Theologists argue over the Biblical understanding of the composition of man.
A good deal of theology is dedicated to identifying the Biblical understanding of the composition of man. One such interpretation is the trichotomy, the belief that people are broken down into body, soul and spirit. In this set of beliefs, the spirit and soul have different functions, come from different places and represent different things. There are those who believe that Biblical passages don't support the trichotomy, and that only a separation of body and spirit is expressed, while others believe there is no separation at all.
Greek Translation
The words for soul and spirit in the original Greek of the New Testament had different meanings, and were also distinguished in Greek philosophical traditions older than the Bible. Soul is the translation of the Greek word psyche. This word also meant something similar to mind, and it is where we get the word psychology. Spirit is the translation of the Greek word pneuma. To the Greek Stoic philosophers, a tradition a few centuries older than the Bible, pneuma was in all of the cosmos, and when a person died, the pneuma within them reunited with the celestial pneuma.
Soul is Animal, Spirit is Godly
Those who believe in the trichotomy believe that the soul is the element within people that brings them to life. This is only the animal life, however, and the same force is present in all living creatures. Trichotomists believe the spirit is the force of God-consciousness within man, and that man was created with body, soul and spirit, but the spirit was lost with the fall of man only to be regained in Jesus Christ.
Soul is Individual, Spirit is Collective
Another abstract difference between soul and spirit, the trichotomists believe, is the individuality of the soul versus the collective nature of the spirit. This is similar to the Stoics understanding of the spirit (pneuma) as something found throughout the cosmos. Human will lies in the soul, giving an individual the ability to make free choices and to sin. The spirit is the element needed for godliness. In First Corinthians, Paul writes, "that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men," suggesting that understanding of spirit, not soul, is needed to understand "the things given freely to us by God."
Substance Dualism
Many reject the view that the soul and spirit are different at all, and that there is only a division between body and soul. This belief is called substance dualism and most Christians subscribe to it. They believe that trichotomists take key passages of the Bible out of context to develop their beliefs. When both words are used in the same sentence, for instance, they maintain it's only meant as emphasis. They also believe that trichotomist beliefs are irreconcilable with other passages in the Bible, and that since the Bible contains no inconsistencies, the trichotomy cannot be valid.
Tags: soul spirit, believe that, body soul, Biblical understanding, Biblical understanding composition, body soul spirit, Greek word