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Dichotomy vs Trichotomy


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I used to be a trichotomist until perhaps half a year ago. For about half a year, I've been a dichotomist now. I'm wondering what your guys' opinion is and why as well as the practical implications of your opinion. I believe that all truth has a practical application, and so I believe that dichotomy has it's practical application as well, but it has a lot to do with reformed theology, though it doesn't have to. So I want to know what you guys would say about it first.

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Dichotomy. I can't see a difference between soul & spirit, as spirit is more than breath. We have mortal bodies & immortal souls.

OTOH does Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. imply a tetrachotomy?

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Not trying to sound too preachy, but where does THE BIBLE talk about an immortal soul? I know Hindus and Buddhists teach this concept, but please tell me where it is in the Bible. Not even NIV has it.

I Thess 5:23 has body, soul, and spirit. Is 43:7 speaks of made, formed, and created.

Gen 2:7 tells us that God formed man of the dust of the ground. Man's body was formed.
Gen 1:27 says that God created man in His own image. What is God? Spirit (Jn 4:24). Therefore, the part of man created was spirit.
That only leaves the part which was made.
Gen 2:7 also says that God breathed into that man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. That was made.

In Gen 2:17 God said "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die".
They ate.
They died.
What part? They still had a body. They still had the breath of life. soul. The only part left was spirit. That is what died.

The spirit is what is created in a person when they get saved. (Eph 2:10 and 4:24), making him a complete person once again, something the law could never do.

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Not trying to sound too preachy, but where does THE BIBLE talk about an immortal soul? I know Hindus and Buddhists teach this concept, but please tell me where it is in the Bible. Not even NIV has it.


The verses that teach the immortality of the soul are almost to numerous to list. Here is one of many examples:

"Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."



I Thess 5:23 has body, soul, and spirit. Is 43:7 speaks of made, formed, and created.

Gen 2:7 tells us that God formed man of the dust of the ground. Man's body was formed.
Gen 1:27 says that God created man in His own image. What is God? Spirit (Jn 4:24). Therefore, the part of man created was spirit.
That only leaves the part which was made.
Gen 2:7 also says that God breathed into that man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. That was made.

In Gen 2:17 God said "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die".
They ate.
They died.
What part? They still had a body. They still had the breath of life. soul. The only part left was spirit. That is what died.

The spirit is what is created in a person when they get saved. (Eph 2:10 and 4:24), making him a complete person once again, something the law could never do.


Like man, God is body, soul, and Spirit. Jesus Christ has a physical body, the Father and the Holy Spirit do not. All three are distinct persons or "souls" which is why God sometimes speaks in plural: "let us make man in our image, after our likeness" etc.

The body is what can be felt/touched.. the physical. The "soul" is basically the mind/will/emotions. The "spirit" is a even deeper part of who you are and it is this part that is capable of understanding/discerning "spiritual" matters, accepting/rejecting/communicating/ becoming one with Gods Spirit. It can control the soul which in turn controls the body. The "heart" as it is used in scripture is a combination of both soul and spirit. I agree that the spirit of man is what died at the fall, but all three parts of man, body, soul, and spirit exist after death in both the lost and the believer. The spirit and soul of the believer never dies, while the soul and spirit of the lost abide in death, which is not the same thing as unconsciousness. Eventually a new body for both believers and unbelievers comes at the resurrection. Edited by Seth-Doty
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I believe one of the big reasons I believe in trichotomy is because God created man in His own image...why would he create man in two parts if He Himself has three parts?

I believe we have body, Personality and mind (spirit or soul, people name it differently), and soul which is the part that lives forever somewhere.

Animals have two parts....body and personality/mind....it would only make sense we have an extra part, to be like God...otherwise we would be the same as animals.

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Mt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mt 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mt 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mt 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

According to Jesus man can kill the body, yet they cannot kill the soul, and what will it profit you, to lose your own soul?

And of course the words saying we should fear the one that can destroy the soul, and the body in hell. Of course we know its never destroyed, if it was there could be no eternal punishment.

Some shall inherit everlasting fire, some will inherit everlasting fire, or you could say everlasting punishment.

So it seems that mans soul either goes to heaven at death or to heaven to be with the Lord

Mt 18:8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
Mt 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

​I'm a bibleist on the matter of the soul, what it has to say on the matter is good enough for me.

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The verses that teach the immortality of the soul are almost to numerous to list. Here is one of many examples:

"Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."


I'm not sure that verse flies with your claim very well. That verse on its own would suggest the mortality of the soul rather than its immortality, albeit that mortality has nothing to do with the body's mortality.


Like man, God is body, soul, and Spirit. Jesus Christ has a physical body, the Father and the Holy Spirit do not. All three are distinct persons or "souls" which is why God sometimes speaks in plural: "let us make man in our image, after our likeness" etc.

The body is what can be felt/touched.. the physical. The "soul" is basically the mind/will/emotions. The "spirit" is a even deeper part of who you are and it is this part that is capable of understanding/discerning "spiritual" matters, accepting/rejecting/communicating/ becoming one with Gods Spirit. It can control the soul which in turn controls the body. The "heart" as it is used in scripture is a combination of both soul and spirit. I agree that the spirit of man is what died at the fall, but all three parts of man, body, soul, and spirit exist after death in both the lost and the believer. The spirit and soul of the believer never dies, while the soul and spirit of the lost abide in death, which is not the same thing as unconsciousness. Eventually a new body for both believers and unbelievers comes at the resurrection.


