dichotomy
Definition
Dichotomy (from Greek διχοτομία, twofold division) is the anthropological view that the human being consists of two parts: body and soul/spirit. In this view, soul (psuche) and spirit (pneuma) are not essentially distinct faculties but two designations of the single non-material part of the human being. Dichotomy is the historically most common position in Western Christianity, associated with figures such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
The corpus authors of this wiki generally advocate trichotomy and consider the distinction between soul and spirit to be exegetically necessary (Heb. 4:12). Dichotomy is not explicitly defended in this corpus; the term serves as a contrast concept in the discussion of the threefold human constitution.
Usage variants by author
Nee/Lee
Lee implicitly rejects dichotomy by appealing to Heb. 4:12 as proof that soul and spirit are essentially distinct:
“The soul and the spirit are not the same, for this verse indicates that they can be separated from each other. The soul is the soul and the spirit is the spirit, and these two must be separated.” [Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 1, chap. 5]
For Lee, dichotomy carries practical consequences: those who equate soul and spirit cannot adequately distinguish spiritual life from psychological-emotional life. Regeneration concerns specifically the human spirit (John 3:6); transformation concerns the soul (Rom. 12:2); glorification concerns the body (Phil. 3:21). These three distinct stages require a trichotomous structure.