Arlen Chitwood and Soul Salvation

Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 by Charlie Trimm

A good friend of mine was recently asking me about Arlen Chitwood and his unusual view of salvation. I had never heard of him or his view, so I did a little searching to try and find it. It is rather interesting, although I mean interesting with a more negative spin than I might usually use the word. His view is that humans are trichotomist, and when we get saved our spirit gets saved. Then later on, our soul must get saved. So soul winning is not evangelism, but it is getting people in the church to save their souls. For me as a dichomotist (believing that humans have two essential parts, material and immaterial, rather than the three essential parts that the trichotomists believe of body, soul, and spirit) the theory holds very little water from the very beginning. Have any of you run into this view before? Anyone know of any critiques of it online? Here is a link to the book (full text) presenting the view.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 1:44 AM

Anonymous wrote: Chitwood is CORRECT!

The trichotomy view of humans is correct. In the book of beginnings, Genesis chapter 1 verse 26, it is written, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." Who is God speaking to when he makes this statement? Does not God exist as three separate, co-equal persons? If man does not consist of 3 parts, also, what does one make of the following verse? 1 Thess 5:23 "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire...". The dichotomist view is to blame for all of the confusion regarding salvation.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 6:34 AM

Charlie wrote: Let us just assume trichotomy for the moment. How do you move from trichotomy to Chitwood's view (I'm assuming you follow Chitwood's views)? How do you define soul and spirit?

Monday, October 29, 2007 2:52 PM

Anonymous wrote: not sure Well, the SDA church believes that there is a difference between, mind, body, soul and spirit. Iam not a member of the SDA, but I remeber the bible study they gave. Is the soul the part that can think and feel, and the spirit the part that's eternal? What scriptures back this up?