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Originally Posted by Cap'n_Sparrow
You pose an interesting question, Freedom, and your choice of Biblical examples (Mary and Saul) have given me pause for thought and much reflection. It seems to me that whenever we tackle this issue of the distinction between the soul and the spirit, the definition of these two 'organs' is always dogmatically and unconsciously assumed. We have been taught that the 'spirit' is the deeper part of man and that the soul is the seat of the 'mind, will, and emotions'. This, I believe, is classic Nee, and promulgated further by Lee. We have accepted these definitions as if these two 'men of God' somehow, in a lab somewhere in China, were able to isolate 'a soul', observe it, dissect it, and carry out extensive tests on it, in order to come up with a near scientifically precise description of what it is.
Seriously, how did these gentlemen receive this knowledge of something so profound and intangible that it has eluded all others in all ages and climes? What kind of instruments did they use? I have read bygone tales of the corpses of freshly-executed criminals being drawn, and quartered, and excavated, in this quest to fathom the secrets of the soul. All without result! Where is the Biblical evidence that the "mind, will, and emotions" reside in the soul? Though I am not saying that this belief is totally without merit, it still begs the question of whether this is not yet another LC mantra and dogma that the sheep have mindlessly and uncritically accepted?
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What I find striking about WN/WL is not simply that they spoke of man having a tripartite nature, but that they presented such a teaching as if they were experts on the nature of man, having managed to develop a full understanding that had not been rivaled to date. Of course, many LCers would also have no problem brazenly telling other Christians that somehow everyone else has “missed” these verses in the Bible that presumably show that man is tripartite. Like
aron mentioned, it really seems that such a teaching was convenient for WN/WL ministries more than anything else. It gave them a way to differentiate themselves from others, and also to attack others (as Lee later became so good at doing).
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Originally Posted by Cap'n_Sparrow
Freedom's example of Mary, I think, provides some insight. Her soul 'magnified' the LORD and her spirit 'rejoiced'. Could it not be that the soul is the region where we think, and reason, and deliberate, and calculate, etc, while the spirit is that region in us where our 'emotions' (like rejoicing) lie? And wasn't it Saul's spirit that was 'distressed', and not his soul?
Perhaps, we have been sold a faulty bill of goods that has produced in our thinking this false dichotomy of the different functions of the soul and the spirit; and the plain truth is right before our noses and lies in plain sight in everyday language. Is it not usually said of an extraordinarily happy person, even amongst unbelievers, that that person seems to be 'in high spirits'? Why must we look for esoteric and abstruse meanings for things that the LORD has plainly set forth (in what should be taken as ordinary language) in his Word?
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I wouldn’t even attempt to try to differentiate what is meant by ‘spirit’ and ‘soul’, for the same reasons that
OBW has mentioned. And that is what I find so troubling about what WN/WL taught. The Bible doesn’t make it clear what the difference is, and if there is some difference that us humans need to be aware of, that is the job of the Word alone, to divide soul and spirit. I might also add that in the context of Hebrews 4, this ‘dividing’ seems to be something meant to happen at an individual level. Thus it seems out of the question that someone could develop concrete understanding or dogma as to how we are meant to understand soul and spirit. Isn’t it interesting then that both WN/WL presumed to know what was what? Even certain of their "inner-life" predecessors like Jessie Penn-Lewis literally were driven crazy by trying to understand things that weren't meant to be understood. I've personally witnessed an LC member have a breakdown due to obsessing over whether or not they were "living in their spirit". I’ve long since accepted the fact that there is good reason to not overcomplicate things that weren’t meant to be complicated.
An overlap between the soul and spirit seems to be without question. And with that in mind, if we are to believe Nee/Lee that the soul and spirit are separate and distinct organs, then it would make no sense why there would be such an overlap found in different verses. At the very least, some of the claims that WN/WL made fall flat on their face, even for those who do support a tripartite view.