DISTINCTION BETWEEN SOUL, MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The concepts under analysis, mind, body, soul and spirit
are properties of man. The composite relationships between these properties
make up an integral person. Accordingly, man (human person), for Christians, “is
not just physical or temporal creature. Man is a spiritual creature with
immortal destiny.”[1]The human
person is a body-soul unity redeemed in Christ and called to live both in time
and eternity.[2]
It is at this point that I wish to begin the task of this
work, to distinguish between mind, body, soul and spirit. To successfully
accomplish this, brief definitions are necessary to understand these concepts.
This work would be approached from theological, and philosophical points of
view, but not neglecting psychological and anthropological perspectives. It is
worthy of note that my discussion here centers on man.
2.0 BODY
Borrowing from Battista Mondin, “the body is the first
and most obvious dimension of man.”[3]
The human body is a marvelous spectacle, not only because of its external
structures but also its internal structures, from the most microscopic of the
chromosomes to the most macroscopic of the various apparati and systems, above
all in that incredibly complicated and ingenious structure called the brain,
which consists of a good nine billion nervous cells.[4]
The physical elements of man constitute his body; therefore, the body is the
functional system of man in relation to its physical world.
The human body shares in the dignity of “the image of
God”.[5]
Consequently, the Fathers of the Vatican II council state clearly that “Man,
through his very bodily condition sums up in himself the elements of the
material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection
and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this
reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his
body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it
up on the last day.”[6]
The body is the principle of worldly existence,
anthropologically; the body can sufficiently admits certain functions which
does complement other principles in man. Mondin noted 4 functions of the body,
worldly function-making him a being-in-the-world, epistemological
function-making him an epistemological instrument for self-consciousness,
function of possession-making him fully mastery of oneself, ascetic
function-making him directly involved in its process of perfection.[7]
3.0 MIND
In the Western tradition, the mind is the complex of
faculties involved in perceiving, remembering, considering, evaluating, and
deciding. Mind is in some sense reflected in such occurrences as sensations,
perceptions, emotions, memory, desires, various types of reasoning, motives,
choices, traits of personality, and the unconscious.[8]
The oxford Concise Dictionary defines “mind” as “the seat of consciousness,
thought, volition and feeling. David Hodgson gave an answer to this pursuit. He
thought of mind to be “an abstract noun referring collectively to each person’s
mental events,” or, on the other hand, as “referring to the subject of such
mental events,” that is, the “subjective-experiencer-actor who experiences and
acts in those mental events.[9]
To the extent that mind is manifested in observable phenomena, it has
frequently been regarded as a peculiarly human possession. One theory regards mind as a universal
property of matter. The
mind includes both conscious thoughts and unconscious activity such as
dreaming. The human identity can be viewed as being made of mind and body. [10]
It is to be noted that the functions of the body is accomplished by the mind,
but one should be careful not to take the mind to the same with the brain. It
has no location in human body but it is simply diffused in all the parts of the
body to maintain an equilibrium identity with the body. In philosophy, mind and
body dualism constitutes a problem which remains unsolvable. To view one
independent of the order would not make sense in human identity and integrity.
4.0 SOUL
The word “soul” is used in
English Bibles to translate the Hebrew nepes.[11]
The soul is seen as the ‘form’ of the body especially when their unity is being
considered. It is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter
becomes a living body. In general, the soul is conceived as an inner, vital,
and spiritual principle, the source of all bodily functions and particularly of
mental activities.
In philosophy, the soul is
the immaterial “I” that possesses conscious experience, controls passion,
desire and action and maintains a perfect identity from conception to death.[12]
In the NT, the Greek word psyche is
employed for soul. The psyche is associated
with life. It leaves the body at death. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
notes that the soul refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of
greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image. The
“soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man.[13]
In theology, the soul is further defined as that part of the individual
which partakes of divinity and often is considered to survive the death of the
body.
5.0 SPIRIT
The Hebrew word ruah does not admit translation by any
single English word; nor is it entirely correct to say that it sometimes means
breath, sometimes wind, sometimes spirit.[14]
The spirit stands in antithesis to the flesh. The spirit is to soul what the
mind is to the body not to the extent of admitting dualism. The spirit animates
the soul. The Catechism teaches that “spirit signifies that, from creation man
is ordered to a supernatural end and that his soul can gratuitously be raised
beyond all it deserves to communion with God.[15]
Biblically, the spirit is presented as a vital force for
spiritual perfection. It pushes a Christian to an activity proper to his state
of life. The spirit enables the Christian to pray (Rm 8:15). The spirit is the
principle of spiritual perfection. It purifies the soul to stand pure and
pristine before the creator. The spirit is the principle of love, the most
characteristic of Christian virtues.
6.0 DISTINGUISHING
BETWEEN BODY, MIND, SOUL AND SPIRIT: A CRITICAL EVALUTION
Noting from the afore-explicated insight into these
concepts, one could draw a fact that the body and mind form the most
intelligible aspect of human identity, whereas the soul and the spirit are the
most abstract of reality about man. These four concepts as much as I know are
relational concepts especially in respect to man. Their distinctions make
meaning only in theory and in principle.
