Duality or Triune?

Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7 (JPS)

Breath of life – What is man made up of? That is the question here. Jewish traditions imply that humans are dual in nature made of a body and a soul. They adopted this concept from Plato’s dualism. However, Trinitarian Christians who desperately want to see their concept of a triune God imitated in the creation of mankind adopted the construct of a soul, a body, and a spirit. Which is correct?

Continue reading “Duality or Triune?”

What is Prayer?

And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:15 (KJV)

Soul – When we think of prayer, we think of our needs or requests. Often times our prayers include phrases like “Heal me.” “Redeem me.” “Have mercy on me.” “Forgive me.” It’s very me focused. Prayer’s relevance arises when we have lost some sort of control and need God to help us get a handle on it again. That’s our Greek mindedness — retaining that control. But what if our perception of prayer was all wrong? Continue reading “What is Prayer?”

The Spirit vs. The Flesh

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 (KJV)

Spirit/flesh – Have you noticed that the battle is always between the spirit and the flesh? It’s never between the soul and the flesh. Stop and think about that a bit. We always think of the soul as this innocent ‘true form’ of who we are, and that it battles our fleshly shell which is prone to sin. This way of thinking is deeply rooted in Hellenism stemming from the Greek philosopher, Plato. But that’s not what Yeshua says here is it? Yeshua was Hebrew, so He thought like a Hebrew, not as a Greek philosopher. The battle according to Yeshua is between the spirit and the flesh. Continue reading “The Spirit vs. The Flesh”

The Resurrection

The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

Matthew 22:23 (KJV)

Resurrection – What does it mean, to resurrect? Think about this question before reading further. Most would agree that it is to bring back to life something that was dead. The Greek word for this is anastasis and is defined as “a rising from the dead”. It’s supported in the Old Testament by the words of the prophet Isaiah. Continue reading “The Resurrection”