69. How do the soul and body form a unity in the human being?

69. How do the soul and body form a unity in the human being?

(Comp 69) The human person is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. In man spirit and matter form one nature. This unity is so profound that, thanks to the spiritual principle which is the soul, the body which is material, becomes a living human body and participates in the dignity of the image of God.

“In Brief”

(CCC 382) "Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity" (GS 14 § 1). The doctrine of the fait affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul I created immediately by God.

To deepen and explain

(CCC 362) The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being"(Gen 2:7) Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God. (CCC 363) In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person (Cf. Mt 16:25-26; Jn 15:13; Acts 2:41). But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him (Cf. Mt 10:28; 26:38; Jn 12:27; 2 Macc 6: 30), that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies the spiritual principle in man. (CCC 365) The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body (Cf. Council of Vienne (1312): DS 902): i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.

On reflection

(CCC 364) The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit (Cf. 1 Cor 6:19-20; 15:44-45): Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day (GS 14 § 1; cf. Dan 3:57-80).

(Next question: Where does the soul come from?)