Answer: Man consists of two elements: soul and body.838 This is witnessed by the Creative Words of God in the narration of Genesis. Man‟s body, although connected to mortality, remains the element with which the immortal soul is united. Both elements are derived from the Creative Commandment of God and are the essential elements of man‟s nature.
Neither to the soul without the body, nor to the body without the soul, has God given life except through the union of both when He created one man.839
Two theories of the way in which souls are born during reproduction and multiplication of the human race - that of pre-existence of souls and that of the souls flowing from God‟s Essence, have also been condemned. One of two other theories whereby souls are created directly by God or that they are planted, are supported by some of the Holy Fathers. The Teaching of the planting of souls in association with the Eternal Plan of God for each individual person seems more acceptable.840 This theory teaches that just as the body is formed from the parents, so also the soul is planted by the parents‟ souls during conception.
Question 149: What is the true meaning of the Biblical verses referring to the three elements of man?
Answer: In two Biblical verses of Holy Scripture the term “spirit” appears to differentiate from the term “soul”841 and thus we have the theory that man consists of three elements:
body, soul and spirit.842
In the first verse we read: “For the Word of God is Living and Powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
833 Gen. 2:9.
834 Gen. 2:8. Cf. Bryennios, Paralipomena, ch. XIII, VIII p.82
835 Theophilus of Antioch, 2 Autolycus, § 24, in B, v. 5, p. 37.
836 St Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis, II, 4, in Migne, P.G., 33, 389. St John Chrysostom, To Genesis, Homily 14, § 3, in Migne, P.G., 53, 114. St Gregory of Nyssa, About the creation of man, ch. 2, in Migne, P.G., 44, 132.
837 Gen. 2:15.
838 Kefalas, Catechesis, pp. 241-243. Frangopoulos, Christian Faith, pp. 89-90.
839 Athenagoras, Concerning the resurrection of the dead, ch. 5, in B, v. 4, p. 322.
840 Trempelas, Dogmatique, v. I, pp. 469-470.
841 Kefalas, Catechesis, pp. 58-59.
842 Ware, Way, pp. 60-64.
joints and marrow, and is a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”843 Here the Word of God is characterized as being “...sharper than any two-edged sword...” that pierces “...even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow.” Concerning the terms “joints” and “marrow,” as we cannot speak of separate and distinguished elements but only of elements of the one and same body, in a similar vein, the terms “soul”
and “spirit” are not distinguished from one another as separate elements but are one element consisting of the human personality. However, as “joints” and “marrow” are inseparable parts of the body, likewise the “spirit” is the highest moral power of the one soul, which gives life to the body.
The second verse states: “Now may the God of peace Himself Sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”844 Other Scholars understood the term “spirit” as referring to the spiritual Charisma [Gifts] that are given to each one through Holy Baptism.
Hence it was observed that “...these three were never referred to the unbelievers, but only to those who have believed, who have the soul and body by nature but receive the spirit by Beneficence. In other words it is the Charisma of those who believe.”845
The Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church support the teaching that man consists of only two elements of soul and body. Athenagoras further assured us that the human nature consists of “...an eternal soul united with the body.” In addition, the soul oversees the functions of the body, deciding what is proper, whereas the body moves according to the changes of its nature.846 The crown of Patristic Teachings is the Decree of the 4th Ecumenical Council, which declared Christ to be perfect Man “...with intellectual soul and body.” As St John of Damascus witnessed, God “...created man from visible and invisible nature. From the dust He formed the body, the rational and intellectual soul He gave from His own Breath.”847
Question 150: Is the Soul immortal?
Answer: As stressed above, man consists of two elements of soul and body. When the soul is separated from the body, death occurs and the body stops functioning. It decomposes and becomes dust that returns to the earth from whence God had taken it. However, the soul, even after death, remains alive and preserves its conscience.848
This is witnessed throughout Holy Scripture. In Genesis when Abraham and Ishmael died, they were counted as dead, but Abraham “...was added to his people...”849 while Ishmael “...was added to his fathers.”850 When Jacob was mourning over Joseph, he said: “I will go down to my son, mourning to Hades.”851 This reveals not only that the souls live after death but that they meet in Hades. King David said, concerning Christ: “For
843 Heb. 4:12.
844 1 Thess. 5:23.
