Yes—the Bible presents human beings as three-part beings: body, soul, and spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 names all three parts, and Hebrews 4:12 distinguishes the soul from the spirit. Les Feldick teaches this three-part nature and calls it a tripartite individual, while avoiding the word "trinity" to keep from making man seem like God.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 — This verse directly lists the three components of a human being: spirit, soul, and body.
Hebrews 4:12 — This verse shows that soul and spirit are distinct and can be divided apart.
Genesis 1:26-27 — This passage records the creation of man in God's image, which Les connects to the invisible soul and spirit.
The Apostle Paul writes, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). This one verse plainly names the three components of a person: spirit, soul, and body. Hebrews 4:12 goes further: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." This shows that soul and spirit are not simply two words for the same thing. Genesis 1:26-27 also records that God made man in His image, without limiting that image to the physical body.
Les Feldick begins with 1 Thessalonians 5:23 to establish that a human being is a three-part person: body, soul, and spirit. He uses the terms "tripartite" and "three-part individual," but deliberately avoids calling man a "trinity." As he says in Clip 1, "We are a tripartite... We are a three-part individual... I don't like to use the word trinity because that brings us too close to being like God." Les explains that the body is the outward, temporary tent that operates through the five senses, while the real person is invisible. The invisible soul and spirit are the area in which man was created in God's image. Within the soul, Les identifies mind, will, and emotion. The human spirit, he says, was the part of Adam that connected him with his Creator and gave complete fellowship with God.
Les says the body is essentially the exercise of the five senses: smelling, hearing, tasting, touching, and seeing. He calls it a tent and a dwelling place for the real you and the real me. While the body is visible and temporary, it is still one of the three parts that Paul prays will be preserved blameless.
Les teaches that the soul is part of the invisible aspect of man and includes mind, will, and emotion. These invisible attributes are part of the image of God in which man was created. Hebrews 4:12 shows that the soul is distinct from the spirit.
Les explains that when God created Adam, He placed within Adam a spirit concept that would connect him with his Creator. Adam's spirit gave him total and complete fellowship with God. The spirit is part of the eternal, invisible aspect of a human being.
No. Les Feldick says humans are a three-part individual, not a trinity. He says, "I don't like to use the word trinity because that brings us too close to being like God." He prefers tripartite, meaning three parts in one individual, rather than suggesting any equality with the Godhead.
Whole spirit, soul, and body preserved
Les uses 1 Thessalonians 5:23 to show that believers are complete entities of body, soul, and spirit, not just a soul or spirit.
A three-part person, not a trinity
Les says people are tripartite, three-part individuals, and he avoids the word "trinity" so as not to make man seem like God.
God's image in soul and spirit
Les explains that the image of God in Genesis 1:26 is not a physical likeness; it is in the invisible soul and spirit, which he breaks down into mind, will, and emotion.
Soul and spirit divided by Scripture
Les points to 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12 to show that Scripture speaks of body, soul, and spirit and divides the soul from the spirit.
The spirit connects man with God
Les teaches that God gave Adam a spirit concept that connected him with his Creator, resulting in total and complete fellowship with God.
The real you is invisible
Les pictures man as body, soul, and spirit and explains that the real person is invisible, not the visible body.
Adam as a three-part entity
Les says Adam was created body, soul, and spirit—a three-part entity—with mind, will, and emotion, and a spirit in complete fellowship with God.
The body as a tent of the five senses
Les describes the body as the exercise of the five senses, a tent and dwelling place for the real person.
1 Thessalonians 5:23: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This verse is the clearest list of the three components of a human being.
Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
This verse shows that soul and spirit are separable, not identical.
Genesis 1:26-27: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This passage records man's creation in God's image, which Les connects to the invisible soul and spirit rather than the physical body.
No. Les Feldick says humans are a tripartite or three-part individual: body, soul, and spirit. He avoids the word "trinity" because it brings man too close to being like God.
Les says the body is the exercise of the five senses. It is a tent and a dwelling place for the real person, not the real self.
Les teaches that the image of God is not physical. It is in the invisible soul and spirit, specifically in personality traits such as mind, will, and emotion.
He bases the distinction on Hebrews 4:12, where Scripture divides soul from spirit. According to Les, though they are closely related, they are not the same part of a person.
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