Program / Course 25: Theological Synthesis / Lesson 3.4
What you will learn
- Describe the main Christian views of the relation of body and soul: dualism, holism and the intermediate options.
- Explain what original sin means in the Western and Eastern traditions.
- State what the Christian hope of the resurrection of the body asserts and how it differs from immortality of the soul.
- Connect these three doctrines into one account of the human person.
The big idea
Christian teaching about the human person has three parts that fit together. A human being is a unity of body and soul, made good. The fall wounded that nature through sin, and the wound affects the whole person. The final hope is not the escape of a soul from the body but the resurrection of the whole person in a renewed creation. Christians differ on how to explain the relation of body and soul and on how to understand inherited sin, but they agree on the main shape.
Key terms
- Soul
- In Christian teaching, the inner life of a human being, often understood as that which gives life and persists after death. Its relation to the body is debated.
- Substance dualism
- The view that a human being is made of two distinct kinds of thing, a material body and an immaterial soul.
- Holism
- The view that the human being is a single unity and that body and soul are not separable parts, though some holists still affirm an afterlife.
- Original sin
- The doctrine that humanity is in a state of sin and weakness, from the first sin of Adam and Eve. Traditions explain the way it is passed on differently.
- Intermediate state
- The condition of the dead between death and the resurrection, a subject on which Christians differ.
- Resurrection of the body
- The belief that God will raise the dead to a new bodily life, as Christ was raised.
- Immortality of the soul
- The idea that the soul does not die with the body. It is found in Greek philosophy and is not the same as the Christian hope of resurrection.
Background
The Bible describes human beings in several ways. Genesis 2:7 says that God formed man from the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Paul speaks of spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Jesus speaks of fearing him who can destroy both soul and body (Matthew 10:28). Scholars disagree about whether these texts describe separate parts or several ways of speaking about the whole person.
Greek philosophy contributed vocabulary and questions. Plato taught that the soul is immortal and the body a prison. Aristotle taught that the soul is the form of the body. The church fathers used both, and Aquinas gave a view, built on Aristotle, in which the soul is the form of the body and survives death but is incomplete without it. These debates matter because they shape what Christians hope for.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Body and soul
Three broad views are found among Christians. Substance dualism holds that body and soul are distinct things, and the soul can exist apart from the body. It is held by many classical and contemporary writers. Holism, or what some call monism, holds that the human being is a unity, with soul as a way of speaking about the whole person alive, and it has many modern defenders among biblical scholars and some philosophers. A middle view, associated with Aquinas, holds that the soul is the form of the body, so that the two are intimately united, yet the soul can exist after death in an incomplete state.
These views are all held by faithful Christians, and the major churches have not defined a single philosophical account. The Catholic Church does teach that the soul is created directly by God and survives death, but does not require a particular philosophical theory.
Step 2: The fall and original sin
Genesis 3 describes the first disobedience, and Romans 5:12 says that sin came into the world through one man. Western Christianity, shaped by Augustine, has held that all humans inherit a condition of sin, including guilt in some accounts, with the result that no one can please God by their own power. Catholic teaching holds that baptism removes original sin though weakness remains. Reformed teaching holds that the corruption is total in extent, meaning that it touches every part of a person, though not that people are as bad as they can be.
Eastern Christianity speaks mainly of an inheritance of mortality and corruption, with people sinning because of the weakness inherited, and does not usually teach inherited guilt. Both accounts hold that humanity needs rescue, and that Christ provides it.
Step 3: The wound reaches the whole person
Christians generally hold that sin affects the mind, will, desires and relationships, and not only the body or the soul. This is part of why they reject the Gnostic idea that matter is the problem. It is also why the New Testament speaks of renewing the mind (Romans 12:2) and of the body as destined for redemption (Romans 8:23).
Pelagius, a monk of the early fifth century, taught that people can choose good without special grace, and Augustine opposed him. The church condemned Pelagianism. The Eastern churches generally took a different path from Augustine but also rejected the idea that human effort alone suffices.
Step 4: The hope of resurrection
The Nicene Creed ends by looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 argues that the resurrection of Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection of all, and that the raised body is a spiritual body, a phrase scholars read as a body fully animated by the Spirit and not a body made of non-matter. The hope is for the whole person, in a renewed creation (Revelation 21).
This differs from the Greek idea of an immortal soul freed from the body. It also means that death is treated as an enemy to be overcome (1 Corinthians 15:26), not as a natural release.
Step 5: The intermediate state
What happens between death and resurrection? Catholic and Orthodox teaching holds that souls live on, and that those in Christ are with him, with Catholics adding purgatory for those needing purification. Many Protestants hold that believers are with Christ (Philippians 1:23) until the resurrection, and a minority hold that the dead are unconscious until then, a view called soul sleep. The question shows how the debate on body and soul bears on hope.
- Do I think of myself as a body with a soul, a soul in a body, or a single living person?
- What difference does it make whether the hope is resurrection or immortality?
- How do I understand the inheritance of sin, and where did I learn that view?
- What does it mean for the body to be good, and how do I treat mine?
- How do I think of the dead?
- What does the hope of resurrection change about how I face death?
