Spirit to Flesh

How to Improve the Ratio

Sawing off a leg will not improve the flesh to spirit ratio

Odd thing that. You’d think it would. An original flesh to spirit ratio of one to one would surely improve to something less than one to one at the loss of a leg, say.

The problem is that we might as well call it a something to nothing ratio. It will always remain one to one no matter how small or how large the something, for the nothing easily grows or shrinks correspondingly, not even working up a sweat.

Would the same be true of the soul to body ratio? No, it’s not a redundant question; I’m asking because there are Christians (not all) who hold that the spirit is different from the soul, that they are two separate things or entities or concepts.

Listening to my bones, I would not have thought so, but when you start to fine-toothed-comb the Bible for quotes, and when you believe that our current translation of the Bible is one hundred percent true to the original ideas and thoughts and words as penned by the original writer (who may or may not have known and/or told the truth) having since traveled from Hebrew and Aramaic through Greek through Latin — mainly via Jerome, who had some very strong ideas of his own what the Bible should actually say to poor, suffering (deservedly so, he’d add) humanity — to English, you do trawl up some distinct differences between the two.

As I said, I don’t see the difference myself, but I find the question truly fascinating, so let’s consult some believing views on the point.

One Christian voice offers: “So, then, which is it? Are we body and soul or are we body and spirit? The answer is…both! We are body, soul, and spirit. As human persons, we are tri-partite beings.

“With a shrug you might ask, is this distinction really necessary? Aren’t soul and spirit the same thing?

“From a theological viewpoint, the answer is a firm ‘no.’ Soul, or anima in Latin, refers to the animating principle of a thing, what makes something alive; and being alive is not a distinctly human characteristic — daffodils, ants, giant sequoia trees, koala bears, and single-celled amoebas are all living things, too. They all have an anima, a principle of life within them that distinguishes them from inanimate things such as rocks, trash cans, dollar bills, wrenches, rain, fire, and the buttons on your shirt. However, only humans have both an animating principle (soul) and a spirit.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the distinction between soul and spirit in this way: ‘Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit: St. Paul for instance prays that God may sanctify his people “wholly” with “spirit and soul and body” kept sound and blameless at the Lord’s coming. The Church teaches that this distinction does not introduce a duality [i.e., a split] into the soul. Rather, “Spirit” signifies that from creation man is ordered to a supernatural end and that his soul can, and if repentant will, gratuitously be raised (as spirit) beyond what it deserves to communion with God.’

“This soul/spirit distinction helps us understand better the difference between us and animals. Animals are wonderful companions on the journey of life. They bring comfort and comical antics into our homes. They can even demonstrate a kind of heroic loyalty, but they are not persons. We don’t take Fido on a date to be in ‘union and communion’ with him. Our Siamese cat is not included in the family game of Trivial Pursuit, and our tropical fish don’t join us at the table for Thanksgiving dinner. Dates, games, and holiday dinners are distinctly human activities made possible only through our spirit raised to empower our ability for communion.

Another Christian voice says that “Spirit” is God-consciousness bestowed upon a soul/body complex by sanctifying grace. Again, making us humans tri-partite beings.

Yet another Christian voice: “The words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ are found throughout the Bible, each occurring hundreds of times in the Old and New Testaments. The Hebrew word translated as ‘soul’ means a breathing creature, one in which life is present, whether physical life or mental life. The Greek word in the New Testament is similar. In its most basic sense, the word ‘soul’ means ‘life,’ either physical or eternal. Jesus asks what it profits a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul, referring to his eternal life (Matthew 16:26).

“Both the Old and New Testaments reiterate that we are to love God completely, with the whole ‘soul’ which refers to everything that is in us that makes us alive (Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Mark 12:30). Whenever the word ‘soul’ is used, it can refer to the whole person, whether physically alive or in the afterlife.

“The word ‘spirit’ is used to denote something different in Scripture, although both the Hebrew and Greek words translated as ‘spirit’ also have the concept of breath or wind at their roots. We understand the difference by looking at the context of the verses that refer to the spirit of man. Unlike the soul, which is alive both physically and eternally, the spirit can be either alive, as in the case of believers, (1 Peter 3:18), or dead as unbelievers are (Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 2:4–5).

“The spiritual part of believers in Jesus Christ is that which responds to the things that come from the Spirit of God, understanding and discerning them spiritually, while the spiritually dead perceive the things of the Spirit to be ‘foolishness’ because, in his spiritually dead conditions, he does not have the ability to discern the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12–14).

“The spirit is that part of us enabled by God to know and worship Him, the part of humanity that ‘connects’ with God, who Himself is Spirit (John 4:24).

“While ‘Soul’ and ‘Spirit’ are often used interchangeably, the primary distinction between the two (in man) is that the soul is the animate life, or the seat of the senses, desires, affections, and appetites while the spirit is that part of us that connects, or refuses to connect, to God.

“Our spirits relate to His Spirit, either accepting His promptings and conviction, thereby proving that we belong to Him (Romans 8:16) or resisting Him and proving that we do not have spiritual life (Acts 7:51).”

Reading just these three Christian ruminations on the subject, I wonder if there might not be as many Christian views on body and soul and spirit as there are Christians, for in the above I find that the soul, as in the soul/body complex (of cats, dogs, and humans) is that life that will in fact die upon body death; but no, says another, the soul is eternal, while the spirit might be dead unless awoken and/or bestowed us by God.

I feel that the spirit and soul (both leaning on an etymological foundation of air and breathing) are one and the same — the non-material nothing that knows how to postulate and perceive.

And I don’t think that sawing off a leg/soul is going to improve your boy to spiritual ratio one bit.

© Wolfstuff