{"id":1426,"date":"2020-05-03T21:32:22","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T19:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2026-10-15T22:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:37:46","slug":"the-contradiction-of-soul-and-body-in-scripture-and-in-ascetic-literature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1426","title":{"rendered":"The contradiction of soul and body in Scripture and in ascetic literature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


The first thought that comes to mind when reading texts
Fathers talk about the beauty and benefits of the human body, but there’s doubt: How does this align with Scripture’s doctrine? They don’t speak for themselves; writers often say the exact opposite. Lead St. Paul opposes the 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 to do, I stop doing it; but sin dwells in me. So I understand this law: 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 (Rom. 7:18-23).
As a result of these texts, the Church Fathers often, by the way, returned to what they saw as fundamentally Platonic dualism. Finally, St. It seems to say that Plato and St. Paul say the same thing: that the soul must be saved, then send the body to perdition. St. Gregory Nazianzus, who clearly described the body\u2019s meaning and its connection with the soul, will not refrain and will also join the opposite camp.\u00a0 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 fakirism. When they reproached one of the fathers of the wilderness, he would not live to his own body, even the most necessary; he replied, “I will kill him who 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 by saying this is a rhetorical and preaching switch; that is not enough. This contradiction 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 doctrine of the body, but a double state of the body and a double terminology, a 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. Rebelling the soul against God had its punishment: the flesh rebelled against the soul. He ceased to be a faithful servant, an instrument, a harp of the soul. Instead, he became a tyrant who suffocates the flame of the spirit after well and beauty, mines, and prevents takeoff. Even the one who has been purified of sin has not yet been completely liberated. Still in the mortal body.<\/h2>\n

He still feels bodily passions and affection for the low, the bad. In that case, he must overcome his body and control it so it does not drag him to evil. We all feel and believe, as apostles, that, with God’s grace, we will resist such a body, as we bitterly complain to St. Paul (2 Cor 12, 7). However, this “fight against the body” is sensible and moral. Everyone, including the athletes who train it, must control the body to be strong. But why are ascetics not satisfied with the expression “control the body”? Why do they embrace the opposite fad of wanting to “weaken” and “destroy” the body? Does that not make their words fanatically ill-considered? This is a question of vocabulary and expression. It may seem so; it’s secondary. But where do people want to communicate?
They must know the weight and meaning of their speech.
So let’s distinguish well the term \u00abbody.\u00bb
1. In medical and psychological terms, it is a part of our personality; we have a duty to protect, nurture, and take care of our health, to be a good instrument of the soul.
2. In the moral and ascetic sense, \u00abbody\u00bb 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 the law of the body is fundamentally against the spirit, he does not mean bodily movement but temptation and propensity for evil. The propensity for evil, then, is the body in this sense, but it 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, and Old Slavonic T – ^ AO.
In the third sense, the term “sarx, caro,” the Old Slavonic “nA\u00d3Tb,” is used. In Slovak, on the other hand, only the “body” is mentioned. In a pejorative sense, it can be said to be a “sinful body,” but even that alone is not clear enough. So you need to know well enough to distinguish so\u00a0we can understand the translation correctly. The scriptures and the works of spiritual writers are also relevant. Then we won’t be surprised to read so many tips, such as in one book: Caring for the Body, Admiring the Beauty of the Body, Controlling the Body, Fighting the Body, Giving Up Everything is Bodily, Hating the Body, etc. Each of these terms has its own meaning. However, it is necessary to understand the contexts in which they are used.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first thought that comes to mind when reading textsFathers talk about the beauty and benefits of the human body, but there’s doubt: How does this align with Scripture’s doctrine? 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