by John Woodward
When clarifying the ontological distinctions of body, soul, and spirit, the interrelationship of various aspects of human functioning need to be discerned.
How do body, soul, and spirit cooperate in the process of human cognition?
- The body’s primary agent in thinking is the marvelous human brain.
Dr. Caroline Leaf specializes in brain research and counseling materials that emphasize the role of the brain in learning and improving mental health. In describing her book, Switch on Your Brain, she writes:
“The Switch On Your Brain with the 5-Step Learning Process® is comprised of five extremely important steps. Each step is designed to take advantage of a particular brain process – all collectively moving toward the goal of learning and mind management…Captured within the 5-Step Learning Process® system is the same “thinking-to-understanding” mental process which will forever change the way you learn and will stretch your potential to untold horizons. This approach is solidly based on the latest scientific research on the neurological and neurophysiological functioning of the brain. It draws on the neuroplastic (ability to change) character of the brain and is designed to take best advantage of the symphony of electrochemical reactions and actions occurring in the brain at a rate of 400 billion per second. One of the most exciting facts about the “plastic” brain is that the brain is never quite the same with every new piece of information we learn.” [1]
However, it is biblically and medically obvious that thinking is not limited to the brain.
“For out of the heart [not brain] proceed evil thoughts…” (Matthew 15:19).
For example, with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment [A.I. summary]. However, this decline in cognitive functioning (and sometimes a negative change in personality) is not caused by a person’s psychological thinking or choices.
- The soul is the seat of man’s responsible thinking.
The faculties of the soul are typically listed as mind, will, and emotions. One of the lines of evidence for this categorization is the observation that animals (such as a pet dog or cat) exhibit these faculties, whereas plants (that have material life) do not. On the other hand, humans are made in God’s image; this includes having a distinct human spirit, with its higher cognitive potential and moral responsibility (Genesis 1:27; 2:7).
The soul/spirit distinction is shown in the subtle—yet important—distinction between psychological and spiritual knowledge. For example, a believer exercising the true gift of tongues (an unlearned language) might pray in the spirit, yet not have cognitive understanding at the soul level (1 Corinthians 14:14,15).
- The condition of a person’s spirit influences their capacity to think wisely.
A. Examples of negative spiritual influences on the mind
The unsaved person cannot understand the full meaning of God’s word due to his unregenerate spirit. “The natural [literally ‘soulical’] person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Satan blinds the mind of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4).
B. Examples of positive spiritual influences on the mind
“Then he [Jesus] opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).
After the man from the area of the Gadarenes was delivered of a legion of demons, he was clothed and “in his right mind” (Luke 8:35).
C. The mind of Christ for the believer: provided and progressive
The soul/spirit distinction in thinking is also significant in comparing Scriptures about the mind of Christ.
Possessed already in the spirit
“…But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16b). This text states that believers have (present tense) the “mind [Greek, nous] of Christ” This relates to their regenerated spirit, with the restored faculty of intuition (the ability to receive spiritual truth).
Yet, at the soul level, mind renewal is continually needed.
Progressively developed in the soul
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5). This is an admonition, as is Romans 12:1,2:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service [Greek latreia, with the connotation of spiritual/worshipful service]. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [Greek, nous], that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Better thinking in the soul may help a person, but only God’s Spirit can continue to transform the believer (2 Cor. 3:18).
It is hoped that this brief overview gives further support for holistic trichotomy. The material and immaterial dimensions of the human mind are mysteriously interrelated, yet the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of man’s thinking are distinct.
Biblical Psychology 