Can you back that up with a passage from Scripture that clearly teaches that? Trichotomy is a bad comparison to the Trinity. Jesus the body? The Holy Spirit the spirit? And the Father the soul? God is three persons, not three parts of one person, two immaterial, and one material. The comparison is just too crude.
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I believe one of the big reasons I believe in trichotomy is because God created man in His own image...why would he create man in two parts if He Himself has three parts?

I believe we have body, Personality and mind (spirit or soul, people name it differently), and soul which is the part that lives forever somewhere.

Animals have two parts....body and personality/mind....it would only make sense we have an extra part, to be like God...otherwise we would be the same as animals.


It sounds nice, but that is a philosophical rather than biblical argument. Also, it seems to me like these answers misrepresent what the two views are. I think I will have to explain exactly what dichotomy and trichotomy are in a later post.
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1John.5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

I think trying to understand God in human terms is impossible. For example, if you were to take a person who was blind from birth, and try to explain to them what an elephant looked like, or what the moon looked like, how would you do it? They would not know what the terms you would use to describe it with looked like either, so it would be very difficult.

Now try explaining something that is heavenly to something that is earthly. Jesus spoke on this matter with Nicodemus.

John. 3

[10] Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
[11] Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
[12] If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

How difficult would it be to describe something heavenly, when there is no easy way of comparing it to something earthly?!

So if its hard to explain what something looks like to a blind person.
Harder yet to explain what heavenly things are like to an earthly being.
How much MORE difficult to explain GOD almighty to us mere mortals using earthly terms?

The scripture tells us much about what God is like, so we can at least glimpse a part of Him. We cannot see his full glory right now though.

The soul and the spirit are both "heavenly" you could say, so they too, are not easily understood.


Heb.4
[12] For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The way the Bible says "even" implies that it is very very very difficult to divide the soul and the spirit, but the word of God can. It is THAT sharp.

How difficult though for us humans to divide the two with our puny brains!


I am not saying that we cannot determine the differences between soul and spirit, but I am saying that it is not an easy thing to do. I've yet to read or hear of a really good scriptural explanation of the two. I've done some studying on it myself and have come up with some ideas, but nothing as of yet that I would like to share.

Edited by KJV1611
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I believe in the trichotomy. Did I spell that right?

The body is simple; I don't need to give any proof of that one.

Here's the soul:

Gen. 35:18, "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."

While there are many passages that speak of the soul as being the person, hence you could say (as the Seventh Day Adventists do) that the soul and the body are one, in this passage they are shown to be distinctly different.

Here's the spirit:

James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

This distinctly shows the difference between a body and a spirit. You'd have a better shot of proving that the soul and the spirit were the same.

This verse shows that a body dies when the spirit leaves it. If there really is such a thing as "out of body experiences" (I don't know) then you'd have a case where the soul left but the spirit was still there, and as a result the body was still alive. I've read stories of lost and saved people, on their deathbeds, reacting to the fires of Hell or the glory of Heaven while they were dying. It could be that their soul was experiencing eternity but the body was still alive on Earth because the spirit was still in the body.

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Can you back that up with a passage from Scripture that clearly teaches that? Trichotomy is a bad comparison to the Trinity. Jesus the body? The Holy Spirit the spirit? And the Father the soul? God is three persons, not three parts of one person, two immaterial, and one material. The comparison is just too crude.


I don't think it's that crude at all. Everywhere you look in nature (water, the sun's rays, an atom, the Earth itself, even a chicken egg) you see a reflection of the Trinity, but you're not going to when it comes to man, who is created in God's image?
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I believe in the trichotomy. Did I spell that right?

The body is simple; I don't need to give any proof of that one.

Here's the soul:

Gen. 35:18, "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."

While there are many passages that speak of the soul as being the person, hence you could say (as the Seventh Day Adventists do) that the soul and the body are one, in this passage they are shown to be distinctly different.

Here's the spirit:

James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

This distinctly shows the difference between a body and a spirit. You'd have a better shot of proving that the soul and the spirit were the same.

This verse shows that a body dies when the spirit leaves it. If there really is such a thing as "out of body experiences" (I don't know) then you'd have a case where the soul left but the spirit was still there, and as a result the body was still alive. I've read stories of lost and saved people, on their deathbeds, reacting to the fires of Hell or the glory of Heaven while they were dying. It could be that their soul was experiencing eternity but the body was still alive on Earth because the spirit was still in the body.


Hey Rick,

I dont think that anyone argues that soul, spirit, and body are different, but the question is HOW are they different.

The soul seems to be a spiritual representation of the body. Similar to cartoons when the cat dies and you see his "ghost cat" body float away. This doesnt seem far from the truth. The rich man in Luke 16 could recognize Lazarus and Abraham by THEIR SOULS. He also had all the 5 senses of his body with his soul. One might even question whether the body actually has any senses, or if it just the soul feeling "through" the body.

I believe a soul is probably more complicated than what I posted above, but that is a good start.
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Wow! I haven't looked at this for many years. It goes all the way from the Genesis through Revelations. I would have to say without reviewing and researching I'm a trichotomist.

Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:7 came to mind first and then 1 John 5:7

Good question for discussion and I'm going to follow the topic...check!

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I'm not sure that verse flies with your claim very well. That verse on its own would suggest the mortality of the soul rather than its immortality, albeit that mortality has nothing to do with the body's mortality.



Can you back that up with a passage from Scripture that clearly teaches that? Trichotomy is a bad comparison to the Trinity. Jesus the body? The Holy Spirit the spirit? And the Father the soul? God is three persons, not three parts of one person, two immaterial, and one material. The comparison is just too crude.


I can give you one for Jesus...Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
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