Soul (126)
The New
Testament Usage Of Psuche Or Soul (126)
The Old Testament Usage Of
Nephesh And Psuche Or Soul (136)
ENDNOTES (248)
Copyright May 30,
1996 by Harry A. Peyton under the title of “The Doctrines Of Christ.”
A Note from the Author: Since Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
gives His Salvation and His Word to all freely (Rev 22:17, Mt 10:7-8), this
book, and all other books, written by Harry A. Peyton are given without charge,
and can be accessed through the Internet at the following address: http://www.DoctrinesOfChrist.com. Therefore, fell
free to copy it in digital or written form, and share it with others. Since
this book is copyrighted, the author forbids any alteration of its contents,
and the reproduction of it in any form for Marketing Purposes. This book may be
placed on anyone’s web page, as long as my website address is attached to it.
The
author believes that the Word of God is infallible in the ORIGINAL
LANGUAGE it was written in, and all translations of the Bible regardless of how
good they may be are NOT. Since the author has implicit faith in the infallibility
of the Word of God, the author has formed his beliefs firmly on the truth of
the Bible. This author uses the ancient ANTIOCHIAN LITERAL-HISTORICAL METHOD OF
INTERPRETING THE BIBLE, which was used by early Christian Prophets and Apostles
of the Bible.
I
definitely believe that the ancient Alexandrian Allegorical Method of
spiritualizing scripture, which was made popular by the ancient Jewish
philosopher Philo Judaeus (13 BC – 50 AD) and later used by the Ante-Nicene
Catholic Priests, especially Origen and his student Clement of Alexandria (200
AD), is an abomination to our Lord. Therefore, all scriptures will be
interpreted in a literal exegetical fashion, unless the language used and the
context demands a spiritual interpretation.
All CAPITALIZATION and
ITALICIZATION in QUOTES used in this book is always MINE. All Biblical
quotes used in this book will be in dark red,
and from the New King James version of the Bible, unless another version is
stated as the reference. The vast majority of all translations of the Bible, as
well as Hebrew and Greek Lexical definitions and grammar, will come from BibleWorks computer software
program version 7.0. The author in most places will
quote verses from the Bible instead of commenting on a verse and giving a
reference; for He believes that the written Word of God’s has greater power to
inspire and enlighten a heart to understand and act upon truth, than the
elegant oratory or writings of any man.
If this book has been a blessing to my beloved
readers, and they would like to send an offering to the author, feel free to do
so. If anyone wishes to send any biblical or historical materials to the
author, my address is: 148 Little Creek Hills Rd.: Alto, NM 88312: Phone #
575-336-2800: Email address: DoctrineOfChrist@Hotmail.com.
INTRODUCTION
Throughout this book, the author will lay aside his theological biases
and present a book base on investigative research. This book contains a
scriptural study of the spirit and soul of man. What they are and how do they
function in the body? Are the spirit and soul of man two personal, separate,
and distinct natures from each other? Are they spearate from the body and brain
of man? Are they real personal natures, or, are they nothing more than mere
attributes or impersonal characteristics of man and his personality? If the
spirit and soul of man are two personal, separate, and distinct natures in man,
does each nature have mind, will, and emotions? Does each nature control parts
of the body and brain of man, if so, what parts? What function do they play in
man’s thought process? Could it be possible that the soul of man controls the
thought process of the left hemisphere of the brain and the spirit controls the
right hemisphere? If these natures are separate from each other and the body,
does each nature have a spiritual body or form in man? Does each nature have a
separate existence after the body dies? These are some of the questions that
will be answered in this book.
From the time of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, God, the devil, and
man have spoken profusely about the spirit and soul of man, death. Judaism,
Christianity, and Pagan Religions have taught much about these topics. Man has
written volumes of books about these subjects, but there is only one book in
all of creation, which can reveal to us the absolute truth about these sacred
doctrines, and that book is the infallible Word of God, the Holy Bible.
The Bible is the greatest source of Truth this world has ever known. It
is not just a truth, but it is “the Truth.” Every scripture as it relates to
any given subject is the guiding light that every Christian uses to judge
truth, for the Word of God is the final authority regarding the validity of
anything that claims to be truth. The Bible is a magnificent work, profound in
structure and inerrant in content. It
is the only source of absolute truth when it comes to knowing the Creator. It
is God’s expressed Word to mankind, His written will that He has bequeathed to
all who have become, or want to become, His children.
It is not the work of one man or a council of men who penned their own
ideas during one period of time. God’s prophets, apostles and disciples, who
were holy men of God, spoke as they were anointed by the Holy Spirit of God to
speak. Every word on its Holy Pages is God-breathed. This is why there is such
an incredible and phenomenal harmony in every book of the Bible, in spite of
the fact that it was written over the span of many centuries. Anyone who loves
and studies its Holy Pages can easily recognize the true author of it. Truly,
the Bible was indeed written by the Mastermind of the universe, the selfsame
One who made man and spoke the worlds into existence by the Spirit-Words that
came out of His mouth. Therefore, the truth concerning the spirit and soul of
man can only be understood through the Bible.
The author will present the truths pertaining to the spirit and soul of
man in a systematic dissertation. This book is not written in a novel style,
but in an exegetical fashion. This author firmly believes that the Lord Jesus
Christ has called him to write this book, although he does not enjoy writing.
In fact, it has taken him several years to compose this work. The author is
asking his readers to prayerfully read the entire message to the end to get an
overall view of this subject. Then study or examine this book by looking for a
harmony in all the scriptures, as you interpret them in a literal fashion.
After you have done these things, then judge for yourself the validity of this
message. My prayer for you is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God and
Creator may open your heart and mind to understand His truths pertaining to the
mysteries of the spirit and soul.
CHAPTER
1
MAN HAS THREE SEPARATE AND REAL NATURES
The Word of God explicitly informs us that man was made in the image
and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27). Therefore man like God is a triune being,
who is composed of three separate and distinct natures, a spirit, a soul and a
physical body. This is a very important statement to remember. For the Bible
does not teach that these natures are nothing but mere attributes of man. Those
who teach this usually say that the spirit represents man’s emotional make-up
or life’s force, the soul is a symbolic expression for man’s rational make-up
or physical brain, and the physical body represented man’s carnal make-up or
physical desires. They do not believe that man, as a being or one person, is
compose of three separate and distinct personal natures, two of which have
intelligence, emotion and volition.
The Bible expressly teaches that man is composed of three
distinct natures. Paul declared, “For the Word
of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder [or apart] of
the soul [psuche], and spirit [pneuma], and of the joints and marrow [referring to
soma - the body]” (Heb 4:12). Therefore, only the Word of God is able to give us a clear
understanding of the distinctions between the spirit, soul, and body of man!
Paul declared the same truth another way when he wrote, “the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray to
God, that your whole spirit [pneuma] and soul
[psuche] and [physical] body [soma] be preserved
blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Th 5:23). The great apostle prayed that God would sanctify the entire being of
man, and not just a part of him. According to Paul, how is a person sanctified?
It is by the believer keeping their spirit, soul, and body natures blameless
until the coming of our Lord.
Irenaeus (AD 180) speaking of this verse and the relationship of Holy
Spirit to man’s spirit, soul, and body wrote: Now God shall be glorified in His
handiwork [meaning man’s physical body], fitting it
so as to be conformable to, and modeled after, His own Son. For by the hands of
the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not [merely] a part of
man, was made in the likeness of God. Now the soul and the spirit are certainly
a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the perfect man
consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit
of the Father, and the admixture
of that fleshly nature which was molded after the image of God….
But when the
spirit here blended with the soul is united to [God’s] handiwork,
the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because of the outpouring of the
Spirit, and this is he who was made in the image and likeness of God. But if
the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal
nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing
indeed the image [of God, meaning a physical body] in his
formation, but not receiving the similitude through the Spirit; and thus is
this being imperfect.
Thus also, if any
one take away the image and set aside the handiwork, he cannot then understand
this as being a man, but as either some part of a man, as I have already said,
or as something else than a man. For that flesh, which has been molded,
is not a perfect man in itself, but the body of a man, and part of a
man. Neither is the soul itself, considered apart by itself, the man; but
it is the soul of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the spirit a man,
for it is called the spirit, and not a man; but the commingling
and union of all these constitutes the perfect man. And for this
cause does the apostle, explaining himself, make it clear that the saved man is
a complete man as well as a spiritual man; saying thus in the first Epistle to
the Thessalonians, ‘Now the God of peace sanctify
you perfect (perfectos); and may your spirit, and soul, and body be preserved
whole without complaint to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.’
Now what was his
object in praying that these three — that is, soul, body, and spirit — might be
preserved to the coming of the Lord, unless he was aware of the [future] reintegration and union
of the three, and [that they should be heirs of] one and the same
salvation? For this cause also he declares that those are ‘the perfect’ who
present unto the Lord the three [component parts] without offense. Those, then,
are the perfect who have had the Spirit of God remaining in them, and
have preserved their souls and bodies blameless, holding fast the faith of God,
that is, that faith which is [directed] towards God, and maintaining righteous
dealings with respect to their neighbors. [1]
CHAPTER 2
THE
PNEUMA\RUWACH: THE SPIRIT NATURE OF MAN
The Definition Of Pneuma\Ruwach Or Spirit: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines man’s human personal spirit this way: the
Scripture speaks of spirits of just men made perfect (Heb 12:23), where there
can be no thought of a material or physical or corporeal organization.... The
spirit is the out breathing of God into the creature, the life-principle
derived from God…. The spirit is thus in man the principle of life…, the seat
of emotions…, the spiritual part in man, as that which thinks, feels, wills,
and also denote certain qualities which characterize the man.... Hence we are
called upon to rule over our own spirit (Pro 16:32; 25:28), and are warned
against being overmastered by a wrong spirit… [or] spirit of error.… God is
called the Father of spirits. [2]
Is
The Spirit Nature Of Man Personal Or Impersonal?
What is the human spirit of man? Is it a distinct spiritual nature that
resides within man’s soul and the physical body, which posses mind, will,
emotions, and life, or is it nothing more than a symbolic expression that
represents man’s personality, or as some say, it is a symbolic expression that
represents man’s life force, i.e., his
breath? The only way any of the Biblical truths concerning the spirit
and soul natures of man can be clearly understood and harmonized is by looking
up these words in the original language in which the Bible was written in. The
New Testament was originally written in the Greek Language, and the Old in the
Hebrew and Chaldee Languages.
The Greek word pneuma always means spirit in the New Testament, just as
anemos means wind, and pnoe means breath. Pneuma is used 385 times in
the New Testament (NT). The King James translators translated it 257 times as
spirit, 32 times as spirits, 92 times as ghost, 1 time as spiritually, 1 time
as spiritual, 1 time as life, and 1 time as wind (Jn 3:8). The Hebrew word
ruwach or spirit in the Old Testament (OT) is used 378 times. The King
James translators translated it 227 times as spirit, 5 times as spirits, 1 time
as spiritual, 6 times as mind, 27 times as breath, 1 time as air, 82 times as
wind, 11 times as winds, 1 time as windy, cool and tempest, 4 times as blast, 2
times as vain, 5 times as side, and 1 time as sides, courage, anger and
quarters.
Pneuma and Ruwach are used in the Word of God to designate the essence
of God’s Spirit Nature. The Bible also informs us that God’s angels and Lucifer
and his angels are all personal spirits or spirit beings. Demons are spirits
beings, who have lost their tangible bodies, which makes them disembodied
spirits. Man, like all other spirit beings, also has a spirit nature, but his
spirit dwells in a soul and physical body. To understand more about man’s
spirit nature, lets examine the attributes of the spirit nature of other
beings.
God’s
Angels Are Personal Spirit Beings
The writers of the NT and OT always used Pneuma\Ruwach to refer to the
God the Father's angels. Paul quoting the prophet David declared: God made “His angels spirits [pneuma],
and His ministers a flame of fire” (Heb 1:7, also Psa 104:4). Pneuma and ruwach always means a “rational being,” when it refers to any spirit being. Do these spirit beings dwell in
some form of tangible bodies? Jesus said: “The Son of
man shall send forth His angels [pneuma], and
they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity [evil men]; And shall cast [Gr.
ballo - to throw violently] them into a furnace of
fire” (Mt 13:42-43). Here is positive proof
that angels, who are spirit beings, must dwell in some sort of tangible body.
If this assumption is not true, how can intangible spirit beings pick up
and violently throw tangible men into the Lake of Fire? It is obvious that lost
mankind will not voluntarily leap into the Lake of Fire, therefore they will
have to be thrown in, which means men will be fighting with God mighty angels
in that day.
The prophet Daniel saw Gabriel the archangel and described him. He said
Gabriel had “the appearance of a man”
(Dan 8:15-16). Notice the angel Gabriel
looked like a man and had the ability to understand and explain the mysteries
of God. This definitely proves that angels are rational beings, and have some
sort of body that looks like man's body. The archangel Gabriel told Daniel that
he would have come sooner but “the Prince of Persia [a
fallen angel or a spirit being that Satan place over the nation of Persia] withstood me one and
twenty days: but lo, Michael one of the chief Princes [archangels of
God], came to help me” (Dan 10:12-13). According to verse 12, God sent
Gabriel the first day Daniel started praying. Therefore, Gabriel must fought
against Satan’s prince of Persia for twenty-one days.
Now, all those who say that God’s Angels and Satan’s angels have no
tangible bodies will no doubt have a difficult time explaining these verses, as
well as the following scriptures. If these beings have only an intangible
spirit body, then how can these beings fight with each other? How does one grap
a hold of air or fire or someone’s breath? Was it a war of words? If you were
Gabriel and God sent you on a important mission, would you waste time debating
with one of Lucifer’s chief devils? I do not think so!!
Satan And His Angels Are Personal Spirits Beings
John said: “There was war in heaven,
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon [Satan]; and the dragon fought and his angels…. [Satan’s] angels were cast out with him” (Rev 12:7-9). According to these verses,
we see that Satan and his angels will lose their access to heaven in the middle
of the future tribulation period. Therefore they are barred from entering into
heaven forever, praise God! According to these verses, there was a tremendous
fight in heaven between God's Angels and Satan and all of his angels. Now,
as previously cited, if these spirit beings have only an intangible spirit
body, and not some sort of tangible body, how did they actually fight? Was this
war a war of words, or was there a real physical confrontation? There can be no
doubt, when God’s angels cast lost men into the Lake of Fire, there will be a
real physical confrontation that will take place. Therefore, one can reasonably
surmise that these angels do have some sort of tangible body.
God’s angels
and Satan’s angels are definitely intelligent beings. The Bible declared: “The LORD said [to His angels], ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at
Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in
that manner. Then a spirit [or
a ruwach of Satan] came forward and stood before the LORD, and said,
‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will
go out and be a lying spirit [ruwach] in the mouth of all
his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so” (1Ki 22:20-22); and “The Spirit [Ruwach] of the LORD departed
from Saul, and a distressing [evil] spirit [ruwach] from the LORD
troubled him. And Saul's servants said to him, ‘Surely, a distressing spirit [ruwach] from God is
troubling you” (1Sa 16:14-15).
The
Angels Of God Who Sinned In Noah’s Day
Were
Personal Spirit Beings
Jude speaks of certain fallen “Angels who
had not kept their own original state, but had abandoned their own dwelling [oiketerion], he keeps in eternal chains under gloomy darkness, to
{the} judgment of {the} great day" (Jude 1:6). The Greek word “oiketerion” means “dwelling
place.” Does oiketerion in this
verse refer to a place like heaven, or to these angels heavenly bodies? The apostle
Paul uses this Greek word to refer to the heavenly flesh and bone soul bodies,
which will be like our Lord's resurrected body, that saints will receive in the
resurrection. He said, “If our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building [oiketerion] of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in heaven.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed we shall not be found
naked” (2Co 5:1-4).
According to Genesis, the sons of God or certain angels must have left
their heavenly body and took on bodies with flesh, bone and blood (Gen 6:2). Angels are called sons of God (Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7; Psa 89:6). Peter said these angels were cast down to “hell,”
which is the Greek word Tartarus (2Pe 2:4). Jude also
proclaimed that these angels who rebelled against God before the flood, were
held in bonds of darkness (Jude 1:6). Nowhere in
the Bible can you find where Hades is ever called by the name of Tartarus and
vice versa. Tartarus is a prison of total darkness, hence it cannot be on the
surface of the earth, therefore these fallen angels cannot be the demons of the
Bible.
Peter spoke of Jesus going to Tartarus, where the fallen angels were
bond in chains. Peter wrote, Jesus “was made
alive by the Spirit [pneuma]. Through Whom
also [meaning His Spirit] He [Jesus] went and preached to the spirits [pneuma] in prison. Who disobeyed long ago [pote] when God waited patiently in the days of Noah”
(1Pe 3:18-20, NIV). The Greek word “pote” basically means “in times past or long ago.” The word “preached” is the Greek
word “kerusso” which means “to proclaim
as a public crier, or to announce something whether it be good or bad.” If Peter wanted us to believe that Jesus was offering salvation to
these angels, he would have used the Greek word “evangelizo,” which means “glad
tiding or good news.” Therefore it cannot be saying that Jesus was offering the
fallen angels a second chance. The Word of God clearly gave the time period of
the sin of these fallen angels as being before the flood.
According to Peter, Jesus’ “Spirit” or “Pneuma” went to Tartarus, no doubt dwelling in His Soul body; for
Peter informs us that Jesus’ “Soul [Psuche] was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption” in the tomb
(Acts 2:31). A distinction was clearly made by Peter between the Spirit and the
Soul of Jesus in the above passages. Pneuma or Spirit is never used for Psuche
or Soul and vice versa, therefore Jesus must have going to both Tartarus and
Hades with His Spirit dwelling in His Soul body. What Jesus said to the fallen
angels in Tartarus is not known, as well as why He even went there. One thing
is for sure, these spirits are not the same beings referred to as demons in the
Bible.
Demons
Are Personal Disembodied Spirit Beings
The Bible reveals that demonic spirits do have spirit bodies that can
be seen, when they chose to reveal themselves. Jesus spoke of this when He told
the apostles, “Behold My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit [pneuma] has not flesh and bones, as you see
Me have.... But they [the disciples] were
terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit
[pneuma]” (Lk 24:39, 37). It is obvious from these
verses that the apostles believed that demon spirits, which terrified men,
could be seen. According to our Lord, demon spirits do not have tangible
bodies, but spirit bodies.
Demons are personal spirit beings, a legion or two thousand “devils besought Him [Jesus], saying, Send us into the swine, that we
may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean
spirits [pneuma] went out [of the
man's body], and entered into the swine” (Mk
5:12‑13; compare with Mt 12:43-45; 14:26; Lk 24:37; 9:39; 10:20;
11:24-26; Acts 8:7; 19:12). In these verses and all
others dealings with demons, we perceive demons as intangible spirit beings.
They have personalities and intelligence. There can be many demons living
inside of the body of one man. They can also be cast out. Jesus said, “When an unclean spirit goes out
of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then
he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'
And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked
than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state
of that man is worse than the first” (Mt 12:43-45).
Their spirit bodies, from my personal experiences in casting them out
of people, are like vapor that you can see through. Their bodies are ugly and
deform, which have all the same outward appearances as men. What are demons and
where do they come from? The answer to this is uncertain. Some believe they are
the fallen angels or sons of God that fell in Noah’s day, others say they are
the human spirits of the dead wicked lost, and at the White Throne Judgment
they will be reunited with their souls and earthly bodies and cast into the
Lake of Fire. I may add, not all unsaved spirits of mankind are demons, but
they like demons, dwell on the earth until the resurrection. Demons are the
only lost spirits that try to come into living human beings. They do this, I
suppose, so they can dominate that person human spirit and relive their sins
through his or her body.
Man’s
Human Spirit Is Personal
The Jewish Encyclopedia speaking about the human spirit of man stated: In most
languages breath and spirit are designated by the same term. The life-giving
breath [spirit] cannot be an earthly origin, for nothing is found whence it may
be taken. It is derived from the supernatural world, from God. [3]
The spirit is associated with air because it gives man the ability to
take in or breathe in air, which gives life to the body. This function of the
spirit of man will be discussed later.
In all of the following scriptures the impersonal words “life” or “breath” or “air” cannot be reasonably substituted for man’s personal spirit. Man’s spirit can: have faith
(Num 14:24), be hardened (Deu 2:30), have wisdom (Deu 34:9), be revived by
water and food – therefore must have a connection with the body (Jud 15:19; 1Sa
30:12), be stirred up (1Ch 5:26), be preserved by God's visitation (Job 10:12),
be turned against God (Job 15:13), have understanding (Job 20:3), receive
understanding from God (Job 32:8), be constrain from doing something (Job 32:18).
