Book Review/Summary - The Tripartite Nature of Man (John Heard)

This is a very interesting book from 1868 about religious anthropology and psychology. The basic premise of this book is that man consists of three distinct parts (tripartite), which are the spirit, the soul, and the body. This is a very thorough look into the topic that is well thought out, documented, and cited. Unfortunately, not everything in the book is Biblical accurate or in line with wound theology. However, there are many great things in this book and about this book, but it is not an easy read. He claims to answer two so called open questions, the first about man's nature and the second about the traducianism vs. creationism question.

This whole treatise hinges on the distinction of spirit and soul. Heard first wants to establish a historical precedence for this idea by stating that Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Didymus of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, and Basil of Caesarea all noted the distinction of spirit and soul, although exactly what the distinction is and what it meant was somewhat debated. Augustine purposefully avoided the topic, claiming that it had no practical implications for faith and could easily lead to heresy. Heard also makes the case that many Greek philosophers and (philosophers and psychologist since then), have understood that there is a distinction, but without the Bible as a guide are unable to discern what it exactly is. Lastly, he shows how Martin Luther and other reformers also affirmed the tripartite nature of man, although its acceptance was not unanimous. The diagram below is a very helpful visual representative of Heard's model of man. Future posts will delve deeper into anthropology, psychology, and spirit vs. the soul.