Glorious and Depraved (8): The Constituent Parts of Humans

I think that as Biblicists we must either see man as bi-partite or tri-partite, not a single part, where mind and body are simply aspects of the material me. There is conflicting evidence in Scripture as to whether we are a dichotomy (two parts, body and soul/spirit) or a trichotomy (three parts, body, soul, and spirit).

We have statements that seem to suggest strongly the three-part nature of humans:

Now the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, your whole spirit, soul, and body, and keep you blameless at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, NET)

At GotQuestions.com they say:

Those who believe that human nature is a trichotomy typically believe the following: the physical body is what connects us with the physical world around us, the soul is the essence of our being, and the spirit is what connects us with God. This is why the unsaved can be said to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13), while they are very much physically and “soulishly” alive.

There are passages, however, that seem to use soul and spirit interchangeably, and attribute to the soul what trichotomists attribute to the spirit:

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” (Luke 1:46,47, NIV)

[Jesus says] “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. (John 12:27, NIV)

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” (John 13:21, NIV)

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. (Matthew 10:28, NIV)

and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:5, NIV)

Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. (Psalm 31:5, NIV)

After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— (1 Peter 3:19, NIV)

You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23, NIV)

I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded (Revelation 20:4)

[Yahweh of His Servant] Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1, NIV)

And what would we do with a passage like this?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30, NIV)

Would we say that the heart, the soul, the mind and the strength are all different parts of the human? It seems it makes more sense to understand “body, soul, and spirit,” not as intending to define the separate parts of a human, but different functions that make up the human as a totality. As to our parts, there are only two, body and soul/spirit, the material and the immaterial.

However, as GotQuestions.org reminds us,

It would seem that it is unwise to be dogmatic. Both theories are biblically plausible.