Biblical
Substance Dualism
Defining
Terms
Throughout
time, most people regardless of culture have almost mechanically presupposed
that everyone has a soul and a body. A soul can also be said to be “the mind”
or “consciousness”. In today’s modern relativistic culture it would be accurate
to say you could deduce the word ‘soul’ as being part of the cultural linguistic
social norms (even though some may be atheists). To give a clear example here
is an early 1930’s author writing on the mind-body problem;
The Scriptures teach
that...man consists of two distinct principles, a body and a soul: the one
material, the other immaterial; the one corporeal, the other spiritual. It is
involved in this statement, a substance distinct from the body...The Scriptural
doctrine of the nature of man as a created spirit in vital union with an
organized body, consisting, therefore, of two, and only two, distinct elements
or substances, matter and mind, is...properly designated as realistic dualism.[1]
In our everyday life it’s
almost natural for one to say to one’s self “I have a soul”. Christians who understand biblical teaching that God is an immaterial
spirit, also understand by direct self-examination that they are made in God’s
image in the sense that they are spirit (most agnostics will say there is a
soul/spirit[2])
but also have human bodies. The New Testament documents imply people can exist temporarily without their
bodies —II Corinthians 12:1-4, Paul declares that he may actually have been
disembodied. The Bible (OT & NT) portrays humans as
spiritual beings, and since humans all know they have bodies, Christians (and
some others) naturally have thought of themselves as composite beings, made of
two substances—a material body (container) and an immaterial soul (you).
The
Dualistic Theory
The Dualist theory has been around for quite some time
now, however, it is interesting to note that before modern discoveries the
physical universe was widely accepted to be eternal. This would mean that
material is eternal with no “said” cause. With modern technology and advances
in our philosophy the majority of the scientific world holds to a “big bang
theory”[3] which
says the agent subscribes to a “beginning” –this is significant because to an atheist
in the present age, there is no eternal piece[4].
To an atheist in, for example, Aristotle’s day –they believed in the eternal
universe. So here rests the problem with this view, it keeps changing.
Dualism is not always
presented in the same form, but in its most usual form posits two self-existent
principles, God and matter, which are distinct from and co-eternal with each
other. Original matter, however, is regarded as but a negative and imperfect
substance (sometimes regarded as evil), which is subordinate to God and is made
the instrument of His will (Plato, Aristotle, the Gnostics, the Manichaeans).[5]
What
is Substance Dualism?
In comparison
with property dualism, substance dualism holds that the brain is a
physical thing that has physical properties, and the mind or soul is a mental
substance that has mental properties.[6] Substance
dualism would say the brain has certain physical properties (electrical and
chemical), and the soul, or mind, has certain mental properties that are
immaterial (consciousness). A substance dualist would also say, one’s memories
and five senses would be located (axiom) in the soul. The soul has certain
soulistic qualities that are intrinsic to the individual. The individual is the
soul, and the individual’s body is the container. A soul, which is a certain
individual, is an enduring self. No matter what happens to the body the soul
endures. And, since there is no physical properties to the soul, substance
dualist believe that the soul can endure even when the body dies.
There are 3 different types of substance dualism that one could hold too;
First, there is Cartesian substance dualism, according to which the
mind is a substance with the ultimate capacities for consciousness, and it is
connected to its body by way of an external causal relation.2
Second, there is Thomistic substance dualism, one important version of
which takes the soul to be broader than the mind in containing, not merely the
capacities for consciousness, but also those capacities which ground biological
life and functioning. In this view, the human soul diffuses, informs, unifies,
animates, and makes the body human. The body is not a physical substance, but
rather, an ensouled physical structure such that if it loses the soul, it is no
longer a human body in a strict, philosophical sense. According to the third
form, Emergent substance dualism, a substantial, immaterial self emerges
from the functioning of the brain and nervous system, but once it emerges, it
exercises its own causal powers and continues to be sustained by God after
death.[7]
Scriptural
Support for Substance Dualism
Some
might ask if substance dualism is logically consistent with Scripture. This is
a very important question. How does the Scriptures speak about man –one distinct
property or two? When doing a word study in the Scriptures, "soul"
(nephesh): is attributed to God (Isa. 42:1; Jer. 6:8; 15:1; Amos 6:3; Matt.
12:18; Heb. 10:38) also, interesting enough –to animals (Gen 1:29; 2:19; 9:10;
Lev. 11:46; Ezek. 47:9; Rev. 8:9; 16:3). The soul is the self (Isa. 42:1; Ps.
146:1; Mk. 8:36; cf. Lk. 9:23). It is the life of man (e.g. Gen. 9:5; 1 Sam.
19:5; Job 12:19; John 10:11; Rom. 11:3; Rev. 12:11). The soul has reference of
physical attributes; it grows weary and faint (Heb. 12:3, hungers for food and
is satisfied, thirsts for water and is quenched (Ps. 107:5, 9; Prov. 25:25;
Isa. 29:8; Num. 11:6; Eccl. 2:24; 4:8; 6:2-9; 7:28); the soul has conscious
experiences emotions and passions (Gen. 42:21; Dt. 12:15; Ps. 35:9; Dt. 12:15;
Ps. 35:9; Dt. 6:5; Matt. 26:38; John 10:24; Acts 14:2; Lk. 10:27); it performs
mental acts (e.g. Ps. 139:14; Prov. 23:7; Acts 14:22)…there is really no need
to go further, obviously Scripture teaches the man has two distinct parts, the
body and the soul. Where words
"soul" and "spirit" are interchangeable in scripture, (Lk.
1:46-47); one can expect that similar inferences would be reached on spirit, as
on soul.[8]
Counter
Views
A counter view of substance dualism, which is (biblical)
physicalism, in my opinion does not come out of the Bible, unless one is
reading it in themselves, which some do. Joel Green is quoted saying;
New Testament interpreter
Joel Green argues that humans are basically physical, based on the evidence of
neuroscience, biblical studies, and philosophy. He argues that despite our
English translations, terms in the original biblical languages do not offer
clear support for either the soul as our essence or the existence of a
disembodied, intermediate state. Furthermore, Green thinks we can survive death
and yet be the same person, even though bodies continually change, and the person
(and not merely the body) dies at death. He appeals to a narrative and
relational unity of the person, which constitutes each of us, and these
“are able to exist apart from neural correlates and embodiment only insofar as
they are preserved in God’s own being, in anticipation of new creation.” Our
unity lies in our sustained relationships and the stories of our lives.[9]
A closer look at Joel
Green’s comments reveals he does hold to some material substance that can exist
without the physical –Mr. Green says “we can survive death and yet be the same
person… [and] are able to exist apart from neural correlates and embodiment
only insofar as they are preserved in God’s own being, in anticipation of new
creation,” and yet Mr. Green says humans “are basically physical”. There is a
reason very few people are “biblical physicalists”; it’s not sustainable by Scripture
alone.
Conclusion
As a Christian, we can be certain our “intuitive” sense
of having a soul is correct, the Bible firmly teaches an individual is a soul
that has a body. Man is to serve God with his body as well as his mind (2 Cor.
7:1; 1 Thess. 5:23; Rom. 12:1; 6:12-13; 1 Cor. 6:13-20).
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