What does the Bible say about mankind and womankind? What is the image of God? Are we a dichotomy (bipartite) or a trichotomy (tripartite)?

Let’s begin.

I.. Who Is Humankind?

A.. Main features

Here is what this means in a fuller teaching from Scripture.

1.. Humankind is made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26-27 says that God announced that he (“let us”) make ’adam in our image … so God created humankind (’adam) in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” So what does this imaging mean in life?

2.. Humankind is called to reflect God’s being.

Humankind is created male and female. Humankind should not exist in singularity, but they are a duality. “The creation of man and woman in this ontological relationship is thus a creaturely reflection of the being of God, whose inner life is one of relationship and mutuality” (Williams, vol. 1, p. 204). In other words, God exists as three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), who share the same essence (trinitarian monotheism). The analogy is imperfect, but as man and woman complement each other, the three persons in the Triunity are complementary. “It follows from this that man’s relationship to his fellow-man is sacred, for it images the triune God” (ibid. p. 205). This interrelatedness (imperfectly) reflects God’s (perfect) communal being.

3.. But there is to be no blurring of the sexes.

God exists in perfect tri-personal unity, but the three persons are not confused together or blurred. Distinctions exist. In the same way man and woman differ in reflecting God’s character, by being distinct in their sexuality and persons.

4.. Humankind is called to be in relationship with God.

In Genesis 2, humankind is aware of God’s presence and care, and this implies that humankind should be in relationship with God. But as the story goes, he broke the close fellowship and relationship with God. Now God calls humankind throughout his life to be in relationship with God. This relationship is best expressed in the New Covenant and union with Christ.

5.. Humankind is called to reflect God’s character.

God is holy and righteous Therefore, humankind must be holy and righteous (Eph. 4:23-24). In the New Covenant, this can only be done best (though not sinlessly perfect!) in Christ. But humankind outside of any covenant, old or new, can maintain a certain kind of social righteousness and holiness (separate from common and profane things). He or she does not have to live a profane life.

God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Humankind must show love for God and his fellow-humans (1 John 4:16-21). Of course this love is best expressed in the New Covenant and in union with Christ, but any person can (imperfectly) reflect God’s (perfect) love by common grace

God is also the God of truth. So we must reflect his truth. Colossians 3:9-10 says that we should not lie to one another. Why not? Because we have put off the old nature and have put on the new nature, “which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” When Eve believed the lie of the serpent, all hell broke loose, in terms of a degraded human existence.

6.. Humankind is called to be viceregent over the earth.

A viceregent “stands in place of” (vice) of the king or regent. We are his deputy regents. When humankind fell, God commissioned them to have this rulership over nature and the earth (Gen. 1:27-30). It was declared good in God’s sight (Gen. 1). This does not mean abuse the earth and larger nature, but to take care of it.

Psalm 8, presented here in its entirety, lays out humankind’s relation with and authority over nature, particularly vv. 4-8:

⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet: (Psalm 8:4-6)

And this one:

The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind. (Ps. 115:16)

7.. Humankind has the breath of life in him.

The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh and encompasses the entire person, body and soul (Lev. 4:2; Ezek. 18:20; Ps. 7:2) (Mounce, p. 670). It also expresses the relationship between God and humankind (Is. 26:9; Ps. 42:1, 5, 11; 63:1). It is interchangeable with “spirit.” Prov. 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, which means our spirit offers us guidance, once we are in relationship with God and in covenant with him, a covenant that he initiated and sustains. In the New Covenant, our spirit, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, cries Abba, Father! (Rom. 8:15-16). When a believer prays in the Spirit (commonly called ‘tongues’), his spirit prays, though his understanding is unfruitful (1 Cor. 14:14).

8.. Humankind is a living being.

Humankind is a qualitative higher order than non-human mammals because he has a spirit. This spirit and soul is his essence. Some theologians see them as distinct, others as one thing. The two terms are used interchangeably. Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, able to pierce and divide soul and spirit.  “Division is possible; for even if they are not different substances, they do signify profoundly different dimensions of human nature, because the spirit is that in which the soul is grounded (J. Rodman Williams, vol. 1, pp. 213-14).

Whatever side one favors (spirit and soul are distinct or one and the same), the point is that God gave him an essence, which flies in the face of Postmodernism, which says humans must make their essence over a lifetime and may never find or know it.

14 The Church and Postmodernism

9.. Humankind is made free.

Freedom is positive, without negation. He was free to walk in the garden (Gen. 3:8-9). The best positive freedom is to be in relationship with God, without estrangement, no evil, no sin. He is able to walk with God. His only restriction was not to eat of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil.

As the story goes, humankind broke this fellowship with God. He broke the one prohibition. Now this freedom is best expressed in the New Covenant and union with Christ.

Humankind is also free to work productively. He was called to tend the garden. Even after the ground was cursed (Gen. 3:17-19), God granted him the ability and liberty, mental and physical, to work.

