Before examining the proposition of human trichotomy, it may be helpful to briefly lay out what we mean when we say that God is "triune." The Bible itself does not use the term "Trinity" and therefore it does not define the concept. God is one. But God is also Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (separate divine persons). The Trinity is an unfathomable mystery, a paradox which is both true and yet also impossible to fully comprehend. In the Nicene Creed, the Council of Nicea (325 AD) attempted to clarify what Christians believe about this mystery: "We believe in one God; the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made... And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets..."

Perhaps I should apologize for using Wikipedia, but I found a good brief summary of the traditional doctrine of the Trinity in the following four paragraphs:

The three persons are distinct, yet are one 'substance, essence or nature'. In this context, a 'nature' is what one is, while a 'person' is who one is. According to this central mystery of most Christian faiths, there is only one God in three persons, and in their relations with one another, they are stated to be co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial, and "each is God, whole and entire."

Accordingly, the whole work of creation and grace is seen as a single operation common to all three divine persons, in which each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, so that all things are "from the Father", "through the Son" and "in the Holy Spirit."

The most influential of the New Testament texts seen as implying the teaching of the Trinity was Matthew 28:19, which mandated baptizing "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Scripture contains neither the word Trinity, nor an expressly formulated doctrine of the Trinity. Rather, according to the Christian theology, it "bears witness to" the activity of a God who can only be understood in trinitarian terms. Reflection, proclamation and dialogue led to the formulation of the doctrine as it corresponded to the data in the Bible. The doctrine did not take its definitive shape until late in the fourth century [i.e., with the Nicene Creed]. Below is the 12th-century AD "Shield of the Trinity" (or Scutum Fidei) symbolic diagram.

Human beings are trichotomous

It has been frequently theorized that humans exist both holistically and multi-dimensionally. We are at the same time physical, biochemical, cognitive, emotional, self-aware, relational, volitional, and spiritual beings. But how should we best understand and categorize these different dimensions of human existence?

Having been created in the 'image of God," it is only logical to propose that human beings may be regarded as essentially three-fold in nature. There are a number of ways in which we may perceive and label the divisions. However, I believe that the most helpful and appropriate way to perceive and analyze what it means to be human is to follow the lead of Paul (in 1st Thessalonians) and view the individual as composed of Body (soma), Soul (psyche), and Spirit (pneuma).

"May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; may your SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:28, my emphasis)

Many Christians over the centuries have pointed out this trichotomous nature as revealed in 1st Thessalonians. In 1867, Franz Delitzsch (A System of Biblical Psychology) saw the soul as proceeding from spirit, resulting from the interaction of spirit and the body. The soul was viewed as being limited by physical realities, operating in the physical arena, but its higher functions being motivated by spiritual concerns, both for good and evil. The soul is secondary to, but expressive of what the Bible calls the "heart" of a person--which is the spirit.

British protestant minister Theodore Austin-Sparks in his book "What Is Man?" (1963) went into significant theoretical detail discussing the relationship of soul with spirit, seeing the soul as essentially earth-bound and that at its best it was but a servant to the spirit. He also critiqued psychology's tendency to deny or re-name anything remotely spiritual in the individual. "The psychologist ... recoils and calls the extra factor 'the subconscious mind' or the 'subliminal self' or 'the secondary personality', etc."

Psychotherapist and Christian theologian James Hillman (Re-visioning Psychology, 1975) wrote: "Today we have rather lost this distinction between spirit and soul that most cultures, even tribal ones, know and live in terms of. Our distinctions are Cartesian [dualistic]: between the outer tangible reality and inner states of mind, or--between the body and a fuzzy conglomerate of mind, psyche, and spirit. We have lost the third, middle position which earlier in our tradition, and in others too, was the place of soul: a world of imagination, passion, fantasy, reflection, that is neither physical and material on the one hand, nor spiritual on the other, yet bound to them both. By having its own realm, psyche has its own logic-- psychology-- which is neither a science of physical things nor a metaphysics of spiritual things. Psychological pathologies also belong to this realm. Approaching them from either side--in terms of medical sickness or religion's sin and salvation--can miss the target of soul."

Many atheistic, materialistic, and naturalistic scientists would deny the existence of both soul and spirit (everything associated with these realms being relegated to brain functions and neurology). However, it is clear that the scriptures, religious traditions, linguistic history, and anthropology all reveal that human beings have always believed in an invisible (spiritual or soulish) element to human existence. Other scientists, following the Greek philosophers like Plato, combined the functions of soul and spirit to represent all of the invisible, abstract realms of being human, and thus they perceived a dualistic ontology: Body (material) and Soul (immaterial).

