TWO Gospels?

In my previous post, I raised the question at one point: Why have so many Christians abandoned the social aspect of the Christian mission? I want to suggest that part of the reason is something called dualism.

In the late 19th Century, a movement arose that was called The Social Gospel movement. This movement was perceived as being all about social movements in the here and now, with no emphasis on God’s plan for eternity. People believed that it was all about “the material” and ignored “the soul.” In order to try to fix this perceived mistake, many Christians went to the opposite extreme and focused only on “the soul,” coming to believe that the material was irrelevant.

Yet, in ancient Hebrew thought, there was no distinction between the soul and the material. People were seen as a whole and meant to be loved as a whole. Remember, the world in which Jesus lived was dominated by Hebrew thought and every indication — when one looks at his teaching and life — is that he never chose to love “the soul” to the detriment of the body, nor did he ever love “the body” to the detriment of the soul. He loved the whole person.

Much of ancient Greek thinking did distinguish between the body and the soul. In fact, many of the greatest Greek philosophers believed that the soul is the only part of us that lives forever. In this way of thinking, the soul is trapped within the body and will only truly be free at the time of death.

True Christian teaching, however, teaches the resurrection of the body (See 1 Corinthians 15 to read more about this belief directly from the Bible). Jesus didn’t come just to save “the soul.” He came to save the whole person. People who believe the Bible’s teachings believe that, when we die, we will rise again; body and soul. The body will be changed, of course. All the sickness and brokenness that are part of this life will be taken away and our bodies will be perfect…but we will still be completely ourselves.

The belief that the body and soul are separate and that God only cares about one part or the other is a form of teaching called “dualism.” Thankfully, however, Christ-followers do not have to choose one or the other. In truth, if we follow Christ’s teaching and example, we don’t even have that option. We are called to love the whole person. That means telling people about what we believe to be God’s plan for eternal life in the future, but it also means loving people body and soul in the here and now.

We are not called to choose between “the social Gospel” and “the gospel of the soul” because it’s all part of the same Gospel.