Person (15) Unity

I presented this diagram for analytical purposes, but it is really a distortion. A human person is not many bits joined together. Each person is a unity.

Even the faculties that I have described are not as distinct as I have described them. My memory is not an external hard drive that can be unplugged and separated from the rest of my person. Memory cannot really be fully distinguished from the mind and the imagination. It actually exists in the cells of my brain, so is part of my physical body, to. The Holy Spirit can operate through my hands, not just my spirit.

Paul was a Hebrew, so he saw the human person a unity created in the likeness of God. Even when he refers two different aspects of a person, he stresses their oneness. Even the verse which is often quoted to justify a Greek tripartite view of the person is really about unity.

May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly (holoteleis); and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved whole and complete (holokleron), without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes 5:23).

The use of two “holo” words is interesting. Holoteleis means whole or complete to the end. Holokleron means whole or complete in every part. The human person is one, and will be kept whole and complete until the end.