A BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY
This web page is a presentation of A Biblical Psychology. It is called Biblical rather than Christian because this would include the Old as well as the New Testaments. It is also named A Biblical Psychology rather than The recognizing that other ones could be proposed. The discussion, after an introduction, will consist of three parts: The Presentation in the Old Testament in which will be discussed the various words used, The Particulars in the New Testament in which again the words will be discussed, and The Proposal of A Bible Psychology.
INTRODUCTION
The word Psychology consists of two Greek words, namely, psuche which is generally rendered soul and logos which basically means word but has come to mean study of. Thus, Psychology is the study of the soul. The term has come to mean "the science of mental processes and behavior." (The American Heritage Dictionary, 1000; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., c1962)
1. The basic terms. As has been discussed on the web page
Man, mankind is a trinity as God is. There are
four basic terms that refer to the soul. These are soul, heart, flesh
and mind.
a. The word soul is the translation primarily
of the word nephesh in the Old Testament and psuche
in the New. Based on Genesis 2:7, it can be said that man IS a soul.
Man's very inner being is a soul. On the other hand, it may be
said that man HAS a spirit. This may well explain the difference between
soul and spirit in man. The spirit of man is the energizer of
the soul. (See the diagram at the beginning of this page)
Again Genesis 2:7 bears this out. The soul is the seat of the
emotions, intellect and will.
b. This can be seen in the use of the word heart
(kardia) and is closely associated with the word "reins."
What is in view here in NOT the physical organ which pumps the blood
through our bodies, but it is closely associated with the psychological heart,
for the Scripture teaches that "the life of the flesh is in the
blood." (Leviticus 17:11) The term "reins" general refers to the
emotional aspect that is apparent in other physical organs.
The close association of the soul with the body makes its
difficult to separate the two in this discussion. What a person thinks
and feels affects their physical bodies. Emotional upset results in definite
physical upset. The reverse is also true; if persons' physical
bodies are not well, it affects the soul.
c. The word flesh. The third term used in
respect to the soul also has its physical counterpart. It is the word
"flesh" which is the rendering of the Greek sarks in the New
Testament.
1) Sometimes the word is used to refer
to the physical flesh without and reference to the soul. Peter
in his sermon on Pentecost refers to David in this way.
2) The second use of the word is
nearly equivalent to our word mankind. This usage is seen in
1 Peter 1:24, 25 and would include both the physical aspect and nonphysical
aspect of man.
3) The third meaning is the one
associated with the soul exclusively. It has reference to the
moral nature of man as expressed through the physical flesh--hence
its usage in this regard. There are numerous passages that show this
aspect of the flesh which are not related to the physical body as such, although
they are inevitably expressed through the body. Thus, this term has
its ethical significance as well as physical. The difficulty in explaining
this matter is seen in the fact that persons' souls are so closely linked
to and associated with their physical bodies. (See the diagram at the beginning
of this page) From this develops the word "carnal." (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1-4)
It is used of a believer who life is dominated by the flesh and
not the Spirit of God. A Spirit-filled believer must eat, sleep,
wash, etc. as much as does an unbeliever. The difference is, however,
a Spirit-filled person has his life yielded to the Holy Spirit; the carnal
believer does not and is often indistinguishable from the natural man--the
unsaved. The struggle in one's daily life is right at this point:
which will dominate, the Holy Spirit or the flesh?
d. The mind (a term also occurring in the Bible)
is a part of the soul, but it is closely associated with the physical organ,
the brain. The mind is more than one's brains. Paul speaks
of "the mind of the Spirit" and "the mind of the flesh."
Romans 7:25 and Romans 8:7 speak of these among others.
The various terms will be discussed and from it develop a psychology.
THE PRESENTATION OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT
In this section are presented the various Old Testament words that pertain to the soul.
A. Nephesh. By far the most common word in the Old Testament
that refers to the soul is the word nephesh. The word has several
renderings in King James Version. It is mainly rendered by the word
"soul." Each use will be consider in turn. The word comes from the
unused verb form, naphash, which means "to breathe strongly", or "to
pant" (Gesenius, Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co, Grand Rapids, MI, c1950. p. 558). From this the primary meaning
of the word nephesh means "breath" (used very limitedly about 13 times;
Genesis 2:7 being prime example--but note it is qualified by the words "of
life.").