Man’s spirit can also: be with or without guile (Psa 32:2), be contrite (Psa
34:18), be overwhelmed (Psa 77:3), be steadfast (Psa 78:8), be faithful (Pro
11:13), be hasty (Pro 14:29), be breached or split by a perverse tongue (Pro
15:4), be haughty (Pro 16:18), be humble (Pro 16:19), be ruled by the soul (Pro
16:32), be broken (Pro 17:22), be excellent (Pro 17:27), be wounded (Pro
18:14), be vexed (Ecc 1:14), be patient and proud (Ecc 7:8), have it own ways
(Ecc 11:5), be perverse (Isa 19:14), seek for God (Isa 26:9), be in error (Isa
29:24), be depressed (Isa 61:3), be troubled (Dan 2:1), be made strong (Zec
2:40), sigh (Mk 8:12), be strong (Lk 1:80), groan (Jn 11:33), be fervent (Acts
18:25), be holy (Rom 1:4), be made perfect (Heb 12:23), be meek and quiet (1Pe
3:4), be renewed (Psa 51:10), be revived and so on.
The apostle Paul speaking to the church called man’s spirit: “our spirit" in Roman 8:16, "the spirit of man" in First Corinthians 2:11,
"my spirit" in First Corinthians
5:4; 14:14 and "thy spirit” in Second
Timothy 4:22. In none of these
scriptures can one substitute the impersonal word “breath” for “spirit.”
The Spirit Of
Man Has Intelligence: The Bible declared that
Esau’s wife, Judith, was “a grief of mind
[ruwach - spirit] unto Isaac and Rebecca”
(Gen 26:35). Pharaoh had a dream and “his spirit was troubled” (Gen 41:8). Job declared that his friends spoke “vain
[ruwach - spirit] words” to him (Job 16:3). David said, “I communed with my own heart, and my spirit made diligent
search” (Psa 77:6). Solomon said, “A fool uttereth all his mind [ruwach]: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards”
(Pro 29:11). Solomon tells us that the
soul of a foolish man does not control his spirit mind, but allows it speak all
of its conscious thoughts. A wise man's soul mind rules its spirit mind and
keeps it under control.
God told Israel, “I know all the things that
come into your mind [ruwach - spirit] every
one of them” (Eze 11:5). It is our spirit that God
has communion with. God searches our spirit mind when He wants to know all of
our thoughts. There is no thought we can have, that God does not known about
it. God also told Israel, “that which cometh into
your mind ( ruwach - not breath ) shall not
be at all, that ye say” (Eze 20:32). In these passages,
the spirit mind of man working through the physical conscious brain expresses
its thoughts and feelings. The spirit mind can be changed (Hab 1:11). The prophet Malachi told Israel to “take heed
to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of thy youth”
(Mal 2:15).
Jesus “perceived in His spirit [pneuma]” that the Jews reasoned in themselves a certain way (Mk 2:8). The apostle Paul “purposed in the spirit
[pneuma]” to see Rome (Acts 19:21). Paul speaking about the spirit that is in man said, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit [pneuma,
not breath] of man which is in him” (1Co
2:11).
Paul reveals that the spirit in man knowd the whole man. Paul told
those in the Church of Ephesus to “be renewed
in the spirit [pneuma, not breath]” of their “mind," or in other
words, “to be renewed in the mind
of your spirit” (Eph 4:23). All the
above scriptures distinctly reveal that man has a personal spirit, which has
the ability to think and express its thoughts.
The Spirit Of
Man Has A Will: Jesus told His disciples to
watch and pray so that they may not enter into temptation, for their “spirit [pneuma, not breath] indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41, Mk 14:38). In this passage, Jesus gives us a striking comparison between the
will of the spirit and the will of the flesh. Obviously, they are not the same.
In Romans the seventh chapter, the apostle Paul describes to us this
war of the wills between the spirit's mind, the soul's mind and that of the
fleshly mind. He wrote, “For I know that in me [that is,
in my flesh], dwelleth no good thing:, for to will [in
my spirit] is present with me; but how to perform
that which is good I find not.... For I delight in the law of God after the
inner man [the spirit and soul]: But I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my [spirit] mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin
which is in my members [flesh]” (Rom 7:18, 22-25).
The Spirit Of
Man Has Emotions: The spirit of man is
definitely emotional. It has and here
are a just few. Man's spirit can be: troubled -
Gen 41:8, in anguish - Exo 6:9, jealous - Num 5:14, sorrowful - 1Sa 1:15,
stirred up (2Ch 36:22), consumed with fear (Job 6:4), provoked or become angry
- Psa 106:33, hasty - Pro 14:29, broken by deep sorrow (Pro 15:13), haughty -
Pro 16:18, wounded or hurt - Pro 18:14, vexed - Ecc 1:14, grieved - Isa 54:6,
quieted or calmed (Zec 6:8), joyful - Lk 1:47, fearful - 2Ti 1:7, and lustful -
Ja 4:5. These scriptures concur with previous
citings which explicitly describe man’s spirit nature as a personal spirit and
not as an impersonal attribute.
God Created And
“Squeezed” The Spirit Into Man: Amos said that God “created the wind [ruwach - spirit], and declared unto man what is his thought” (Amos
4:13). God told Zechariah that He “formeth [yatsar] the
spirit [ruwach, not breath or personality] of
man within him" (Zec 12:1). The Hebrew
word “yaster” means: the
squeezing into shape, or to mold into a form. [4] According to this scripture, when God created and placed the spirit
within man, He had to squeeze it in him. God is not molding or squeezing life,
breath, mind, will or emotions into man, but the spirit. This definitely
suggests that man's spirit has some kind of form or body.
The prophet Job saw a spirit and it had some kind of form or image. He
said, “then a spirit [ruwach] passed before my face...it stood still but I could not
discern the form thereof, an image was before my eyes" (Job 4:15-16
also 2Ch 18:18-22, Mk 6:49). These scriptures prove
that men definitely believed it was possible for them to see a spirit. If other
spirits can be visible, why would the spirit of man be any different?
Man's Spirit Is
The Place Where God's Holy Spirit Chooses To Dwell In Man: Man has communion with the world through his physical body, but God
communicates with man through His Spirit. This communication is facilitated by
God's Spirit coming to dwell in man's spirit. The apostle Paul revealed this
truth when he stated, “God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts [pneuma – human spirit], crying, Abba, Father” (Ga 4:6). He also said “the Spirit itself beareth
witness with our [human] spirit
[pneuma, not breath], that we are the children of
God” (Rom 8:16). As these scriptures
portray, God’s Holy Spirit resides in our human spirit, and it is man's human
spirit that God uses to weigh his actions and thoughts (Pro 16:2,
Eze 11:5).
The Spirit Of
Man Belongs To God, Who Gave It To Him: Since God
gave man his spirit, soul and body, it is only right that only God possess
legal ownership of them. Paul confirmed this truth when he stated, "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit [pneuma] which
are God's" (1Co 6:20). The prophet
Job said the same thing, but included the soul when he said, "In whose [God's] hand is
the soul [nephesh] of every living thing, and
the breath [ruwach ‑ spirit] of all mankind" (Job 12:10).
God Is The God
Of Man's Spirit: The Children of Israel “fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the
spirits [ruwach, not the breath] of
all flesh [humanity], shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the
congregation” (Num 16:22, also 27:16). Does it make
any sense to say, God is the God of man’s breath or life? One might say, God is
the God who gave man his breath and life, revealing that God is the Creator.
The above scripture definitely declared that God is the “God of
man's spirit.” Paul stated the same truth
this way: “shall we [God's
children] not much rather be in subject unto the Father
of [human] spirits and live” (Heb 12:9).
The Personal Pneuma Or Ruwach Of Man Has Its Own Dwelling
Place After Death: The very fact that apostles
and prophets taught that the spirit goes to its own place after the death of
the body proves that it a personal and not impersonal nature of man. The Bible
not one time ever shows the spirit going to the Mnemeion\Qeber (the grave)
where the body goes after death, at least in Greek or Hebrew languages that the
Bible was originally written in. It also never states that the spirit goes to
Hades\Sheol where the soul goes after death. Therefore, the spirit is not the
soul or body of man.
The Bible informs us that the spirit goes back to God who created it.
Solomon declared that the physical bodies of all men and animals return unto
dust, but “the spirit [ruwach] of man” goes “upward, and the spirit [ruwach]
of the beast” or animals
goes “downward to the earth” (Ecc 3:20-21). Solomon also said man's “spirit
[ruwach] shall return unto God who gave it”
(Ecc 12:7). Whatever the spirit of man
may or may not be, one thing is for sure, after the body dies it always returns
back to God who gave it. When Jesus was dying on the cross He said, “Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit:
and having said thus, He gave up the Ghost” (Lk 23:46). Stephen as he was dying called upon God “saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Ac
7:59).
Therefore, man’s spirit must be a personal and not an impersonal nature
for it has its own place it goes after death; for both save and unsaved spirits
of men will stand before the throne of their Creator in heaven. If it is saved,
it will continue in heaven. If it is lost, I believe God will send it back to
the earth, for no sinful being can continue to dwell in the present of
the Lord. They both will continue to dwell in a conscious state
in the place where God has decreed for them until the resurrection, whereby
they will be reunited with their own soul and body.
The Spirit Of
Man Can Be Lost And Destroyed At The Judgment: Paul speaking
to the Corinthian Church told them to deliver the sinful brother unto Satan for
the destruction of his flesh, that his “spirit [pneuma,
not breath, life, mind, will or emotions] may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1Co 5:5). All who believe in the doctrine of eternal security should especially
take note of this verse. The word “saved” is the Greek
verb “sozo” which means: to make safe
or save. [5]
It is in the third person, singular number, aorist tense, passive voice, and subjunctive
mood, which is the mood that expresses supposition, hypothesis
or possibility rather than actual fact as in the indicative or
imperative moods.
This scripture definitely reveals that the spirit of
man is a personal entity. At the judgment, it can be pronounced lost, along
with its soul and physical body, if it does not repent. Why does Paul use
spirit here, and not the pronoun he? If Paul was referring to the whole man,
i.e., man's spirit, soul and body, he would have used the pronoun he instead of
spirit. I believe Paul is teaching here that man's spirit can be saved from
destruction.
Can man's spirit be destroyed? Isaiah speaking of the Lake of Fire
said, “Your breath [ruwach - spirit] as fire shall devour you. And the people shall be as the
burnings of lime” (Isa 33:11-12). We know from
the confession of demon spirits, that they expect to be tormented and then
destroyed sometime in the future. One of the unclean spirits said to our Lord, “art thou come hither to torment us before our time”
(Mt 8: 29). Demonic spirits also told our Lord “art thou come to destroy us” (Mk 1:24). Since these demons can be tormented and destroyed in the Lake of
Fire, the spirits of lost men should also be able to be tormented for a period
of time and destroyed along with their souls and physical bodies (Mt 10:28).
Summary: Man's human spirit has personality that is mind, will, and emotions.
The spirit has a spirit body in its true essence, just like angels and other
spirits do. The Bible declares that God squeezes this spirit form into man.
God's spirit comes in and abides within the spirit of man. Man’s spirit can be
saved or lost at the judgment, and it can be tormented and destroyed in the
Lake of Fire. It almost never goes to Hades or Sheol with the Soul after death
of the body, but man’s spirit always goes directly back to God. The Bible gives
only two references where the soul went to Hades with the spirit still dwelling
in it, but this was only for a brief period of time, after which the spirit
indeed departed.
What is man's spirit? Even though there are scriptures that may speak
of man's spirit in a non personal way, i.e. man’s ability to breathe or as
man’s life, the above scriptures along with numerable others, when taken in a
literal sense, definitely reveals that a real personal spirit lives inside of
man, which is separate from his soul and his fleshly body natures. Whatever
man's spirit nature may be, one thing is for sure, man cannot exist without it,
just as God's angels, Satan, evil angels, and demons can not exist without
their spirit nature.
CHAPTER
3
THE
PSUCHE\NEPHESH: THE SOUL NATURE OF MAN
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines the soul of man this way: Nephesh (Hebrew), Psuche (Greek), Anima
(Latin)...nephesh or soul can only denote the individual life with a material
organization or body.... The soul [psuche] is man's individual possession,
which distinguishes one man from another and from inanimate nature.... In the
soul, which sprang from the spirit, and exist continually through it, lies the
individuality - in the case of man, his personality, his self, his ego... the
soul stands for the whole person. [6]
According to this definition, the soul must have some connection with a
corporeal or a tangible body; also the “spirit” or “ruwach\psuche” is the life of the soul that gives the soul consciousness. Man’s soul mind is suppose to be the dominate part of his
personality or ego, because it is suppose to rule over his spirit mind.
Is
The Soul Of Man Personal Or Impersonal?
What is man's soul? Is it a distinct personal spiritual entity that
resides within the blood and physical body of man, which posses a mind, will,
emotions and life, or is it nothing more than a symbolic expression that
represents man's personality; or is it a symbolic expression that represents
man’s blood and physical body and his ability to breathe? If it is a distinct
personal physical spiritual entity, does it have some kind of body or form,
both in and out of man's physical body? Does it die with the body and is buried
with it, or does it have a separate existence somewhere else?
The Greek word “psuche” and the Hebrew word “nephesh,” are words that
are always used in the Bible to describe the soul of man. In the New Testament
”psuche” is used 105 times. It is translated 35 times as soul, 19 times as
souls, 36 times as life, 5 times as lives, 1 time as mind, 2 times as minds, 1
time as heart and heartily. The Greek word “psuchikos” is “psuche,” used as an
adjective and is translated 4 times as natural and 2 times as sensual.
“Nephesh” is used 723 times in the Old Testament. It is translated 416
times as soul, 58 times as souls, 1 time as soul’s, 96 times as life, 18 times
as lives, 14 times as person, 3 times as man, 2 times as ghost, 12 times as
heart, 2 times as hearts, 1 time as heart’s and hearty, 11 times as mind, 4
times as minds, 3 times as will, 9 times as creatures, 8 times as yourselves
and himself, 3 times as themselves, 1 time as myself, herself and thyself, 6
times as body, 5 times as dead, 3 times as dead body, pleasure and desire, 2
times as lust, any, thing and appetite, 1 time as breath, deadly, would, own,
fish, your, any one, beast, mortally and angry.
Now with this in mind, the answers to the above questions will be
addressed. The following scriptures in this section definitely support the
belief that man's soul is without a doubt a personal soul. The Bible definitely
and distinctly separates the nephesh - the spiritual soul of man, from the
ruwach - the spirit of man, and the geviyah - the body of man. It shows these
to be three separate entities or natures. Paul prayed for God to sanctify the
whole being of man. He said, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Th 5:23,
also see Heb 4:12). In God hand is “the soul of every living
thing, and the breath [ruwach - spirit] of
all mankind” (Job 12:10, also see 1Sa 1:15, Job 7:11, Ecc 6:9 - desire
[nephesh], Isa 26:9, 42:1). Mary, the mother of our Lord, said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my
spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior” (Lk 1:46, 47).
Man As A Person
Is Called A Soul: The Bible says, “the same day there was added unto them [the church]
about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41, also
Gen 46:18, 26; Exo 1:5, Acts 7:14, 27:37, 1Pe 3:20). Moses speaking to the children of Israel said, “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten
persons [nephesh - souls]” (Deu 10:22). The word
person in Gen 14:21, 36:6, Exo 16:16, Lev 27:2, and 1Sa 22:22 are all the Hebrew word “nephesh.” Not only is
the entire being of man called his soul, but also there are some scriptures
that seem to suggest that his physical body is also called his soul.
Man’s Soul Is
Not His Blood Or Physical Body: In the following passages
of scripture, man’s soul cannot be the blood but must be something that is
inside of it. The Bible uses the phrase, “the blood of
your souls [nephesh]” (Jer 2:34). God told
Noah, “surely your blood of your lives
[nephesh] will I require; at the hand of every beast
will I require it” (Gen 9:5). These
scriptures reveals that the blood of man belongs to the soul and not vice
versa. God speaking to the house of Israel said “I will even
set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from
among his people. For the life [nephesh - soul] of
the flesh [outer physical body] is in the
blood. For it is the life [nephesh] of all
flesh” (Lev 17:10‑11, 14).
God told Moses that no one should eat blood because the inner souls of
all men and animals are inside the blood, or in other words, the inner soul is
located somewhere in the circulatory system of both men and animals. Since the
soul is in the blood of the body and the blood and body belongs to the soul, it
therefore cannot be the blood or the physical body (1Ki
17:21-22; Jer 2:34). The Word of God declared
that “flesh and blood cannot enter into the
kingdom of God” (1Co 15:50). If the
physical body or the blood of man is his soul, then neither one cannot be saved
or enter into Gods’ Kingodm; therefore the blood of man cannot be the soul of
man!
The following scriptures would make little sense if the impersonal
words “body or blood” was substituted for the
word “soul.” The soul can: verbally
bless someone (Gen 27:4), know the heart [nephesh] of a stranger (Exo 23:9),
sin through ignorance (Lev 4:2), have its sins atone for by blood (Lev 17:11),
hate God’s judgments (Lev 26:15), become discourage for lack of food and water
(Num 21:4), love God (Deu 6:4), grieve for someone (Jud 10:16), be bitter (1Sa
1:10), have desire for something (1Sa 20:4), be vexed within the body (2Ki
4:27), mourn within the body (Job 14:22), be converted
by the Word of God (Psa 19:7), be full of vanity (Psa 24:4), be known of God in
adversity (Psa 31:7), be full of joy and rejoice in God’s salvation (Psa 35:9),
be poured out in prayer, be in tumult and cast down inside the body (Psa 42:4,
5, 6), trust in God (Psa 57:1), wait for God’s salvation (Psa 62:1), clings to
God (Psa 63:8), be crush because of its longing for God’s judgments (Psa 119:20),
be filled with scorn for those who are prideful (Psa 123:4), receive strength
through prayer (Psa 138:3), and be brought out of mental and emotional prisons
(Psa 142:7).
The soul can also: become
wicked and desire evil (Pro 21:10), find rest by keeping God’s commandments
(Jer 6:16), have pity for someone (Eze 24:21), faint within the body (Jon 2:7),
be enlarge by greed - desire [nephesh] (Hab 2:5), meditate on its ways - your
[nephesh] (Hag 1:7), be exceeding sorrowful even unto death (Mt 26:38), communicate
with his own spirit (Lk 12:19, 20), learn patience (Lk 21:19), be troubled (Jn
12:27), be subverted (Acts 15:24), find
pleasure in someone (Heb 10:38), be weary and faint in their minds [nephesh]
(Heb 12:3), be purified by obedience (1Pe 1:22), have his own flesh or body war
against it (1Pe 2:11), have faith in God (1Pe 4:19), be vexed by the sins of
others (2Pe 2:8) and so on.
Man's Soul Has
Intelligence: God speaking to Israel
said, "take heed to thyself, and keep thy
soul [nephesh, not blood or body] diligently,
lest thou forget the things which thy eyes have seen" (Deu
4:9). God gave man a warning here of what will
happen to his soul’s mind if he fills it with worldliness and fails to keep it
holy. God said that man’s soul mind could forget about the things of God. This
is why Moses commanded the children of Israel to “lay up these my words in your heart [spirit] and in your soul” (Deu 11:18). It is quite evident no one can store the Word of God in their blood
or physical body.
David said, “Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and forget not all His benefits” (Psa 103:2). David also said, “I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth
right well” (Psa 139:14, also Pro 2:10, 19:2 and 24:14). Joshua told Israel you “know in all your hearts [spirits] and in all your souls” that God had fulfilled all of His Word to you (Jos 23:14). It is
obvious from this verse that knowledge is kept in both the spirit (heart) and
soul of man. Mind in Deu 18:6 and 28:65, and heart in
Deu
24:15 are translated from the Hebrew word nephesh
or soul. In the King James translation of the Bible, the English word “heart”
most of the time represents the “spirit” of man and sometimes his “soul.”
Hush told Absalom, “thou knowest thy father
and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed [bitter] in their minds [nephesh ‑ soul, not blood or
body], as a bear robbed of her whelps” (2Sa
17:8). Mordecai speaking to Queen Ester said, “Think not with [in] thyself
[nephesh] that thou shalt escape” (Est 4:13). David told the princes of Israel to set their “hearts” i.e. their “spirits” and their “souls to seek the Lord”
(1Ch 22:19). David also said, “How long shall I take counsel in my soul [nephesh], having sorrow in my heart daily” (Psa 13:2)?
King Solomon speaking said, “the soul
[nephesh] be without knowledge [of God and
His laws], it is not good” (Pro 19:2, also
Pro 2:10). Here we see the soul is capable of acquiring knowledge. Solomon
go on to say that as a man “thinketh in his heart [nephesh
- soul], so is he” (Pro 23:7). In the preceding and following scriptures, the Bible reveals that the
soul in very rational. The prophet Jeremiah said that his “soul hath them [his sufferings] in remembrance, and [my soul] is humbled in me” (Lam 3:20).
The LORD said to Israel, “deceive not
yourselves [nephesh - your souls], saying the
Chaldeans shall surely depart from us” (Jer 37:9). God is warning His people not to deceive their own souls by thinking
in their souls that the Chaldeans will go. What this means is that it is
possible for man to deceive his own soul. Some of these Jews vacillated or
wavered in their “hearts [nephesh]” as to
what to do (Jer 42:20). The Bible
declared that the Babylonians polluted Israel with their whoredom, but her “mind [nephesh] was
alienated from them” (Eze 23:17, 28, also minds in 24:25 and 36:5 is
nephesh).
