Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

organism. The Old Testament distinction of the two elements of human nature is of a
different kind. Says Laidlaw in his work on The Bible Doctrine of Man: 9 “The antithesis is
clearly that of lower and higher, earthly and heavenly, animal and divine. It is not so
much two elements, as two factors uniting in a single and harmonious result, — ‘man
became a living soul.’” It is quite evident that this is the distinction in Gen. 2:7. Cf. also
Job 27:3; 32:8; 33:4; Eccl. 12:7. A variety of words is used in the Old Testament to denote
the lower element in man or parts of it, such as “flesh,” “dust,” “bones,” “bowels,”
“kidneys,” and also the metaphorical expression “house of clay,” Job 4:19. And there are
also several words to denote the higher element, such as “spirit,” “soul,” “heart,” and
“mind.” As soon as we pass from the Old to the New Testament, we meet with the
antithetic expressions that are most familiar to us, as “body and soul,” “flesh and
spirit.” The corresponding Greek words were undoubtedly moulded by Greek
philosophical thought, but passed through the Septuagint into the New Testament, and
therefore retained their Old Testament force. At the same time the antithetic idea of the
material and the immaterial is now also connected with them.
Trichotomists seek support in the fact that the Bible, as they see it, recognizes two
constituent parts of human nature in addition to the lower or material element, namely,
the soul (Heb., nephesh; Greek, psuche) and the spirit (Heb., ruach; Greek, pneuma). But
the fact that these terms are used with great frequency in Scripture does not warrant the
conclusion that they designate component parts rather than different aspects of human
nature. A careful study of Scripture clearly shows that it uses the words interchangeably.
Both terms denote the higher or spiritual element in man, but contemplate it from
different points of view. It should be pointed out at once, however, that the Scriptural
distinction of the two does not agree with that which is rather common in philosophy,
that the soul is the spiritual element in man, as it is related to the animal world, while
the spirit is that same element in its relation to the higher spiritual world and to God.
The following facts militate against this philosophical distinction: Ruach-pneuma, as well
as nephesh-psuche, is used of the brute creation, Eccl. 3:21; Rev. 16:3. The word psuche is
even used with reference to Jehovah, Isa. 42:1; Jer. 9:9; Amos 6:8 (Heb.); Heb 10:38. The
disembodied dead are called psuchai, Rev. 6:9;20:4. The highest exercises of religion are
ascribed to the psuche, Mark 12:30; Luke 1:46; Heb. 6:18,19; Jas. 1:21. To lose the psuche is
to lose all. It is perfectly evident that the Bible uses the two words interchangeably.
Notice the parallelism in Luke 1:46,47: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit
hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” The Scriptural formula for man is in some passages
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