AI, the Bible, and our Future
2.1 Threefold Human Nature – Body, Spirit, Soul
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Last Updated: 10-Sep-24
AI and Intelligence. A highly debated topic around the world which appears to have no satisfying answer.
To understand if AI can be intelligent and what artificial intelligence actually is, we must first consider the source—human intelligence. From where does this human intelligence originate? As humans created in the image of the triune Judeo-Christian God, our intelligence flows out of our body, spirit, and soul—the tripartite nature with which God has designed every human.
In this chapter, we will create a theoretical framework for the threefold human nature in which we will answer the question of what intelligence actually is and whether or not AI can have it. Additionally, we will look at other controversial topics such as creativity, sentience, and consciousness in AI, as well as the differences between AI, bacteria, animals, and humans.
Let us take a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12 for a Biblical understanding of the threefold human nature. We will begin our study by going over each part separately and then bring them all together. In the end, you can't really separate the different parts because they are all dependent on each other and interconnected.
1 Thessalonians 5:2323 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 4:1212 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow [the body], and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Threefold Human Nature
Genesis 2:77 Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being.
The Body
"[...] formed man of dust from the ground [...]"
The body may be the easiest part of the threefold human nature to comprehend because it is physical. We can observe it, study it, test it, and interact with it. It is all of our being that is purely biological (bones, tendons, skin, blood, flesh, brain, etc.). The body is a mortal vessel for our spirit and soul. Since the fall of man, every earthly body dies and falls apart. However, there will never be a point at which we don't have a body. Our body will just not be the earthly and mortal body (Luke 16:22-25). If you are in Heaven, you will have a body (1 Corinthians 15:44). If you are in Hell, you will have a body (Matthew 10:28).
Ecclesiastes 3:2020 All go to the same place. All came from the dust, and all return to the dust.
Hebrews 9:2727 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
2 Corinthians 5:127 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
In theory, the entirety of the human body could be recreated by mankind because all the material needed for it is accessible to us. Realistically, this is never going to happen, even if many believe in, and hope for, technologies like teleportation (which would include the total destruction of the human at the starting point and the complete recreation at the end point).
The brain creates every physical experience of our being, but it is not necessarily the source of feelings or emotions. The Bible shows us that both the soul and spirit can be the origin of feelings (Luke 1:46-47). The body, too, is often the source. When you cut your finger, you will immediately feel pain. Your sense of feeling can be altered by medications, such as anesthesia.
Do you remember the first time you had a crush on someone? This was a physical experience of feelings. That feeling of butterflies in your stomach is caused by a purely chemical reaction. Or, let's consider the fight or flight response of our body when we encounter emotionally stressful or unexpected situations. In this reaction of the body, hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released. The body prepares itself for immediate action by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and energy levels, while also suppressing non-essential functions like digestion and immune responses. The results are feelings of anxiety, fear, or panic, accompanied by physical sensations such as a racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, and a sense of heightened alertness. Quite the opposite would be the feeling of excitement, induced by hormones such as dopamine. You feel euphoria, lightness, and are carefree with a greater openness to take risks.
The body connects us to the natural world (meaning the measurable and observable nature).
The Spirit
"[...] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [...]"
We know that we have a tripartite nature, and we know what the body is. Whether the breath of life is simply "activating" the spirit and soul in us or if it literally is the spirit and soul is, for this study, irrelevant and up to your own study. (I encourage you to pray for understanding!)
Our spirit is immortal and connects us to God and the spiritual realm. This is where we are going to feel conviction of sin and where we have the knowledge of being a child of God (Romans 8:16). 1 Corinthians 2:11 then shows us that the spirit is the deepest part of our inner person.
Romans 8:1616 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
1 Corinthians 2:1111 For who among men knows the depths of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Sometimes the source of a feeling or emotion is the spirit, as in Luke 1:47.
Luke 1:4747 and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
The human capacity to personally know God is within the spirit.
The Soul
The soul is who you are—your mind, your emotions, your will, your personality. The soul can be the source of feelings that are expressed physically through the body, guided by the brain.
Matthew 26:3838 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
Psalm 103:11 Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Luke 1:4646 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,
Genesis 34:88 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him as a wife.
Please keep in mind that you can't really separate the soul and the spirit. Imagine a house (the soul, as who you are) with two different doors. One is going into the physical, observable world (the body) while the other one leads to the spiritual realm, which is usually not observable (the spirit).
While it is within our spirit that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin and draws to faith, our capacity to respond to His regenerative process is within our soul. We surrender to Him or reject Him.
A relationship
Genesis 3:8-138 Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God in the midst of the trees of the garden. 9 Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The fall of man. God created man in His image with the threefold human nature of body, soul, and spirit. The spirit was meant to be in communion with God, ruling over the soul and body. However, after the Fall, sin entered the world, separating man's spirit from God. As a result, mankind's soul and body became corrupted by sin, and physical and spiritual death followed. (Genesis 3:19, Ephesians 2:1)
Genesis 3:1919 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Ephesians 2:11 And you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
From this point on, anyone who was and is not born again was and is a slave of sin (Romans 6:16), living in a shadow of what God had in mind for us.
Romans 6:1616 Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
We are made to love and feel (Mark 12:30, John 13:34, Romans 12:15), to have joy and peace (Romans 15:13). We are made for marriage and to multiply. We are made to bear fruit in everything we do. (Genesis 1:28)
But if your spirit is dead, you can only experience a shadow of that. This is why you see all the perversion of God's design in our world and why people are getting confused about the Word of God.
John 3:33 [...] “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Romans 14:1717 for the kingdom of God is [...] righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Only if you repent of your sin and let Jesus Christ be the Lord of your life you will truly be born again and your spirit will be resurrected by Christ. Then, we can live how God actually made us to live!
Mark 1:1515 [...] “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Romans 10:99 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Ephesians 2:517 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”
How does all of that now connect to John 6:44 and Romans 3:11?
John 6:4444 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
Romans 3:1111 There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God;
We, with our dead spirit, are incapable of seeking God or wanting God because our spirit is what connects us to Him and the spiritual realm. In fact, there is nothing our spirit can do until it has been made alive by the Holy Spirit.
But, thanks be to God that, in His great mercy, He has given everybody at some point the option to turn to Him! Every person is drawn to God by God at some point in their life so that "they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20)!
John 12:3232 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
When God draws us to Himself, He makes our spirit alive for a short time. When we clearly see and understand the eternal power and divine nature of God, then we feel conviction of sin. We see the beauty of His design. We realize that the universe was created by Him. However, this is but a fleeting breath of spiritual life unless we are truly born again and made alive through the resurrecting power of Christ.
In this brief moment in which your spirit is alive, you make a decision with your soul. You respond in either surrender or rejection to the Holy Spirit. You choose for God or against God. Though you are a slave of sin until you are born again (Romans 6:16), the Holy Spirit drawing you is a window of opportunity where you are free to respond.
If you recognize you are not born again and you are having this moment right now, may I urge you to respond today? Decide for God, decide for life.
Deuteronomy 30:1919 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your seed,
Matthew 10:2828 And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.