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“ I, of the dust-born, know that unto Him, The life, my being’s lineal currents, run! From Him I spring; I am His child: a soul Thick-veiled, led on by Him through cycles dim; Whom He will lead until the end be won. My manhood rounded full, a perfect whole.“ II. The Spirit Created Before the Body The spirit of man was "created” in the image and like ness of God, before the body was formed. The soul was “ breathed” and is distinct by the distinct action of Ood; hence, while identified with the animal creation, man is separated from it. The body was moulded after the form o f the spirit; hence, Ood is always seen in the form of a man (Ezek. 1:26; Dan. 3 :25 ). Therefore, man is like to Him in form, even as the child is like his father. So we say to Him: "O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thine hand” (Isa. 64 :8 ). III. The Spirit Nature Linked with God Man in his spirit nature is linked with God, who is the “ Ood of the spirits of all flesh” (Num. 16:22). The soul life of man is identified with the beast, hence they are both called “ the living creature of all flesh” (Oen. 9:15, 16 ); and the body of man associates him with the earth, hence he will “ return unto the ground,” for from it he was “ taken,” as the Lord said, “ for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Oen. 3 :19 ). IV. Man’s Spirit Indestructible Man, like Ood, in his spirit is an indestructible being; hence, Ood is said to be "The Father of spirits” (Heb. 12 :9 ). Man burns on with an unconsumed light, like Jeho vah, in his unextinguiBhabillty. In his soul, man being a living creature, “ like the animal in its flickering nature, flicks out at death” (Oen. 1 :21 ); hence the life (or soul) of the flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). The body returns to the earth as it was ( Eccl. 12 :7 ). V. Self Consciousness Apprehended Through the Spirit The spirit, in its self consciousness, causes man to know that he is existent:' “ What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” (1 Cor. 2:11). Therefore man knows that he is and what he has. The soul sometimes expresses man in the life he lives, hence the word for soul is used to denote the soul as a living entity in its action. Christ uses it in this way when He says: “ Whosoever will save his life (soul) shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life (soul) for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul (life ); or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (life )? ” (Matt. 16:25, 26). The body is the medium óf the man’s action, and he can make it "a body of sin” (Rom. 6 :6 ); hence man will be judged according to the “ deeds done in the body” (2 Cor. 5:10 ). VI. Spirit Identified with Intellectual Nature The spirit is identified with the intellectual part of man’s tripartite nature; hence, he knows and can determine, rea son, imagine and will. The soul is the emotional part of man’s being; therefore, he can feel, love and express himself through the vehicle of the body; hence we are exhorted to do things “ heartily,” not heartlessly, but with real affection. The body is the realm of sensuousness, that is, it is identi fied with seeing, smelling, feeling, tasting and hearing. Therefore we are not to let sin use the body for its own ends (Rom. 6:12, 13). (Continued on page 550)
Anthropology: ¿ s ' or, the Doctrine of Man The Spirit, Soul and Body o f Man Distinguished and Explained DR . F. E. M A R S H Londoni England
This intensely interesting series of articles by Dr. Marsh, who is internationally known as an author and Bible teacher, are inviting wide attention. The succeeding chapters will be anticipated with keen interest by stu dents of this timely theme. Call the series to the attention of your friends. Chapter Nine
Synopsis o f Preceding Eight Chapters: Man’s genesis; indestruc tibility; identity with his Creator; authority and accountability; constitution; definition o f the terms “Spirit," “Soul," “ Body." O distinguish the things that differ is to find our relative bearings to the things which correspond. The spirit, soul and body are intimately connected, and sometimes one is named with and for the other, and yet they are clearly distinguishable. A simple illustration will elucidate. There are three .things in a shining electric bulb, namely, the electricity, the wire, and the light. The body may be compared to the wire, the spirit to the electricity, and the soul to the light. The electricity is the cause of the light, the light is the effect of the cause, and the wire is the connecting instrument. Break the con nection between the cause and the instrument, and the effect ceases to be. Man in his present state has the electricity of his imperishable spirit, the wire of his perishable body, and the light of his blood-stained soul. In death the connection is severed between body and spirit. The soul (or animal life) goes out, the body returns to dust, and the spirit lives on in another realm. The study of man’s tripartite nature may be briefly dis tinguished and summarized as follows: I. The Spirit Was Created and Made We read in connection with man’s genesis that Ood said: “ Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:— so Ood created man; in His own image created He him, male and female created He them’ ’ JGen. 1:26, 27). If we accept Divine Revelation, there”*are two obvious facts here, and these are, first, that man is not a product from the lower order of the animal creation; and, second, man is the specific act of Ood in definite creation, and is above and separated from all other forms of creation, hence has dominion over them. The soul was breathed into man and he became a living entity. “ The Lord Ood breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (or “ lives’’ ) and “ man became a living soul” (Oen. 2 :7 ). Two things are suggested by this statement; the soul is the uniting power to unite the body and the spirit, and there was imparted to man the power to propagate his kind; hence the “ breath of life“ is the “ breath of lives.“ The body was formed out of the ground: “ The Lord formed man out of the dust of the ground“ (Oen. 2 :7 ); hence be is of "the earth, earthy“ (1 Cor. 16:47).
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