Photo by Mihai Surdu on Unsplash
A simple explanation from a Christian viewpoint
As a former personal trainer and author, I shared my belief that exercise and healthy eating are to the body what prayer and Bible study are to the spirit.
As a Christian, I believe a whole person comprises body, spirit, and soul. But not all people share this belief. Christians and atheists have different views of the concepts of body, spirit, and soul.
Body
We both agree the body is the tangible, physical part of a human being. It includes organs, muscles, and bones and interacts with the world through the five senses. It requires food, water, and rest to function.
As a personal trainer, my clients wanted me to help them improve their bodies through training on exercise and healthy eating.
As a Christian, I believe the body is a temporary home for the spirit and soul. My body is wonderfully made by God and my body houses the Holy Spirit.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14, NIV)
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19, NIV)
An atheist believes the body is made of physical matter and functions based on biology and science.
Spirit
The spirit is often associated with a deeper, immortal aspect of a person.
It gives a person a sense of purpose and meaning.
As an author, I referred to improving spiritual practices through teachings on prayer and Bible study.
As a Christian, I believe the spirit is distinct from the body and enables communication and relationship with God. It is eternal and guided by the Holy Spirit.
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8, NIV)
An atheist does not believe in an immaterial or divine spiritual connection. Instead, some use “spirit” as a metaphor for mental or emotional states. They believe consciousness and emotions arise from the brain and stop when a person dies.
Soul
The soul is made up of the mind, emotions, and will. It gives a person their unique personality and makes them a distinct individual. It is sometimes described as the bridge between the body and spirit.
As a personal trainer, I didn’t specifically address the client’s soul. However, we often worked on the “battlefield of the mind” when it came to exercise resistance and eating habits.
As a Christian, I believe the soul — like the spirit — lives beyond death. It holds thoughts, emotions, and personality.
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7, NIV)
Atheists do not believe in a soul. Instead, they see personality and emotions as brain functions.
I’m a visual learner and enjoy analogies. One that helped me to grasp the difference between body, spirit, and soul is to compare it to a computer.
The body is the hardware (keyboard, screen, processor).
The spirit is the electricity or battery power (connection).
The soul is the software and operating system (thoughts, emotions, personality).
Spirit & Soul
At one time, I thought the spirit and the soul were the same thing. I’m not alone as many people use the terms interchangeably. But biblically, they refer to different aspects of a person.
In Christian teachings, although the soul and spirit are both eternal, the soul represents a person’s unique, conscious self while the spirit is the connection with God.
When a person dies, the body decays and returns to the earth (Genesis 3:19), the spirit returns to its source — God (Ecclesiastes 12:7), and the soul continues to exist either in the presence of God (Revelation 21:3–4) or eternal separation from Him (Revelation 20:15).
At Jesus Christ’s second coming, the body will be resurrected and transformed into a glorified body (1 Corinthians 15:52), and the soul and spirit will be reunited with this new body.
There are other belief systems (i.e. New Age, Indigenous Beliefs, Gnosticism) that believe the soul and spirit have different fates after death. But Christianity teaches that although the soul and spirit are distinct, they go to the same destination after death.
As a born-again Christian, I look forward to the day when my whole self (body, spirit, and soul) will be united with Jesus in heaven.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NIV)