Father Gavril Galev – Christian anthropology according to St. Paul in the Epistles to the Corinthians (Part II)
Basic Christian anthropology according to St. Paul
The basic anthropological concepts of the Apostle Paul about man are that he is a psychosomatic creature created in the image and likeness of God. Created from a material body and an intangible soul / spirit. Addressing the Thessalonians, St Apostle Paul says: “May your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved without vices (blameless) at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Thess. 5:23).
These are the basic categories with which Saint Paul describes man. In addition to these primary categories (body, soul, spirit) in the anthropology of Saint Paul, we can still find the terms: mind, heart, conscience, external, internal, physical, natural and spiritual man.
Christian anthropology is divided into trichotomies and dichotomies. The Holy Fathers often use the dichotomous concept of man as more acceptable, while the trichotomous understanding: spirit / intellect – soul – body, is used more to emphasise the human ability for oneness with God.
In the dichotomous concept, man is a notion of soul and body, where the soul (ψυχή) actually refers to the unified spiritual attributes (soul and spirit) in one category. [1]
According to trichotomous anthropology we know three parts of the human being: body, soul and spirit. This notion of Saint Paul is found in many places in the Epistles to the Corinthians. “The three elements or aspects, according to Bishop Kallistos Ware, constitute the human person,” the body (the “physical or material aspect of human nature”), the soul (those human abilities such as the mind, emotions and will, which together create the “living force which revives and excites the body”) and the spirit – in small letters (” breath “from God (Gen. 2: 7) that the animals lack”). These three aspects of the human persona are completely interdependent because man is an integral unity, not a set of separate parts. [2]
The body, the soul and the spirit have each their own special way of perception: the body through the five senses; the soul through intellectual reasoning; the spirit through the conscience, through the mystical perception. [3]
Body
The body, according to Orthodox Christian anthropology and Saint Apostle Paul, is material, irrational, created from earth in the image of God[4] (1 Cor. 15: 45-49). It is a temple of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and by its nature it is holy and should not be defiled by sins, for the body is intended for the Lord and the Lord for the body (1 Cor. 3: 16-18; 6: 12-20; 2 Cor. 6:16). It was not created for decay, but as a consequence of sin it became mortal and must undergo decay in order to be transfigured because the corruptible must be clothed in incorruptibility and the mortal must be clothed in immortality (1 Cor. 15: 35-54; Phil. 3:21).
The body differs from the soul in composition, and they are independent. However, they are not completely independent of each other but are interconnected. Because they are created in one and their union is unbreakable. The state of the soul is reflected on the body and vice versa (Matt. 6: 22,23). The Venerable John Cassian of Rome notes: “Spiritual people can be recognized by the appearance of their face; the external image of man reflects his inner state.” [5]
This influence is especially noticeable in the saints, but also with people who have fallen into big sins. In some, human nature is exposed, and in others it is enlightened and deified, for which there are many examples in the life of the saints, and the most striking is the example of Saint Seraphim of Sarov. [6]
Soul
The soul’s fundamental characteristics according to Athanasius are createdness, rationality, immortality, mobility, spirituality and immortality.[7] St. John of Damascus fulfils this definition by describing the soul as simple, bodiless and invisible. It is shapeless, and it uses the body as an organ and gives it life, growth, sense and regeneration. It is still free, endowed with the will and power to act. [8]
The soul has a special kinship with God. It is the mediator between God and the body. The soul is the bearer and principle of life of the physical nature. The soul is united with the body, and yet it remains distinct from it. [9] It covers the whole body and leads the body to salvation (eternity). Without the soul, the body dies. The soul receives life by the grace of God, without which it dies. The soul is above the body and gives life to the body, but the soul is beneath the spirit (1 Cor. 15:45, 46).
The human soul has its own essence and energy. The spiritual centre of the human soul is the spiritual heart, which lies in the realm of the human physical heart. [10] In the heart is “our inner man”, where the inscription of the image of God lies and is planted, there are His energies, the desires of the Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 3: 3-4; 1:22). The heart is the place where God dwells. It is the altar of the soul, where God is glorified and where man (mind) converses with Him. A place from where the grace of God is manifested and the source / spring from where living water flows.
The heart has a special meaning in Orthodox Christian anthropology. It is the spiritual center of man. Metropolitan Nahum of Strumitca writes: “In the heart as the spiritual center of man there are three forces of the soul: one conscious (rational) – the mind, and two non-rational – the desire and the will.”
The higher and intellectual part of the soul is called nous or mind. Once the mind is liberated from all representations and images of the things of the world, then it knows God in a direct intuitive way.
Spirit
St. Paul does not give a clear definition of the terms soul and spirit and often uses them interchangeably, because Christian teaching prefers to speak not of the spirit of man, but of his soul. The spirit is not an entity in man, distinct from the soul, but rather, concise of the higher function of the soul that is dedicated to a kind of thinking (contemplation) capable of rising even to the thought of its Creator. [11]
The spirit is not a substance that is separate and independent from the soul, but it is only the innermost, hidden and most important part of the immaterial part of man, (the soul) through which man creates communion with God (1 Cor. 6:17). [12] The higher and intellectual part of the soul is called the spirit or mind. Once the mind is liberated from all representations and images of the passions of the soul and all world’s things, then it knows God in a direct intuitive way. The mind is the eye of the soul, the organ by which man sees God. [13]
The spirit in man is the image of God, His imprint, the bearer of our persona (1 Cor. 2:11), [14] that is why St. Paul said, “when you are gathered together with my spirit” (1 Cor. 5: 4). To be continued…
Fr. Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
22 / 06 / 2022
[1] Nahum Ilievski, Christians’ Identity (in Macedonian). Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos Eleusa: Library of Eleusa, 2018, 229
[2] Chariton of Valamo, The Art of prayer: an Orthodox anthology. Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 1997, 17
[3] Chariton, Valamo, The Art of prayer, 18
[4] John, Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. Icon: Skopje, 2005, 68
[5] John, Cassian, “Conversations of the Egyptian Fathers”, 7.1., Rule of Faith, https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Kassian_Rimljanin/
[6] Seraphim, Sarov, “On Asquisition of the Holy Spitit”: https://orthochristian.com/47866.html
[7] Peter, J. Smith, “Deification of Body and Soul in Athanasius of Alexandria”:
A Present Foretaste of Resurrection: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2153&context=ecommonsatsdissertations
[8] John, Damascus, An Exact Exposition, 69
[9] Dumitru, Staniloe, The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology (Vol. 2). Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2000, 74
[10]Nahum, Ilievski, Christian’s Identity, 216
[11] Dumitru, Staniloe, The Experience of God, 71
[12] Michael, Pomazanski, Orthodox Dogmatyc Theology. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2005, 136
[13] Dumitru, Staniloe, The Experience of God, 74
[14] Bailey, Kenneth E., Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians. Downers Grove: IVP, 2011, 114-115
