1. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 1 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition 4 Ray Anderson. “On Being Human: The Spiritual Saga of a Creaturely Soul.” What ever Happened to the Soul? Ed. Warren Brown, Nancey Murphy, & H. Newton Maloney. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998. 4 Soul in the Hebrew & Christian scriptures –Hebrew nephresh & Greek psyche, often translated as soul, and the Hebrew ruach and the Greek peneuma, often translated as spirit, refer to functions not a substance or entity

2. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 2 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition –There is no notion of immortal soul in the Hebrew & Christian scriptures –Humans & only humans are in the image and likeness of God (imago Dei) Imago Dei may be interpreted as referring to a special relationship with God, not a thing or substance (soul) Humans are the object of God’s special concern

3. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 3 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition In the story of the fall, sin does not cause the loss of immortal soul; rather it causes a fracturing in a right relationship with God. Through sin, injustice, poverty, war (etc.) enter human society.

4. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 4 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition Salvation then consists of a movement toward true humanity -- i.e., a life without injustice, poverty, war, oppression, etc. But this is a future event. The uniqueness of humans consists in their endowment by God of being in the image & likeness of God

5. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 5 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition What about afterlife? –Humans are naturally mortal, like all other creatures. It is only through the special intervention of God that soma pneumatikon can be restored to life. The restoration is not that of an immortal soul, but of the whole person.

6. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 6 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition –According to Anderson, the notion of intermediate state resurrection is not biblical –What about personal identity? »This is also dependent upon Divine power.

7. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 7 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition 4 Early Christian views of human nature –The Greek fathers borrowed ideas of Greek & Roman philosophy –Gnosticism (1st to 3rd centuries A.D.) (Neoplatonic) is very dualistic & denigrates the bodily & physical Irenaeus (2nd century) wrote a polemic against Gnosticism -- the whole person (not the soul) reaches perfection in the resurrected order

8. Anderson on biblical, & early & medieval Christian views of soul - 8 Anderson on soul in scripture & Christian tradition –Augustine (354-430 A.D.) - dualist & probably held immortality of soul –Aquinas (1225-1274) - followed Aristotelian idea that humans are a unity of form and matter -- soul is form and body is matter –René Descartes (1596-1650) -- responsible for the revival of modern dualism