Spririt – immortal and noncorporeal essence of man

- Monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam, & Christianity (Man is the

only being with soul)
- Jainism & Hinduisim (other living beings also possess souls)
- Animistic religion: Shintoism (non-living things like mountains &
rivers also possess a soul)
Embodiment – central concept in discussing the nature of human soul
- How the body, senses, and perception define human function/
consciousness
- Representation/expression of something in a tangible/ visible form
- Man’s embodiment is embodied recognition (man is able to
perceive and experience reality through physical body)
Enactivism – cognition arises through interaction between an organism and
its environment
Christian Doctrine – spirit is created by God and embodied in the human
being
- Upon the body’s demise, the spirit continues to persist into the
afterlife
- “Salvation of Mankind” – departed spirits will raise from the dead
and receive judgement form God

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS VIEW ON SPIRIT

 Plato
SPIRIT

LOGOS THYMOS EPITHYMIA

(mind/reason) (spirit) (appetite)
- Rational goals - Will/drive to an action - Things the body desires

- Soul is what made the body move

- Three parts: there exists an internal conflict in every individual
- Man can fully function when three parts of soul are working together
- Believes that human mind is immortal & persists after death of body

 Aristotle
- Rejected Plato’s and believed soul is not independent of body but
integrated into human being
 - Individual is composed of form (structure/arrangement of matter that
give rise to the object) & matter (components that make up an object)
- Soul is part of man’s essence which enables him to achieve his
ultimate purpose

THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM

- How the mental or non-physical are able to interact with the physical
body
- To what extent one influences the other

THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM

PHYSICALISM IDEALISM MONISM

- Physical process - Mental processes - Human

& being is
determine state of thoughts are the onlycomposed of
mind reality elements neither
physical/mental
DUALISM

- - Believes in distinctiveness of physical & mental

nature of man

 Avicenna – Islamic philosopher

- Argued that self-awareness & consciousness exists even if body is
deprived of its senses
- Soul is immaterial, indestructible, & independent of the body
- Used thought experiment
 Rene Descartes – mind & body exist as two separate entities that
interact with one another
- Used methodic/systematic doubt; doubting everything to remove
false knowledge
- “I think, therefore I am.”
RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHERS
 St. Thomas Aquinas – soul is the “first actuality” of the body; for there to
be a body, there should be a soul first.
- Soul has substance ut no physical/concrete form and exists even
without the body
 St. Augustine of Hippo – soul as driving force that governs body and
defines human person
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE SOUL AND SPIRIT?
Reverend Chauncey Giles (The Nature of
Spirit and of Man as a Spiritual
Being)- spirit gives form to the
body, and human person is a
spiritual being with a material body.
- Man’s physical nature: interact w/
physical world
- Man’s spiritual nature: comes from & relate w/ God
Soul – physical-spiritual man & wholeness of spirit and body
- Never equated with spirit
- Wholeness of the person; love God with his or her whole being
Spirit – spiritual nature of man

HOW DOES SPIRIT DEFINE THE NATURE OF MAN?

TRICHOTOMIC VIEW DICHOTOMIC VIEW PSYCHOSOMATIC

- Man is composed - No distinction VIEW
of three essential between spirit & - Man is a single/
parts: body, soul, soul unitary
and spirit - Views man as constitution
- Soul gives man life being composed of - Body & spirit are
& will body & spirit inseparable &
- Spirit establishes integrated
connection with
God

IF THE SPIRIT EXISTS, DOES GOD EXISTS?

Theology – study of God and other religious concepts

God – supreme being that governs all existence & center of faith & devotion
of a religion
Theism – belief in existence of a God/several deities
- Monotheism (single God) Characteristics:
 Omniscience – all-knowing
 Omnipotence – all-powerful
 Omnipresence – ever-present
 Benevolence – perfectly good, just, & all-loving
 Divine simplicity – all attributes are embodied by him; not just
“good”;he is goodness itself
 Eternal – timeless & has no beginning/end
Revealed Theology – study of God through analysis of sacred texts
Natural Theology – employed reason to substantiate the existence of God

ARGUMENTS ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

1. Ontological Argument – man as rational being, able to conceive the notion

of Supreme Being, then it holds to reason that such supreme being
exists
2. Teleological Argument – supreme being is necessary for the continued
existence of an orderly but complex universe
3. Cosmological Argument – existence of God as an explanation of how
things came to being in our reality
- St. Thomas Aquinas referred God as “prime mover”, “first cause of
existence, “source of being”
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – German philosopher & mathematician
- “Principle of sufficient reason”
- Kalam cosmological argument (God is the cause that
brought about beginning of universe):
Everything that has beginning has cause.
The universe has a beginning.
Therefore, the universe has a cause.
4. Moral argument – by William Sorley (Scottish) in early 20th century
- man’s ethical nature is brought about by existence of God
- God is representation of the greteast ideal, “the greatest good” and
from him, all standards of goodness are based

THREE DISTINCT GROUPS ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

1. Theism – believe in the existence of God

2. Agnosticism –considers metaphysical concepts such as God to be
inherently unknowable
3. Atheism – rejection/non-belief in the existence of God/any deity

IF GOD EXISTS, WHAT IS HIS ROLE IN OUR LIVES?

 Creator
 Plays central role in “redemptive salvation”
 Takes active role in the human condition “divine providence”
 Presence may be immanent / transcendent
Immanence – God as unique entity
- Christian doctrine recognizes God’s immanence thorugh Jesus Christ
- Upon Christ’s resurrection & ascension, God’s presence continues to
guide humanity through Holy Spirit
Transcendence – God as existing outside the material world, and whose
presence is beyond physical laws

RELIGIOUS VIEWS WITH IMMANENCE & TRANSCENDENCE ELEMENTS

 Panentheistic – Christian belief that God is both beyond & within the
universe
 Pantheistic – God is an all-encompassing presence in the universe &
has no distinct presence as an entity
 Pandeistic – god was a distinct entity but lost this state when
transformed himself into the universe

SECULAR VIEWS TRANSCENDENCE EMPHASIZE ROLE OF HUMAN

PERSON:
 Immanuel Kant – human transcendence is based on rationality
 Jean-Paul Sartre – considers person’s ability to comprehend & relate
to object & beings outside of his own self as an indication of
transcendence.

HOW CAN WE APPLY SPIRITUAL CONCEPTS IN OUR LIVES?

Human life is a relationship with the spiritual and divine.

Religion – plays important part in defining human life and actions of people
Transcendence – not confined mainly to God but also human experience
- Establish connection withdivine through transcendental experiences:
prayer, meditation, & visions