1. Soul. The rendering of
nephesh as "soul" is by far the largest use (covering five columns
in Robert Young, Analytical Concordance to the Bible, Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI; 22nd American Edition); it is almost
equivalent to the word "life" (occurring 101 times) or "person" (almost
equivalent to ruach) which it is frequently used especially in the
sustaining of life, or the vital principle.
This equivalence is seen in many of the
passages, Genesis 9:4, 5 being typical. However, there are also many
passages that suggest that the soul is more than just life, but has to do
with the inner being of man. Genesis 2:7 seems to distinguish
between life and soul, though it is sometimes difficult to discern between
the two; this is largely because of the close connection of the
soul to the body.
Psalm 35:9 seems to separate the soul
from the body whereas Psalm 35:13 shows the close connection between body
and soul in respect to fasting. Isaiah 10:18 shows that the body and
soul are separate. The word is used with a suffix that makes it equivalent
to "myself", "thyself", etc. In some cases it seems to take the place
of the personal pronoun.
2. Mind. The second word that
nephesh is rendered by is "mind", used some 15 times. It
is used as the seat of the senses, affections, and emotions making
almost equivalent to "heart." It refers to modes of feelings
and acting. This notion appears in Deuteronomy 13:6; but the mind seems
to be distinguished from the heart in 1 Samuel 2:33. Then it is also
used to refer to the understanding and faculty of thinking. Genesis
23:8 seems to convey this notion.
3. Heart. Nephesh is rendered by
the word "heart" 15 times. The term doubtlessly refers mostly to the
emotional aspect of man. An interesting usage is in Proverbs
23:7--"For as he thinketh in his heart . . . ." showing a strong connection
between "mind" and "heart."
B. Leb. The word leb together with its feminine form,
lebah (lebbah), constitutes the next major word referring to
the soul. Its main rendering is the word "heart" with a few passages
rendering it "mind" or "understanding." This again shows the close
connection between mind and heart. Gesenius (Op.cit.,
427) gives three meanings of the word: heart as the soul, or
life; heart as the seat of the emotions; and heart as intelligence
and wisdom. The word is used those ways, but the King James Version
only uses the words, "heart" and "mind." There are also a few instances
in which the word is used in the sense of "in the middle of" or "in the midst
of." These few occurrences are a metaphorical usage and do not concern
this study.
1. Heart. As stated, the primary rendering
of leb and its feminine form, lebah, is the word "heart."
The word leb covers 4 1/2 columns in Young's Concordance and
the feminine form, lebah, covering two columns. Doubtlessly
most of the references refer to the heart as the seat of emotions (or
affections, or senses). Some clearly use the word rendered as "heart"
to refer to the mind or intellect. Job 12:3 uses the word in this
way, rendering it "understanding." Notwithstanding, the primary meaning
of "heart" as the seat of the emotions is quite clear in the
Old Testament.
2. Mind. As already indicated, the word
leb, and the feminine form, lebah, is rendered as "mind" and
sometimes as "understanding." The word leb is rendered "mind" in 12
verses and the feminine form is translated as "mind" four times. These renderings
best fit the context when translated into English. The 29 renderings
do show that the thought life is connected with the emotional life. Thus,
it would seem that there is no real thought or thinking apart from some emotional
content.
3. Understanding and Wisdom. The word
leb is rendered 10 times as "understanding." The feminine form
is translated as "understanding" three times. Besides this the word
leb is also rendered as "wisdom." It occurs 6 times, once in
Job, four times in Proverbs, and once in Ecclesiastes. Wisdom is very
close to understanding, but there is a distinction. Understanding
has to do with comprehension whereas wisdom has to do with the practical
use of understanding. It would seem, therefore, that understanding
must precede wisdom.
