Table of Contents

i. God is Tripartite……………………………………………………………………….

a. Father………………………………………………………………………………

b. Son…………………………………………………………………………………

c. Holy Spirit………………………………………………………………………….

ii. Man is Made in God’s Image………………………………………………………….

a. Body………………………………………………………………………………

b. Soul…………………………………………………………………………………

c. Spirit………………………………………………………………………………...

iii. Arguments for the Tripartite nature of Man……………………………………………

iv. Arguments for the Duality of Man……………………………………………………...

v. Arguments for the Unity of Man……………………………………………………….

vi. Eschatological implications of the Tripartite nature of Man…………………………...

vii. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...
Man is distinct than the other animals in that he is the image of God. As God is tripartite – Father,

Son and Holy Spirit-, so also man is in three parts – Body, Soul and Spirit. Using this example,

discuss in depth both the material and the immaterial composition of human nature and their

eschatological implication. Give biblical passages to support your arguments.

The tripartite nature of God

The tripartite nature of God is a discussion that has apparently drawn much debate and

disagreement among the Christian body itself and furthermore, between Christianity and other

faiths. It led to the constitution of the great church councils to debate and formulate an orthodox

position about God’s comprehensive nature against the heretical teachings that abounded during

the early stages of the church’s establishment and expansion. It is sufficient to say that the Bible

abundantly reveals to us God manifesting Himself to mankind in a tripartite manner as the Father,

Son and the Holy Spirit.

God as the Father

God as the Son

God as the Holy Spirit

 The tripartite nature of Man

It is interesting to notice that when God created man, He made him in His image. Being

found in the image of God, man thus partakes of God’s tripartite nature too. On this premise, this

essay attempts to highlight this tripartite nature of God being mirrored in man.

Man is body

The Bible clearly documents in the book of Genesis 2:7 that when God made man, He took

the dust from the ground and formed man from it. Thus, the body was fashioned from physical,

tangible elements of the earth and is therefore the physical component of the tripartite nature of

man.

Some people argue that man is a physical being only. There is a great danger of any man

thinking thus of himself. In his desire to satisfy the needs of the body there is the tendency on

man’s part to lose sight of the fact that he is immortal. There have been persons who have lived

all of their lives either in ignorance or willful neglect of a life after death, but upon their death-bed

they suddenly realized that they were more than physical beings (Bible.org, 2018).

There is an idea also that prevails largely today that man consists of only two component

parts: namely, body and spirit. In the thinking of the writer this view appears to be one that might

create confusion in the minds of any Christians. While soul and spirit are so closely related that it

is sometimes difficult to distinguish accurately between them, there seems to be only one logical

conclusion: namely, that “soul” and “spirit” are not the same. The Bible does make a distinction

(Bible.org, 2018).

Man is a triune being because he is created in the image of God. “God said, let us make

man in Our image” (Genesis 1:26). We know that God is a Trinity. The Holy Trinity is clearly set

forth in the Apostle Paul’s benediction that closed his Second Corinthian Epistle: “The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

Amen” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Our Lord Himself said, in what we call “The Great Commission”:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). Created in the image of God, man is likewise a trinity.

He has a spiritual nature that is separate and distinct from the body in which it dwells (Bible.org,

2018).

The two following passages from the Bible clearly establish the fact that man is a triune

being composed of spirit, soul, and body: I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be

preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23). For the word

of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing

asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow (body), and is a discerner of the thoughts

and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)

Inasmuch as other faiths and sects maintain that man has no soul, the Bible indicates

strongly that man was created a trinity of spirit, soul, and body even as the eternal God is Himself

a trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The trinity of man is an essential part of the image

relationship between him and God. For this reason, life is not ultimately physical and the body is

not the whole man.

And we might add that neither the body in itself, nor the soul in itself, nor the spirit in itself

makes up the whole man, but he is “spirit and soul and body.” This must be seriously considered

and definitely agreed to before we can comprehend with any accuracy the subject of life after death.

In this opening chapter we shall confine our material to the spirit and the soul inasmuch as the

body will be considered in succeeding chapters on the resurrection