Since humans are first of all unitary beings, the individual's body, soul, and spirit generally work together and it is not always easy to separate out the different functions. However, Hebrews 4:12 indicates that it is appropriate to use the terms "soul" and "spirit" to indicate separate and different functions. This verse actually accomplishes the division: "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul [psyche] and spirit [pneuma], of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

In the scriptures, the "heart" as it is generally used borders on the realm of the spirit -- where essential desires and relationship with God are the defining characteristics. On the other hand, psychological aspects (thoughts, emotions, imagination) have their expression in the soul (or "psyche"). The highest, most internal and hidden of the three human elements is spiritual. The lowest, most visible and external element is physical. Between these two, and often mediating them, is the soul, that is, the realm of psychology as it pertains to the individual. See the diagram below.

1. The body is made up of (a) chemistry, (b) physics, and (c) biology. Other creatures of the earth operate in this sphere of existence as well.

2. The soul includes the functions of: (a) emotion, (b) cognition (verbal and imaginal thought and memory), and (c) behavior. Other creatures (especially mammals) have these capacities but in a more rudimentary form.

In another handy triad, the interpersonal/ relational aspect of our humanity has been divided into the roles of (a) Child (id), (b) Parent (superego), and (c) Adult(ego), per transactional analysis and traditional psychoanalysis.

3. The human spirit realm includes (a) consciousness (self-awareness and potentially God-awareness), (b) conscience (moral and theological knowledge), and (c) volition (submission-worship vs. rebellion). The "lower" animals do not truly operate in this realm; that is, they have 'souls' relative to their species but do not have godlike spirits.

As you can see, as we examine what it means to be human, we are able to discover a number of other potential descriptive triads. Here is another important example: Everything we are and everything we do is the product of (a) Nature (genetics, inborn characteristics), (b) Nurture (environment, learning), and (c) Choice. See diagram below.

These realms of human existence intimately interact and even overlap. We are at the same time both individual and multidimensional beings. Because we see ourselves as separate individuals with different aspects and roles, as well as being part of larger communities, we begin to have some grasp on what it means that God is three persons in one.

Further hypotheses

When we examine the Genesis accounts, it is logical to propose that when Adam and Eve sinned, their spirits died immediately. "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen 2:17). Eventually, their bodies died as well and we assume that their souls went to Hades (Sheol) to await the final judgment.

The immediate spiritual death meant that they were no longer able to intimately connect or relate with God. They were separated from the source of spiritual life. Note that they tried to hide from God and to blame somebody else for their sin. No longer clothed in innocent spirit, they felt naked and ashamed. They became dualistic creatures with a dying body and soul.

What about us today? Being descended from Adam and Eve, we are their current living extensions. We inherited their spiritual state of being, that is, we are born spiritually dead due to original sin. Therefore, human beings are highly vulnerable to Satanic influences and all kinds of temptation. It is why Jesus and Paul told us that we are 'enslaved to sin.'

However, when we are "born again" as Christians, we are forgiven, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and eternally connected to Christ. We receive an eternal spirit, becoming fully trichotomous children of God. Having the Holy Spirit now present and available within, we can draw upon His power and learn to successfully resist temptation.

As believers, when our physical bodies die, our spirits (and souls) go directly to be with the Lord in heaven to await the Resurrection.

Although Christians are forgiven and provided a new spirit, our earthly bodies and souls are not yet made perfect (only the Spirit is perfect and holy). As Paul indicated in Romans 7, "the flesh" is still easily tempted to sin. This is why believers still struggle. But God has provided His transforming spiritual power and is changing us from the inside-out. The perfect Spirit of Christ transforms our souls through our life experiences, including prayer, worship, study of Scripture, and contact with other believers. Eventually our souls are 'overtaken' by the Spirit in the process of sanctification and spiritual growth.

However, our physical bodies 'waste away' and eventually die, while our souls await resurrection for a new, perfect body like that of Jesus in His own Resurrection. Our "lowly bodies" will become "like His glorious body" (Phil 3:21). In 1 Cor 15:35-54 Paul explains that "the body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

In conclusion, I can do no better than to quote what Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, with some minor interpretation: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away [in the body], yet inwardly [in the soul] we are being renewed day by day [by the Spirit]. . For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in [body] is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands [resurrected spiritual body]. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5)

Postscript --

There are two more essential and related truths which need to be fleshed out relative to our three-fold nature. I am in the process of examining these. (1) All believers are united in One Spirit with Christ. Corporately, we are even called the Body of Christ. Yet each person is a separate soul which has been saved.

(2) What about the one-fleshness of marriage? Observe that in Genesis it is not a man or a woman individually but man and woman together which make up the image of God. The powerful symbolism inherent in the Church's role as the "Bride of Christ" confirms this principle (Eph 5:24-27; Rev 19:7-9, 21:1-2). It is the divine design for humanity reflecting God Himself. How these truths fit with the triune nature of God and the trichotomous nature of humanity is going to take some time to prayerfully analyze. I could use some help.

Dr. Atkinson is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary with a doctorate in clinical psychology and an M.A. in theology. He is a licensed psychologist in clinical practice in Atlanta and also works as a clinical supervisor training Christian counselors for Richmont Graduate University. He is a founding member of Trinity Anglican Church (ACNA) in Douglasville, Georgia