Visual Model of Jesus' Humanity
The four aspects of humanity are presented in four different colored circles (labeled 1 to 4). The purpose is not to separate them, but to differentiate them for discussion purposes only.
The four circles have neither beginning nor end, and each is connected to the other in a continuous line to emphasize their connectedness and wholeness; not their separateness. The four circles are also equal in size to demonstrate that all four aspects of humanity are essential and equally important. The overlapping of the four circles depicts the interaction (labeled 5-8) and the total integration (the center, labeled 9) of the four aspects. The dotted lines used in the model signify that the four aspects are openly and continuously acting and interacting, firstly with each other, and secondly with their environments, with God and Satan acting as two major influences. Lastly, they are being influenced and acted upon by the environment. Satan might be the ruler and authority of this dark world and of the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm (Eph 6:10-12), but God is the ultimate King and Ruler of all.
To better understand the model, the following definitions of each of the four aspects of humanity are included. The body includes the physical body, sexuality and gender, physical health and growth, illness, aging, and death. Mind/heart encompasses reasoning, learning, logic, and knowledge; it also includes emotions: feelings, love/caring, suffering, compassion, and personalities; additionally, it includes morals and sense of right or wrong, justice, conscience, characters, commitments, will, creativity (in art, poetry, music, drama), and wisdom or the ability to integrate them all. Culture/social includes family, community, society, and cultural influence.
The Spirit (pneuma)[1] is used to mean the human spirit, human insofar as he or she belongs to the spiritual realm and interacts with the spiritual realm. “The spirit of the man is that aspect of the man through which God most immediately encounters him, that dimension of the whole human wherein and whereby he or she is most immediately open and responsive to God, that area of human awareness most sensitive to matters of the spiritual realm.” Examples would be the deep desire inherent in human nature for eternal things or the longing to have a relationship with God Eternal, or childlike wonder, or the desire to worship, or to search for the meaning of life. Prayer (talking and listening to God), meditation, and spiritual growth/sickness could be all included in this area.
The word “soul” (psyche) is not used in the diagram since, most of the time in Scripture, soul stands for the whole person, the entire being[1] as David Augsburger used it when he talked about wholistic pastoral care (as “soul making”). Dallas Willard used it in his lecture in a very similar way. He used the analogy of the control knob on a washing machine that coordinates and organizes all the different aspects or parts of the washing machine to ensure the smooth working of the whole machine. “Psyche,” therefore, is defined as, first, “that which makes a body…into a living being…in other words, that which is alive.” [2][A1] In the New Testament, soul is the seat of life or life itself, such as in Luke 17:33, “whoever would save his life (psyche) will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake…will save it.” “Psyche embraces the whole natural being and life of man for which he concerns himself and of which he takes constant care.”[3] Second, “psyche is the sensitive part of the life of the ego, the seat of the emotions, of love, of longing, and of gladness…it is the uniting factor for the inner power of man.”[4] It is, therefore, more than merely the “life” but “the whole man, with all that he believes, hopes and strives for.”[5] Brown also points out that in Luke 1:46, “soul is used in parallel with spirit. Both have here the meaning of the whole inner man, in contrast to the outward aspect of lips and speech. Above all, soul spoken here…is the seat of the religious life and of man’s relationship to God.”[6]
[1] David’s Augsburger’s class lecture from “Pastoral Care as Soul Making,” Summer, 2000 and Dallas Willard’s class “Spirituality and Ministry,” Spring 2006. One of the quotations that Augsburger used in his lecture was by a physicist name Paul Davies: “What stuff is the soul made of? The question is as meaningless as asking what stuff citizenship or Wednesday are made of. The soul is the holistic concept. It is not made of stuff at all. Where is the soul located? Nowhere. To talk of the soul as being in a place is as misconceived as trying to locate the number seven or Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Such concepts are not in space at all.” Willard also uses the analogy of a cell-phone in his book with Randy Frazee, Renovation of the Heart (Colorado Springs: Think, 2005), 39, and more discussion of soul on pages 196-215.
Another way to demonstrate the inseparable characteristics of the four aspects of humanity is to study the New Testament Greek translation of Deuteronomy 6:5 and the similar passages in the New Testament[1] (for the usage of “heart, soul, strength, spirit” and the conjunction “and”). Each of the four aspects, heart, soul, strength, and mind, has its own definite article, meaning they are indeed four different aspects. The Sharp’s rule[2] clearly states that “if two substantives are connected by kai and both have the article, they refer to different persons or things...; if the first has an article and the second does not, the second refers to the same person or thing as the first....”
However, the three Greek coordinating conjunctions, “ands,” that connect them all, also indicate that the four aspects are one fully connected and integrated unit.[3] As in a quartet, four people are playing the same musical number, but using four different instruments. Sometimes they might be playing the same notes, sometimes not. Sometimes one instrument stops playing, and others go on. Sometimes one is playing more softly than the others, sometimes more strongly. All the time, though, each musician listens to and interacts with the others. Only when all four parts are melded and integrated with each other in complete harmony can the quartet bring out the true beauty, riches, and fullness of that particular piece of music!
[1] Matt 22:37, Luke 10:27, and Mark 12:30 said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.”
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