Examples
Funeral language
At a funeral, a speaker says that the person has gone to a better place and is free from the body. A theologian may note that the Christian hope is more than this, since it looks for the raising of the whole person. Both statements can be said sympathetically, but they emphasize different things.
The resurrection body
In the Gospels the risen Jesus is recognizable, can eat and bears the marks of the cross, yet also appears in closed rooms (Luke 24, John 20). Christians read this as a real body transformed. How to describe it exactly remains a question.
Original sin in practice
A parent notices that a toddler takes a toy and refuses to share without being taught to. Some Christians cite this as an everyday sign of the doctrine, and others reply that it shows ordinary immaturity. The example shows how a doctrine and an observation can be linked and how they can be questioned.
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic teaching holds that each person is a unity of body and soul, that the soul is created by God and is immortal, and that the body will be raised at the last day. It teaches original sin as a state inherited by descent from Adam, removed in baptism, with concupiscence, a tendency to sin, remaining.
Orthodox
Orthodox teaching holds that the human being is a unity, called to share in God’s life. It holds that the fall brought death and corruption on humanity and does not accept inherited guilt. The resurrection is the center of the Easter faith, and the body is honored in the veneration of relics and in the liturgy.
Protestant
Protestants hold the resurrection of the body and the reality of sin, with Reformed teaching on total depravity, Lutheran teaching on the bondage of the will, and Arminian and Wesleyan teaching on prevenient grace that enables a response. Views on soul and body vary from dualist to holist, and some, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold soul sleep.
Jewish and secular views
Pharisaic Judaism held a hope of resurrection, and later Jewish thought developed both resurrection and the immortality of the soul in several ways. Many modern neuroscientists and philosophers hold that mind depends entirely on the brain and doubt that any life continues after death. Christian philosophers respond in various ways, some defending dualism and others holding that resurrection does not require a separate soul.
Why it matters
Views of the human person shape medical ethics, care for the dying, attitudes to the body and the meaning of hope. A student who knows the options can state their own view with precision and understand why other Christians differ. The hope of resurrection is also central to the creed, and the synthesis must say where it stands.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: The Bible teaches that the soul is a separate thing from the body that goes to heaven at death.
Correction: Some texts suggest an afterlife of the person before the resurrection, but the main biblical hope is resurrection. Scholars and Christians disagree about how to combine them.
Misunderstanding: Original sin means that babies are guilty of Adam’s act.
Correction: Traditions differ. Eastern Christianity does not teach inherited guilt. Catholic teaching describes original sin as a deprived state and not a personal fault, and some Reformed accounts speak of imputed guilt.
Misunderstanding: Resurrection is the same as the immortality of the soul.
Correction: They are different. The first is a bodily renewal of the whole person by God, and the second is the idea that a soul survives by its own nature.
Misunderstanding: The church requires a particular philosophy of mind.
Correction: The churches define a few points, such as that the soul survives death in Catholic teaching, but do not demand one philosophical theory.
Knowledge check
What are the main Christian views of the relation of body and soul?
Substance dualism holds that body and soul are distinct and the soul can exist apart. Holism holds that the person is a unity and that soul is a way of speaking of the whole living person. A middle view, from Aquinas, holds that the soul is the form of the body and survives death in an incomplete state. All are held by Christians.
How do Eastern and Western views of the fall differ?
Western Christianity, following Augustine, has stressed an inherited condition of sin, with guilt in some accounts. Eastern Christianity stresses inherited mortality and corruption, with people sinning because of weakness inherited, and does not teach inherited guilt. Both hold that humanity needs rescue through Christ.
Why does the Christian hope differ from immortality of the soul?
Because it looks for the raising of the whole person, body included, by God’s power, as with Christ, in a renewed creation. Immortality of the soul holds that the soul survives by its own nature and is freed from the body. The Christian hope treats the body as good and death as an enemy.
What is the intermediate state, and what do traditions say about it?
It is the condition of the dead between death and the resurrection. Catholic and Orthodox teaching holds that souls live on and are with Christ, and Catholics add purgatory. Many Protestants hold that believers are with Christ. A minority hold that the dead are unconscious until the resurrection.
Think it through
- How does your view of the body show up in your habits?
- What would it mean to take the resurrection of the body seriously at a funeral?
- Which part of the doctrine of the fall do you find hardest to accept, and why?
Independent assignment
A short account of the person
In your own notebook, write 500 to 700 words stating your view of the human person: how body and soul relate, what the fall did, and what you hope for after death. Name the view of body and soul you hold and one objection to it. Say which points you hold firmly and which you hold loosely. Use at least two Scripture passages.
Further study
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God Books 13 to 14 on death, sin and the body, and Book 22 on the resurrection.
- N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God A historical and theological study of resurrection. Read critically.
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae The treatise on man, on soul as form of the body.
- Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church An Orthodox account of the human person.
- Timothy (Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church A readable account of Orthodox teaching on the fall and salvation.
- Genesis 2:7 A living soul.
- Romans 5:12 Sin entered through one man.
- 1 Corinthians 15:42 The resurrection body.
- Philippians 1:23 Paul’s desire to depart and be with Christ.