What is man? What is his composition?

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III addresses the nature of man and his composition: body, soul, and spirit, clarifying the distinctions between them as the Holy Scripture describes, and pointing to the relations among these elements and how each affects the other in the life of holiness and sin.

Basic idea

1. Man is composed of a body, a soul, and a spirit; each element has its role: the soul gives bodily life, and the spirit is the element of union with God and spiritual life.

2. The Holy Scripture uses the word “soul” in several meanings: the bodily life element, the whole person, and sometimes it is used interchangeably with “spirit” according to context.

3. The human spirit is a breath of human life and not the Spirit of God; therefore man can sin and the human spirit may fall as the angels fell.

Spiritual and educational dimension

4. The first sin began in the spirit (the desire for greatness) and then included the body; the spirit may tempt the body or the body may lead the spirit into sin.

5. Conscience and mind and spiritual attributes can err; conscience is a voice given by God to man but it is not the absolute voice of God.

6. Worship and bodily actions (such as prostration, removing shoes, and fasting before communion) help the spirit enter into reverence, because body and spirit affect one another.

Man in the image of God

7. Man was created in the image of God in righteousness, holiness, knowledge, authority, and freedom: these attributes are shared but limited in man and unlimited in God, and man carries within him a longing for the infinite and for God.

8. Freedom brings responsibility; God gave man freedom of choice knowing that its consequences might require divine salvation (incarnation and redemption).

Theological and practical issues

9. Questions were discussed such as whether the spirit is created or born (a patristic debate between Augustine and Jerome) and its impact on understanding baptism and the issue of abortion, affirming the sanctity of the fetus and a categorical rejection of abortion.

10. The union of body and spirit in one nature of man was affirmed, similar to how the union of divinity and humanity in Christ is one nature of the incarnate Word; man likewise is one unit where body and spirit are not separable.

Brief conclusion

The lecture calls for a practical awareness that bodily practice, spiritual commitment, and conscientious discipline are integrated in the life of holiness, while acknowledging human weakness and the need for God’s forgiveness and grace.

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