Drew
Member
The whole idea that man can be broken into a consciousness-bearing immaterial component and a flesh container for that component is, I would claim, a rejection of God's claim that His created World was "very good".
This dualist view really does relativize the physical by its claim that the essence of who we are - our thoughts, consciousness, loves, wishes, dreams, etc. - are all bundled together in this immaterial soul that lives independently of physical body in which it is housed. No wonder obesity runs rampant in the Christianized west - we have come to accept the subtle falsehood that material creation is merely a kind of "container" for these consciousness bearing souls. So we do not care for our bodies.
In Gen 2:7 we get a different picture - the intermingling of dust and spirit gives rise to personhood.
In Isaiah 11 we get a different picture - "The whole earth is full of His glory."
In Romans 8, Paul opines for the future redemption of the physical world - God is redeeming his creation as Isaiah promises:
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed
Our destiny is not Heaven, but this earth remade and transformed. Jesus does not come at the end to rescue us from the Earth, but to transform the Earth. The physical world - including our bodies - are not mere "containers" for immaterial souls in which is vested our essence. I think it is far more consistent with the tenor of Scripture as a whole to see our physicality as being intimate connected up with who we are - our conscious selves. It seems unlikely to me that God is going to all this effort to redeem the physical world if our bodies are merely "flesh coverings" for an conscious essence that is exlusively immaterial.
This dualist view really does relativize the physical by its claim that the essence of who we are - our thoughts, consciousness, loves, wishes, dreams, etc. - are all bundled together in this immaterial soul that lives independently of physical body in which it is housed. No wonder obesity runs rampant in the Christianized west - we have come to accept the subtle falsehood that material creation is merely a kind of "container" for these consciousness bearing souls. So we do not care for our bodies.
In Gen 2:7 we get a different picture - the intermingling of dust and spirit gives rise to personhood.
In Isaiah 11 we get a different picture - "The whole earth is full of His glory."
In Romans 8, Paul opines for the future redemption of the physical world - God is redeeming his creation as Isaiah promises:
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed
Our destiny is not Heaven, but this earth remade and transformed. Jesus does not come at the end to rescue us from the Earth, but to transform the Earth. The physical world - including our bodies - are not mere "containers" for immaterial souls in which is vested our essence. I think it is far more consistent with the tenor of Scripture as a whole to see our physicality as being intimate connected up with who we are - our conscious selves. It seems unlikely to me that God is going to all this effort to redeem the physical world if our bodies are merely "flesh coverings" for an conscious essence that is exlusively immaterial.