By: Brian G. Chilton, M.Div., Ph.D. | December 8, 2024
Recently, I was honored to be asked to teach some classes on philosophy for the Carolina College of Biblical Studies. As I have dived into the material for these classes, I have been taken aback by the different philosophical frameworks presented by the three major philosophers of antiquity: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. One particular topic that captured my attention was the various concepts of the human soul. Though the genius of these philosophers cannot be overstated, it is interesting how the biblical portrayal of the soul is far richer and more profound than the minds of these philosophical giants. Before examining the biblical viewpoint of the soul, let’s first journey through the thoughts of Plato, his predecessor, Socrates, and Aristotle.
Plato’s Philosophical View of the Soul
Plato’s philosophy was directly impacted by his mentor Socrates. Socrates did not write anything down himself. His teachings are preserved through the writings of Plato.
Both Socrates and Plato were realists, meaning that they believed that an immaterial world existed separately from the material world. The soul was part of this immaterial reality known as Ideas. The soul, numbers, concepts, and morality all existed separately from the material realm. Platonists maintain that the soul can exist separately from the body and may even reincarnate into different forms.
Platonism views the material world with great disdain. The body, for the Platonist, is nothing more than a prison for the soul. The goal was to be released from this body of flesh and to connect with the divine. Platonism impacted the early heretical Christian movement known as Gnosticism. Gnostics held that two Gods were involved in the creation of the world. The good God created all the immaterial realities, whereas an evil God created the material world. Gnosticism was deemed heretical by the late first century and early second century church. Some of John’s writings in the New Testament were likely directed toward proto-Gnostic leanings,[1] as did some of Paul’s writings (e.g., 1 Tim. 6:20).[2]
Aristotle’s Philosophical View of the Soul
One of Plato’s star pupils was a student named Aristotle, a man who would become a prominent philosopher in his own right. Aristotle refined some of what he viewed as the problem areas of Platonic thinking. In Aristotle’s philosophy, the material world was not evil. It was interconnected with the immaterial realm in a fashion far more impressionable than what Plato, and Socrates before him, had considered.
But what is the soul? Aristotle defined the soul as “the first actuality of a natural organic body potentially having life.”[3] Aristotle held that the soul is the undergirding principle, called the form, that gives the body its shape and identity. Because of the interconnectedness between the soul and body, Aristotle believed that the soul was inseparable from the body.[4]
The problem with Aristotle’s concept of the soul is that it is questionable whether he accepted that the soul could live on past death—a concept known as the immortality of the soul. It does appear that Aristotle sought grounds for asserting the soul survives death, but he was largely unsuccessful. In addition to his problems with the immortality of the soul, Aristotelianism poses problems when it comes to Aristotle’s concept that the world is eternal and his seeming denial of divine providence.[5]
The Biblical View of the Soul
St. Thomas Aquinas saw the benefits of Aristotelianism, but he was troubled by the problems that Aristotelianism caused. The genius of Aquinas, whether one agrees or disagrees with his concepts, is that he was able to Christianize Aristotelian concepts. He accepted divine providence, the finite nature of the world (though some may disagree), and the immortality of the soul.[6] Aquinas maintained that the soul was incorruptible, meaning that the soul could not be destroyed.[7]
But what does the Bible say about the soul? The Bible strongly speaks of the soul as an immaterial entity (like Platonism) that is connected to the body (like Aristotelianism). Scripture strongly suggests that the soul survives death. In his conversation with Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25–26a).[8] The latter part of Jesus’s teaching features a triple negative, which is comparable to saying, “It is impossible for anyone who lives and believes in me to die.”
Other passages that indicate the immortality of the soul include Genesis 35:18, James 2:26, Genesis 25:8, Job 19:25–26, Psalm 16:10–11, Ecclesiastes 3:21, Ecclesiastes 12:5–7, Matthew 17:3, Matthew 22:31–32, Luke 16:22–24, John 19:30, Acts 7:56 and 59, and many, many more.
Conclusion
Materialism was one philosophical viewpoint that was not discussed. That is the view that only material and physical objects exist and immaterial entities, like the soul, do not. However, there was no real need to discuss this concept as it never became popular until the Age of Enlightenment and the rise of secularism.
Though Platonism and Aristotelianism were the main philosophical players, the truths found in the Scripture provide the best balanced answer to the concept of the soul. Like Platonism, the Bible maintains that the soul is an immaterial entity that can survive death. The Bible also suggests that other immaterial beings exist without the need for a physical body, like angels and demons.
Likewise, the Bible also indicates an interlocking nature between the soul and body for human beings and other things in the physical realm. Thus, the physical world is not evil in and of itself. Rather, the soul is what gives life to the body.
Aquinas presented a concept that appears to best encapsulate the union of soul and body in one that he called hylemorphism. Hyle is Greek for “matter,” and morphe is Greek for the term “form. Like Aquinas, the Bible suggests the union of body and soul. The soul departs the body at death to live in union with God and his saints. But that is not the end of the story.
When Christ returns, the dead in Christ are resurrected from the dead with new glorified bodies to live eternally with complete union of body and soul with God for eternity. The new glorified body will never rot nor decay. Likewise, it will be supercharged with new abilities and attributes. All that being said, the biblical conception of the soul far surpasses any that the Greek philosophers ever held. And what a day it will be when we enjoy those new glorified bodies that God promised.
About the Author
Brian G. Chilton is the founder of Bellator Christi Ministries and the co-host of the Bellator Christi Podcast. Dr. Chilton earned a Ph.D. in the Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (with high distinction), a M.Div. in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his B.S. in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); earned a Certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, and completed Unit 1 of Clinical Pastoral Education at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Chilton is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society.
In his spare time, he enjoys reading, working out in his home gym, and watching football. Brian has served in pastoral ministry for over 20 years, works as a clinical hospice chaplain, is an Adjunct Professor of Apologetics at Carolina College of Biblical Studies (https://www.CCBS.edu), and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Acquisitions for Illative House Press (https://illativehousepress.com).
https://www.amazon.com/Laymans-Manual-Christian-Apologetics-Essentials/dp/1532697104
https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-about-Heaven-Difficult-Questions/dp/1666762687
Notes
[1] Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 41.
[2] Thomas D. Lea and David Alan Black, The New Testament: Its Background and Message, 2nd ed (Nashville: B&H, 2003), 53.
[3] William Sailer, et. al., eds, Religious and Theological Abstracts (Myerstown, PA: Religious and Theological Abstracts, 2012), Logos Bible Software; Aristotle, De Anima 3.406.
[4] Aristotle, Generation of Animals, the Loeb Classical Library, A. L. Peck, trans (London: Harvard University Press, 1943), xiii.
[5] Ralph McInery, A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas: A Handbook for Peeping Thomists (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2015), 44.
[6] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 1.75–102.
[7] Ibid., 1.75.6.
[8] Unless otherwise noted, all quoted Scripture comes from the Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman, 2020).
