III. Essential Elements of Human Nature. 1. The Dichotomous Theory. Man has a two-fold nature,—on the one hand material, on the other hand immaterial. He consists of body, and of spirit, or soul. That there are two, and only two, elements in man’s being, is a fact to which consciousness testifies. This testimony is confirmed by Scripture, in which the prevailing representation of man’s constitution is that of dichotomy. Dichotomous, from δίχα, “in two,” and τέμνω, “to cut,” = composed of two parts. Man is as conscious that his immaterial part is a unity, as that his body is a unity. He knows two, and only two, parts of his being—body and soul. So man is the true Janus (Martensen), Mr. Facing-both-ways (Bunyan). That the Scriptures favor dichotomy will appear by considering: (_a_) The record of man’s creation (Gen. 2:7), in which, as a result of the inbreathing of the divine Spirit, the body becomes possessed and vitalized by a single principle—the living soul. _Gen. 2:7_—“_And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul_”—here it is not said that man was first a living soul, and that then God breathed into him a spirit; but that God inbreathed spirit, and man became a living soul = God’s life took possession of clay, and as a result, man had a soul. _Cf._ _Job 27:3_—“_for my life is yet whole in me, And the spirit of God is in my nostrils_”; _32:8_—“_there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding_”; _33:4_—“_The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life._” (_b_) Passages in which the human soul, or spirit, is distinguished, both from the divine Spirit from whom it proceeded, and from the body which it inhabits. _Num. 16:22_—“_O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh_”; _Zech. 12:1_—“_Jehovah, who ... formeth the spirit of man within him_”; _1 Cor. 2:11_—“_the spirit of the man which is in him ... the Spirit of God_”; _Heb. 12:9_—“_the Father of spirits._” The passages just mentioned distinguish the spirit of man from the Spirit of God. The following distinguish the soul, or spirit, of man from the body which it inhabits: _Gen, 35:18_—“_it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died)_”; _1 K. 17:21_—“_O Jehovah my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again_”; _Eccl. 12:7_—“_the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it_”; _James 2:26_—“_the body apart from the spirit is dead._” The first class of passages refutes pantheism; the second refutes materialism. (_c_) The interchangeable use of the terms “soul” and “spirit.”