Man’s spirit can communicate with his own soul and vice versa. Jesus
gave the parable of the rich man, where the man “thought
within himself…I will say to my soul, Soul thou hast much goods laid up for
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry” (Lk 12:17, 19). Paul informs us, “the unbelieving Jews
stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds [psyche - souls] evil affected against the brethren” (Acts 14:2). Paul told the Church to “stand fast
in one spirit, with one mind [psuche] striving
together for the faith of the gospel” (Phi 1:27). He also told them not to “be wearied
and faint in your mind [psuche]” (Heb 12:3).
Man's Soul Has
Volition Or Will: Abraham speaking to Heth
said, “If it be your mind [nephesh - soul’s
will] that I should bury my dead” speak to Ephron for me (Gen 23:10). An Israelite
who divorced a captive wife had to “let her go
whither she will [nephesh - her soul chose to go]” (Deu 21:14). Jehu told the Jews, “if it be your minds [nephesh - soul's will], then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go
to tell” (2Ki 9:15). Jehu definitely informs us that the soul of man has a will. David
told Solomon to serve God “with a perfect heart
and with a willing mind [nephesh], for the
Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of thoughts”
(1Ch 28:9).
The Jews “decreed for themselves
[nephesh - their souls], and for their seed” to keep the feast of Purim (Est 9:31). David asked God not to deliver him “over unto
the will [nephesh - souls]” of his
enemies (Psa 27:12, also Psa 41:2). The Bible declared that Israel
“set their heart [nephesh
- soul’s will, not blood or body] on their iniquity”
(Hos 4:8). Paul told the Church to do
“the will of God from the heart [psuche]” (Eph 6:6). He also told them “whatsoever ye do, do it
heartily [psuche - with all thy soul's will],
as to the Lord” (Col 3:23).
Man's Soul Has
Emotions: There are not many
scriptures in the Bible that reveals the emotional side of the soul. In none of
the following scriptures can the non-personal words blood or body be
substituted for the personal soul. The soul can: be in
anguish (Gen 42:21), hate (Num 21:5), love (Deu 6:4), lust (Deu 12:15), grieve
(Jud 10:16), be bitter (1Sa 1:10), have desire for something (1Sa 20:4), be
vexed (2Ki 4:27), mourn (Job 14:22), be full of joy (Psa 35:9), travail (Isa
53:11), be delighted (Isa 55:2), have pity for someone (Eze 24:21), and be
exceeding sorrowful (Mt 26:38), have pleasure in something (Heb 10:38).
Man's Soul
Leaves His Physical Body At Death: The Word of
God declared that the widow's son died, whereas there was “no breath [neshamah] left
in him. And he [Elijah] 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 [nephesh] come
into him [his dead body] again. And the LORD
heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul [nephesh] of the child came into him again, and he revived”
(1Ki 17:17, 21-22). Notice, the soul departed
from the boy’s body. If Elijah was not breathing into the boy's mouth, or
giving artificial respiration, then why did he stretched himself upon the boy.
If the soul is the blood, and not in the blood, then the boy's body had no
blood in it. If that was the case, would any of Elijah's actions make any
sense. Elijah by faith was trying to breathe the soul back into the boy's dead
body. He was not trying to give him a blood transfusion.
Rachel was dying, and as her “soul was in
departing, that she called his name Benoni” (Gen 35:18). What was her soul departing from, if it was not her body? Job
declared that the wicked man’s hope shall be as those who are about to die or
give “up the ghost [nephesh - soul]” (Job
11:20, also see Job 27:8, Jer 15:9). The prophet
Jonah was so discourage that he asked God to take his “life [nephesh]” from him, for
it was better for him “to die than to live”
(Jon 4:3). Jonah was surely not
asking God to take his outer soul body from him but his inner soul or ghost
from him. The Bible declared that Ananias and Sapphira died, they “gave up the ghost [ekpsucho]” (Acts 5:5, 10, also
see Acts 12:23). The Greek word “ekpsucho” means “to breath out or give up the ghost.”
Peter said that David spoke of the resurrection of Christ stating “His Soul [psuche] was
not left in hell [Hades], neither His flesh [physical
soul body] did see corruption [in the tomb]”
(Acts 2:31). If we had no other
scripture but this one, we may safely conclude that the soul and body of man
goes to two separate places at death. The Word of God emphatically and
undeniably declared that Jesus’ physical body went to a tomb on the earth,
while His soul went into Hades or Sheol, which is under the earth. Therefore,
the soul cannot be the body and vice versa.
Man’s Soul And
Physical Body Dwell In Two Different Places After Death: The very fact that apostles and prophets taught that the inner soul
goes to a different place after the death of the outer soul body proves that
they are not the same. The Bible not one time ever declares that the soul going
to the Mnemeion\Qeber (the grave) where the physical body goes after death, at
least in Greek or Hebrew languages that the Bible was originally written in. It
also never states that the soul goes to heaven after death. The soul always
goes to Hades or Sheol after death, and there waits for the resurrection to
take place.
The apostle Peter speaking of the resurrection of Jesus quoted David as
saying, “His Soul was not left in
Hades nor His flesh [which was in Mnemeion] saw
corruption” (Acts 2:31, Interlinear
Greek‑English New Testament). Peter quoted Psa 16:10, where the Hebrew word Sheol is used. The King James Version
incorrectly translated Hades and Sheol as hell in these verses. When the Patriarch
Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead, he said “For I will
go down to Sheol to my son mourning” (Gen 37:35; 42:38; 44:31, ASV). No intelligent student of the Bible would think for one moment that
Joseph went to hell or that Jacob himself expected to go to hell. Jacob
expected to go to Sheol went he died or to the grave or the abode of the inner
soul. God’s King and Prophet David became sick and thought he was going to die,
therefore he said, “For my soul is full of
troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol” (Psa 88:3-5, RSV).
David also said that God would redeem his “soul from the power [hand or grip] of the Sheol” (Psa 49:15, ASV). David believed with all of his heart that his soul was not going to
stay in Sheol forever. The apostle Peter speaking to a multitude of Jews on the
Day of Pentecost said, David “is both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher [Mnemeion] is with
us unto this day" (Acts 2:29). This proves
that David's body was buried in Qeber or Mnemeion. Peter also told these Jews after
the resurrection of Christ, “David is not ascended into
the heavens" (Acts 2:34). This can
only mean that David’s soul was still in Sheol at that time and his physical
body was still in Qeber, i.e., after the resurrection of Christ took place.
Therefore, man’s soul cannot be the same as his physical body, for it continues
to exist in a dream like condition in Sheol, while his body rots in Qeber.
For a complete study of what happens to the spirit, soul, and physical
body after death, I would recommend my book entitled, “What Is Lost Man’s Destiny?
(Eternal Torment, Immediate
Annihilation, Or Torment For A Time And Then Annihilation); or “What Happens To Man’s Spirit, Soul, And Body
Immediately After Death.”
Man’s Soul Has
A Spiritual Tangible Body: The Bible speaks of a rich
man who died and was buried. His soul went into Sheol, and “in hell [Hades] he [his
soul body] lifted up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth [the soul of] Abraham afar off”
(Lk 16:22-23). The Bible positively
informs us that the rich man's physical body was dead and buried in a tomb, but
his spiritual soul body went into lower Hades. Abraham's soul was in upper
Hades. From the context of these scriptures, the rich man’s soul had some sort
of spiritual tangible body with eyes (vs 23), a tongue and
mouth that could speak (vs 24), and a mind with
intelligence that could remember his past life on earth (vs 25). Therefore, the physical body with its blood cannot be man’s soul.
Regardless of whether you make this a parable or not, it was the soul of the
rich man that was in Hades. This is one of two places where the spirit of man
went into hades with the soul and stayed there for a short time.
Tertullian in his “Treatise On The Soul,” made this comment
about this passage of scripture: In hell the soul of a certain rich man
is in torment.... For unless the soul possessed corporeality, the
image of a soul could not possibly contain a finger of a bodily
substance; nor would the Scripture feign a statement about the limbs
of a body, if they did not exist…, if the soul is nothing in its subterranean
abode.... For nothing it certainly is, if it is not a bodily substance. For
whatever is incorporeal is incapable of being kept and guarded in any way; it
is also exempt from either punishment or refreshment. There must be a body, by
which punishment or refreshment can be experienced.... For an incorporeal thing
suffers nothing, not having that which makes it capable of suffering; else, if
it has such capacity, it must be a bodily substance. [7]
Edith Miller, better known as Lady Queenborough in her book entitled, “Occult
Theocracy,” declared that the majority of the earlier French Theologians
believed that the soul of man had a material nature. She wrote: we should be
astonished at a person calling himself a Christian and yet denying the
immateriality of the soul. Yet this belief was not always recognized by the
defenders of Christianity as a true one.... M. Guizot shows, in his sixth
Lecture on the History of Civilization in France, that the earliest doctors of the
church were strongly impressed with the conviction of the material nature of
the soul, and that it was only by slow degrees that the opposite opinion
prevailed. [8]
Man's Soul Can
Be Saved Or Lost: The Bible recorded Balaam's
prayer as, “Let me [nephesh –
my soul] die the death of the righteous” (Num
23:10). Jesus said “the Son of
man is not come to destroy men's lives [psuche - souls], but to save them [unto Eternal Life]” (Lk 9:56). Jesus said, “He that loveth his life
[psuche] shall lose it, and he that hateth his life [psuche]
in this world shall keep it unto Life [Zoe] Eternal” (Jn 12:25). The Interlinear
Bible Hebrew‑Greek‑English translated this verse this way, “The one who loves his soul loses it, and he who hates his
soul in this world will keep it to Everlasting Life.” Paul told the Church that they were not of them “who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to
the saving of the soul” (Heb 10:39, also Ja 1:21). Peter told the Church that the outcome of their faith would be “the salvation of your soul” (1Pe 1:9). Paul and Peter are either emphasizing the spiritual soul here, or
they are referring to the whole man as a soul.
Man's Soul Is
Mortal And Subject To Temporal And Eternal Death:
Is man's soul immortal? What is immortality? Dr. Walter
Martin say this about it: The English word "immortal" has among
others a peculiar meaning of "not mortal." However, in most circles
and also in theology, the word generally carries the meaning of ‘exemption from
death....’ Contrary to the belief of some, there is no reference in Scripture
that can be given to show that man or his soul is immortal. To go even one step
farther, there is nothing in Scripture that states anything or anyone [meaning
God’s angels, Lucifer and his angels, and demons] is immortal [meaning
exempt from death] but God Himself.
Martin continued: We see here that in the two places [1Co 15:53-54],
where ‘athanasian’ is used in reference to man, it is clear that it is an
immortality that is to be given in the future, not one possessed at the present
time. Similarly, when an ‘aphtharsian’ is used here and in Romans 2:7, [it
is]
‘something sought for,’ and 1Pe 1:4, ‘reserved in heaven for you,’ it is
speaking of the incorruption of man to be given at some future date [to only
believers], not possessed at the present time.... Only when immortality or
incorruption is used with God, is it in the present tense (1Timothy 6:16, 1:17;
Romans 1:23). Therefore, to say that saints are [now] immortal, if by
immortality we mean athanasian or aphtharsian, we are not Scriptural. We must
say saints will be immortal. [9]
Since God is the only being in the universe that has immortality or can
not die, as Doctor Martin correctly pointed out, this means all other being are
mortal and subject to dead. Now if I can prove through an exegetical study that
the soul is mortal and it is subject to death, then that should destroy the
false Luciferian Babylonian Catholic doctrine that teaches every person is born
in this life with an immortal or an eternal soul. This demonic doctrine gives
to sinners what God promise to give only to His victorious children in the
resurrection, i.e., eternal life or immortality.
Man's soul is quite mortal. The Word of God explicitly, expressly and
emphatically declares that the soul can die. God gave Adam conditional
immortality, for He warned man that his soul and physical body would “surely die” if he sinned (Gen 2:17). From the moment Adam sinned, his soul and physical body began to
experience the process of death. Satan, from the time of Adam even until
today calls God a liar, for he is telling mankind the great lie, “Ye shall not surely die," or in other
word, “you are all born with
immortality” (Gen 3:4).
This lie developed into the lying doctrine of the immortality of the
soul, which later entered into the Babylonian Religion and every other religion
of the world. It can be found in Paganism, Witchcraft, Secret Societies, and
Occult religions of every kind. It can also found in Catholic, Protestant,
Pentecostal Trinitarians, and God’s Apostolic Pentecostal churches. This lying
doctrine is the foundational doctrine that every pagan religion rests many of
their other dogmas on. The doctrines of the immortality of the soul is the
foundational doctrine of Mystery Babylon and all of her religious daughters,
for the doctrine of immediate punishment in hades for purification of the soul
after the death of the body, reincarnation, eternal torment in hades if soul
does not reach sinlessness after a 1,000 reincarnations, and man being reunited
with god and becoming god, would totally collapse without this lying Satanic
doctrine.
Job said, “My soul is weary of my
life” or living (Job 10:1). Elijah prayed, “O Lord take away my life
[nephesh]” (1Ki 19:4). Jonah prayed, “O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life [nephesh, not
body] from me; for it is better for me to die than
to live [ehay]” (Jon 4:3). The Hebrew word “ehay”
means “physical life or living thing.” Dr. Young translated this verse as, “take I pray Thee my soul from me, for better is my death
than my life” (YLT). It is obvious that Elijah
and Jonah both believed that their life proceeded from their inner soul, for at
no time did they request that God take away their outer soul bodies.
David said no man or “none can keep alive his
own soul” (Psa 22:29). Solomon declared that a sinner destroys his own soul by sin (Pro 6:32). Jesus said: “My Soul [psyche] is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Mt 26:38); and He came to lay down His “life
[psuche ‑ to give His Soul over to death] for
the sheep... therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life
[psuche], that I might take it [my dead soul
to life] again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay
it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again” (Jn 10:15, 17-18). The word life in Mt 20:28 and Jn 13:37-38 is the Greek
word “psuche.”
God speaking to the children of Israel of Eternal Life and Eternal
Death said: “the soul that sinneth, it
shall die [eternally]…. If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he
shall surely live [eternally], he shall not die [eternally]…. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die
[eternally]? Saith the lord God: and not that he
should return from his ways and live [eternally]….
When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth
iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die [eternally]. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his
wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he
shall save his soul alive [eternally]” (Eze 18:20, 23,26, 27); and “Incline your ear, and come
unto me: hear and your soul shall live [eternally]; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you”
(Isa 55:3).
The Bible unquestionably, undeniably and boldly declares that man can
kill the physical body, but he is not able to kill the soul. God is the only
one who is able to utterly destroy or annihilate both the soul and physical
body eternally with eternal death. Our Lord speaking of this said, “fear not them [men] which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him
[God] which is able to destroy both soul and [physical] body
in hell [with the second or eternal death]” (Mt 10:28). Jesus also said, “For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul…. He that
loveth his life [psuche - soul] shall lose
it; and he that hateth his life [psuche] in
this world shall keep it unto Life Eternal” (Mt 16:26; Jn 12:25). Paul told the Church, “We are not of them who
draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul”
(Heb 10:39). James speaking to the
Church said, “Let him know, that he
which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from [temporal
and eternal] death” (Ja 5:20).
Summary: From all the above passages of scripture, we must conclude: First, the
soul of man is rational, intellectual, emotional, and has a will of it own,
separate from that of the spirit mind of man and from physical brain of man.
Second. The soul is intimately connected to the physical body but is altogether
separate and distinct from it. It is definitely dwell in the blood of man.
Third, the soul, like the spirit, departs from the body at death. Fourth, the
soul is mortal and therefore is subject to death both temporal and eternal.
Fifth, the soul and physical body can receive the gift of eternal life, i.e.,
the ability to live throughout eternity, at the resurrection from our Lord
Jesus, or, they both can receive eternal destruction or eternal death from Him.
CHAPTER
4
THE
SPIRIT AND SOUL OF MAN:
HOW
THEY OPERATE IN THE PHYSICAL BODY
International Standard Bible Encylopaedia defined several of the functions of man’s personal “spiritl”
this way: (Heb: ruach;
Grk: pneuma; Latin, spiritus)…. As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man: Hence,
applied to man--as being the seat of emotion in desire or trouble, and thus
gradually of mental and moral qualities in general (Ex 28:3, ‘the spirit of
wisdom’; Ezek 11:19, ‘a new spirit’ etc.).
Where man is deeply stirred by the Divine Spirit, as among the prophets,
we have a somewhat similar use of the word, in such expressions as: ‘The Spirit
of the Lord came… upon him’ (1 Sam 10:10).
(1)
As Life-Principle: The spirit as life-principle in man has
various applications: sometimes to denote an apparition (Mt 14:26, the King
James Version ‘saying, It is a spirit’; Lk 24:37, the King James Version ‘had
seen a spirit’); sometimes to denote angels, both fallen and unfallen (Heb
1:14, ‘ministering spirits’; Mt 10:1, ‘unclean spirits’; compare also 12:43; Mk
1:23, 26, 27…. (2) As Surviving Death: The spirit
is thus in man the principle of life--but of man as distinguished from the
brute--so that in death this spirit is yielded to the Lord
(Lk 23:46; Acts 7:59; 1 Cor 5:5, ‘that the spirit may be saved’). Hence, God is
called the ‘Father of spirits’ (Heb 12:9).
(3)
Spiritual Manifestations: Thus generally for all the manifestations of the
spiritual part in man, as that which thinks, feels, wills;
and also to denote certain qualities which characterize the man, e.g. ‘poor in spirit’ (Mt 5:3); ‘spirit of
gentleness’ (Gal 6:1); ‘of bondage’ (Rom 8:15); ‘of jealousy’ (Nu 5:14); ‘of fear’
(2 Tim 1:7 the King James Version); ‘of slumber’ (Rom 11:8 the King James
Version). Hence, we [our souls] are called upon to ‘rule over our own spirit’
(Prov 16:32; 25:28), and are warned against being overmastered by
a wrong spirit (Lk 9:55 the King James Version, ‘Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of’). So
man may submit to the ‘spirit of error,’ and turn away from the ‘spirit of
truth’ (1 Jn 4:6). Thus we read of the
‘spirit of counsel’ (Isa 11:2); ‘of wisdom’ (Eph 1:17)….
The
Human as Related with the Divine: We go a step higher when we find the human
spirit brought into relationship with the Divine Spirit. For man is
but a creature to whom life has been imparted by God’s Spirit--life
being but a resultant of God’s breath. Thus life and death are
realistically described as an imparting or a withdrawing of God’s breath,
as in Job 27:3; 33:4; 34:14, ‘spirit and breath’ going together. The spirit
may thus be ‘revived’ (Gen 45:27), or ‘overwhelmed’ (Ps 143:4), or ‘broken’
(Prov 15:13). And where sin has been keenly felt, it is ‘a broken spirit’ which
is ‘a sacrifice to God’ (Ps 51:17); and when man submits to the power of
sin, a new direction is given to his mind: he comes under a ‘spirit of
whoredom’ (Hos 4:12); he becomes ‘proud in spirit’ (Eccl 7:8), instead of
being ‘patient in spirit’; he is a fool because he is ‘hasty in spirit’ and
gives way to ‘anger’ (Eccl 7:9).
The ‘faithful
in spirit’ are the men who resist talebearing and backbiting in
the world (Prov 11:13). In such instances as these the difference between
‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ appears…. It is this Spirit which ‘beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are children of God’ (Rom 8:16)--the spirit which, as Auberlen
has put it (PRE1, article ‘Geist des Menschen’), ‘appears in a double
relationship to us, as the principle of natural life, which is ours by birth,
and that of spiritual life, which we receive through the new birth
(Wiedergeburt).’ Hence, Paul speaks of God whom he serves ‘with his spirit’
(Rom 1:9); and in 2 Tim 1:3 he speaks of serving God ‘in a pure conscience.’ (article Spirit, #8274, electronic data by BibleWorks).
International Standard Bible Encylopaedia defined several of the functions of man’s personal “soul”
this way: (Heb: nephesh;
Grk: psuche; Latin anima): 1. Shades of
Meaning in the Old Testament: (1) Soul, like spirit, has various
shades of meaning in the Old Testament, which may be summarized as follows:
‘Soul,’ ‘living being,’ ‘life,’ ‘self,’ ‘person,’ ‘desire,’ ‘appetite,’
‘emotion’ and ‘passion’ (BDB under the word).
In the first instance it meant that which breathes…. (2) As the life-breath,
it departs at death (Gen 35:18; Jer 15:2). Hence, the desire among Old
Testament saints to be delivered from Sheol (Ps 16:10… (Job 33:18… Isa
38:17….
(3) By an easy
transition the word comes to stand for the individual, personal life, the
person, with two distinct shades of meaning which might best be indicated
by the Latin anima and animus. As anima, ‘soul,’ the life inherent in
the body, the animating principle in the blood is denoted (compare
Dt 12:23, 24)…. As animus, ‘mind,’ the center of our mental
activities and passivities is indicated… (Ps 107:9)… (Jer 31:25)… (Lev 26:11)…
(Ps 42:2)… (Job 30:25)… (Song 1:7), and many kindred expressions. Cremer has
characterized this use of the word in a sentence: ‘Heb: Nephesh (soul) in man is the subject of personal life,
whereof Grk: pneuma or Heb: ruach (spirit) is the principle’
[of life]….
