The contradiction of soul and body in Scripture and in ascetic literature

The first thought that comes to mind when reading texts
Fathers about the beauty and benefits of the human body, there is doubt: How does this coincide with the doctrine of Scripture? They don’t speak for themselves writers often the exact opposite? Lead St. Paul opposes yourself body and spirit as two irreconcilable camps! For I know that they do not dwell in me, in my flesh; because wanting good is close to me, but doing good is not. Because I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I don’t want. Well, if I do what I don’t want, I don’t do it anymore, but the sin that dwells in me. So I understand such a law that when I want to do good, evil is close to me. According to the inner man, I gladly agree with God’s law; but I see a different law  at work in my body  a law of sin which  is at work in my body (Rom. 7: 18-23).
As a result of these texts, the Church Fathers often do by the way, they have returned to what they have fundamentally him Platonic dualism. Finally, St. It seems to Basil that that Plato and s v. Paul says the same thing that the soul must be saved, then send the body to perdition. St. Gregor Nazian, who so nicely described the meaning of the body and its connection with the soul, will not refrain and will also go to the opposite camp.  The poem About the Soul is an attack on the body, which is “confusion, heavy matter, voracious beast, grave and prison
soul ». For some monks, hatred of the body and its natural demands has gone to a kind of fakir ism. When they reproached one of the fathers of the wilderness, he would not live to his own the body, even the most necessary, he replied, “I will kill him who he wants to kill me. ” Newer writers don’t say otherwise either. According to M. Blondel, modern life requires asceticism more than ever before: The body is evolving, the growth of science brings new possibilities of physical satisfaction. For that the soul must proceed sharper and more forcefully against the body. He decides to explain this obvious contradiction the excuse that this is a rhetorical and preaching switching is not enough. This is a serious warning. So how are we
to explain this twofold, fundamentally different attitude? The answer is not difficult. Nevertheless, we encourage everyone to consider it carefully. This is the basic truth of asceticism, and everyone must be clear about it. This is not a double a different doctrine of the body, but a double state of the body and a double terminology, dual use of words. In another situation, the body of an innocent person is different the one who bears the consequences of sin must be preserved. Riot the soul against God had its punishment: rebellion of the flesh against the soul. He ceased to be a faithful servant, an instrument, a harp of the soul. He became, on the contrary, a tyrant who suffocates the flame of the spirit after well and beauty, mines, prevents takeoff. Even the one who has been since He has purified the soul of sin, it has not yet been completely liberated. Still  In the mortal body.
He still feels bodily passions and affection for the low, the bad. It is understandable that in that case he must overcome his body, to control so as not to drag him to evil. Such a body, on who bitterly complains to St. Paul, we all feel and believe as an apostle, that with God’s grace we will resist him (2 Cor 12, 7). However, this “fight against the body” is sensible and moral. “Controlling the body” must be done by everyone, including the athletes who train it, to be strong. But why are Ascetics not satisfied with the expression “control the body”? Why do they go for the opposite fad by wanting to “weaken” the body, “destroy” it. do not happen then their words fanatically ill-considered? This is a question of vocabulary, expression. It may seem so it’s a secondary thing. But where do people want to communicate,
they must know the weight and meaning of their speech.
So let’s distinguish well the term «body».
1. In medical and psychological terms it is a part our personality; we have a duty to protect, nurture, take care of his health, to be a good instrument of the soul.
2. In the moral and ascetic sense, «body» means bodily affection and passion (affection for drinking, sexual drive). In this sense, however, we must still hold the “body” on the bridle and control it.
3. However, this ascetic sense may be even narrower. When St. Paul says that the law of the body is fundamentally against the spirit, then he does not think of any bodily movement, but directly to temptation and propensity for evil. The propensity for evil, then body in this sense, but must be completely wiped out. It was easier for Greek and Latin writers to distinguish between these different meanings. They have two different expressions. The body in the first sense of the word is called soma(compare somatology), corpus, Old Slavonic T – ^ AO.
In the third sense, the term sarx, caro, Old Slavonic nAÓTb is used. In Slovak, on the other hand, only the “body” is mentioned. In a pejorative sense, it can be said a “sinful body”, but even that alone is not clear enough. So you need to know well to distinguish so that we may understand correctly when reading the translation} The scriptures and works of spiritual writers. Then we won’t be surprised that we read so many tips, although in one book: caring for the body, admiring the beauty of the body, controlling the body, fighting the body, giving up everything is bodily, hate the body, etc. All these terms have their proper meaning. However, it is necessary to understand in which connections are said.