The words heart, soul, body and mind show ups in many fields of thought. These words can be a particularly "divisive" topic in Christian theological circles. It's important to gain clarity around such words whether you are expounding theology or in just regular everyday thinking.
Here are a few thoughts about these words I have I gained from a blend of studying psychology and the original Greek words used in the Bible:
Heart is usually referring to the seat of your emotions. You might say its what you are the most passionate about.
The Biblical Greek word for soul is the root for the word "psyche", from which we get the word psychology, the study of the soul. This reference to the soul occurs over 100 times in the New Testament. So maybe the Bible is an in depth study of psychology. One's "psyche" is composed of the thoughts (cognitions), feelings (affect), and will (choices) of the person.
The body is one's "bios." Its your physical entity that has temporary existence and is what can be observed by doctors.
The mind is the most confusing to people and often is used synonymously with one of the other three words. In essence the mind is a person's CPU. Its the activity of processing info to produce output. However, the Bible references two kinds of mind when it comes to processing. One activity of the mind (found in Mark 12:30) means obtaining understanding or perspective. We understand the things of God as we love Him foremost and completely. In Romans 8 the mind is mentioned to refer to the orientation or bias from which they reach conclusions. This is the translator of input into output one is inclined to apply. Romans 8 says that when a person's mind is influenced by its human nature, the person is "carnal minded." But, if a person's mind is biased or oriented to the Spirit, then the person will reach conclusions aligned with God's eternal Kingdom.
Here's is a view of how these all work together.
When a person is biased or oriented to understand or make sense of things as evidenced in the soul (thinker, feeler, chooser) from the body's experiences, their heart is set on the world meeting their needs and self is understood though observations and expectations. This is called "walking by sight."
When a person is biased or oriented to make sense from evidence presented by the Spirit, thoughts, feelings and choices are Godly. The heart is set on glorifying God, making Him known to the world by a self that is fully embedded in their identity in Christ. This is called "walking by faith."
hope pondering this helps a little...