(4) This individuality
of man, however, may be denoted by Grk: pneuma
as well, but with a distinction. Heb: Nephesh
or ‘soul’ can only denote the individual life with a material
organization or body. Grk: Pneuma or
‘spirit’ is not so restricted. Scripture speaks of ‘spirits of
just men made perfect’ (Heb 12:23), where there can be no thought of a
material or physical or corporeal organization. They are ‘spiritual
beings freed from the assaults and defilements of the flesh’ (Delitzsch, in
the place cited.). For an exceptional use of psuche in the same sense see Rev
6:9; 20:4, and (irrespective of the meaning of Ps 16:10) Acts 2:27.
2.
New Testament Distinctions: (1) In the New Testament Grk: psuche appears under more or less similar conditions as in
the Old Testament. The contrast here is as carefully maintained as there. It is
used where Grk: pneuma would be out
of place; and yet it seems at times to be employed where Grk: pneuma might have been substituted. Thus
in Jn 19:30 we read: ‘Jesus gave up his Grk: pneuma’ to the Father, and, in the same Gospel (Jn 10:15), Jesus
gave up His ‘Grk: psuche for the
sheep,’ and in Mt 20:28 ‘He gave His Grk: psuche
(not His Grk: pneuma) as a
ransom--a difference which is characteristic.’ For the Grk: pneuma stands in quite a different
relation to God from the psuche.
The ‘spirit’
(Grk: pneuma) is the outbreathing
of God into the creature, the life-principle derived from God. The ‘soul’
(Grk: psuche) is man's individual
possession, that which distinguishes one man from another and from
inanimate nature. The pneuma of Christ was surrendered to the Father in death;
His Grk: psuche was surrendered, His
individual life was given ‘a ransom for many.’ His life ‘was given for the
sheep’
(2) This
explains those expressions in the New Testament which bear on the salvation of
the soul and its preservation in the regions of the dead. ‘Thou wilt not leave
my soul unto Hades’ (the world of shades) (Acts 2:27); ‘Tribulation and
anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil’ (Rom 2:9); ‘We are .... of
them that have faith unto the saving of the soul’ (Heb 10:39); ‘Receive .....
the implanted word, which is able to save your souls’ (Jas 1:21). The same or
similar expressions may be met with in the Old Testament in reference to the
soul. Thus in Ps 49:8, the King James Version ‘The redemption of their soul is
precious’ and again: ‘God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol’ (Ps
49:15). Perhaps this may explain--at least this is Wendt's explanation--why
even a corpse is called Heb: nephesh or
soul in the Old Testament, because, in the region of the dead, the
individuality is retained and, in a measure, separated from God (compare Hag
2:13; Lev 21:11).
3.
Oehler on Soul and Spirit: The distinction between Grk: psuche and Grk: pneuma,
or Heb: nephesh and Heb: ruach, to which reference has been made,
may best be described in the words of Oehler (Old Testament Theology, I, 217):
‘Man is not spirit, but has it: he is soul…. 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.’ He
draws attention to the words of Elihu in Job (33:4): ‘God’s Spirit made me,’
the soul called into being; ‘and the breath of the Almighty animates
me,’ the soul kept in energy and strength, in continued existence, by the
Almighty, into whose hands the inbreathed spirit is surrendered, when
the soul departs or is taken from us (1 Ki 19:4)…. (article Soul #8246, electronic data by BibleWorks).
The
Life Functions Of Man’s Spirit And Soul
Man’s Spirit Is Composed Of Air And It Controls The Body’s
Ability To Inhale And Exhale: Vine’s Expository
Dictionary of Biblical Words defined the breathing function of man’s human personal
spirit this was: This word means ‘breath,’
air for breathing,
air that is being breathed.
This meaning is especially evident in <Jer. 14:6>…. When one’s ‘breath’
returns, he is revived…. ‘When he [Samson] had drunk [the water], his spirit [breath] came again, and he revived….’
<Judg. 15:19>. Astonishment may take away one’s ‘breath’: ‘And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom,
and the home that he had built, and the meat of his table… there was no more
spirit in her [she was overwhelmed and breathless]’ <1
Kings 10:4-5>…. Second, this word can be used with emphasis on the
invisible, intangible, fleeting quality of ‘air’: ‘O remember that my life is wind [air]: mine eyes shall no more see good.’ <Job
7:7>…. Ruach frequently represents the element of life in a man, his natural
‘spirit’: ‘And all flesh died that
moved upon the earth…. All in whose nostrils was the breath of
life’ <Gen. 7:21-22>…. (Electronic
Data Base by BibleSoft)
The Jewish Encyclopedia speaking about the breathing function of the spirit of man stated: In most
languages breath and spirit are designated by the same term. The life-giving
breath [spirit] cannot be an earthly origin, for nothing is found
whence it may be taken. It is derived from the supernatural world, from God. [10]
The personal spirit is called the breath or air of man is because it is
intimately connected to it; that is, one of the functions of man’s spirit is to
carry the air from the mouth and nostrils to the blood stream. It is the soul
working through the blood that carries it to every cell in the body. Therefore,
it is the spirit and soul of man that truly gives man his breath. This is why
the Bible declared that the Queen of Sheba, when she beheld Solomon’s wisdom
and wealth, that “there was no more spirit [ruwach
- breathless] in her”
(1Ki 10:5).
Job said the same thing when he declared that God would not allow him
to take his “breath [ruwach],” and that his “breath [ruwach]” was corrupt (Job 9:18; 17:1 and 19:17). David speaking of idols said, that they did not have “any breath [ruwach] in
their mouths” (Psa 135:17). David also
prayed and asked God to heal his body for his “spirit
[ruwach] faileth” (Psa 143:7). Job speaking of man’s death says, “by the
breath [ruwach - spirit] of his mouth shall
he go away” (Job 15:30).
The following scriptures will reveal that man's life is in his spirit.
Job said, “My life is wind [ruwach
- spirit]” (Job 7:7). David declared that if God “takest away their breath [ruwach] they die, and return to their dust” (Psa 104:29;
146:4). Solomon said, “no man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit…in
the day of his death” (Ecc 8:8). When Jesus
died on the cross, “He cried again with a loud
voice, [and] yielded up the ghost” or
spirit (Mt 27:50, Jn 19:30). After Jesus prayed for a
dead girl, “her spirit came again, and
she arose” (Lk 8:55). James said, “the body without the spirit pneuma is dead” (Ja
2:26). John revealed that the two dead prophets
came back to life when the “spirit [pneuma] of life from God entered into them” (Rev 11:11).
Ezekiel said it this way, “Thus saith
the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath [ruwach ‑
spirit] to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I
will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with
skin, and put breath [ruwach ‑ spirit ) in
you, and ye shall live and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Eze
37:5-6). Dr. Robert Young who is
the author of Young's Analytical Concordance To The Bible, and Young's
Literal Translation Of The Holy Bible, translated these verses this way, “I am bringing into you a spirit, and ye have lived, and I
have given on you sinews, and caused flesh to come up upon you, and covered you
over with skin, and given in you a spirit, and ye have lived.”
From the
following scriptures, we can perceive that the human spirit (ruwach) is not the air or breath (neshamah), but it gives the
body the ability to inhale and exhale; therefore it gives life to the body: The Bible stated: “All in whose
nostrils was the breath [neshamah] of the spirit [ruwach]
of life, all that was on the dry land, died” (Gen 7:22); and “But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God
gives you as an inheritance, you
shall let nothing that breathes [neshamah] remain
alive” (Deu 20:16); and “Then the channels of the
sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuke of
the LORD, at the blast [neshamah - air] of
the breath [ruwach - Spirit] of His nostrils”
(2Sa 22:16); in other words, the above happen “at the
rebuke of the LORD, at the air in
Spirit of His nostrils”
Job said it
this way: “If
He [God] set His heart upon man, if He gather unto
Himself his spirit [ruwach - not personality] and
his breath [neshamah]; All flesh shall perish
together, and man shall turn again unto dust” (Job 34:14-15). The Prophet Job in the scripture proves that man’s vital breath or
air he breathes is not the same as the spirit in man. There is no way that
spirit can be symbolic for man's breath, mind, will or emotions in this
scripture. Job also declared “All the while my breath
[neshamah – breath - air] is in me, and the spirit
[ruwach] of God is in my nostrils;” and “But there is a
spirit [ruwach] in man, and the breath
[neshamah] of the Almighty gives him understanding”
(Job 27:3; 32:8).
Solomon
declared: “The spirit
[neshamah - breath] of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart”
(Pro 20:27). Isaiah proclaimed: “Thus says
God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth
the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath [neshamah] to the people on it, and spirit [ruwach] to those who walk on it;” and “I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for
then the spirit [ruwach] of man would grow
faint [or weak] before me, [and] the breath [neshamah] of
man that I have created” (Isa 42:5; 57:16). Daniel
said it this way: “For how can this servant
of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now,
nor is any breath [neshamah - air] left in me”
(Dan 10:17).
The Bible declared that the Queen of Sheba, when she beheld Solomon’s
wisdom and wealth, that “there was no more spirit [ruwach]
in her”
(1Ki 10:5). Job said the same thing
when he declared that God would not allow him to take his “breath [ruwach],” and that his “breath [ruwach]” was corrupt (Job 9:18;
17:1 and 19:17). Job speaking of man’s
death says: “By the blast [neshamah -
breath] of God they perish,
and by the breath [ruwach - Spirit] of his nostrils are they consumed;” and “by the
breath [ruwach - spirit] of his mouth shall
he go away” (Job 4:9; 15:30).
Job also said: “If He [God] set His heart upon man, if He gather unto Himself his
spirit [ruwach - not personality] and his
breath [neshamah]; All flesh shall perish
together, and man shall turn again unto dust;” and “The Spirit [ruwach] of
God has made me, And the breath [neshamah] of
the Almighty gives me life” (Job 27:3, 33:4; JPS, 34:14-15). David speaking of idols said, they did not have: “any breath [ruwach] in
their mouths” (Psa 135:17). David also
prayed and asked God to heal his body: for his “spirit
[ruwach] faileth” (Psa 143:7).
When the spirit leaves the body at death, the body will breathe out for
the last time; this is called by Biblical writers “giving up the ghost.” When Abraham died, he “gave up the ghost
[gava]” (Gen 25:8). The word ghost is the
Hebrew word “gava,” which means: “to breath out.” Gava is used eleven times in
Old Testament (Gen 25:17, 35:29, 49:33, Job 3:11, 10:18, 11:20,
13:19, 14:10, Jer 15:9, and Lam 1:19). In the New
Testament the Greek word “expneo” has the same meaning as “gava.” It is used
eight times (Mt 27:50, Mk 15:37-39, Lk 23:46, Jn 19:30, Ac 5:5, 10
and 12:23).
Man’s Soul Controls The Blood And Air Flow In The Body: If man’s personal soul is
nothing but symbolism for the blood of man, and the spirit is just symbolism
for his life force or energy, then a dead body should live again when it is
given blood and energy. But as medical science knows, they can pump blood into
the body and keep it circulating. They can keep the heart beating by giving it
electrical charges, and they can even pump oxygen into the body, but the body
will remain dead, unless the soul and spirit comes back into it. As shown
above, one of the functions of man’s spirit is to carry the air from the
mouth and nostrils to the blood stream. It is the soul working through the
blood that carries it to every cell in the body. Therefore, it is the spirit
and soul of man that truly gives man his breath.
The Jewish Encyclopedia speaking about the soul of man says: So long as the blood circulates, the man
or the animal lives.... The blood then is the seat of life or the soul. [11] Josephus,
the Jewish historian who was lived in the times of Christ, speaking of the Law
of Moses wrote: However, he [Moses] entirely forbade us the use of blood for food, and esteemed it to contain the soul and spirit. [12]
The soul is called the blood because it is intimately connectd to it;
that is, it controls its flow throughout the body, thereby giving it life. God
speaking to Noah said, “flesh with the life [nephesh
- soul] thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall
ye not eat” (Gen 9:4). Moses told Israel, “be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the
life [nephesh]; and thou mayest not eat the
life [soul] with the flesh [of an
animal]. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it
upon the earth as water” (Deu 12:23, 24). King Saul,
who was wounded and losing blood, said, “My soul is
yet whole in me” that is, in my body (2Sa 1:9). The LORD said unto Cain, “What hast
thou done? The voice [qowl] of thy
brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground” (Gen 4:10). The Hebrew word “qowl” means:
to call aloud.
The apostle Paul said about the young man that fell from a three-story
building and died, “trouble not yourselves for
his life [psuche - soul] is in him”
(Acts 20:10). In verse 9, the Bible reveals that the young man was “taken
up dead.” This can only means he
was not breathing. Therefore the young man’s spirit, which gave him the ability
to breathe, had left the body. What remained was a dead body with the soul and
blood still in it, both being dead and without consciousness. Therefore, the spirit must be the life and
consciousness of both the soul and the body.
Job said, “my soul is poured out upon
me [my flesh]” (Job 30:16, also see Lam 2:12). Jesus “soul” was made “an offering for sin,” and He “poured out His soul unto
death” (Isa 53:10, 12). Jesus said about Himself, “the good shepherd giveth His life [psuche ‑
soul’s blood] for the sheep” (Jn 10:10-11). John told the Church, “Hereby perceive we the
love of God, because He laid down His life [psuche] for us: and we ought to lay down our lives [psuche ‑
souls], for the brethren” (1Jn 3:16). Another way of saying this is that Jesus gave his outer soul body
over to death and poured out the blood of His soul for us, and we should be
willing to do the same for the brethren.
God Calls All Animals That Have Blood Living Souls: The only differences between the soul and spirit of man and that of
animals is that man's soul and spirit was made in the image and likeness of
God. This means man’s spirit and soul both have an image or shape or form, like
God, which also has intelligent or the ability to reason; whereas the spirit
and soul of animals do not.
The following scriptures reveal that animals have a soul: “God created great whales, and every living creature [nephesh
- soul] that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind…. God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living
creature [nephesh] after his kind, cattle,
and creeping things, and beast” (Gen 1:21, 24). The LORD formed out of the ground “every beast
of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what
he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature [nephesh
- soul], that was the name thereof” (Gen
2:19). These passages of scripture without dispute
declare that mammals in the air, sea, and land are called living souls because
they all have blood in them.
God spoke unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying “I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after
you; And with every living creature [nephesh] that
is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with
you” (Gen 9:8-10, also see verses 12, 15, 16). God spoke to Moses and said that the children of Israel should not
eat any thing that does not have “fins and
scales in the seas… and of any living thing [nephesh] which is in the waters” (Lev 11:10). God pronouncing a curse on Egypt saying, “The fishers also shall mourn…and they that spread nets
upon the water shall languish… they shall be broken in the purpose thereof, all
that make sluices and ponds for fish [nephesh - souls]” (Isa 19:8-10). This probably refers to a small mammal and not to a fish.
God told Israel, “He that killeth a beast
[nephesh] shall make it good; beast for beast”
(Lev 24:18). God also told Israel that
they could eat the flesh of animals, but they could not eat “the blood: for the blood is the life [nephesh]; and thou mayest not eat the life [nephesh ‑
soul] with the flesh” (Deu 12:22‑24). Solomon said the “righteous man regardeth
the life [nephesh] of his beast” (Pro
12:10). John said that a “third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had
life [psuche ‑ soul], died” (Rev
8:9). In the above passages, the souls of animals
were different from their flesh; therefore, the soul cannot be the body. It is
obvious from all the above scriptures that all animals that have blood are
called living souls by God, and their blood is not the same thing as their
flesh.
Man’s
Physical Body Is Called His Soul: The Bible
reveals that the children of Israel in the wilderness “tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust
[nephesh – the body of his soul, not blood]” (Psa 78:18). God speaking prophetically to Ariel or Jerusalem about its captivity
said, "It shall even be as when an hungry man
dreameth, and behold he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul [nephesh –
his soul body] is empty" (Isa 29:8).
King Solomon said, “All the labour of man is for his
mouth, and yet the appetite [nephesh, the body of his soul, not the
blood] is not full” (Ecc 6:7).
Solomon also said, “the full soul
[nephesh, not blood] loatheth an honeycomb; but to
the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet" (Pro 27:7, also see
Deu 23:24 pleasure [nephesh], Pro 6:30, 13:25, 23:2 appetite [nephesh], Job
18:4 himself [nephesh] or his soul, 33:20, Lam 1:11, Eze 4:14, Hos 9:4). Jesus declared that the soul is not only a separate nature from man’s
body, but it also likes food. He said, “Take no
thought for your life [nephesh
- soul], what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life
[nephesh] is more than meat, and the body is more
than raiment” (Lk 12:22, 23). It is
obvious from these scriptures that man's soul and physical body craves food.
Paul says, “It [the physical
body] is sown a natural [psuchikos - soulish]
body; it is raised
a spiritual [pneumatikos] body. Howbeit that
was not first which is spiritual [pneumatikos],
but that which was natural [psuchikos - soulish];
and afterward that which is spiritual [pneumatikos]"(1Co 15:44, 46). The Greek word “pneumatikos” means non-carnal or spiritual. Let my
readers take note, the apostle Paul speaking about the physical body used the
Greek word psuchikos, which is psuche or soul in its adjective form. Paul also
declared that the physical body was subjection to corruption and he called it
earthly (vss 42 and 49).
God speaking to Moses said, if any of the children of Israel “toucheth the dead body [nephesh ‑ soul] of any man” he would be
unclean seven days. He also said, “whosoever
toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body [nephesh], or a bone of a man, or a grave would be unclean seven
days.” Here a dead soul means a
dead physical soul and body with blood and flesh still on it compared to a
skeleton (Num 19:11, 16). The word body
in Lev 21:11, Num 6:6, 9:6, 7, 19, 19:11, Hag 2:13 and the word dead in Lev 19:28, 21:1, Num 6:11 are all the Hebrew word nephesh.
Summary: Just as it would be a
mistake to believe the blood of man is his body and vise versa, it would be a
disastrous mistake to believe that the spirit of man is nothing but air or his
breath, and the soul of man is nothing but his blood and body! The air, breath,
blood, and body of man does not have mind, will, emotions, and personality as
the Bible definitely declares the spirit and soul of man has; therefore, these
things and natures cannot be the same!
CHAPTER 5
THE THREE MINDS OF MAN:
THE SPIRIT, SOUL, AND
PHYSICAL BRAIN
Man's Physical Brain Is His Lowest Nature: It is part of man’s physical body. Man’s physical conscious and subconscious brain has control over the body by billions of nerve cells, which sends messages to it by its five senses. The subconscious brain then interprets these messages and sends the proper chemical response. Man’s fleshly mind is the seat of his physical carnal desires. Man’s physical brain has no creative thinking capabilities without input from the spirit and inner soul. It is the medium the spirit and soul uses to express themselves in the body. This is why there is no thought activity in the brain after death of the body, or in other words, after the spirit and soul leaves the body.
Man's Soul Mind Is His Middle Nature: As I have already proved, the soul has intellect, emotions, and
volition. It is the logical side of man’s personality. Because the souls is the
logical part of man’s nature, I assume it is connected to the left lobe or
hemisphere of man’s physical brain. The soul in most men rules or dominates the
spirit mind.
The soul is the place where the majority of men do their deeper
thinking, for “as a man thinketh in
his heart [nephesh – soul] so is he”
(Pro 23:7). In the Bible it is usually
referred to as mind. The English word “mind” in Gen 23:8; 2Ki 9:15 and 1Ch 28:9 is the Hebrew
“nephesh,” which means soul. The English word “heart” in Eph 6:6 is the Greek word “psuche,” which means soul.
Man's Spirit Mind Is Called His Highest Nature: It is man’s highest nature because it is the part of man that God can
commune with. The spirit is the creative and intuitive part of man’s nature. I
assume it is connected to the right lobe or hemisphere of subconscious brain.
The spirit of man also has mind, will, and emotions as previous shown.
The spirit in many places is called his heart, which in the Hebrew
language is the word lebab or leb and in the Greek language is kardia. Man’s
spirit becomes regenerated when it is born of God’s Spirit (Jn 3:5). God’s Holy
Spirit makes it abode or dwells in the spirit or heart of man (2Co 1:22; Ga
4:6; Eph 3:17). The spirit mind in most women rules or dominate the soul mind.
This is why women are called spirit creatures and men are called soul
creatures.
A good Biblical example that emphatically reveals that man’s consciousness or self awareness comes
from his spirit and not his soul can be found in Acts 20:9-10. In these verses, the Bible declares that a young man fell down from a
three-story building and “was taken up dead.” Although this man was dead or in
an unconscious state, Paul said his “life” or “soul” was still in him. The word
life in verse 10 is the Greek
word psuche, which is soul. Therefore, this is absolute proof that the soul and
body are in an unconscious state when the spirit of man leaves the body,
wheather it is on earth or in Hades.
