Anthropology 5 - Body (Soma)

To be complete I will now discuss the body, and the spirit and soul’s relationship to the body.

“The third part is the body with its members. Its work is but to carry out and apply that which the soul knows and the spirit believes.” -Martin Luther, Commentary on Luke

The body is important; it is not just a shell, or container, for your spirit and soul until you can escape from it in death as some would like to say. God created man to have a body and He saw that it was good and perfect. All of our parts (spirit, soul, and body) are intimately connected and not meant to be separated. We are not just parts, we are a whole, unified being, and that includes our bodies. Angels are spirits and don’t have bodies because they were intended to be that way and God made them that way. If God intended people to be disembodied, he would not have given us bodies, just like the angels.

“There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this is rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.” -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Biblically, the first part of the body is the bones. Bones are the basic structure of “frame” of our body and are mentioned in 94 verses in the Bible. Special mention is made during the crucifixion that Jesus’ bones were not broken.

“For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’” -John 19:36

In Ezekiel Chapter 37, God raises the bones of the dead and then puts flesh back on them.

“Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath (or soul) to enter you, and you shall live.” -Ezekiel 37:5

Flesh is the second part of the body and is mentioned in 284 verses. The flesh is the substance and bulk (meat) of the person and since it is the main part, flesh is sometimes used interchangeably with body.

“Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’” -Genesis 2:23

Flesh can also refer to being earthly, or represent the fallen aspect of man’s physical form.  Since we live in the fallen world, our bodies have become fallen and corrupted.

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” -Romans 8:12-17

The last part of the body is the blood, which is mentioned in 382 verses. The blood is the life and life belongs to God.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” -Leviticus 17:11

Bodies are also shown to be important in the Bible with the fact that Jesus gave his body for the forgiveness of sins, both on the cross and through communion. John uses the word flesh because Gnostics were saying that body could mean a "spiritual" body, whereas the word flesh can only mean physical.

“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” -John 6:53

Since the body is a special gift of God, how should we treat it?

“For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” -1 Corinthians 7:4

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What does that mean that our bodies are temples? The tabernacle and then the temple were just temporary substitutes in history between the fall and the Redemption. Luther explains:

“Let us take an illustration from the Scriptures. In the tabernacle fashioned by Moses there were three separate compartments. The first was called the holy of holies: here was God's dwelling place, and in it there was no light. The second was called the holy place; here stood a candlestick with seven arms and seven lamps. The third was called the outer court; this lay under the open sky and in the full light of the sun. In this tabernacle we have a figure of the Christian man. His spirit is the holy of holies, where God dwells in the darkness of faith, where no light is; for he believes that which he neither sees nor feels nor comprehends. His soul is the holy place, with its seven lamps, that is, all manner of reason, discrimination, knowledge, and understanding of visible and bodily things. His body is the forecourt, open to all, so that men may see his works and manner of life.” -Martin Luther, Commentary on Luke