Glorious and Depraved (3½): Mankind Before the Fall (Part Three)

What does it mean for humans to be bodies with the breath of life breathed into them? Are we made of two constituents (body and soul) or just one? Wikipedia has helpfully summarized the two views as dualism and monism:

Dualism maintains a rigid distinction between the realms of mind and matter. Monism maintains that there is only one unifying reality as in neutral or substance or essence, in terms of which everything can be explained.

The two main forms of dualism are substance dualism, which holds that the mind is formed of a distinct type of substance not governed by the laws of physics, and property dualism, which holds that mental properties involving conscious experience are fundamental properties, alongside the fundamental properties identified by a completed physics. The three main forms of monism are physicalism, which holds that the mind consists of matter organized in a particular way; idealism, which holds that only thought truly exists and matter is merely a representation of mental processes; and neutral monism, which holds that both mind and matter are aspects of a distinct essence that is itself identical to neither of them. Psychophysical parallelism is a third possible alternative regarding the relation between mind and body, between interaction (dualism) and one-sided action (monism).

Scripture definitely seems to presuppose the dualistic perspective, and probably the “substance” dualism, that the mind is formed of a distinct type of substance not governed by the laws of physics.

²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to Yahweh, “Yahweh my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” ²² Yahweh heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. (1 Kings 17:21,21) 

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)

^5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life… ⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  (2 Corinthians 5:1-4,6-8)

The spirit (soul, mind) can survive separately from the body, James says, though the body cannot survive without the spirit. And Paul teaches that during our “intermediate state” we are souls without bodies longing to be clothed with a new resurrected body. And our souls can be “present” with the Lord, not in a slumbering or unconscious state, but quite personal and awake.

We can philosophize and defend this position, and two admirable attempts at this have been done (here and here). In the second one, Rana uses the analogy of computing that is done on hardware that is powered by software. If the hardware is damaged, the software cannot run. In the same way, if the brain is damaged, the mind cannot effectively operate. Philosopher and apologist, William Lane Craig, uses another analogy:

…the soul uses the brain as an instrument to think, just as a musician uses a piano as an instrument to make music. If his piano is out of tune or damaged, then the pianist’s ability to produce music will be impaired or even nullified. In the same way, says Eccles, if the soul’s instrument of thought, the brain, is damaged or adversely affected, then the soul’s ability to think will be impaired or nullified.

This explains why we may see a person’s personality change when the brain is damaged. Were, however, the soul to be separated from the body at death, the mind’s or soul’s capacity to function would be restored as it operates without that “hardware” somehow. From Paul’s perspective, we would not be fully ourselves without our body. God has made us body-soul creatures.

I would argue that animals are body-soul creatures, also, but their souls do not function at the same capacity (the image of God) as human souls do.

Here is a good biblical defense of the dualistic nature of mankind:

The question has come up in theology as to the constitutional nature of man. Most naturalists would argue that man is monistic, that is, that he is purely physical and that he has no soul or immaterial substance to his being. There are many conservative theologians who would also argue along similar lines, though they nonetheless regard man as a special creation of God with a special destiny (at least for the saved). But, there are several good, scriptural reasons for rejecting the monist account of human constitution.

First, since God is a person and he does not have a body, but is spirit, we can safely argue that possessing a body is not the sine qua non of being a person. That is, “personhood” can exist apart from embodiment. Further, God could be considered a paradigm case of personhood and if this is so, then only those beings that bear a similarity (i.e., possess the attributes, not just functions) to the paradigm case can be considered persons.

Second, the OT term nephesh, while it can refer to a body or parts of a body, nonetheless often identifies a person after death. It therefore refers to the soul/person which has departed a body, is still conscious, and as the immaterial aspect of a person may return to the body if God so wills (Gen 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21-22).

Third, the OT portrays man as created of both material and immaterial substances (Gen 2:7; Ezek 37:6, 8-10, 14).

Fourth, Jesus continued to exist after his death and before his resurrection which seems to imply that there was some immaterial aspect to his (human) being.

Fifth, human beings are regarded as living spirits in the disembodied state (Heb 12:23; Rev 6:9-11 [souls]).

Sixth, the future resurrection of all people indicates that there is an intermediate state as departed souls await this resurrection.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive (Matt 22:37). Moses and Elijah are alive as well (Matt 17:1-13). The story of Lazarus and the rich man seems to imply conscious life after physical death (Luke 16:19-31). Finally, Jesus made a clear distinction between the soul and body in Matthew 10:28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” All these observations are most easily understood on the basis of a substances dualism in man (i.e., he is both material and immaterial).