The three
minds of man and how they work together in the body is a very complicated
subject, nevertheless the Bible gives us some indication to their existence and
function. Let us look at one of the scriptures that teach man is triune being: “the Lord God formed man [or made Adam’s physical
body] of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath [neshamah] of life [chay - lives]; and man became a living soul [nephesh]” (Gen 2:7). The Hebrew
word “chay” is a “common noun, masculine plural
absolute” in this verse, which means: lives. This verse means
that God breathed into Adam “spirit life,” which gave life to his dead soul and
body, thus man became a “living soul.” Therefore man has both physically and
spiritually life. Man’s spirit nature gives consciousness to his soul nature, and
his spirit and soul natures are the life of his physical fleshly nature. The
spirit nature of man probably came into to existence and place in him at
conception.
When God created Adam, He put His Spirit or His Holy Spirit in Adam's
spirit nature. Thus Adam's spirit became the dwelling place for God’s Spirit.
This made Adam a son of God (Lk 3:38). God's Spirit
living in Adam’s spirit made his spirit totally God conscious, which in turn,
caused his spirit to be led of the Spirit of God (Rom 8:10,
13-16). This resulted in Adam’s spirit leading his
soul to mortify the desires of the flesh.
When Adam willfully sinned because of his love for Eve, his spirit was
no longer completely giving over to the leading of God's Spirit, and thereby
his soul started to become self-conscious, or in other words, Adam’s soul
started following the desires or impulses of the flesh. It is at this point
that Adam’s soul found a war taken place inside of him, between his fleshly
body and his spirit to see who would influence it the most. Now, whatever
nature the soul chooses to listen to is what it will become. If the soul
chooses to follow the flesh, it will walk after the flesh and fulfill the works
of the flesh (Ga 6:19-21). If the soul
chooses to listen to the reborn spirit, it will give itself to the things of
God, and fulfill the fruits of the Spirit (Ga 6:22-23).
Because of Adam's sin, mankind lost the privilege of being born as sons
of God, or in other words, being born with the Spirit of God in their spirits.
Therefore their spirits are spiritually dead, thus making their souls
spiritually dead (Eph 2:1-3; Col 2:11-13). As a result of this, their souls are inclined to follow the impulses
or desires of their outer carnal fleshly nature, the sinful world and demons
spirits. The soul and spirit of man will thus become corrupt.
When man’s spirit becomes born of God's Spirit and loves God and His
Word, it then becomes possible for the spirit to lead the soul into holiness.
Man's soul then becomes pure, because his spirit is pure. When man believes in
his spirit and soul any of the truths that are in God's Word, no matter what
religious form or denomination they may take, then can his spirit and soul
obtain strength from these moral convictions to live morally. When man's spirit
and soul is without the influence of God's truths, then man’s spirit and soul
is led by his carnal fleshly nature, the world, and demon spirits that will
cause his spirit and soul to become corrupt. Religions such as Baal worship,
witchcraft and so on are good examples of how wicked the spirit and soul of man
can become.
The
Thinking Function Of The Three Minds Of Man,
According
To The Bible And Medical Science
The Thinking Process Of The Spirit And Soul Of Man According To
The Bible: Moses commanded the children
of Israel to “lay up these my words in
your heart [lebab – referring to spirit] and in your soul [nephesh]” (Deu 11:18). It is quite evident no one can store the Word of God in his or her
blood or physical body. Joshua told Israel you “know in all your
hearts [lebab – referring to spirit] and in all your souls [nephesh]” that God had fulfilled all of His Word to you (Jos 23:14). It is
obvious from this verse that knowledge is kept in both the heart and soul of
man. Mind in Deu 18:6 and 28:65, and heart in Deu 24:15 are translated from the
Hebrew word nephesh or soul. Mary, the mother of our Lord, said: “My soul [psuche] doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit [pneuma] hath rejoiced in God my Savior” (Lk 1:46,
47). In God hand is: “the soul [nephesh]
of every living thing, and the breath [ruwach - spirit] of all mankind” (Job 12:10, also see 1Sa
1:15, Job 7:11, Ecc 6:9 - desire [nephesh], Isa 26:9, 42:1).
The Jewish Encyclopedia speaking about the heart of man declares: The three
special functions knowing, feeling, and willing, ascribed by the modern
psychologists to the mind, were attributed to the heart by the Biblical
writers.... The seat of the emotional and intellectual life. ‘Keep thy heart
with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life,’ (Pro 4:23).... The
heart as the seat of thought (Psa 33:11; Job 17:11; Gen 8:21; Ecc 1:16; Deu
29:4; 1Sa 21:12; Dan 2:30, 4:5, 10, 13, 7:1, 15).... It is the seat of
self-consciousness; the heart knoweth its own bitterness (Prov 19:10).… The
heart is the organ of conscience. [13]
As I said before, in the Bible the heart is the Greek word kardia and the
Hebrew words Leb and Lebab. The heart is man’s forebrain and it represents the
thoughts of the Spirit, while the word mind in the Bible represents the
thoughts of the soul.
David said, “I commune [siyach] with mine own heart [lebab];
and my spirit [ruwach] made diligent search”
(Psa 77:6). The Hebrew word siyach
means: to ponder, i.e. (by impl.) converse with oneself aloud. David could not sleep because of all his problems, so his soul
conversed his spirit, which resulted in the spirit of man making a diligent
search for sin. Solomon said, “A fool uttereth all his
mind [ruwach - spirit]: but a wise man
keepeth it in till afterwards” (Pro 29:11). Solomon tells us that the soul of a foolish man does not control his
spirit mind, but allows it speak all of its thoughts. A wise man's soul mind
rules his spirit mind and keeps it under control.
God told Israel, “I know all the things that
come into your mind [ruwach - spirit] every
one of them" (Eze 11:5). It is our
spirit that God has communion with. God searches our spirit and soul mind when
He wants to know all of our thoughts. There is no thought we can have, that God
does not known about it. God also told Israel, “that which
cometh into your mind [ruwach - spirit not breath] shall not be at all, that ye say.” (Eze 20:32). In this passage, the spirit mind wanted to say one thing, but the
soul mind says something else.
When God saw Nebuchadnezzar's “heart
[lebab] was lifted up, and his mind [ruwach -
spirit] hardened in pride, he was deposed from his
kingly throne... [and] his heart
[lebab] was made like the beasts" (Dan
5:20-21). Let my readers take note
that Nebuchadnezzar’s spirit became lifted up and hardened through the sin of
pride. Because of his sins, God deprive him of his conscious reasoning powers,
or in other words, God took his human spirit out of him and place a spirit of a
beast inside of him, which resulted in insanity. Man’s spiritual understanding comes from his heart. This can be seen when
God “shut their [Israel’s] eyes that they cannot not see; and their hearts [or
spirits] that they cannot understand,” because of
their sins (Isa 44:18).
There are many scriptures were soul and heart are used together. The
heart as I said before represents the conscious mind of man which is the organ
the spirit use to express itself. The Word of God teaches if a man “seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek
Him with all thy heart [spirit] and with all thy soul” (Deu 4:29). Moses told Israel, if you turn from God, He will send you into
captivity and the “Lord shall give thee there
a trembling heart [spirit], and failing of
eyes [flesh], and sorrow of mind [nephesh
- soul]” (Deu 28:65, also see 6:4; 10:12; 11:13; 13:3; 26:16; 30:2, 6, 10). King Josiah “turned to the Lord with
all his heart [spirit], and with all his
soul, and with all his might [flesh]” (2Ki 23:25).
God speaking to Israel said, “take heed to
thyself [thy spirit], and keep thy soul
[nephesh, not blood or body] diligently, lest thou [thy
spirit] forget the things which thy eyes have seen,
and lest they depart from thy heart [spirit]” (Deu 4:9). God gave man a warning here of what will happen to his soul’s mind if
he fills it with worldliness and fails to keep it holy. God said that man’s
spirit and soul mind could forget about the things of God, which will cause the
Word of God to depart from his heart or spirit mind. This is why Moses
commanded the Children of Israel to “lay up these
my words in your heart [spirit] and in your soul” (Deu 11:18).
David said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits” (Psa 103:2). David also said, “I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well”
(Psa 139:14, also Pro 2:10, 19:2 and 24:14). Joshua told
Israel you “know in all your hearts
[spirits] and in all your souls” that God had
fulfilled all of His Word to you (Jos 23:14). It is obvious from this scripture that knowledge is kept in both the
spirit and soul of man. Mind in Deu 18:6 and 28:65, and heart in Deu 24:15 are the
Hebrew word nephesh or soul.
The Thinking Process Of The Spirit And Soul Of Man According To Medicial Science:
If one compared man to a computer, the five input -
output devices, that is, the keyboard, mouse, screen, printer, and speakers
would be compared to man’s five senses, that is, man’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth
and hands. The Central Processing Unite (CPU) would be compared to the
subconscious mind of the spirit and soul minds. The soul mind of man works
through and processes information in the left hemisphere of the brain, while
man’s spirit mind operates through the right hemisphere. The Read Only Memory
(ROM) or the floppy drive and the CD ROM or hard drive, which reads the
information on disk, would be compared to spirit and soul reading the
information stored up in the associative cortex of the brain, that is, the disk
or surface layer of gray matter located on each cerebrum hemisphere of
the subconscious mind.
The Random Access Memory (RAM)
or short term or temporary memory would be compared to the forebrain, where the
combined reasoning of the spirit and soul minds are put together in a unified
conscious thought. The forebrain is a large lobe that is in located in the
front of the two hemispheres of the brain and is connected to both. The power
supply or electricity would be compared to man’s spirit and soul, which give
life to the brain and body. The wire harness would be compared to the arteries,
nerves, and veins of the body.
Permit me to give you a personal illustration from my past of how the
spirit and soul minds of man work. The church I attended was in a long revival.
It was schedule to last a week, but God was moving in our midst, so we keep
going on. One day in the six week of revival, I came home from work and my body
was sending all kinds of chemical impulses to my subconscious mind, which were
interpreted by my spirit and soul to mean: “I am tired and hungry, I want to be eat
and then rest.” So, I quickly ate supper.
After I had finished, I sat down in my easy boy chair to relax for a few
minutes. My reborn spirit working through my conscious mind said to my soul
mind, “If I sit down, I am going to have a hard time getting up. I should
take my bath now.”
My soul speaking on behalf of my body told my spirit, “Lets be
reasonable, I have been carrying lumber most of the day, and I am very tired,
so I am going to relax for a few minutes.” So I did. My
spirit keep telling my soul, “get up, I am going to be late for church,” but my soul keep telling my spirit, “give me a few more minutes.” Then my soul said, “Let’s be reasonable, I have not miss one service in
six weeks. No one will tell me anything if I miss tonight’s service. I can go
to bed early and be well rested for work in the morning.” My spirit told my soul, “the Bible says not to forsake the
assembling of ourselves together. I am going to church.” What was the result, my soul followed the voice of my spirit and won
the battle over my flesh.
Man’s Physical Brain: The average
brain weights about 3 pounds. It is compose of 100 billion nerve cells. The
entire brain bathes in a clear liquid known as the cerebrospinal fluid, which
protects the brain from varying pressures, and transports chemical substances
within the nervous system. Man’s brain is divided into three
regions: the forebrain (cerebrum or prosencephalon), the midbrain
(thalamus & hypothalamus or mesencephalon), and the hindbrain (cerebellum
or rhombencephalon).
The “cerebrum,” Latin word for “brain,” is divided into two large
almost symmetrical hemispheres, which make up 85% of the brain; one hemisphere
is located on the left side of the brain and the other on the right side, which
are known as the left and right lobes of the brain. Each hemisphere of the cerebrum
is divided into 5 lobes: the frontal, parietal, temporal,
occipital, and insular. The frontal is the largest of the 5 lobes
of the forebrain, and is considered by some as the seat of conscience thought,
whereas the other 4 lobes is where subconscious thoughts take place;
somehow the the frontial lobe of the cerebrum unites the thoughts of the subconscious brain of both hemispheres into one conscious thought.
Both hemispheres of the cerebrum control the functions of the entire
body, such as many vital functions of intellect: thinking, perception,
remembering, emotions, language, speech, vision, hearing, and etc. The cortical
region, which is known as associative cortex, is the surface layer of gray
matter of each cerebrum hemisphere; it is responsible for those functions
chiefly in coordination of sensory and motor information putting together
multiple inputs, processing the information, and carrying out complex
responses.
The two cerebrum hemispheres are partially separated from each other by
a deep fold know as the longitudinal fissure. Communication between the two
hemispheres is through several concentrated bundles of axons known as
commissures, the largest being the corpus callosum. There are millions of
fibers in these bundles that cross-connect between these hemispheres. The
corpus callosum appears to play a major role in creating interhemispheric
harmony in the normal [intact] brain, specifically by integrating the verbal
and visuospatial functions into unified thought and subsequent action. The
exact process by which this harmony is achieved is the more difficult question
to answer.
The “cerebellum,” Latin for “little brain,” are two small lateral
hemispheres (side-by-side lobes), which are located in back of the cerebrum,
beneath the occipital lobes. The cerebellum maintains posture, balance, and
coordinates all voluntary movements of the limbs of the body by commands
from the cerebrum.
The thalamus and hypothalamus are located in the middle of the brain, underneath
and between the two hemispheres cerebrum. They are connected to the top
of the brain stem, which gradually becomes the spinal cord. The thalamus
is the main relay station for all incoming sensory signals, from the 5 senses,
to the cerebrum and for all signals from the cerebrum. The hypothalamus is
located beneath the thalamus. It regulates or controls many of the body’s vital
drives and activities, such as: eating, drinking, temperature regulation,
sleep, emotional behavior, and sexual activity. It also controls the function
of internal body organs.
Man’s fleshly mind is the seat of his physical carnal desires. Man’s
physical brain has no creative thinking capabilities without input from the
spirit and inner soul. It is the medium the spirit and soul uses to express
themselves in the body. This is why there is no thought activity in the
physical brain after death of the body, or in other words, after the spirit and
soul leaves the body.
The division of functions between the two hemispheres has been studied
in patients, who have had the commissures or the millions of connecting fivers
between the two hemispheres, surgically cut in order to control severe
epilepsy. This procedure is known as the split-brain operation.
According to medical science even though the each of the cerebrum hemispheres
appears to be symmetrical, how they function is not, each hemisphere is
specialized and dominates the other in certain functions.
Both hemispheres of the brain are involved very high complex cognitive
functions, with each hemisphere specializing in complementary fashion for
different modes of thinking. The left hemisphere controls the right
side of the body, whereas the right hemisphere controls the left
side. Research has revealed that hemispheric dominance is related to
whether a person is predominantly right-handed or left-handed. In most
right-handed people, the left hemisphere processes arithmetic, language, and
speech functions. The right hemisphere interprets music, complex imagery,
spatial relationships, recognizes and expresses emotion.
Medical Beliefs
and Experiments on the Two Hemispheres of the Brain: Research has also revealed that there may be sexual difference in both
brain anatomy and brain function between men and women. Researchers used
functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe which parts of the brain were
activated as groups of men and women tried to determine whether sets of
nonsense words rhymed. Men used only the broca’s area of the brain, which is
located in the left hemisphere of the frontal lobe, whereas women used the
broca’s area plus an area on the right hemisphere of the brain.
Linda VerLee Williams in her book, Teaching for the Two-Sided Mind,
speaking of the two separate hemispheres of the brain wrote: Recent
research on the hemispheres of the brain has made us aware that we possess two
different and complementary ways of processing information, a linear,
step-by-step style that analyzes the part that make up a pattern (in the left
hemisphere) and a spatial, relational style that seeks and constructs patterns
(in the right).
James F. Iaccino of Illinois Benedictine College in his book, Left
Brain – Right Brain Differences: Inquiries, Evidence, and New Approaches,
spoke of psychological research conducted on those who had the split-brain
operation performed. He stated: The Talking Right Hemisphere: A Case To Be Made: On
the verbal tasks conducted by Zaidel (1978b), the disconnected right hemisphere
was found to be almost entirely mute, except for single-word clichés or phrases
that it occasionally generated. Zaidel (1978c) and Poizner et al. (1990)
concluded that speech production and phonological processing (unlike other
language-related functions) were, for the most part, lateralized in the left
hemisphere of split-brain patients.
However,
other evidence seems to indicate that the commissurotomized right hemisphere
could recover some expressive speech functions if the left side suffered
damage… Zaidel (1983a) noted that recovery of speech by the separated right
hemisphere is strongly dependent on the extent of damage to the left brain,
with more ‘takeover’ possible as injury becomes more global (pg 80)…. Whatever
the nature of this genetic factor, one thing remains clear: Both hemispheres
are not equipotential for language at birth or, for that matter, even
before birth. Human being are programmed to display these functional
(morphological) cerebral asymmetries very early in development…. Morphological
(i.e. physical) asymmetries were found to exist between the cerebral hemispheres,
with the left language-related areas showing a more pronounced size
and more intricate folding (pg
14).
Cross-Cuing: Indirect Communication Between Hemispheres: Although
the hemispheres of the split-brain patient have no direct means of neural
communication, sometimes relevant cues can be picked up from the environment
that sill can make information indirectly available to both sides. This
phenomenon, termed cross-cuing, was identified originally by Gazzaniga (1967).
In his procedure, a red or green light was flashed initially to the patients’
LVF [left eye] (right hemisphere). Subjects then had to report verbally the
color that they viewed.
As the trial
proceeded, performance began to improve above chance level, suggesting that a
particular strategy was employed by the patients to obtain the correct
responses. Gazzaniga (1967) noted that if the flashed light were red but the
patients incorrectly guessed green, a frown immediately appeared on their
faces, followed by a shake of the head and the statement, ‘No… it
was red.’ Apparently, the right hemisphere perceived the red light, yet heard
the left side making an incorrect response (i.e., green). Acknowledging that
the answer was wrong, the right brain eventually cued its cortical neighbor
[the left hemisphere] by way of nonverbal reactions (such as frowns and head
shakes) so the left hemisphere could correct its reply…. On the other hand,
RVF [right eye] (left -hemispheric) response time was quite prompt
(pp 80-81).
Behavior After Surgery: Fact and Fiction: Incidents of bizarre split behavior
immediately following commissurotomy have been reported…. For instance, one
patient could not put his trousers on because his left hand continually
struggled with the right. When angered by his wife, the same patient wanted to
reach out with his left hand to strike her, but the right hand prevented the
gesture from ever occurring (Gazzaniga, 1970) (pg 82).
Two
Brains, Double the Capacity: Sperry
(1968) and Seines (1974) argued that the split-brain was able to carry out two
distinctly different hemispheric tasks simultaneously…. Evidence for this view
came from studies where postoperative patients were able to execute separate
discrimination tasks in each visual field much faster than normal subjects
(Ellenberg & Sperry, 1980; Gazzaniga & Sperry, 1966).
One patient
of LeDoux et al. (1977a) even showed that each hemisphere could answer
questions asked of it in a different manner from it neighbor. For instance,
when asked to select the career of choice, the right brain arranged ‘Scramble’
letters to spell out the words, automobile racing, whereas the left side
contradictorily asserted its preference of craftsmanship….
As
task-level complexity increased, the patients’ reaction times lengthened,
suggesting that the split-brain (overall) was not more efficient than the
unified one (Sperry, Gazzaniga, & Bogen, 1969)…. Based on these reports,
the general conclusion is that split-brain patients possess a relative
duality of consciousness, without actually doubling their cognitive
capacity (pg 84)…. In fact, some (Levy, 1974; Levy-Agresti & Sperry,
1968) have stated that these [two hemispheres] cognitive processes were
so incompatible with those employed for more visuospatial functions that
they had to develop in opposite hemispheres of the brain;
otherwise, such opposing modes of information processing would interfere
seriously with each other if housed within the same hemisphere, either
right or left (pg 15).
Left-analytic versus a
right-holistic mode of information processing: According to this more useful dichotomy
originally posited by Ornstein (1977), each hemisphere is specialized for a
different type of thinking or cognitive style, with the left side employing a
more sequential, analytic though process and the right a more holistic, gestalt
frame of reference (pg 29).
The Left-Analytic
Mode: The cognitive style of the left hemisphere has been called
analytic, basically because this brain side breaks stimulus information down
into its separate components or features. The parts are then processed, one at
a time, in a very orderly, sequential fashion (Galin, 1979). Another way to
define this cognitive style is that the left hemisphere uses a serial (rather
than parallel) type of processing to analyze the relevant components. It
logically follows that the greater the number of items presented, the longer
the period of time required to process these complicated stimulus array (Cohen,
1973)…. A primary function of this left-analytic mode involves the temporal
ordering or relevant inputs [information] abstracted from the array. That is,
the placement of these features within a particular sequence is extremely
important. What comes first, second, third, and so on makes a difference in the
way the information is processed and eventually stored in memory (pg 30).
