01.01. CHAPTER I

(Hebrews 4:12) THE ignorance of Christians concerning the distinction between " soul " and " spirit " is very general, and is a primary cause of the lack of full growth in the spiritual life in many devoted and earnest believers. G. H. Pember points out as the cause of this ignorance the popular phraseology of " soul and body ", which has caused a deficiency in the English language. He says that although we have the nouns " spirit and soul "which are too often treated as synonyms-we have no adjective from the latter, with the consequence that the omission of such an adjective has almost concealed man’s tripartite nature in the versions of the English Bible, where the " Greek word which signifies ` pertaining to the soul ’ " is sometimes rendered " natural " and sometimes " sensual " (see 1 Corinthians 2:14, James 3:15, Jude 1:19). Of course Greek scholars know well the different words in the original which stand for spirit pneuma; soul-psuche; flesh-sarx; but to the generality of Christians these distinctions are veiled, with the result that they are unable to discriminate in experience between things that differ, and yet which vitally belong to their peace. The need of knowledge is becoming of more than academic importance, for the fallen Archangel, with his superhuman wisdom, knows the make-up of human beings, and is now, as an angel of light, bringing to bear all the power of the knowledge which he possesses, upon counterfeiting the working of the Holy Spirit, and CREATING IN THE REALM OF THE SOUL such perfect imitations of the pure life of the Spirit of God indwelling the man’s spirit, that the most earnest Christians are liable to be deceived. It is therefore necessary that the teaching of the ScriptureIupon the distinction between soul and spirit, should be brought within the range of the apprehension of the youngest believer, and made as clear as possible from the Word of God. The writer is not attempting to meet the need of those who are able to go direct to the Greek Testament, and read for themselves, but to assist those who must have other help, as they earnestly seek the aid of the Spirit of God to enable them to grasp the truth, and receive spiritual understanding of spiritual facts set forth in the Scripture as necessary for their growth in life and godliness. Let the reader, then, pause at this point, and in an act of faith take the promise of John 14:26 -" The Holy Spirit ... shall teach you all things . . . " and John 16:13, "He will guide you into all truth " with confidence that the Spirit of God will fulfil His office to the teachable child of God. The Holy Spirit is able to teach the believer in experience the distinction between " soul and spirit ", without his ever knowing the truth intellectually; and vice versa, the scholar may see clearly the difference as expressed in the Greek without knowing all that the words mean experimentally-i.e., he may hold the truth in mental instead of spiritual power, and then it is but the letter of the Word without the spirit. Moreover, the believer who has been taught experimentally by the Holy Spirit the dividing of " soul and spirit " before apprehending the distinction with his intelligence, is better able to understand, and " rightly divide the word of truth ", than the reader of the Greek who is untaught of God, for back of the words in the Scriptures there are spiritual verities which cannot be understood by the natural man-i.e., the " pertaining to the soul " man (lit. 1 Corinthians 2:14)-and can only be known by revelation.( See 1 Corinthians 2:10-12) But first as to the missing adjective ! G. H. Pember says that an attempt is being made to use the Greek word " psychic " for expressing in English the adjective for soul. The word is, however, too " Greek ", so to speak, to commend itself for general use. In connection with James 3:15, Pember uses the word "soulish ", and this seems more nearly to express what is needed. Stockmayer also uses this same word-" soul-ish "-to signify that which " pertains to the soul ", for he says in reference to 1 Corinthians 2:14, " the Greek text has it, the ` soulman ’, or `soulish-man ’. As spiritual is the adjective of spirit, so is soulish the adjective of soul ". The word " soulish " therefore might well be generally accepted by English readers as the missing adjective, which will enable us to speak of the " soulish " as well as the " spiritual "(1 Corinthians 3:1) or " carnal " (fleshy), Christian, and the meaning be understood. For this purpose it will so be used in the present treatise. As to the distinction between soul and spirit, Gall points out that not only in the English language is the distinction made, but in every classic language from Hebrew downward. In the English New Testament two passages only bring out the distinction clearly, viz., Hebrews 4:12 Dividing soul and spirit "-and 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Sanctify you, spirit, soul and body ". These two, however, are sufficient, for the English reader, to see that man is tripartite, and not only " soul " and " body ".