The make-up of a person
Any model a person is going to be over-
One such model which I find very helpful is presented by Dallas Willard [1], who is also extensively quoted by John Ortberg in [2]. Based on his Biblical interpretation, he describes the human person as having 4 aspects which correspond to those given in the “greatest commandment”, heart, mind, soul and strength. In his treatment, the “soul” is both the “deepest part” of a person and is also the part which “integrates the whole person”. Within that, there is spirit, mind and body as illustrated in the diagram below where these aspects are depicted as forming concentric rings.
Will, heart, spirit
At the centre of a person is what is variously called the “will”, the “heart” or the “spirit”. It is the core of the person and is the aspect of us which has freedom of choice and which exercises volition, choice and origination.[148 p 39]. It can be compared to the CEO of the organisation.
However, just as, in an organisation, not everything the CEO wants to happen actually happens, the same is true for a person. The choices made by the heart are limited and modified by the other aspects represented by the outer rings in the diagram. Like an autopilot, their parameters can be altered by choice, not instantaneously but only by choosing to alter them and then training and by the intentional cultivation of new habits to replace old ones.
Direct and immediate application of the will is reserved for very important or very unusual situations where the autonomous systems have not been set up.
Dallas Willard wrote:
“It is important to recognise that human life as a whole does not run by will alone. Far from it. Nevertheless, life must be organised by the will if it is to be organised at all. Life can only be pulled together from the inside.”
[1 p40]
and continues by saying:
“The will is very good at making simple and large commitments like getting married, or deciding to move someplace but it is very bad at trying to override habits and patterns and attitudes that are deeply rooted in us. If you try to improve your soul by willpower, you will exhaust yourself and everyone around you.”
Body
The body is where our will has its strength and the means through which we interact with our environment and with others. All the information which we have about the physical world around us and the people in it comes through the bodily senses. Conversely, the only way in which we can affect our environment is through our bodily actions.
In addition to this, the body, which in this context includes at least some parts of the brain, contains many autonomous processes and habits which allow it to respond to situations without our having to make a conscious choice. These are analogous to the “autopilot in the aircraft”. Dallas Willard says this:
“Our bodies are like little power packs. We couldn't be us without them. They are filled with all sorts of appetites and all kinds of habits. In a way, we outsource behaviours from tying our shoelaces, to driving a car, to our bodies, so that our wills and our minds do not have to worry about them.”
[1]
Without these processes, it would be impossible to function in the world. However, this also implies that many of our actions are not under the direct control of our will and can sometimes act contrary to it. These processes, which are formed partly by our genes, our social context, our environment and by the way we have trained them predispose us to react to certain situations in characteristic ways. Although not under instantaneous direct control of the will, they can be trained to take on the characteristics which we want them to have.
Mind, thought and feeling
The mind is the dimension of a person where there is thought, feeling and phenomenal experience such as pleasure and pain. Diagrammatically, it fits between the body and the will and it allows our will to implement our intentions in the outside world. The mind receives information from the body and executive instructions from the will. The will also receives information from the mind which can modify its intentions.
Our thoughts, ideas, beliefs and mental models of the world around us are contained here. It is in our minds that we can make sense of the data being presented to us by our bodily senses and to work out how to best achieve the goals which we have decided upon in our hearts and wills.
“Thought is that which enables our will or spirit to range far beyond the boundaries of our immediate environment. Through it, consciousness reaches into the past, present and future, by reasoning, scientific thinking, by imagination and art and by divine revelation which comes to us mainly in the form of thought”
[1 p38].
“Feeling inclines us towards or away from things that come before our minds in thought. It involves pleasure or pain, attraction or repulsion in relation to what is thought of.”
[1 p38].
“The mind is what Satan, the prince of this world, seeks to control, and his particular achievement is found in obsession, madness or possession.”
[1 p38] ( See Rom 8:6-
Some aspects of the mind are akin to those of the body in that they are not under direct instantaneous control of the will. For instance we cannot simply choose not to become angry. However, like the body, the mind can be trained by the will to react more in the way we want it to and, for instance, we can become people who are less prone to anger.
The thought processes of the mind give the will something to work on, and options to choose between. Without that, the will could not operate.
Soul
In the diagram, the soul is shown as encompassing the whole person. It is described both as the “deepest part of us” and the aspect which integrates will, mind and body. It is not under the immediate control of our will but it can be shaped through spiritual disciplines and the training of mind and body.
“What is running your life at any given moment is your soul. Not external circumstances, not your thoughts, not your intentions, not even your feelings, but your soul. The soul is that aspect of your whole being that correlates, integrates, and enlivens everything going on in the various dimensions of the self. The soul is the life centre of human beings.”
“Your soul is what integrates, what connects, what binds together your will, then your mind (those thoughts, feelings, and desires going on all the time), and then your body (with all of its appetites, habits, and behaviour).”
[1] Dallas Willard, “Renovation of the Heart”
[2] John Ortberg, “Soul Keeping”