C. Meim. The word meim occurs 25 times. It is rendered heart in Psalm 40:8; all the rest of the occurrences are translated "bowels." It doubtlessly was a reference to the intestinal region which one feels during emotions. Thus, it conveys the emotional aspect of the soul. About four references, however, have the meaning of descended from a person. A few have the meaning of "belly" (cf. Jonah 2:1) with at least four of those having reference to the womb. Most of the remaining references have to do as stated with the soul.
D. Chakam and related terms. The word chakam occurs at least 110 times with the rendering of "wise" occurring 102 times and the meaning of "to be wise", 8 times. It is found in Psalm 105:22 with the rendering of "wisdom." The term chokmah occurs 154 times with the primary meaning of "wisdom", and some with the meaning of "wise." The word chokmoth meaning "wisdom" occurs in Psalm 49:3 and 3 times in Proverbs. The word chakkim has 14 occurances rendered "wise", all in Daniel.
E. Binah. The word binah has the main meaning of "understand" and occurs 31 times with a few others with related meanings such as "wisdom" and "knowledge." There are besides numerous words from the verb form, bin. In this treatise on this subject it would not be possible to cite every rendering, but all the meanings are related to the word "understanding."
F. Sakal. The word sakal is a verb form occurring more than 50 times in various tenses with the general idea of "to make to understand" and "to become wise." The precise word or words used depends on the context and are more varied than need be mentioned here. It also is sometimes used in the negative sense of "foolish." A related noun, sekel, is used 16 times with the meaning of "wisdom", "understanding", "knowledge", and related words. It is used once in the negative sense of "folly" in Ecclesiastes 10:6.
G. Other terms. There are other words related to the soul that
occur either singlely or few in number.
The word libbah appears in 8 verses and is generally
rendered "heart." The word, ruach, usually rendered "spirit"
is translated 6 times as "mind." A look at the diagram at the top shows
that the spirit controls the soul which includes the mind; thus, it is natural
to render it as "mind" when the context demands it. The word
bal, a Chaldean word. is used in Daniel 6:14 as "heart." The
word sekui basically meaning "covered part" is rendered "heart" in
Job 38:36. The word qereb is used in Jeremiah 9:8 as "heart"
and in Psalm 109:18 as "bowels." Its general meaning seems to be "center"
or "midst."
The word peh is used in Leviticus 24:12 with the
meaning of "mind." It seems to mean "mouth" with derived meanings
of "edge" or "border", or "part", or portion." There are, of
course, some other derived meanings not pertinent to this study. The
term yetser is rendered "mind" in Isaiah 26:3. The basic meaning
is "to form" or "fashion." A common rendering is "imagination", a term
certainly related to the mind. The word neshamah with a general
meaning of "breath" is rendered "soul" in Isaiah 57:16. Finally,
the term chalatsayim with the meaning of "loins", from a verb
meaning "to be active", is translated "reins" in Isaiah 11:3.
There remains the word kelayoth. It is a
feminine plural word with the meaning of "kidneys" used 18 times in
referring primarily to that physical part of animals including man.
It is rendered 13 times as "reins", twice in Job, 5 times in the Psalms,
Proverbs 23:16, 4 times in Jeremiah, and in Lamentations 3:13. The
general idea of "reins" has to do with the emotional aspect of a
person.
There are many other terms other than the ones covered
here. Most of them are the verbal forms of these words
with similar meaning. Thus, the word for "understanding" in the verb
form would take on the notion of "to cause to understand" or simply
"to understand" or "to make one understand." From this brief presentation
it is clear that quite a few words are used to denote various aspects of
the soul. It is natural that certain words, like
nephesh, would predominate. Also it should be evident
that the soul has both mental and emotional qualities.
THE PARTICULARS OF
THE NEW
TESTAMENT
In this section are presented the various New Testament words that pertain to the soul.
A. Kardia. Surprisingly, the most often used word pertaining
to the soul in the New Testament is not psuche (from which the word
"Psychology" is derived), but kardia generally rendered "heart."
This word occurs 158 times and does refer at times to the physical
organ. It is thus considered the center of physical life. More
often it refers to "the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions,
desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors" (John Henry Thayer,
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. It is Grimm's
Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised, and enlarged. New
York: American Book Company, c1889--Harper & Brothers, page 325.)