For temporal ordering to occur, the following conditions have to
be satisfied: succession, duration, and causality (Ornstein, 1977). Succession
refers to a specific past, present, and future time frame in which the information
is arranged linearly [short time problem solver]. Duration deals the
relative period of time devoted to each abstracted item within this
past-present-future continuum. This processing period is an extremely malleable
one, continually being restructured from our most recent memories to ones more
permanently established on episodes in the past. The final condition causality,
has its underpinnings in the first two requirements. Simply put causality means
that the occurrence of present as well as future events is determined by ones
that already transpired in the past…. The linear conceptualization of time not
only shapes the thought processes of the left hemisphere, but is shaped by the
cultural context (pp 30-31).
The Right-Holistic Mode: The right-holistic mode is particularly
good at grasping patterns of relations between the component parts of a
stimulus array, integrating many inputs simultaneously to eventually arrive at
a complete configuration (i.e. a gestalt). Cohen (1973) indicated that one of
the unique aspects of this mode is that processing time is not dependent on the
number of features that make up the overall pattern [it put no time limit on
solving a problem, if input information is strong enough, it always will be
looking to solve the problem, even after weeks or months]…. So the argument
follows that the right hemisphere exhibits a parallel rather than a serial type
of processing in apprehending the stimulus configuration…. Some of the more
common stimulus properties include simple wholes or blobs, which cannot be
subdivided into specific features…. Another very interesting function of this
mode is stimulus closure: From incomplete patterns or missing elements, a whole
configuration still can be abstracted [example jigsaw puzzle] (pp 31-32).
Another
altered state that directly taps into the right-holistic mode is one
experienced every night when asleep: dreaming. While in this state, the subject
is loosened from the temporal and spatial constraints [left-brain thinking] of
the everyday world. Past and future can now exist side by side with the
indistinct present, and time no longer flows forward as in linear consciousness
[of left-brain thinking] (Webb, 1979). Dream researchers have commented
that this altered stated is regarded by many as… thinking in pictures
(or gestalts)…. The right-cognitive style… of thinking dominates
(at least for the short duration) of the dream (pg 33).
Visual Processing of Facial Stimuli: A left-visual field (LVF) superiority
already has been reported in normal subjects for the recognition of
photographed faces as well as schematic drawings of faces (Patterson &
Bradshaw, 1975)…. Auditory Processing of Tonal Sequences and Melodic
Arrangements…. Simple arrangements have been known to elicit a left ear advantage
(LEA) in normal subjects, whereas more complex type have produced an alternate
REA (Halperin, Nachshon, & Carmon, 1973; Robinson & Solomon,
1974). (pp 36-37).
(Emotions)
Facial Expression Indices [indicators]: Experimental
and naturalistic observations have supported the hypothesis that the right
hemisphere play a major role in the perception of emotions.
Sackheim and Gur (1978) and Sackheim, Gur, and Saucy (1978) were among the
first to discover that the left side of the face typically
displayed a more intense emotional expression…. Other studies also have
linked right-hemisphere activation to negative emotional states (Davidson
& Schwartz, 1976; Davidson et al., 1979; Tucker, Stenslie, Roth, &
Shearer, 1981) and even abnormal affection such as unipolar depression
(Davidson, Shaffer, & Saron, 1985; Perris & Monakhou, 1979; Silberman
& Weingartner, 1986). Although the right brain is involved strongly in
emotional expression, the left brain still is implicated with feeling to some
extent (particularly the more positive experiences) (pp 134-135).
Iaccino declared left brain is dominate over right regardless of
hand preference: The left brain apparently is in charge in a majority
of cases, regardless of the body side, that is, regardless of what hand, eye,
foot, etc, is dominate. (Left Brain – Right Brain Differences: Inquiries,
Evidence, and New Approaches, pg 5)…. Thus a symmetrical brain organization not
really the true state of affairs; rather, cerebral asymmetry [not equal
in use] is the rule rather than the exception in understanding how the human
brain operates (pg 14).
Betty Edwards in her book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
(A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence), vividly describes
the differences between the functions of the right and left hemisphere of the
brain. She wrote: Left-handers more frequently process language in both
hemispheres and process spatial information in both hemispheres than do
right-handers. Specifically, language is mediated in the left hemisphere in 90
percent of right-handers and 70 percent of left-handers. Of the remaining 10
percent of right-handers, about 2 percent have language located in the right
brain, and 8 percent mediate language in both hemispheres. Of the 30 percent of
the left-handers, about 15 percent have language located in the right brain,
about 15 percent mediate language in both hemispheres…. This indicates that
hand position in writing is another outward sign of brain organization, meaning
the way a person thinks (pg 39).
Edwards stated that Cal Tech each scientists in 1960, discovered in
their studies of neurosurgical patients: that each hemisphere, in a sense,
perceives its own reality – or perhaps better stated, perceives reality in its
own way. The verbal half of the brain – the left half – dominates most of the
time in individuals with intact brains as well as in the split-brain patients.
It also discovered: the right, nonspeaking half of the brain also experiences,
responds with feeling, and processes information on it own. (Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain, pg 29).
In
1973, Dr. Roger Sperry, a California Institute of Technology psychobiology
professor, stated: There appears to be
two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately in
left and right hemispheres…. Science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal
form of intellect, that is, the right hemisphere.(Drawing on the Right Side of
the Brain, pg 29).
In 1968, professors Jerre Levy and R. W. Sperry stated: The data
indicated that the mute, minor [right] hemisphere is specialized for Gestalt
perception, being primarily a synthesis in dealing with information inputs. The
speaking, major [left] hemisphere, in contrast, seems to operate
in a more logical, analytic, computer-like-fashion. Its
language is inadequate for the rapid complex syntheses achieved by the
minor [right] hemisphere. (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, pg 29). Gestalt means: the study of perception and behavior from the
standpoint of an individual’s response to configurational wholes; and
synthesis is: the putting together of information to form a whole, or the
combining of often diverse conceptions into a coherent whole.
Edwards declared: In our own brains, with intact corpus callosa,
communication between the hemispheres melds or reconciles the two perceptions,
thus preserving our sense of being one person, a unified being…. We now know
that despite our normal feeling that we are one person – a single being – our
brains are double, each half with its own way of knowing, its own way of
perceiving external reality. In a manner of speaking, each of us has two minds,
two consciousnesses, mediated and integrated by the connecting cable of nerve
fivers between the hemispheres. We have learned that the two hemispheres can
work together in a number of ways. Sometimes they cooperate with each half
contributing its special abilities and taking on the particular part of the
task that is suited to its mode of information processing. At other times, the
hemispheres can work singly; with on half ‘on’ and the other half more or less
‘off.’ And it seem that the hemispheres may also conflict, one half attempting
to do what the other half ‘knows’ it can do better. Furthermore, it may be that
each hemisphere has a way of keeping knowledge from the other hemisphere.
(Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, pp 29-32).
Edwards
also stated: Words and phrases concerning
concepts of left and right permeate our language and thinking. The right hand
(meaning also the left hemisphere) is strongly connected with what is good,
just, moral, proper. The left hand (therefore the right hemisphere) is strongly
linked with concepts of anarchy and feeling that are out of conscious control –
somehow bad, immoral, dangerous…. Throughout human history, terms with
connotations of good for the right-hand\left hemisphere and connotations of bad
for the left-hand\right hemisphere appear in most languages around the world.
(Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, pg 33).
Dr. J. E. Bogen names some of the attributes of the left and right
brain specialization, of the two ways of knowing. Left to
Right Hemispheres: (L. intellect – R. intuition), (L. convergent – R.
divergent), (L. digital – R. analogic), (L. secondary – R. primary), (L.
abstract – R. concrete), (L. directed – R. free), (L. propositional – R.
imaginative), (L. analytic – R. relational), (L. lineal – R. nonlineal), (L.
rational – R. intuitive), (L. sequential – R. multiple), (L. analytic – R.
holistic), (L. objective – R. subjective), and (L. successive – R.
simultaneous). (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, pg 34).
A Comparison of Left-Mode and Right Mode Characteristics:
(L.
Verbal: Using word to name, describe, define, R. Nonverbal: Awareness of the
things, but minimal connection with words), (L. Analytic: Figuring things out
step-by-step and part-by-part. R. Synthetic: Putting things together to form
wholes), (L. Symbolic: Using a symbol to stand for something. For example… the
sign + stands for the process of addition. R. Concrete: Relating to things as
they are at the present moment), (L. Abstract: Taking out a small bit of
information and using it to represent the whole thing. R. Analogic: Seeing
likeness between things; understanding metaphoric relationships), (L. Temporal:
Keeping tract of time, sequencing one thing after another: Doing first things
first, second things second, etc. R.
Nontemporal:
Without a sense of time), (L. Rational: Drawing conclusions based on reason and
facts. R. Nonrational: Not requiring a basis of reason or facts;
willingness to suspend judgment), (L. Digital: Using numbers as in counting. R.
Spatial: Seeing where things are in relation to other things, and how parts go
together to form a whole), (L. Logical: Drawing conclusions based on logic: one
thing following another in logical order – for example, a mathematical theorem
or a well-stated argument. R. Intuitive: Making leaps of insight, often based
on incomplete patterns, hunches, feelings, or visual images), and (L. Linear:
Thinking in terms of linked ideas, one thought directly following another,
often leading to a convergent conclusion. R. Holistic: Seeing whole things all
at once; perceiving the overall patterns and structures, often leading to
divergent conclusions). (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, pg 40).
Edwards
declared: The left hemisphere analyzes,
abstracts, counts, marks time, plans step-by-step procedures, verbalizes, makes
rational statements based on logic…. The right hemisphere… ‘see’ things… that
may be imaginary – existing only in the mind’s eye – or recall things that may
be real…. We see how things exist in space and how the parts go together to
make up the whole. Using the right hemisphere, we understand metaphors, we
dream, we create new combinations of ideas…. In the right hemisphere mode of
information processing, we use intuition and have leaps of insight – moments
when ‘everything seems to fall into place’ without figuring things out in a
logical order (pg 35)….
This, then,
is… the intuitive, subjective, relational, holistic, time-free-mode….
[It] is not, after all, under very good verbal control. You can’t reason with
it. You can’t get it to make logical propositions such as ‘This is good and
that is bad….’ [It] is not good at sequencing – doing the first thing first,
taking the next step, then the next. It may start anywhere, or take everything
at once. Furthermore, the right hemisphere hasn’t a good sense of time and
doesn’t seem to comprehend what is meant by the term ‘wasting time’ as does the
good, sensible left hemisphere. The right brain is not good at categorizing and
naming. It seems to regard the thing as-it-is, at the present moment of the
present; seeing things for what they simply are, in all of their awesome,
fascinating complexity. It is not good at analyzing and abstracting salient
characteristics (pg 36).
The right
brain – the dreamer, the artificer, the artist is lost in our school system….
It’s unlikely that we would find courses in imagination, in visualization, in
perceptual or spatial skills, in creativity. [pg 37]. A useful way to regard
handedness is to recognize that hand preference is the most visible outward
sign of how an individual’s brain is organized…. There are other outward signs:
eyedness (everyone has a dominant eye, used in sighting along an edge, for
example); and footedness (the foot used to step off a curb or to start a dance
step). (pg 38).
Edwards also stated: Evidence accumulated showing that the mode of the left
hemisphere is verbal and analytic, while that of the right is nonverbal and
global. New evidence found by Jerre Levy in her doctoral studies showed that
the mode of processing used by the right brain is rapid, complex,
whole-pattern, spatial, and perceptual – processing that is not only
different from but comparable in complexity to the left brain’s verbal,
analytic mode.
Additionally,
Levy found indications that the two modes of processing tend to interfere with
each other, preventing maximal performance…. Over the past decade, since the
first statement in 1968 by Levy and Sperry, scientists have found extensive
supporting evidence for this view, not only in brain-injured patients but also
in individual with normal, intact brains.
A few
examples of the specially designed test devised for use with split-brain
patients might illustrate the separate reality perceive by each hemisphere and
the special modes of processing employed. In one test, two different pictures
were flashed for an instant on a screen, with a split-brain patient’s eye fixed
on a midpoint so the scanning both images was prevented. Each hemisphere, then,
received different pictures. A picture of spoon on the left side of the screen
went to the right brain; a picture of a knife on the right side of the screen
went to the verbal left brain…. If asked to name what had been flashed on the
screen, the confidently articulate left hemisphere caused the patient to say,
‘knife.’
Then the
patient was asked to reach behind a curtain with his left hand (right
hemisphere) and pick out what had been flashed on the screen. The patient then
picked out the spoon from a group of objects that included a spoon and a knife.
If the experimenter asked the patient to identify what he held in his hand
behind the curtain, the patient might look confused for a moment and say, ‘a
knife.’ The right hemisphere, knowing that the answer was wrong but not having
sufficient words to correct the articulate left hemisphere, continued the
dialogue by causing the patient to mutely shake his head. At that, the verbal
left hemisphere wondered aloud, ‘Why am I shaking my head?’ (Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain, pp 30-31).
Man’s Spirit And Soul Can Pray, Worship And Commune With God: Paul said it this way: “if I pray in an unknown
tongue, my spirit [or my human spirit through the Holy Spirit] prayeth, but my understanding [or conscious soul
mind] is unfruitful [or does not understand
the language]. What is it then? I will pray with the
spirit] [or my human spirit], and I will pray
with the [soul] understanding also: I will
sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1Co
14:14-15).
Paul said his human spirit prayed to God in an unknown language by
means of the power or anointing of the Holy Spirit. When his human spirit
prayed or sang to God in a language unknown to him, his conscious mind or soul
mind did not comprehend the words that was coming out of his mouth. This
scripture, without a doubt, reveals that there are two separate minds in man.
One is the mind of his human spirit and the other is the mind of his soul.
Did not Jesus say that the true worshippers of God will “worship the Father in spirit [pneuma] and in truth” (Jn 4:24). Mary claimed to worship God
with her spirit and soul. She said “my soul
[psuche] doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit
[pneuma] hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Lk
1:46-47). The great prophet Isaiah said it was with his human spirit that
he sought after God in prayer and worship (Isa 26:9).
A good Biblical example that emphatically reveals that man’s consciousness or self awareness comes from
his spirit and not his soul can be found in Acts 20:9-10. In these verses, the Bible declared that a young man fell down from a
three-story building and “was taken up dead.” Although this man was dead or in an unconscious state, Paul said his “life” or “soul” was still in him. The word life in verse 10 is the Greek
word psuche, which is soul. Therefore, this is absolute proof that the soul and body are in an unconscious
state when the spirit of man leaves the body, wheather it is on earth or in
Hades.
If man’s spirit is unregenerate, his thought life and spirit will be
ruled by the carnal desires or impulses of the flesh. It will also be influence
or possessed by evil or unclean spirits or demons. As a result, man’s spirit
and soul will become corrupt. The spirit will then forsake God's creative
design of being a counselor or guide to the soul, and will instead try to rule
it.
Solomon said it this way, “he
[or the soul] that hath no rule over his spirit
[ruwach - conscious thoughts] is like a city that is
broken down, and without walls,” also “he [or the soul] that
ruleth his spirit [conscious thoughts has more power] than he that taketh a city” (Pro 25:28; 16:32). The spirit mind in most women rules or dominate the soul mind. This
is why women are called spirit creatures and men are called soul creatures. The
soul can heal the body or make it sick by the quality of thoughts it allows its
spirit to meditate on and speak. A good wholesome tongue and thoughts are “like a tree of life” to the body,
while an evil tongue and thoughts are its destruction (Pro 15:4).
Man’s Spirit And Soul
United Together Is Called The Inner Man
God asked
Job, who put “wisdom in the inward parts [spirit and soul of
man]” (Job 38:36)? David said God desires
truth in man's “inward parts,” also God filled man's belly with His “hid treasure”
(Psa 51:6; 17:14). Jeremiah says God will put
His laws in His children's “inward parts
[spirit and soul], and write it in their hearts
[their conscious mind]” (Jer 31:33). Solomon said stripes laid on the backs of
men would clean “the inwards parts of the
belly” (Pro 20:30). Paul said he delighted “in the law of God after the inward man [his spirit
and soul]” (Rom 7:22). He also said the Church
should not faint, because of our hope of a better resurrection. He told the
church, although “our outward man [the
physical soul body] perish, yet our inward [spirit
and soul] man is renewed day by day” (2Co
4:16). Paul told the Church that God would
strengthen them with all might “by His Spirit in the inner
man” (Eph 3:16).
What
Is The Origin Of The Soul?
In consideration of all the foregoing facts, the
inner soul could be the zygote that produced each human being, or in other
words, the union of the male's sperm with that of the woman's egg. When these
two unite into one cell, man’s inner soul was the byproduct, and the outer soul
body was made by it. Medical science informs us that the original fertilized
egg splits and reproduces itself millions of times until it culminates in the
formation of the body. Could it be that this master cell only appears to split
into two cells, but instead of splitting, it clones or reproduces itself?
Whereby each cloned cell inherits the same genetic makeup or the DNA along with
some of the powers of the original master cell or zygote.
Molecular biologists report that giant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
molecules are located in the nucleus of every cell in men and animals. These
molecules enable a cell to reproduce two new cells with the same
characteristics as the parent cell. The DNA in each cell contains the genetic
code for the reproduction of the whole body. Although each cell is supplied
with the voluminous scrip for all of life, God’s creative programming limits it
production to a certain type of cell. Subsequently, instead of the 100 trillion
cells in the body that produce a 100 trillion human beings, it only reproduces
one.
Some of these scientists believe that all activity of human beings and
other organisms are directed by the four nucleotides in each DNA molecule. They
maintain that these master genes are like a quarterback who calls the plays in
the drama of life. In light of this scientific data, is it possible that the
outer soul body, including its physical brain, blood, and everything
else is the byproduct of this original master cell called the inner soul? This
interpretation is the only interpretation, as far as I can determine, that will
harmonize with all the above scriptures.
Whatever the inner soul may or may not be, one thing is for sure, it is
personal. It is not symbolism for man's body, blood, or anything else. It is
material or physical. It dwells somewhere in the blood or circulation system of
the body. It is not destroyed with the outer soul body but has an existence
outside the body. It leaves the outer
soul body at death and goes to Sheol or Hades, while the outer soul body goes
to Qeber or Mnemeion. In Hades or Sheol, it has an unconscious existence in a
body that resembles the outer physical soul body.
In history, there are three basic teaching about the origin of the
soul. Drs. M’Clintock and Strong gave them as: 1. The Hypothesis of the Pre-existence
of Soul - Those who support this hypothesis, called Preexistiani, affirm that
God, at the beginning of the world, created the souls of all men, which however
are not united with the body before man is begotten or born into this world.
This was the opinion of Pythagoras, Plato, ...the Cabalists [or Cultist] among
the Jews, ...Origen... [and] Justin Martyr....
2. The
Hypothesis of the Creation of the Soul - The advocates of this theory, called
Creatiani, believe that the soul is immediately created by God whenever the
body is begotten, ...Aristotle, ...Cyril of Alexandria and Theodoret... were of
this opinion, and Ambrose, Hilary, and Jerome.
3. The
Hypothesis of the Propagation of the Soul - According to this theory, the souls
of children, as well as their bodies, are propagated from their parents.… They
exist in their parents merely potentially, and come from them Per Propagucem or
Traducem. Hence those who hold this opinion are called Traduciani. This opinion
agrees with Epicurus…. This hypothesis formerly prevailed in the ancient
Western Church. According to Jerome, both Tertullian and Apollinaris were
advocates of this opinion... [and] Augustine.... Since the
Reformation this theory has been more approved than any other.... Luther
himself appeared much inclined towards it.… In the Formula Concordice it was
distinctly taught that the soul as well as the body was propagated by parents
in ordinary generation. [14]
As I said above, this is the only theory that makes any sense to me as all the
scriptures are taken into consideration!
In the Jewish Talmud we read: Antoninus also said to Rabbi, When is
the soul placed in man; as soon as it is decreed that the sperm shall be male
of female, or when the embryo is actually formed? He replied, From the moment
of formation.… If the sperm-cell is not immediately endowed with a soul, it
would become putrid, and then could not fertilize the ovum. [15] Therefore
this theory avocates the Pre-existence of the soul, and Lucifer’s Babylonian
doctrines of the immortality, deification, reincarnation, and purging of the
soul in Hades by fire. For a biblical and historical study of these doctrines,
I would suggest my book “What Is Lost Man’s Eternal Destiny.”
CHAPTER
6
APPENDIX
Every Scripture Containing The Following Greek Words Pneuma And Psuche
Are Presented In One Or More English Translations, And The Beza’s 1598 Textus
Receptus Greek New Testament; The Hebrew Words Ruwach & Nephesh Are
Presented In One Or More English Translations, The Greek Septuagint, And The
Hebrew Masoretic Text.
Meaning Of
Abbreviations
GNS =
Textus Receptus Greek New Testament (Tr. By Theodore Beza in 1598 AD & F.
H. A.
Scrivener in 1881 AD).
GNT = The
Greek New Testament (Nestle-Aland 27th Edition ).
LXT = The
Greek Septuagint
LXE =
Brenton’s The English Translation Of The Septuagint
WTT = The
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BHS
KJV = King James Version
NKJ = New King James
ASV = American Standard Version
NAS = New American Standard
RSV = Revised Standard Version
NIV = New International Version
YLT = Young’s Literal Translation Of The Holy Bible
DBY = The English Darby Bible
The Greek Word
Pneuma – Spirit.
