Man’s Nature and Destiny

08 THE FORMATION OF THE SPIRIT

ANOTHER text claimed to be positive proof that man has a spirit which is above and beyond the power of death, is Zechariah 12:1:- “The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” MND 60.1

With an immense flourish this text is introduced by Mr. Landis (p.l52); and with an air of triumph he adds that materialists are in the habit of passing it in silence. We think we can answer for those whom he is pleased to stigmatize as materialists, that they have seen in it nothing to answer, and hence have declined to spend their time beating the air. As to the nature of the spirit which God forms in man, its characteristics and attributes, this text affirms nothing. Above all, respecting the main inquiry, Is this spirit immortal? the text is entirely silent. Why, then, is it introduced? - Because it contains the word “spirit.” But, as has been already shown (chapter 6), nothing is proved by the mere use of the words “soul” and “spirit,” till some affirmation can be found in the Scriptures that these terms signify an independent entity, which has the power of uninterrupted consciousness, and the endowment of immortality. For men to take these terms, and give them definitions, and clothe them with attributes which are the offspring of pagan philosophy, or figments of their own imagination, and then claim that because the Bible uses these terms, it sustains their views, is, to say the least, a very unsatisfactory method of settling this question. But, from the persistency with which this course is followed by those of the so-called orthodox view, one might conclude that it is the only way they have of sustaining their position. MND 60.2

God formeth the spirit of man within him. So the text asserts. The word “form” is from the Hebrew yatsar, which means “to form, to fashion,” and the participle yatsar is used to signify a “molder, “potter.” The Septuagint translates it by the word plasso. The definition of this word, as given by Liddell and Scott, is, “To form, mold, shape, “Lat. fingere, strictly used of the artist who works “in soft substances, such as earth, clay, wax.” The word, then, signifies giving shape and form to something already in existence; for the artist does not create his clay, wax, etc., but only changes its form. The second definition seems, however, to be more applicable to the case in hand. Thus, “II. generally, to bring into shape or form, plten psuchen to soma, to mold and form the mind or body by “care, diet, and exercise.” Thus God makes man the crown of creation by forming in him (through a superior organization of the brain) an intellectual and moral nature; and we can still further form or mold it by care and cultivation. There is nothing here to favor the idea of the creation of a separate, immaterial, and immortal entity, and its introduction into the human frame. MND 61.1

This text is illustrated by Job 32:8; “But there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding;” not “giveth it (the spirit) understanding,” as we heard an immaterialist in debate not long since read it; but “giveth them (the men) understanding.” That is, men are endowed with a superior mental organization; and by means of that, God gives them understanding. MND 61.2

Since, however, Zechariah 12:1 is used by immaterialists to prove that souls are specially created, it raises the question, which may as well be considered in this connection as any other, whence the spirit, whatever it is, is derived. In the text under consideration, the present tense is evidently used for the past; and hence it might be read, “The burden of the word of the Lord.... which stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him.” If now this means the creation of an immortal entity to be added to man, called his spirit, it applies only to the first man, the man formed at the creation of the world. The question then remains, How do all succeeding members of the human race, how do we, get an immortal spirit? Is it by a special act of creation on the part of God, or is it by generation from father to son? Has God, for every member of the human race since Adam, by special act created a soul or spirit? They who say he has, contradict Genesis 2:2, which declares that all God’s work of creation, so far as it pertains to this world, was finished in the first week of time. If this testimony is true, it is certain that God has not been at work ever since, creating human souls as fast as bodies were brought into existence to need them, the greater part of the time thousands of them every day. MND 62.1

Has God thus made himself the servant of the human race, to wait upon their will, caprice, and passions? for how many of the inhabitants of this earth are the offspring of the foulest iniquity and the most unbridled lust! Does God hold himself in readiness to create souls which must come from his hand immaculate and pure, to be thrust into such vile tenements at the bidding of godless lust? The reader will pardon the irreverence of the question, for the sake of an exposure of the absurdity of that theory which necessitates it. MND 62.2

