The body
His Holiness Pope Shenouda speaks about the relationship of the body and the spirit, explaining that the Bible sometimes speaks words that appear against the body, but the meaning is the undisciplined body or the body that resists the spirit, not the body by its nature.
The body is not sinful by nature
He lists proofs from the Bible: God created man body and spirit and found them very good, Adam and Eve lived in the body before the fall, the Word became flesh, and the body became a temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the body in itself is not sinful.
The danger of immersion in bodily lusts
The Pope emphasizes that whoever lives according to bodily lusts (eating, drinking, drunkenness, smoking, adultery, lustful looks, etc.) is spiritually “dead” and worldly, citing Romans and Galatians and the apostle’s warnings about bodily concern as a path to spiritual death.
Unity of body and spirit in worship and spiritual life
He insists that spirit and body must work together in prayer, fasting, worship and service; true piety appears when the body submits to the spirit: the body participates in standing, bowing, fasting and vigil, not separation from the bodily aspects of worship.
Spiritual struggle and crucifying the passions
He calls to crucify the body with the passions, meaning resisting every bodily desire by driving a nail into it, for example fasting, vigil and asceticism as means to discipline the body so it accompanies the spirit.
Purity of the body and the dignity of the bodies of the saints
He points to the sanctification of the body through the sacraments (chrism, communion), and the dignity of the bodies of the saints which became relics and blessings, and God glorifies bodies that lived for Him to receive glory in the other world.
Practical application and exhortation
He warns to practice spiritual virtues while caring for the body moderately: the adornment of the spirit by virtues is more important than the adornment of the body, and the believer must ready his body with spiritual exercises so it becomes an instrument to glorify God in worship and service.
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