Flesh and Spirit. The difference is often overlooked. Or the difference has simply been misunderstood in this Age of Materialism.
In this era of confusion, Flesh is given domain over all; Flesh rules this world. The Spiritual is reduced to “having nice thoughts or feelings.” And even those nice feelings are imagined to originate from the Flesh body.
However, to apply theology to our daily lives, we need to acquire a deeper understanding of the difference between Flesh and Spirit. The Apostle Paul helped his contemporaries better understand the reality when he noted:
This I declare, brothers,: flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. [ 1 Corinthians 15:50]
Saint Paul taught that it is not the flesh body that survives death. The flesh body does not experience resurrection. Instead, conscious souls move beyond the temporal body. Souls have a continuity of consciousness as they move into the afterlife.
Paul taught there are flesh bodies and spiritual bodies. While Paul did not clarify the exact nature of the spiritual or heavenly bodies, he was clear in explaining the flesh body is not resurrected.
Rather, the core teaching is that YOU, you who are an Immortal Soul, will transcend the flesh body, a perishable temporal (and thus temporary) vehicle. John, in his gospel, also drove home this point:
“It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail.” [Jn 6, 63.]
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) explains the Gospel message:
One thing at any rate may be fairly clear: both John (6,63) and Paul (1 Cor 15:50) state with all possible emphasis that the ‘resurrection of the flesh’ , the ‘resurrection of the body’ , is not a ‘resurrection of physical bodies’.1
Ratzinger delivers a beautifully written enhancement of philosophical dualism (as advanced by the Greeks) with a Christian description of post-mortem immortality within a framework of dialogical theology.2
In his analysis, he reflects on a dualism that is not a detached philosophical framework but rather a continuation of divine relationship. In other words, ongoing participation in the Kingdom is a key aspect of the continuity of consciousness of the immortal soul. Ratzinger presents a richer and more nuanced view of dualism.
In addition to Ratzinger’s work, the following video delivers a discussion that may be of interest to those pursuing this topic.
But, wait. Why should we even be concerned about the soul’s post-mortem state? Why should we explore the nature of the flesh body versus the nature of spiritual bodies? Does knowing we are an immortal soul really matter?
Answers to questions about our true nature form the foundations of reality. Answers provide insight into the manner in which we view one another, which determines how we treat one another. True peace depends upon our ability to view Reality accurately as we enter into Divine Collaboration.
Those who fail to uncover their true nature remain asleep, as if “walking dead.” The sleeping soul can be trapped in falsehoods. A soul that falsely identifies with a transitory flesh form is easily controlled and manipulated. A soul that sleeps can be imprisoned—not recognizing it has lost its ability to exercise Free Will. Sleeping souls, assuming they are only flesh bodies, carry out the worldly agenda acting as bio-robots.
The call to seek an awareness of our true nature takes us beyond our social need to understand one another. When we seek salvation, when we seek to be “saved,” we seek to overcome death. Our hope is to realize Jesus’ promise regarding our immortal future. Paul writes:
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immorality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immorality, then the saying which is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” [1 Cor 15:53; Isiah 25:8]
Paul’s imagery is a trumpet sounding, a symbol of awakening a conscious spiritual being to their true state. The trumpet announces, “Wake up, wake up.” In awakening, souls are saved from false identification with a flesh body, a body that experiences death and dissolution, into the reality of immortality.
An awakened conscious spiritual being, upon death of the flesh body, assumes a spiritual or heavenly body and continues in ongoing relationship with God and other souls.
As a peacemaker, it is vital that we recognize these faith-based dynamics, as they speak to the deepest reality that unfolds during Divine Collaboration. Knowing the difference between a flesh body and a spiritual body, the difference between Flesh and Spirit, is not an idle pursuit but rather core life knowledge we must acquire.
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