It is evident, therefore, that this word is concerned
with the emotional aspect of the soul. The term is also used
of the understanding, and the faculty and seat of intelligence.
As pictured in the diagram above the soul is associated with the physical
body so that it is most natural to use the physical part to depict the
non-physical soul. Besides, it is well known that with increased emotional
activity one's heart beats faster. Here we see the close connection
between the soul and body (as we can also observe such a connection between
spirit and soul).
B. Psuche. The next most common word for the soul is psuche. Its most common rendering is "soul" occurring 58 times. It is translated "life" 40 times, but only three times as "mind" in Acts 14:8, Philippians 1:27, and Hebrews 12:3; it is given as "heart" in Ephesians 6:6. Its primary meaning seems to be "breath", thus, the vital force. It is distinct from pneuma which primarily means "a movement of air." Though the word kardia is used more frequently, this word is the general term for the soul.
C. Nous and related words. The word nous is used 24 times
in the New Testament. 17 of these are rendered "mind" while 7 are
translated as "understanding." Its primarily meaning seems to be the
mind as the faculty of perceiving and understanding.
A related word dianoia occurs 13 times; rendered
"mind" 9 times; "understanding", 3 times; and once as "imagination." It is
similar to nous, and it is really a composite of
dia--through and nous--mind. Thus, it would almost
take the meaning of "thinking through."
Another related word is ennoia with just two
occurrences, one in 1 Peter 4:1 where it is rendered "mind" and Hebrews 4:12
where it is translated "intents." It is composed of
en--in plus nous given the idea of "thinking in"
or "consideration" or "meditation." Perhaps the lesser used word "musing"
would be fairly accurate rendering.
The word noema is another associated word used
6 times. Four of these are rendered "mind" while "thought" is
used once and "device" also once. Doubtlessly, this word is derived
from the verb noeo which occurs 14 times. Ten of these
are rendered "understand", two of them as "perceive" and one each for
"think" and "consider."
D. Splagchna. The word Splagchna appears in 9 verses with 5 occurrences in the verb form. Its most common rendering is "bowels" refering to the intestines and other vital organs such as heart, lungs, liver, etc.(cf. Thayer, op. cit., 584, 585). Two of the occurrences are rendered "bowels of compassion" and "inward affection." Obviously, this term refers to the emotional aspect of the soul, for all these vital organs are more active under emotions. The verb form is generally rendered "moved with compassion" or "have compassion."
E. Other terms. Several other terms are used in regard to the mind.
The chief one is gnome occurring 8 times. It
has the notion of "the faculty of knowing, mind, reason, that which
is thought or known, view, judgment, opinion." (Thayer, op. cit.,
119) Two verses where it is rendered "mind" are Philemon 14 and Revelation
17:13.
The word phronema is used in Romans 8:7, 27 as
"mind." It conveys the idea of "what one has in mind, the thoughts
and purposes" (Thayer, op. cit., 658). The verb form
phroneo gives the thought of "be minded" and occurs in Romans
8:5 and Philippians 3:16, 19; two related phrases are phreneo toute
in Philippians 2:5 rendered "let this mind be" and to auto phreneo
in Romans 12:16 translated "like minded."
Mello appears in Acts 20:13 and some other passages
with the concept of "to intend, have in mind" (op. cit, 396). The
term itself seems simply to mean "to be about to do anything"
(Ibid.).
One other word of interest is in Revelation 2:23.
It is nephros which basically means "kidney"; thus, in the plural
it means "kidneys" or "loins". It is rendered "reins."
It should be evident that the New Testament words continue the meaning of the Hebrew words (and so used in the LXX) in regard to the soul. There may be a few other words that were not mentioned, but these give a good picture of what the New Testament means by the soul.
THE PROPOSAL OF A
BIBLICAL
PSYCHOLOGY
Thus far in this web page, most of the words in both the Old and New Testament that pertain to the soul have been presented. 2 Thessalonians 5:23 declares, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Bold type is for emphasis.) This verse sets forth the tripartite nature of man. The emphasis here has been on the second element, the soul. What then is the nature of the soul? It certainly is immaterial, although some of the terms used have physical connotations--which is the result of the soul working through the physical body. It is evident from the words used that the soul is at least "mind" and "emotions." This writer suggests that there is a third element, the action of the soul through the body.
