TRICHOTOMISM AND CONDITIONAL UNITY, PART 1.

I lean towards the view of trichotomism along with the view of conditional unity. I believe that a human is made up of three elements: the body, the soul and the spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, it says “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is clear here that a human is made up of a spirit and soul and body. All through the book of Psalms the psalmists are crying out to the Lord from the depths of their hearts, saying such things as “my soul thirsts for You “ (Psalm 63:1). And I believe the soul is made up of the mind, heart and will. I had a personal experience about 20 years ago when, at a musical concert, all of a sudden I became aware that from the brain to the heart (the parts of the physical body) I was being baptized with fire from the Holy Spirit; I could see the soul and maybe the spirit, not sure, out of my body and shining and vibrating with fire! The spirit element is the one who receives the word and Spirit and gives life to the body and soul. And the body is like a corn husk which holds the spirit and soul!

According to the New Dictionary of Theology “the origin of the soul in the descendants of Adam is a question that long resisted an agreed explanation among Christian theologians” and this because the soul was regarded as an entity different from the body.1 I lean to the Creationism view of the soul’s origin. It asserts that God creates a soul ex nihilo (out of nothing) for each human being. I do not believe with the view that like the body, the soul is derived from our parents by the process of procreation. I believe that each human gets a soul at conception and the reason why I believe children cannot be considered in the earlier stages of their life as sinners; in this point I believe more like Pelagian than Augustine; and I believe that at a certain stage of their life, the fallen nature of their bodies, which is transmitted by their parents DNA makeup, will succumb to sin and their souls will sin and so the need for a Savior by all humanity!

Although I believe that it is the fallen nature of the body that brings about sin in a person, I do not believe it is just of a sensual or immoral nature even though at times it is; I believe that most times the spiritual warfare starts in the mind after information has gone through the ears; so whether good or evil information has come in, then it is man’s choice to allow it into his heart or not. If he chooses to be led by evil, then that is when he will sin, so his soul sins! Some of this evil in the heart can be of the form of unforgiveness, jealousy, hatred, idolatry, unkindness, impatience, anxiety to name a few! As it says in Matthew 12:34-35: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil”

NOTES
1Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F. Wright and J.I. Packer, eds., New Dictionary of Theology, (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 653.