For many Christians, it is plain sense that a human is body, spirit, and soul. In fact, this is sometimes used as an imperfect analogy for the Trinity.
At the very least, most Christians believe that we have a physical aspect and a non-material spiritual aspect. This substance dualism is common even beyond Christianity. Substance dualism was made famous by René Descartes.
However, not every Christian holds to either trifold of bifold nature of human identity. There is a growing number of Christians who hold to physicalism.
What is Physicalism?
Physicalist believe that humans are made of one substance and that is our physical bodies. This will strike many Christians as odd.
Part of it comes from a recognition of biblical language, especially in the Old Testament. While we may of very specific ideas of soul and spirit, these words are used in somewhat different ways in the Old Testament.
The Hebrew nephesh, translated as soul, does not refer to an immaterial part of us but rather of a living being. It is the way we sometimes speak of “The ship sank with fifty souls aboard.”
The Hebrew ruach, translated spirit also has a varied definition. It can be translated as spirit, wind, or breath. Regarding people, it often refers to human breath. People recognized that breathing is an important aspect of being alive.
What Does This Mean for the Afterlife?
The first question that many will ask is about what happens when we die if all we are is a physical body. Physicalists tend to also be conditionalists, formally known as annihilationists. Conditionalism refers to conditional immortality and it means that we are not by nature immortal.
Physicalists correctly teach that the eternal hope of the Bible is not a disembodied existence in heaven but a physical resurrection. Physicalists believe that at the resurrection, God raises the dead and transforms living believers so that we might have immortal bodies. The wicked are not raised and are destroyed at death.
Why I Am Intrigued by Physicalism
I do recognize that the traditional dualistic description of humanity is not as clearly taught in the Bible as many people assume. Careful examination of the language and the context makes me somewhat open to physicalism.
The main reason that I am open, however, is the uncertainty about how our spirit interacts with our bodies. Neuroscience has come a long way and we understand the mind as a quality of the brain in new ways. What people often think of as the soul/spirit in terms of the inner life, can be changed by damage to the brain.
Beyond that, where exactly is the spirit? Is it in our brains? In our hearts? Filling our body completely? How does it move with us? How does it interact with our brains? There have been some wild theories.
Concerns About Physicalism
And yet I am not a physicalist (although I am a conditionalist). What is our identity based on? This is something that secular physicalists have to deal with as well.
If it is our body, what about the fact that our bodies are in flux and much (but not all) of our cells are replaced by new cells.
Is it our memories? If so, what happens with those who experience memory loss, especially dementia? Are they a different person once they lose their memories?
Biblically, there is some if not much evidence that there is some intermediate state between death and the resurrection. Even the Old Testament, which is not much interested in the afterlife, speaks of shades in Sheol.
Also very important to Christianity is the status of Jesus between the crucifixion and resurrection. Did Jesus cease to exist during that time? And if so, what did he mean when telling the thief they would be in paradise?
If all we are is a physical body, there would be some questions about the incarnation. What “part” of Jesus was divine? What was the continuity between the eternal Logos and son of Mary?
I am sure that physicalists have answers to these questions.
Where I Am At
I do have doubts that the heaven that people imagine when someone dies is reflective of reality. I also have questions about how a spirit interacts with a body.
But I also believe that there is some sort of unbroken continuity between life in this world and the resurrected life. Something of us is kept safe with God at the time of our death. I suppose, one day I will find out.