But if we say that the soul is transmitted in the natural process of generation with the body, then what becomes of its incorruptibility and immortality? for “that which is born of the flesh is flesh. “John 3:6. And Peter says (1 Peter 1:23-25): “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever.” MND 63.1

There could hardly be a plainer testimony that man as a whole is mortal and perishable. He is born of corruptible seed. But more than this, it is added. “All flesh is as grass.” Should it be said that this means simply the body, we reply that the term “flesh” is frequently used in the New Testament to signify the whole man. Thus, Romans 3:20: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified.” Paul does not here talk about the justification of bones, sinews, nerves, and muscles; he refers to the whole responsible man. In the same sense the term is used in many other passages. But Peter himself, in the passage just quoted, cuts off its application exclusively to the body; for after saying that “all flesh is as grass,” he continues, “and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.” The glory of man must include all that there is noble and exalted about his nature. If the soul is the highest and most godlike part of man, it is included in this glory; but lo! it is all like the flower of the grass, transitory and perishable. MND 63.2

The word “mortal” which means “liable to death,” occurs five times in our English version, and in every instance it is used to describe the nature of the real man. Romans 6:12; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54; 2 Corinthians 4:11. It occurs in the original in one other instance (2 Corinthians 5:4), where it is rendered “mortality.” MND 64.1

The texts usually relied on to prove that souls are immediately created, are Ecclesiastes 12:7, Isaiah 57:16; Zechariah 12:1. The first of these was examined in the last chapter. The word translated “form” in the last of these passages, as shown in this present chapter, is not a word that signifies “to create,” but only to put into form, mold, and fashion. Isaiah 57:17 speaks of the souls which God has made. But there are numerous other texts, as Job 10:8-11; Isaiah 44:2; 64:8; Jeremiah 1:5; etc., which speak in the same manner of the body. But if such expressions can be used with respect to the body, produced by the natural process of generation, the same expression with reference to the soul contains no proof that is not also transmitted with the body. MND 64.2

God said to our first parents, and the commission was repeated to Noah after the flood, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Multiply what? - Themselves, of course. Did that mean that they should multiply bodies, and God would multiply souls to fit them? - Nothing of the kind; but they were to multiply beings having all the characteristics, endowments, and attributes of themselves. So Adam (Genesis 5:3) “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.” This son was like Adam in all respects, having all the natures that Adam possessed; and that which was begotten by Adam was called Seth. But according to the doctrine of creationism, Adam begat only a body, and God created a soul, which is the real man, and called his name Seth, and put it into that body. Neither this text nor any other gives countenance to any such absurdity. MND 64.3

Some prominent theologians, both ancient and modern, have adopted the doctrine of traduction as opposed to that of creationism, believing the latter to be contrary to philosophy and revelation, but the former to be in harmony with both. In Wesley’s Journal, vol.5, p.10, is found the following entry:- MND 65.1

“I read and abridged an old work on the origin of the soul. I never before saw anything on the subject so satisfactory. I think the author proves to a demonstration that God has enabled man, as all other creatures, to propagate his whole specie, consisting of soul and body.” MND 65.2

The testimony of Richard Watson (Institutes, pp.362,363) is equally explicit. He says:- MND 65.3

“A question as to the transmission of this corruption of nature from parents to children has been debated among those who, nevertheless, admit the fact; so contending that the soul is ex traduce; others that it is by immediate creation. It is certain that, as to the metaphysical part of this question, we can come to no satisfactory conclusion. The Scriptures, however, appear to be more in favor of traduction. “Adam begat a son in his own likeness.” ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh,’ which refers certainly to the soul as well as to the body.... “The tenet of the soul’s descent appears to have most countenance from the language of Scripture; “and it is no small confirmation of it that when God designed to incarnate his own Son, he stepped out of the ordinary course, and formed a sinless human nature immediately by the power of the Holy Ghost.” MND 65.4

The evidence is thus rendered conclusive from both reason and Scripture, that the soul is transmitted through the process of generation with the body. What then, we ask again, becomes of its immortality? For “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and mortality cannot generate itself to a higher plane and beget immortality. This is not saying that mind is matter; for the results of organization are not to be confounded with the matter of which the organization is composed. MND 66.1