The Hebrew
Word Ruwach - Spirit.
The Greek Word
Psuche – Soul.
The Hebrew
Word Nephesh – Soul.
Definitions Of Spirit
Spirit:
Tertullian stated: Likewise, ‘although it
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.’ Now, although the
natural principle of life and the spirit have each a body proper to itself, so
that the ‘natural body’ may fairly be taken to signify the soul, and ‘the
spiritual body’ the spirit, yet that is no reason for supposing the apostle to
say that the soul is to become spirit in the resurrection, but that the body
(which, as being born along with the soul, and as retaining its life by
means of the soul, admits of being called animal (or natural) will
became spiritual, since it rises through the Spirit to an eternal life. In
short, since it is not the soul, but the flesh which is ‘sown in corruption,’
when it turns to decay in the ground, it follows that (after such dissolution)
the soul is no longer the natural body, but the flesh, which was the natural
body, (is the subject of the future change), forasmuch as of a natural body it
is made a spiritual body…. So the body is the vessel of the works of the flesh,
whilst the soul which is within it mixes the poison of a wicked act. How then
is it, that the soul, which is the real author of the works of the flesh, shall
attain to the kingdom of God, after the deeds done in the body have been stoned
for, whilst the body, which was nothing but (the soul’s) ministering agent,
must remain in condemnation? Is the cup to be punished, but the poisoner to
escape? (Tertullian, vol 3, Against Marcion, bk 5, chp 10, pp 832-834).
SPIRIT: 1. Primary
and Figurative Senses: (1) Used primarily in the Old Testament and New
Testament of the wind, as in <Gen 8:1; Num 11:31; Amos 4:13>
("createth the wind"); <Heb 1:7> (angels, "spirits"
or "winds" in margin); often used of the breath, as in <Job 12:10;
15:30>, and in <2 Thes 2:8> (wicked consumed by "the breath of
his mouth"). (2) In a figurative sense it was used as indicating anger or
fury, and as such applied even to God, who destroys by the "breath of his
nostrils" (<Job 4:9; Exo 15:8; 2 Sam 22:16>; see <2 Thes
2:8>). (3) Hence, applied to man-- as being the seat of emotion in desire or trouble, and thus gradually of mental
and moral qualities in general (<Exo 28:3>, "the spirit of
wisdom"; <Ezek 11:19>, "a new spirit" etc.). Where man is
deeply stirred by the Divine Spirit, as among the prophets, we have a somewhat
similar use of the word, in such expressions as: "The Spirit of the Lord
came .... upon him" <1 Sam 10:10>.
2. Shades of
Meaning: (1) The spirit as life-principle
in man has various applications: sometimes to denote an apparition (<Mt
14:26>, the King James Version "saying, It is a spirit"; <Lk
24:37>, the King James Version "had seen a spirit"); sometimes to
denote angels, both fallen and unfallen (<Heb 1:14>, "ministering
spirits"; <Mt 10:1>, "unclean spirits"; compare also
<12:43>; <Mk 1:23,26-27>; and in <Rev 1:4>, "the seven
Spirits .... before his throne").
(2) The
spirit is thus in man the principle of life-- but of man as distinguished from
the brute-- so that in death this spirit is yielded to the Lord (<Lk 23:46;
Acts 7:59; 1 Cor 5:5>, "that the spirit may be saved"). Hence, God
is called the "Father of spirits" <Heb 12:9>. (3)
Thus
generally for all the manifestations of the spiritual
part in man, as that which thinks,
feels, wills; and also to denote certain qualities which characterize the
man, e.g. "poor in spirit" <Mt 5:3>; "spirit of
gentleness" <Gal 6:1>; "of bondage" <Rom 8:15>;
"of jealousy" <Num 5:14>; "of fear" (<2 Tim
1:7> the King James Version); "of slumber" (<Rom 11:8> the
King James Version).
Hence, we
are called upon to “rule over our own
spirit” <Prov 16:32; 25:28>, and are warned against being
overmastered by a wrong spirit (<Lk 9:55> the King James Version,
"Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of"). So man may submit to
the "spirit of error," and turn away from the "spirit of
truth" <1 Jn 4:6>. Thus we read of the "spirit of counsel"
<Isa 11:2>; "of wisdom" <Eph 1:17>.
3. Human and
Divine Spirit: (1) We go a step higher when we find the human spirit brought
into relationship with the Divine Spirit. For man is but a creature to whom
life has been imparted by God's spirit-- life being but a resultant of God's
breath. Thus life and death are realistically described as an imparting or a
withdrawing of God's breath, as in <Job 27:3; 33:4; 34:14>, "spirit
and breath" going together.
The spirit
may thus be "revived" <Gen 45:27>, or "overwhelmed"
<Ps 143:4>, or "broken" <Prov 15:13>. And where sin has
been keenly felt, it is "a broken spirit" which is "a sacrifice
to God" <Ps 51:17>; and when man submits to the power of sin, a new
direction is given to his mind: he comes under a "spirit of whoredom"
<Hos 4:12>; he becomes "proud in spirit" <Eccl 7:8>,
instead of being "patient in spirit"; he is a fool because he is
"hasty in spirit" and gives way to "anger" <Eccl
7:9>. The "faithful in spirit" are the men who resist talebearing
and backbiting in the world <Prov 11:13>. In such instances as these the
difference between "soul" and "spirit" appears. See SOUL;
PSYCHOLOGY.
(2) On this
higher plane, too, we find the Divine Spirit at work. The terminology is very
varied here: In the New Testament we read of the "Holy Spirit" <1
Cor 6:19; Mt 1:18,20; 1 Thes 1:5-6>; the "Spirit of God" (<1
Cor 2:10> ff; <3:16>; <Rom 8:9,11; Eph 3:16>, etc.); the
"Spirit of Christ" <Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 3:17; Gal 4:6>; or simply of
"Spirit," with distinct reference to God (<1 Cor 2:10; Rom
8:16,23>, etc.). God Himself is Spirit <Jn 4:24>. Hence, God's power
is manifested in human life and character (<Lk 4:14; Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 2:4>;
especially <Lk 24:49>).
The Book of
Acts may be termed the Book of the Holy Spirit, working with power in man. This
Spirit is placed on a level with Father and Son in the Apostolic Benediction
<2 Cor 13:14> and in the parting message of the Saviour to His disciples
<Mt 28:19>. As the agent in redemption and sanctification His work is
glorified by lives "renewed" in the very "spirit of the mind
"--a collocation of terms which has puzzled many interpreters <Eph
4:23-24>, where pneuma and nous appear together, to indicate a renewal which
is all-embracing, `renewed in the spirit of your mind, so that the new man is
put on, created in righteousness and true holiness' (see also <Jn 14:17,26;
15:26; 16:13; 1 Cor 12:11>, etc.).
4. Old
Testament Applications: In the Old Testament this spirit of God appears in
varied functions, as brooding over chaos <Gen 1:2; Job 26:13>; as descending upon men, on heroes like
Othniel, Gideon, etc. <Judg 3:10; 6:34>, on prophets <Ezek 37:1>,
on "cunning workmen," like Bezalel and Aholiab (<Exo 31:2-3-4>,
"filled with the Spirit of God"), and specially in such passages as
<Ps 51:11>, where the very presence of God is indicated by an abiding
influence of the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of Yahweh is Yahweh
himself."
5. Various
Interpretations: May we not reach a still higher stage? Wendt in his
interesting monograph (Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist), of which extracts are
given in Dickson's St. Paul's Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, draws
attention to the transcendental influence of the Divine ruach in the Old
Testament as expressed in such phrases as `to put on' <Judg 6:34>, `to
fall upon' <14:6,19>, `to settle' (<Num 11:25> f). May we not then
rightly assume that more is meant than a mere influence emanating from a
personal God? Are we not right in
maintaining with Davidson that "there are indeed a considerable number of
passages in the Old Testament which might very well express the idea that the
Spirit is a distinct hypostasis or person."? (see SUBSTANCE).
Rejecting
the well-known passage in Genesis: "Let us make man after our own
image," which some have interpreted in a trinitarian sense, we may point
to such texts as <Zec 4:6>, "by my Spirit"; <Isa
63:10-11>, "They rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit";
"Where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?" This is
borne out by the New Testament, with its warnings against "grieving the
Holy Spirit," "lying against the Holy Spirit," and kindred
expressions <Eph 4:30; Acts 5:3>.
It is this
Spirit which "beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of
God" <Rom 8:16>-- the spirit which, as Auberlen has put it
(Hauch-Herzog, Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche (1),
article "Geist des Menschen"), "appears in a double relationship
to us, as the principle of natural life, which is ours by birth, and that of
spiritual life, which we receive through the new birth (Wiedergeburt)."
Hence, Paul speaks of God whom he serves "with his spirit" <Rom
1:9>; and in <2 Tim 1:3> he speaks of serving God "in a pure
conscience. (See CONSCIENCE; FLESH; HOLY SPIRIT; PSYCHOLOGY; SOUL. J. I.
MARAIS; from International Standard Bible
Encylopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (C) 1996 by Biblesoft).
SPIRIT: BREATH ruach
^7307^, "breath; air; strength; wind; breeze; spirit; courage; temper;
Spirit." This noun has cognates in Ugaritic, Aramaic, and Arabic. The word
occurs about 378 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew. First, this word
means "breath," air for breathing, air that
is being breathed. This meaning is especially evident in <Jer.
14:6>: "And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed
up the wind like dragons...." When one's "breath" returns, he is
revived: "...when he [Samson] had drunk [the water], his spirit
[literally, "breath"] came again, and he revived..." <Judg.
15:19>. Astonishment may take away one's "breath": "And when
the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the home that he had
built, And the meat of his table,... there was no more spirit in her [she was overwhelmed and breathless]" <1 Kings
10:4-5>. Ruach may also represent speaking, or the breath of one's mouth:
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them
by the breath of his mouth" Ps. 33:6>; cf. <Exod. 15:8; Job 4:9;
19:17>.
Second, this
word can be used with emphasis on the invisible, intangible, fleeting quality
of "air": "O remember that my
life is wind: mine eyes shall no more see good" <Job 7:7>. There may
be a suggestion of purposelessness, uselessness, or even vanity (emptiness)
when ruach is used with this significance: "And the prophets shall become
wind, and the word is not in them..." <Jer. 5:13>. "Windy
words" are really "empty words" <Job 16:3>, just as
"windy knowledge" is "empty knowledge" <Job 15:2;>
cf. <Eccl. 1:14,17>--" meaningless striving". In <Prov.
11:29> ruach means "nothing": "He that troubleth his own
house shall inherit the wind...." This nuance is especially prominent in
<Eccl. 5:15-16>: "And he came forth of his mother's womb, naked
shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he
may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as
he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath labored for the
wind?"
Third, ruach
can mean "wind." In <Gen. 3:8>
it seems to mean the gentle, refreshing evening breeze so well known in the
Near East: "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden
in the cool [literally, "breeze"] of the day...." It can mean a
strong, constant wind: "...and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land
all that day, and all that night..." <Exod. 10:13>. It can also
signify an extremely strong wind: "And the Lord turned a mighty strong
west wind..." <Exod. 10:19>. In <Jer. 4:11> the word appears
to represent a gale or tornado (cf. <Hos. 8:7>). God is the Creator
<Amos 4:13> and sovereign Controller of the winds <Gen. 8:1; Num.
11:31; Jer. 10:13>.
Fourth, the
wind represents direction. In <Jer. 49:36> the four winds represent the
four ends of the earth, which in turn represent every quarter: "And upon
Elam will I bring the four winds [peoples from every quarter of the earth] from
the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and
there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come."
Akkadian attests the same phrase with the same meaning, and this phrase begins
to appear in Hebrew at a time when contact with Akkadian-speaking peoples was
frequent.
Fifth, ruach
frequently represents the element of life in a
man, his natural "spirit": "And all flesh died that moved upon
the earth,... All in whose nostrils was the breath of life..." <Gen.
7:21-22>. In these verses the animals have a "spirit" (cf. <Ps.
104:29>). On the other hand, in <Prov. 16:2> the word appears to mean
more than just the element of life; it seems to mean "soul":
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth
the spirits [NASB, "motives"]." Thus, Isaiah can put nepesh,
"soul," and ruach in synonymous parallelism: "With my soul have
I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee
early..." <26:9>. It is the "spirit" of a man that returns
to God <Eccl. 12:7>.
Sixth, ruach
is often used of a man's mind-set, disposition,
or "temper": "Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile" <Ps. 32:2>. In
<Ezek. 13:3> the word is med of one's mind or thinking: "Woe unto
the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirits, and have seen
nothing" (cf. <Prov. 29:11>). Ruach can represent particular dispositions, as it does in <Josh.
2:11>: "And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt,
neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you..."
(cf. <Josh. 5:1; Job 15:13>). Another disposition represented by this
word is "temper": "If the spirit [temper] of the ruler rise up
against thee, leave not thy place..." <Eccl. 10:4>. David prayed
that God would "restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me
with thy free Spirit" <Ps. 51:12>. In this verse "joy of
salvation" and "free Spirit" are parallel and, therefore,
synonymous terms. Therefore, "spirit" refers to one's inner disposition,
just as "joy" refers to an inner emotion.
Seventh, the
Bible often speaks of God's "Spirit," the third person of the
Trinity. This is the use of the word in its first biblical occurrence:
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"
<Gen. 1:2>. <Isa. 63:10-11> and <Ps. 51:12> specifically
speak of the "holy or free Spirit."
Eighth, the
non-material beings (angels) in heaven are sometimes called "spirits":
"And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I
will persuade him" <1 Kings 22:21>; cf. <1 Sam. 16:14>.
Ninth, the
"spirit" may also be used of that which enables
a man to do a particular job or that which represents the essence of a quality of man: "And Joshua the son
of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon
him..." <Deut. 34:9>. Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of
his "spirit" <2 Kings 2:9> and received it (from Vine's
Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, (Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson
Publishers).
SPIRIT: pneuma
^4151^ primarily denotes "the wind" (akin to pneo, "to breathe,
blow"); also "breath"; then, especially "the spirit,"
which, like the wind, is invisible, immaterial and powerful. The NT uses of the
word may be analyzed approximately as follows:
"(a) the wind, <John
3:8> (where marg. is, perhaps, to be preferred); <Heb. 1:7>; cf.
<Amos 4:13>, Sept.; (b) the breath, <2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 11:11;
13:15>; cf. <Job 12:10>, Sept.; (c) the immaterial, invisible part of
man, <Luke 8:55; Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 5:5; Jas. 2:26>; cf. <Eccl.
12:7>, Sept.; (d) the disembodied (or `unclothed,' or `naked,' <2 Cor.
5:3,4>) man, <Luke 24:37,39; Heb. 12:23; 1 Pet. 4:6>; (e) the
resurrection body, <1 Cor. 15:45; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 3:18>;
(f) the
sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires,
<Matt. 5:3; 26:41; Mark 2:8; Luke 1:47,80; Acts 17:16; 20:22; 1 Cor. 2:11;
5:3,4; 14:4,15; 2 Cor. 7:1>; cf. <Gen. 26:35; Isa. 26:9; Ezek. 13:3; Dan.
7:15>; (g) purpose, aim, <2 Cor. 12:18; Phil. 1:27; Eph. 4:23; Rev.
19:10>; cf. <Ezra 1:5; Ps. 78:8; Dan. 5:12>; (h) the equivalent of the
personal pronoun, used for emphasis and effect: 1st person, <1 Cor. 16:18>;
cf. <Gen. 6:3>; 2nd person, <2 Tim. 4:22; Philem. 25>; cf. <Ps.
139:7>; 3rd person, <2 Cor. 7:13>; cf. <Isa. 40:13>;
(i)
character, <Luke 1:17; Rom. 1:4>; cf. <Num. 14:24>; (j) moral
qualities and activities: bad, as of bondage, as of a slave, <Rom. 8:15>;
cf. <Isa. 61:3>; stupor, <Rom. 11:8>; cf. <Isa. 29:10>;
timidity, <2 Tim. 1:7>; cf. <Josh. 5:1>; good, as of adoption, i.
e., liberty as of a son, <Rom. 8:15>; cf. <Ps. 51:12>; meekness,
<1 Cor. 4:21>; cf. <Prov. 16:19>; faith, <2 Cor. 4:13>;
quietness, <1 Pet. 3:4>; cf. <Prov. 14:29>; (k) the Holy Spirit, e.
g., <Matt. 4:1> (see below); <Luke 4:18>;
(l) `the
inward man' (an expression used only of the believer, <Rom. 7:22; 2 Cor.
4:16; Eph. 3:16>); the new life, <Rom. 8:4-6,10,16; Heb. 12:9>; cf.
<Ps. 51:10>; (m) unclean spirits, demons, <Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:33; 1
Pet. 3:19>; cf. <1 Sam. 18:10>; (n) angels, <Heb. 1:14>; cf.
<Acts 12:15>; (o) divine gift for service, <1 Cor. 14:12,32>; (p)
by metonymy, those who claim to be depositories of these gifts, <2 Thes.
2:2; 1 John 4:1-3>; (q) the significance, as contrasted with the form, of
words, or of a rite, <John 6:63; Rom. 2:29; 7:6; 2 Cor. 3:6>; (r) a
vision, <Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10> (From Notes
on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 204, 205: Notes: (1) For phantasma,
rendered "spirit," <Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:49>, KJV, see
APPARITION. (2) For the distinction between "spirit" and
"soul," see under SOUL, last three paragraphs).
The
New Testament Usage Of Pneuma Or Spirit
The word pneuma (pneu/ma) or spirit is
used 385 times in the New Testament. The King James translators translated it
as Spirit 111 times, Holy Ghost 89 times, Spirit
(of God) 13 times, Spirit (of the Lord) 5 times, (My) Spirit 3 times, Spirit
(of truth) 3 times, Spirit (of Christ) 2 times, human (spirit) 49 times, (evil) spirit 47 times, spirit (general)
26 times, spirit 8 times, (Jesus' own) spirit 6 times, (Jesus' own) ghost 2
times, misc 21 times.
The spirit
of man is associated with the air man breathes and the lungs
that takes in the air, as the soul of man is
associated with the blood that flows in man’s
body and the heart that pumps the blood
throughout the body.
God’s Spirit: YLT Matthew
1:18 And of Jesus
Christ, the birth was thus: For his mother Mary having been betrothed to
Joseph, before their coming together she was found to have conceived from the
Holy Spirit, GNS Matthew 1:18 Tou/ de. VIhsou/ Cristou/ h` ge,nnhsij ou[twj h=nÅ mnhsteuqei,shj ga.r
th/j mhtro.j auvtou/ Mari,aj tw/| VIwsh,f\ pri.n h' sunelqei/n auvtou.j(
eu`re,qh evn gastri. e;cousa evk Pneu,matoj
~Agi,ouÅ
YLT Matthew 1:20 And on his thinking of these things, lo, a messenger of
the Lord in a dream appeared to him, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, thou mayest
not fear to receive Mary thy wife, for that which in her was begotten {is} of
the Holy Spirit, GNS Matthew 1:20 tau/ta de. auvtou/ evnqumhqe,ntoj( ivdou.( a;ggeloj Kuri,ou katV o;nar
evfa,nh auvtw/|( le,gwn( VIwsh.f( ui`o.j Dabi,d( mh. fobhqh/|j paralabei/n
Maria.m th.n gunai/ka, souÅ to. ga.r evn auvth/| gennhqe.n evk Pneu,mato,j
evstin ~Agi,ou\
YLT Matthew 3:11 'I indeed do baptize you with water to reformation, but he
who after me is coming is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to bear the
sandals, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire, GNS Matthew 3:11
evgw.
me.n bapti,zw u`ma/j evn u[dati eivj meta,noian\ o` de. ovpi,sw mou evrco,menoj
ivscuro,tero,j mou, evstin( ou- ouvk eivmi. i`kano.j ta. u`podh,mata basta,sai\
auvto.j u`ma/j bapti,sei evn Pneu,mati
~Agi,w| kai. puri,\
YLT Matthew 3:16 And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from
the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and
coming upon him, GNS Matthew 3:16 kai. baptisqei.j o` VIhsou/j avne,bh euvqu.j avpo. tou/ u[datoj\ kai.
ivdou.( avnew,|cqhsan auvtw/| oi` ouvranoi,( kai. ei=de to. Pneu/ma
tou/ qeou/ katabai/non w`sei. peristera.n kai. evrco,menon evpV auvto,nÅ
YLT Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil,
GNS Matthew 4:1
To,te o` VIhsou/j avnh,cqh eivj
th.n e;rhmon u`po. tou/ Pneu,matoj( peirasqh/nai u`po. tou/ diabo,louÅ
YLT Matthew 10:20 for ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking in you. GNS Matthew 10:20
ouv ga.r u`mei/j evste oi`
lalou/ntej( avlla. to. Pneu/ma tou/ patro.j u`mw/n to. lalou/n evn u`mi/nÅ
YLT Matthew 12:31 Because of this I say to you, all sin and evil speaking
shall be forgiven to men, but the evil speaking of the Spirit shall not be forgiven to men. DBY Matthew 12:31 For this reason I
say unto you, Every sin and injurious speaking shall be forgiven to men, but
speaking injuriously of the Spirit
shall not be forgiven to men. GNS Matthew
12:31 dia.
tou/to le,gw u`mi/n( Pa/sa a`marti,a kai. blasfhmi,a avfeqh,setai toi/j
avnqrw,poij\ h` de. tou/ Pneu,matoj blasfhmi,a ouvk avfeqh,setai toi/j
avnqrw,poijÅ
YLT Matthew 12:32 And whoever may speak a word against the Son of Man it
shall be forgiven to him, but whoever may speak against the Holy Spirit, it
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is coming.
