Part 2 – Body and Soul

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Mystery of Man & His Search.

Now we will consider the Physical Body and the Soul of man’s being in our study of “The Mystery of Man & His Search.”

The Physical Body:

Everyone is aware of his own body. It is physical, tangible, and lends itself to scientific investigation. If you ask a chemist, “What is man?” he might produce an analysis, pointing to the facts that man consists of so much water, nitrogen, carbon, and other elements. Yet, he refers to only the physical part of man’s being. Man’s body certainly is made of the elements of the earth, just as stated in the Bible. “the Lord God formed the man from the dust [dirt] of the ground …” (Genesis 2:7a)

Since the beginning of history, man has sought to be free from the limitations of his physical body, to touch something that will satisfy his deepest inner longing. People try sex, drugs, alcohol, and systems of physical aesthetics, physical asceticism, and the ‘virtual electronic world,’ ever trying to find new ways of pleasing their physical senses. Yet, they only find that nothing really satisfies that inner hunger. Physical and sensual pleasure is so fleeting. Although man has managed to prolong his biological life, still every man comes to the point where he has to admit that the body is a literal… dead end.

What about the Metaphysical – The Unseen Non-Physical Parts of Man?

A psychologist would describe man as more than a mere physical being; man is also a psychological being. In short, man is a thinking, feeling, and willing entity. He is not mere animated dust, but a real live individual person. Each person has their uniquely distinctive personality.

The Soul of Man:

Your real self, he would explain, is your inner-self, your hidden psychological self, while your physical body is just the outward shell of your being. This, the psychologist would say, “Is you.” Scripture confirms this as ‘the soul of man.”

The psychological part of man is the soul of man. The word “psyche” comes from the Greek, “psuche,” which is translated in our Bible as the “soul” of man.

“…The first man Adam was made a living soul (1 Cor. 15:45a)

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Heb. ruach, spirit] of life; and [simultaneously] man became a living soul [Heb. neshamah].” (Genesis 2:7)

Psychology is the study of man’s soul organ. Man’s soul organ includes his three faculties of the mind,’ ‘emotions,’ and ‘will,’ these three comprising each person’s unique inner self.

If you were to ask the psychologist about man, he might say that beside his body, every person has a more inward, hidden composition within him, it is his soul. Man has a mind that provides self-consciousness and awareness as his thinking organ. Man’s soul also has emotions as the faculty by which he is capable of loving, hating, being depressed or elated. He might also point out that man has volition, it is his will for choosing, judging, and deciding.

The last two centuries of human history have spectacularly demonstrated the soul’s power. The minds of men have contributed an abundance of thought and discovery. The great minds and wills of men have produced an abundance of decisive action, for good and evil, in science, empires, governments, and cultures. Without doubt the soul has soared to its zenith in recent history – yet in spite of man’s accomplishments, the sense of inner emptiness remains. This is evidenced as we note the number of dissatisfied unhappy people by the current rates of suicide, addictions and the divorce. Such destructive and hurtful decisions arise from the ‘sick souls’ of unfulfilled humans.

We as man can conquer the moon, work with nanotechnology, investigate the genome of man, and generate stem cell manufactured organs, but still, deep within every man’s self, there remains some yet uncharted territory. highest thoughts are soon forgotten, his deepest emotions quickly fade, the fleeting pleasure of sin soon turns sour, and his most adamant determination of will falters.

Thus, the capacity of man’s soul is inadequate to satisfy man’s deepest desire. So, the search for a key to the mystery of man’ for most people continues … but always ending in dissatisfaction and frustration.

As we will see in the next installment, there is a place located deep within man, and a simple “way” to get there… where there is fulness of joy, satisfaction, and peace for sick souls… to come to “rest.”