845 Theodorus monk, in Migne, P.G., 28, 80.
846 Athenagoras, About resurrection, ch. 12 and 15, in B, v. 4, p. 320-321 and 322-323.
847 St John of Damascus, Exposition. About man, II, 26, in Migne, P.G., 94, 920.
848 Cf. Kefalas, Catechesis, pp. 61-64. Frangopoulos, Christian Faith, pp. 93-94.
849 Gen. 25:8.
850 Gen. 25:17.
851 Gen. 37:34.
Thou will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will Thou allow Thy Holy One to see corruption.”852
In the New Testament the appearance of the two Prophets, Moses and Elijah, at the Transfiguration of our Lord on Mount Tabor and their dialogue with Christ,853 as well as His assurance that “...God is not the God of dead, but of living...”854 clearly proves that those who depart from this life continue to live in the After-life. This we can see from the Parable of the “Rich Man and Poor Lazarus”855 wherein the rich man although “...being in torments in Hades...” recognized Poor Lazarus being comforted in the “bosom” of Abraham. Furthermore, the Promise of Christ to the repentant thief on the cross that:
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise…,”856 literally witnesses that souls who pass away in repentance and virtues enter into Eternal Life.
A second difference in the opinions concerning the immortality of the soul refers to the question: “Are the souls by nature and essence immortal, or are they born mortal, and then become immortal „because God wants them to live‟?” The latter answer to this question is supported by St Justin the Philosopher and Martyr,857 Tatianus and St Irenaeus.858 St John of Damascus also appears to support this theory up to a certain point.859
Nevertheless, the difference between the two Teachings is not serious because according to both theories the soul is immortal. If we believe that the soul was created immortal, do we not mean that it was created through the Will and Grace of God or, if we accept that by nature it is immortal, if God removes His Divine Providence, it is impossible for the soul, created immortal by nature, to return to nothingness?
Question 151: What theories of the multiplication of souls were expressed?
Answer: Holy Scripture remains silent with regard to the beginning of each soul and the way of its union with the body.860 Thus different theories have been expressed, of which two are completely denied.
a) The Theory of the Pre-existence of Souls:861 According to this theory: The souls were created before all time and because they sinned they were punished by being embodied as though imprisoned. This opinion was condemned in 543 by the Holy Council that had gathered in Constantinople, as well as by the Holy Council of Praga in 561.
Furthermore St Gregory of Nazianzus, St Gregory of Nyssa,862 St Augustine and St Leo I863 condemned this theory.
852 Psalm 16:10.
853 Matth. 17:1-5. Mark 9:2-13. Luke 9:28-36.
854 Matth. 22:32.
855 Luke 16:19-31.
856 Luke 23:43.
857 St Justin, the philosopher and martyr, Dialogue, 6, § 1, in B, v. 3, p. 215.
858 St Irenaeus, Heresies, book II, ch. 34, §§ 1-4, in Migne, P.G., 7, 835. Cf. Ibid, in Hadjephraimides, pp. 186-187.
859 St John of Damascus, Exposition. About man, II, 26, in Migne, P.G., 94, 924.
860 Mitsopoulos, Themata, pp. 182-191.
861 Ibid, p. 189.
862 St Gregory of Nyssa, About the creation of man, ch. 28, in Migne, P.G., 44, 229-232.
863 St Augustine, Epist. 217, 5, 16; Leon I, Epist. XV, 10, in migne, P.L., 54, 684-685.
b) The Theory of “Emanatismus”: According to this theory, souls derive from the Divine Essence by means of emanation. Because it abolishes the absolute simplicity of the Divinity, it too is condemned.
c) The Theory of Creation of each Soul at the time of Conception (“Creatianismus”):864 St Augustine, with some uncertainty and hesitation, spoke of this theory although he was unable to link it to the inheritance of Original Sin.865 Truly, if each soul is directly created by God, then how can anyone suggest that the soul bears the stain of Original Sin? Also it presents God as participating in sin by creating the souls of those children who are born without the blessing of marriage and who are therefore of sinful relationships.
d) Finally, the fourth theory is that of Transplantation (“Traducianismus”):866 According to this theory, the souls derive from the souls of parents like a cutting or piece of a plant for propagation. This theory not only explains the inheritance of Original Sin by all men but also the psycho-characteristics of the parents passed down to the children.
Another form of this theory is “Generatianismus,” according to which both parents‟
souls, because of the Creative Commandment to “increase and multiply,” give the soul to the conceived fetus through spiritual semen (“semen spirituale”) or spiritual creative power at the moment of the insemination of the woman‟s ovum.
CHAPTER EIGHT