Humankind is also free to enjoy the world God created. He can enjoy the outdoors, for example, though sports and fishing and hiking.

Humankind was free to obey God’s will. His liberty was structured or oriented towards God. Without this structure, humankind can get lost. This is the point of the Fall. He chose to disobey God, and misery resulted, over time. Some may object that structured freedom is not true freedom, but they are wrong. Whenever humankind goes his own way and follows his appetites, he gets into trouble. Moral law does not guide him, so he catches STD’s and has self-afflicted heartache and broken relationships. But when humankind follows God’s ways, life goes much more smoothly, and self-afflicted addictions and heartache are minimal, morally speaking.

Freedom must contain the freedom to choose in a genuine decision. If there is no choice or free decision, freedom is an imaginary word without substance. Originally, he had a free choice to obey or disobey God. Freedom of decision is essential to humankind, the creature of God (Williams, vol. 3, pp. 217-18). Humankind is not a preprogrammed android that has to act only one way.

10.. Character is the result of a long series of good decisions,

He makes good decisions for the truth, righteousness, and holiness. Though God’s original intention was for humankind to choose the good, there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Humankind chose that tree, and now he can choose the positive commands in moral law (“Do good, be kind!”), or he can also choose the negative commands (“Don’t do this or that!”). His freedom is structured or oriented, before and after the Fall. It is always best to choose God’s ways. That’s how we are made.

11.. God calls us to live higher.

He calls us to the image of God that was partially lost. The whole redemptive for all of humanity is to restore his image in us through Christ. But first humanity has to surrender to his Lordship.

II. Two or Three Parts?

A. Are we two or three parts?

Most people in church believe in trichotomy (three parts or tripartite humanity), while a few believe in dichotomy (two parts or bipartite humanity). Two part is also called bipartite. Three parts are called tripartite.

B.. Example from Scripture on distinction between body and soul

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23)

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? (1 Cor. 2:11)

However, a dichotomist could claim that the terms “spirit” and “soul” all add up to one inner being.

C.. Not two distinct substances

It is misguided to say the spirit and soul are different substances, as if the spirit is made of soft material like foam rubber, while the soul is made of steel or such like. The word substance has a long and unclear history in Christian thought.

Maybe an illustration on the unity of the inner being of a person can help.

D.. Illustration

This is the Well of Soul and Spirit:

The blue represents water: H₂O. And the well is contained in the ground or body. We could make it more elaborate and picture stonework going down deep and holding the water. The ground or stonework (body) surrounds and contains the soul-spirit. So the spirit and soul are made of the same (nonmaterial) substance, illustrated by the water. But the spirit is deeper than the soul; it is near the top, interacting with the sensory data.

An equation may make things clearer:

The spirit ↓= the soul

That is, the human spirit is deeper than the soul (“deeper” is indicated by the downward arrow) and equal to and identical with the soul. This has the advantage of distinguishing them but without separating them into different substances. Both are H₂O, so to speak (and I don’t know what the soul or spirit is made of!). In other words, the inner life of the person has depth, reflected in the terms soul / spirit, but he is not made of different substances. The only exception is the soul / spirit (same substance) and the body are different substances and have different properties.

Presumably, however, for strict dichotomists it should just read only “soul,” so for them the illustration is wrongheaded. But the other disadvantage of the illustration for some is that in Hebrew thought the body and soul are much more closely connected as a unit. That may be, but the New Testament teaches a distinction, because the body goes to the grave and decays, while the spirit / soul lives on.

III. Reflections

A.. You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14)!

You live in your body, and you are a soul. This post says we have even a deeper part of our inner life called the spirit, but the soul and spirit are not differing substances, but the spirit runs more deeply in you than just the mental faculties. You have a heart.

B.. Heart and soul and biblical truths

Whether we are bipartite or tripartite, God wants all of us, spirit / soul and body. Your trust in him must encompass your whole being. You can believe with the heart or you can believe a set of truths with your head through notional agreement. You can say, “I believe in the resurrection of Jesus,” but has this truth penetrated your heart? That is, have you put your entire being in his hands by trusting in him, the resurrected Lord? Have you trust completely—spirit / soul—in him? Do so today.

C.. Jesus is the exact representation of God.

For believers, we just focus on Jesus, the exact representation of God’s being.

³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:3)

We follow him and are headed towards the image of Christ.

D.. Our God-given dignity

You are made in the image of God. You have dignity. You have his glory. You have free will to a significant degree. Your life matters.

E.. Treating other people with respect

How you view and behave towards other humans matter. Let’s see them in the image of God.  Do not curse them, for they are made in God’s image.

LONGER POSTS

Sec. 4, 1 Theological Anthropology, Doctrine of Humankind

2 Is Humankind Two or Three Parts?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

As noted in this post I depended heavily on Williams, Renewal Theology, and Grudem, Systematic Theology, and Renewal vol. 1, chapter 9, and Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, chapter 22.

Works Cited