Apart from the body, the other three are immaterial
component of man, but they find their manifestation in the body. Without the
material body, the mind, soul and spirit has no influence in the material
world. The complex mechanism of the body makes the activities of the others to
be visualized. In evaluations, emotions and desires, it is the mind affecting
the body. The soul is affecting the body when the body is in sober
contemplation of the divine. In maintaining the principle of love and
perfection, it is the spirit which influences the body.
It is so noticeable to find the distinction between the
body and the rest of the three from the point of view of material sensibility.
It is more difficult to clarify the distinction between these immaterial
components of man. Noting the inadequacy of human knowledge to grasp the
immaterial content of reality, I would give my own understanding into these
distinction from the facts provide above.
The mind is obviously connected directly with the body.
The mind is at the realm of psychology. The imperceptibility of the mind can be
probed or investigated through careful observation and scrutiny. The behavioral
pattern of human’s existence noted both in conscious and unconscious situation
are regarded within the sphere of the mind. As so different from the soul and
the spirit, it lies immediately within the sphere of the material. It gives
human identity together with the body. The body responds to it immediately,
just as when one is evaluating or dreaming.
Timothy Conway noted between lower mind and psychic soul
(higher mind). The lower or normal mind for him consists “firstly in
perceptions which organize raw bodily sensations due to kinds of
bio-electromagnetic vibrations into familiar entities such as recognizable
colors, sounds, smells, tastes, movements persons objects, etc. Secondly, it
consists in scanning for relevant, meaningful data in one’s environment,
thirdly, in value judgments and emotional reactions like joy, elation, delight,
fear, anger, shame etc. fourthly, memories of a constructed past. Fifth, in
anticipations of an expected future. Sixth, in abstract philosophical concepts
about the world. Seventh, linguistic mental processing structured by grammar
and syntax. Eight, mathematical mental processing, and finally, in dreaming,
daydreaming, fantasizing, modeling, planning or creative “channeling of new
ideas.”[16]
The soul is the principle of unity. Conway sees the soul as higher form of mind.
This would immediately distinguish it from normal mind. This description is on
the level of its functionality. As the name signifies, there is a higher level
of experience. At this higher-mind or psychic level it becomes obvious that we
are each more than just a distinct, discrete “bodymind”—rather, we are soul
personalities that evidently don’t ever die and can have access to
states of “nonlocal consciousness”. [17]
On another level, the soul ‘embodies’ the spirit. Unlike
the mind, the soul is farther from body in the sense that body might
confidently assume the soulish nature unless in death. The soul is the
transformed body, having the same characteristic with the body. It manifests
out the divine attribute of its existence, and that is why we resemble God in
the soul, for Catholic doctrine.
Beyond
the dynamics and manifestation of body-mind-soul is Spirit. The spirit is
the domain of authentic spirituality. The spirit is the God given to man.
Essentially, it is the principle of our Divine origin. Man came alive when God
breathes in us. We live according to the principle of our live in the spirit.
7.0 CONCLUSION
The work of this sort is not an easy task because of the
relativity that upholds in these concepts. Many psychologists, theologian and
even philosophers tend to used the immaterial components of man
inter-changeably with the other. Could mind, soul and spirit be the same? After
going through this work, you will be convinced about certain outstanding
distinctions that abound. Although, the only similarity in them would be
basically on the fact of their immaterial nature. Let us not fail to recognize
the obvious degree of their immateriality in respect to their influence on the
body.
[1]
Janet E. Smith, “The Introduction to the Vatican Instruction,” in Reproductive Technologies, Marriage and the
Church, Proceedings of the Bishops’ workshop Held Feb. 1-5, 1988, Dallas,
Texas, Donald G. McCarthy, ed. (Braintree, MA,: The Pope John XXIII
Medical-Moral Research and Education Center, 1988), 21-22.
[2]
David Bohr, Catholic Moral Tradition (Huntington,
IN.: Our Sunday Visitor, 1999), 279.
[3]
Battist Mondin, Philosophical
Anthropology (Banglore: Rekha Printers Pvt. Ltd., 2007), 231.
[4]
Ibid.
[5]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
October 11, 1992, no. 364.
[6]
GS, no. 14.
[7]
Battist Mondin, Philosophical
Anthropology, 236.
[8]
"mind." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica,
2010.
[9]
D. Hodgson, The Mind Matter, 47-48
[11] John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, (New York:
Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1978), 836.
[12]
Simon Blackburn, Oxford Dictionary of
Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Print, 2005), 346.
[13]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
no. 363.
[14]
John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, 844.
[15]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
no. 367.
[16]
Timothy Conway, “What Do We Mean
by “Body-Mind-Soul-Spirit?” (1996) available on http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Body-Mind-Soul-Spirit.html, access on April, 2015.
[17]
Ibid.
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