A. Mind. That the mind is part of the soul should be evident.
The mind is more than just the gray matter between one's ears. The
brain is the physical storage place. Precisely how it works has not
been fully established. It appears to store information, etc. by some
electro-chemical means, much like a battery stores energy or as a computer
stores information.
The Bible presents the mind as the thinking part of
the soul. A person can think thoughts without moving a muscle.
It would seem, therefore, that thinking is more than just a physical
matter. A thought can't be measured by any known means; it can only
be known by the expression of that thought by some physical means such
as the mouth or as this writer is doing here by the typing of words.
A thought is only of value to the thinker until he expresses
it in some way or another. The same thing can be said of a piece of
art; art conceived in the soul by thought is of no value except
to the artist until that conception is converted into a physical form that
others can perceive whether by the ear, eye, nose, tongue (as in tasting),
or by touch.
Any refinement of examining anything still, in
the final analysis, relies on the five senses as does the presentation of
anything to others. Thus, the mind aspect of the soul can perform
a function to the individual without anyone else, but it must convey that
function through the body to be able present it to others.
B. Emotions. The emotional aspect of the soul has to do
with feelings. Without doubt the mind has an active part for a person
cannot separate the two completely. Whereas one can think without emotion
or feelings, the reverse is nearly impossible. When a person experiences
an emotion, the mind invariable comes into play to some extent. The
extent to which the mind controls the emotions determines the level of
maturity. This is not to say that a new born (or even the unborn
child) has no mental activity; rather its emotions are the controlling factor.
If it feels hunger, it cries until fed. If it bangs
its arm or leg against an object, it again cries until the hurt is soothed
or subsides. It may not know why it feels hunger or pain, but that
does not mean that no thought process takes place.
The interrelationship of the emotions and the mind
is so close, that the separation of the two may difficult to discern.
Take the word "love" (so much batted around these days); is it only an emotional
thing? Some would argue that it is only physical; this writer disagrees.
Love may be expressed through the body, but a person can experience
love with only mental activity. One may argue that such activity originally
had a physical basis; doubtlessly, there is some truth to that, but on the
other hand, could one really recognize what love is without some intuitive
concept of it? This, of course, gets into the realm of
philosophy which was treated in A Biblical
Philosophy. Nevertheless, feelings (or emotions)--whatever
their original source--can be experienced apart from any current physical
input (although there may have been some physical input in the past--then
memory comes into play).
C. Relation to others. As repeatedly suggested, the soul can
only express itself to others through the body. This can be done verbally
or by writing. A person can not express his love for another apart
from some use of the body. The diagram at the beginning shows
this. The spirit (of which little has been said here) influences
the soul; the soul in turn affects the body. A person can't even eat
without interaction between body and soul.
A completely paralyzed person (or unconscious--whatever
that really is) may have to be fed intravenously; but it is not possible
to ascertain whether there is soul activity because the body has no way to
express it. It would be the same as if a person just sat in a
chair without moving; one could not tell whether any activity is going on
(Consider a person dozing off which sitting). The individual could be thinking
about many things known only to himself, but until those thoughts are expressed
through the body in some way, there can be no relation of those thoughts
to others. A classical example is the grandfather in the Count of
Monte Cristo who could only communicate with a closing of the
eye; yet as indicated in that fictional story, he was thinking as well
experiencing emotion.
It is evident, therefore, that though the Bible speaks
of man as tripartite, it is not easy to distinguish between the three
parts. As previously expressed, the spirit is to control the soul which
in turn is to control the body. If the spirit is out of whack,
then the soul will be affected, and again, the body. The reverse can
also be true. If the body is sick, then it affects the soul which
in turn has an effect on the spirit. Many believers when physically
ill, think they have lost their salvation.
An attempt has been tried in this web page to get some
insight into the nature of the soul. The soul evidently is both
mind and emotions (or feelings), and it interacts with others through the
body. This writer knows he has only scratched the surface of this
vital subject, but perhaps he has interested others to follow up on a further
study of the soul.