GNS Matthew 12:32 kai. o]j a'n ei;ph| lo,gon kata. tou/ ui`ou/ tou/
avnqrw,pou( avfeqh,setai auvtw/|\ o]j dV a'n ei;ph| kata. tou/ Pneu,matoj tou/ ~Agi,ou( ouvk avfeqh,setai auvtw/|(
ou;te evn tou,tw| tw/| aivw/ni ou;te evn tw/| me,llontiÅ
YLT Matthew 28:19 having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing
them--to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
GNS Matthew 28:19 poreuqe,ntej ou=n maqhteu,sate pa,nta ta. e;qnh( bapti,zontej auvtou.j
eivj to. o;noma tou/ Patro.j kai. tou/ Ui`ou/ kai. tou/ ~Agi,ou Pneu,matoj\
YLT
Mark 1:8 I indeed did baptize you with water,
but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' GNS
Mark 1:8 evgw.
me.n evba,ptisa u`ma/j u[dati\ auvto.j de. bapti,sei u`ma/j evn Pneu,mati ~Agi,w|Å
YLT Mark 1:10 and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the
heavens dividing, and the Spirit as a dove coming down upon him; GNS Mark 1:10 kai. euvqu.j avnabai,nwn avpo. tou/ u[datoj( ei=de scizome,nouj tou.j
ouvranou.j( kai. to. Pneu/ma w`sei.
peristera.n katabai/non evp auvto,n\
YLT Mark 1:12 And immediately doth the Spirit put him forth to the
wilderness, GNS Mark 1:12 Kai. euvqu.j to. Pneu/ma
auvto.n evkba,llei eivj th.n e;rhmonÅ
YLT Mark 3:29 but whoever may speak evil in regard to the Holy Spirit
hath not forgiveness--to the age, but is in danger of age-during judgment;'
DBY Mark 3:29 but
whosoever shall speak injuriously against the Holy Spirit, to eternity
has no forgiveness; but lies under the guilt of an everlasting sin; GNS Mark 3:29 o]j dV a'n blasfhmh,sh| eivj to. Pneu/ma
to. {Agion( ouvk e;cei a;fesin eivj to.n aivw/na( avllV e;noco,j evstin
aivwni,ou kri,sewj(
YLT Mark 12:36 for David himself said [speaking] in the Holy Spirit, The
Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, till I place thine
enemies--thy footstool; GNS Mark 12:36
auvto.j ga.r Dabi.d ei=pen evn
tw/| Pneu,mati tw/| ~Agi,w|( Ei=pen o`
Ku,rioj tw/| Kuri,w| mou( Ka,qou evk dexiw/n mou( e[wj a'n qw/ tou.j evcqrou,j
sou u`popo,dion tw/n podw/n souÅ
YLT Mark 13:11 'And when they may lead you, delivering up, be not anxious
beforehand what ye may speak, nor premeditate, but whatever may be given to you
in that hour, that speak ye, for it is not ye who are speaking, but the Holy
Spirit. DBY Mark 13:11 But when they shall lead you away to deliver you up, be
not careful beforehand as to what ye shall say, {nor prepare your discourse}:
but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak; for *ye* are not the
speakers, but the Holy Spirit. GNS Mark
13:11 o[tan de.
a;gagwsin u`ma/j paradido,ntej( mh. promerimna/te ti, lalh,shte( mhde.
meleta/te\ avllV o] eva.n doqh/| u`mi/n evn evkei,nh| th/| w[ra|( tou/to
lalei/te\ ouv ga,r evste u`mei/j oi` lalou/ntej( avlla. to. Pneu/ma to. {AgionÅ
YLT Luke 1:15 for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong
drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his
mother's womb; GNS Luke 1:15 e;stai ga.r me,gaj evnw,pion tou/ Kuri,ou( kai.
oi=non kai. si,kera ouv mh. pi,h|( kai. Pneu,matoj
~Agi,ou plhsqh,setai e;ti evk koili,aj mhtro.j auvtou/Å
YLT Luke 1:35 And the messenger answering said to her, 'The Holy Spirit
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,
therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God; GNS Luke 1:35 kai. avpokriqei.j o` a;ggeloj ei=pen auvth/|( Pneu/ma
{Agion evpeleu,setai evpi. se,( kai. du,namij u`yi,stou evpiskia,sei soi\ dio.
kai. to. gennw,menon evk sou/ a[gion( klhqh,setai( ui`o.j Qeou/Å
YLT Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation
of Mary, the babe did leap in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit, GNS Luke 1:41 kai. evge,neto w`j h;kousen h` VElisa,bet to.n
avspasmo.n th/j Mari,aj( evski,rthse to. bre,foj evn th/| koili,a| auvth/j\
kai. evplh,sqh Pneu,matoj ~Agi,ou h`
VElisa,bet(
YLT Luke 1:47 And my spirit was glad on God my Saviour, GNS Luke 1:47 Megalu,nei h` yuch, mou to.n Ku,rion( kai. hvgalli,ase to. pneu/ma, mou
evpi. tw/| Qew/| tw/| swth/ri, mou(
YLT Luke 1:67
And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and did prophesy,
saying, GNS Luke 1:67 Kai.
Zacari,aj o` path.r auvtou/ evplh,sqh Pneu,matoj
~Agi,ou( kai. proefh,teuse le,gwn(
YLT Luke 2:25 And lo, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name {is}
Simeon, and this man is righteous and devout, looking for the comforting of
Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him, GNS
Luke 2:25 kai.
ivdou. h=n a;nqrwpoj evn VIerousalh,m( w-| o;noma Sumew.n( kai. o` a;nqrwpoj
ou-toj di,kaioj kai. euvlabh,j( prosdeco,menoj para,klhsin tou/ VIsrah,l( kai. Pneu/ma {Agion h=n evpV auvto,n(
YLT Luke 2:26 and it hath been divinely told him by the Holy Spirit--not
to see death before he may see the Christ of the Lord. GNS Luke 2:26 kai. h=n auvtw/| kecrhmatisme,non u`po. tou/ Pneu,matoj tou/ ~Agi,ou(
mh. ivdei/n qa,naton pri.n h' i;dh| to.n Cristo.n Kuri,ouÅ
YLT Luke 2:27 And he came in the Spirit to the temple, and in the
parents bringing in the child Jesus, for their doing according to the custom of
the law regarding him, GNS Luke 2:27 kai. h=lqen evn tw/| Pneu,mati
eivj to. i`ero,n\ kai. evn tw/| eivsagagei/n tou.j gonei/j to. paidi,on
VIhsou/n( tou/ poih/sai auvtou.j kata. to. eivqisme,non tou/ no,mou peri.
auvtou/(
YLT Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, 'I indeed with water do
baptise you, but he cometh who is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to
loose the latchet of his sandals--he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and
with fire; GNS Luke 3:16 avpekri,nato o` VIwa,nnhj( a[pasi le,gwn( VEgw. me.n
u[dati bapti,zw u`ma/j( e;rcetai de. o` ivscuro,tero,j mou( ou- ouvk eivmi.
i`kano.j lu/sai to.n i`ma,nta tw/n u`podhma,twn auvtou/\ auvto.j u`ma/j
bapti,sei evn Pneu,mati ~Agi,w| kai. puri,\
YLT Luke 3:22 and the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily appearance, as
if a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, saying, 'Thou art My
Son--the Beloved, in thee I did delight.' GNS
Luke 3:22 kai.
katabh/nai to. Pneu/ma to. {Agion swmatikw/|
ei;dei w`sei. peristera.n evpV auvto,n( kai. fwnh.n evx ouvranou/ gene,sqai(
le,gousan( Su. ei= o` ui`o,j mou o` avgaphto,j( evn soi. hvudo,khsaÅ
YLT Luke 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, turned back from the
Jordan, and was brought in [led of] the Spirit to the wilderness, GNS Luke 4:1 VIhsou/j de. Pneu,matoj ~Agi,ou
plh,rhj u`pe,streyen avpo. tou/ VIorda,nou( kai. h;geto evn tw/| pneu,mati eivj
th/| evrh,mon|
YLT Luke 4:14 And Jesus turned back in the power of the Spirit to
Galilee, and a fame went forth through all the region round about concerning
him, GNS Luke 4:14 Kai. u`pe,streyen o` VIhsou/j evn th/| duna,mei tou/
Pneu,matoj eivj th.n Galilai,an( kai. fh,mh
evxh/lqe kaqV o[lhj th/j pericw,rou peri. auvtou/Å
YLT Luke 4:18 'The Spirit of the Lord {is} upon me, Because He did
anoint me; To proclaim good news to the poor, Sent me to heal the broken of
heart, To proclaim to captives deliverance, And to blind receiving of sight, To
send away the bruised with deliverance, GNS
Luke 4:18 Pneu/ma Kuri,ou
evpV evme,( ou- ei[neken e;crise, me euvaggeli,zesqai ptwcoi/j\ avpe,stalke,
me( iva.sasqai tou.j suntertrimme,nouj th.n kardi,an( khru,xai aivcmalw,toij
a;fesin( kai. tufloi/j avna,bleyin( avpostei/lai teqrausme,nouj evn avfe,sei(
YLT Luke 11:13 If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be
giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give
the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!' GNS
Luke 11:13 eiv ou=n
u`mei/j ponhroi. u`pa,rcontej oi;date avgaqa. do,mata dido,nai toi/j te,knoij
u`mw/n( po,sw| ma/llon o` path.r o` evx ouvranou/ dw,sei Pneu/ma {Agion toi/j aivtou/sin auvto,nÅ
YLT Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that hour what it
behoveth {you} to say.' GNS Luke 12:12 to. ga.r {Agion Pneu/ma dida,xei
u`ma/j evn auvth/| th/| w[ra|( a] dei/ eivpei/nÅ
YLT John 1:32 And John testified, saying--'I have seen the Spirit coming
down, as a dove, out of heaven, and it remained on him; GNS John 1:32 kai. evmartu,rhsen VIwa,nnhj( le,gwn o[ti Teqe,amai to. Pneu/ma katabai/non w`sei. peristera.n evx
ouvranou/( kai. e;meinen evpV auvto,nÅ
YLT John 1:33
and I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, He said to
me, On whomsoever thou mayest see the Spirit coming down, and remaining on him,
this is he who is baptizing with the Holy Spirit; GNS John 1:33 kavgw. ouvk h;|dein auvto,n\ avllV o` pe,myaj me
bapti,zein evn u[dati evkei/no,j moi ei=pen( VEfV o]n a'n i;dh|j to. Pneu/ma katabai/non kai. me,non evpV auvto,n(
ou-to,j evstin o` bapti,zwn evn Pneu,mati ~Agi,w|Å
YLT John 3:5 Jesus answered, 'Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one
may not be born of water, and the Spirit, he is not able to enter into the
reign of God; DBY John 3:5 Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born of water and of Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. GNS
John 3:5 avpekri,qh
o` VIhsou/j( VAmh.n avmh.n le,gw soi( eva.n mh, tij gennhqh/| evx u[datoj kai. Pneu,matoj( ouv du,natai eivselqei/n eivj th.n
basilei,an tou/ Qeou/Å
YLT John 3:34 for he whom God sent, the sayings of God he speaketh; for
not by measure doth God give the Spirit; GNS
John 3:34 o]n ga.r
avpe,steilen o` Qeo.j( ta. r`h,mata tou/ Qeou/ lalei/\ ouv ga.r evk me,trou
di,dwsin o` Qeo.j to. Pneu/maÅ
YLT John 4:24 God {is} a Spirit, and those worshipping Him, in spirit
and truth it doth behove to worship.' DBY
John 4:24 God {is} a spirit; and they who worship him
must worship {him} in spirit and
truth. GNS John 4:24 Pneu/ma
o` Qeo,j\ kai. tou.j proskunou/ntaj auvto.n( evn pneu,mati kai. avlhqei,a| dei/
proskunei/nÅ
YLT John 7:39 and this he said of the Spirit, which those believing in
him were about to receive; for not yet was the Holy Spirit, because Jesus was
not yet glorified. GNS John 7:39 Tou/to de. ei=pe peri. tou/ Pneu,matoj(
ou- e;mellon lamba,nein oi` pisteu,ontej eivj auvto,n\ ou;pw ga.r h=n Pneu/ma {Agion( o[ti o` VIhsou/j ouvde,pw
evdoxa,sqhÅ
YLT John 14:26 and the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name, he will teach you all things, and remind you of all things
that I said to you. GNS John 14:26 o` de. para,klhtoj( to. Pneu/ma
to. {Agion( o] pe,myei o` path.r evn tw/| ovno,mati, mou( evkei/noj u`ma/j
dida,xei pa,nta( kai. u`pomnh,sei u`ma/j pa,nta a] ei=pon u`mi/nÅ
YLT John 20:22 and this having said, he breathed on {them}, and saith to
them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit; DBY John
20:22 And having said this, he breathed into
{them}, and says to them, Receive {the} Holy Spirit: GNS John 20:22 kai. tou/to eivpw.n evnefu,shse kai. le,gei auvtoi/j( La,bete Pneu/ma {AgionÅ
YLT Acts 1:2 till the day in which, having given command, through the
Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he did choose out, he was taken up, GNS Acts 1:2 a;cri h-j h`me,raj( evnteila,menoj toi/j avposto,loij dia. Pneu,matoj ~Agiou( ou]j evxele,xato( avnelh,mfqh\
YLT Acts 1:5 because John, indeed, baptized with water, and ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Spirit--after not many days.' GNS Acts 1:5 o[ti VIwa,nnhj me.n evba,ptisen u[dati( u`mei/j de. baptisqh,sesqe evn Pneu,mati ~Agi,w| ouv meta. polla.j tau,taj
h`me,rajÅ
YLT Acts 1:8 but ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy
Spirit upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea, and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.' GNS Acts 1:8 avlla. lh,yesqe du,namin evpelqo,ntoj tou/ ~Agi,ou Pneu,matoj evfV u`ma/j\ kai. e;sesqe, moi ma,rturej
e;n te VIerousalh.m( kai. evn pa,sh| th/| VIoudai,a| kai. Samarei,a| kai. e[wj
evsca,tou th/j gh/jÅ
YLT Acts 1:16 'Men, brethren, it behoved this Writing that it be
fulfilled that beforehand the Holy Spirit spake through the mouth of David,
concerning Judas, who became guide to those who took Jesus, DBY Acts 1:16 Brethren,
it was necessary that the scripture should have been fulfilled, which the Holy
Spirit spoke before, by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who became guide
to those who took Jesus; GNS Acts 1:16
:Andrej avdelfoi,( e;dei
plhrwqh/nai th.n grafh.n tau,thn( h]n proei/pen to. Pneu/ma
to. {Agion dia. sto,matoj Dabi.d( peri. VIou,da( tou/ genome,nou o`dhgou/ toi/j
sullabou/si to.n VIhsou/n(
YLT Acts 2:4 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began
to speak with other tongues, according as the Spirit was giving them to
declare. GNS Acts 2:4 kai. evplh,sqhsan a[pantej Pneu,matoj ~Agiou( kai.
h;rxanto lalei/n e`te,raij glw,ssaij( kaqw.j to. Pneu/ma
evdi,dou auvtoi/j avpofqe,ggesqaiÅ
YLT Acts 2:33 at the right hand then of God having been exalted--also
the promise of the Holy Spirit having received from the Father--he was shedding
forth this, which now ye see and hear; DBY
Acts 2:33 Having therefore been exalted by
the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which *ye* behold and hear. GNS Acts 2:33 th/| dexia/| ou=n tou/ Qeou/ u`ywqei.j( th,n te evpaggeli,an tou/
~Agi,ou Pneu,matoj labw.n para. tou/ patro.j(
evxe,cee tou/to o] nu.n u`mei/j ble,pete kai. avkou,eteÅ
YLT Acts 2:38 and Peter said unto them, 'Reform, and be baptized each of
you on the name of Jesus Christ, to remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit, DBY Acts 2:38
And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptised,
each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. GNS
Acts 2:38 Pe,troj
de. e;fh pro.j auvtou,j( Metanoh,sate( kai. baptisqh,tw e[kastoj u`mw/n evpi.
tw/| ovno,mati VIhsou/ Cristou/ eivj a;fesin a`martiw/n( kai. lh,yesqe th.n
dwrea.n tou/ ~Agi,ou Pneu,matojÅ
YLT Acts 4:8 Then Peter, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, said
unto them: 'Rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, GNS Acts 4:8 to,te
Pe,troj plhsqei.j Pneu,matoj ~Agiou ei=pe pro.j auvtou,j( :Arcontej tou/ laou/(
kai. presbu,teroi tou/ VIsrah.l(
YLT Acts 4:31 And they having prayed, the place was shaken in which they
were gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and were
speaking the word of God with freedom, GNS
Acts 4:31 kai.
dehqe,ntwn auvtw/n evsaleu,qh o` to,poj evn w-| h=san sunhgme,noi( kai.
evplh,sqhsan a[pantej Pneu,matoj ~Agiou( kai.
evla,loun to.n lo,gon tou/ Qeou/ meta. parrhsi,ajÅ
YLT Acts 5:3 And Peter said, 'Ananias, wherefore did the Adversary fill
thy heart, for thee to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back of the price of
the place? GNS Acts 5:3 ei=pe de. o` Pe,troj( ~Anani,a( diati, evplh,rwsen o`
Satana/j th.n kardi,an sou( yeu,sasqai, se to. Pneu/ma
to. {Agion( kai. nosfi,sasqai avpo. th/j timh/j tou/ cwri,ouÈ
YLT Acts 5:9 And Peter said unto her, 'How was it agreed by you, to
tempt the Spirit of the Lord? lo, the feet of those who did bury thy husband
{are} at the door, and they shall carry thee forth; GNS Acts 5:9 o` de. Pe,troj eivpe pro.j auvth,n( Ti, o[ti sunefwnh,qh u`mi/n
peira,sai to. Pneu/ma Kuri,ouÈ ivdou.( oi`
po,dej tw/n qaya,ntwn to.n a;ndra sou evpi. th/| qu,ra| kai. evxoi,sousi, seÅ
YLT Acts 5:32
and we are His witnesses of these sayings, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God
gave to those obeying him.' GNS
Acts 5:32 kai.
h`mei/j evsmen ma,rturej tw/n r`hma,twn tou,twn( kai. to. Pneu/ma de. to. {Agion o] e;dwken o` Qeo.j toi/j peiqarcou/sin
auvtw/|Å
YLT Acts 6:3 look out, therefore, brethren, seven men of you who are
well testified of, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may set over
this necessity, GNS Acts 6:3 evpiske,yasqe ou=n( avdelfoi,( a;ndraj evx u`mw/n
marturoume,nouj e`pta.( plh,reij Pneu,matoj
{Agiou kai. sofi,aj( ou]j katasth,somen evpi. th/j crei,aj tau,thjÅ
YLT Acts 6:5 And the thing was pleasing before all the multitude, and
they did choose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip,
and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte
of Antioch GNS Acts 6:5 kai. h;resen o` lo,goj evnw,pion panto.j tou/
plh,qouj\ kai. evxele,xanto Ste,fanon( a;ndra plh,rh pi,stewj kai. Pneu,matoj ~Agiou( kai. Fi,lippon( kai. Pro,coron(
kai. Nika,nora( kai. Ti,mwna( kai. Parmena/n( kai. Niko,laon
prosh,luton VAntioce,a(
YLT Acts 7:51
'Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy
Spirit resist; as your fathers--also ye; GNS Acts 7:51 Sklhrotra,chloi kai. avperi,tmhtoi th/| kardi,a| kai. toi/j wvsi,n(
u`mei/j avei. tw/| Pneu,mati tw/| ~Agi,w|
avntipi,ptete\ w`j oi` pate,rej u`mw/n( kai. u`mei/jÅ
YLT Acts 7:55 and being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked
stedfastly to the heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the
right hand of God, GNS Acts 7:55 u`pa,rcwn de. plh,rhj Pneu,matoj
~Agiou( avteni,saj eivj to.n ouvrano.n( ei=de do,xan Qeou/( kai. VIhsou/n
e`stw/ta evk dexiw/n tou/ Qeou/(
YLT Acts 8:15 who having come down did pray concerning them, that they
may receive the Holy Spirit, GNS Acts 8:15
oi[tinej kataba,ntej proshu,xanto
peri. auvtw/n( o[pwj la,bwsi Pneu/ma {Agion\