Eastern understanding on and of the body

[ConstantineTG]

I’ve gotten interested with Theology of the Body and will be taking a course on it. I just want to know what are the Eastern/Oriental teachings on the body and resurrection. It seems to me a common idea most people have now is that the body is temporary, and our ultimate destination is to be in heaven with God as spiritual souls. But Theology of the Body reminds us that our bodies are a great gift of God, that the entire creation was meant for us to have a physical world to live in, and that the resurrection is indeed a physical resurrection and those worthy will be given glorified bodies.

I know the East teaches the same thing in a different way. So what is this different way?

 

[rben20]

Constantine,

I believe the teaching is that we will have new bodies in heaven? Not be floating souls?

Never mind I believe you were talking about other people’s conceptions. Sorry

 

[ConstantineTG]

Constantine,

I believe the teaching is that we will have new bodies in heaven? Not be floating souls?

If I got it right, heaven and earth will be renewed. All will be resurrected, the sinners will be cast off and keep their imperfect bodies. The believers will be given glorified bodies akin to Christ after His resurrection. Also Christ will live among us in the flesh as this was the plan of God from the beginning.

I believe it was St. Bonaventure who taught that Christ would have become human even if Adam and Eve did not fall. Pope John Paul II echoed this teaching in Theology of the Body and says that this will still happen at the end of time.

But I remember accurately from my TotB intro class is that the body and the soul were made to be together, that is God’s intention. And that is what the Church teaches. We receive our bodies at the moment of conception, and our souls are made and fused with our bodies at the moment of conception. No human has ever excited spiritually prior to their bodies. Only Jesus has preceeded His flesh, but of course He is God.

 

[ciero]

Hieromonk Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery gave a retreat with a Western priest(Benedictine?) on the theology of the body from an East/West viewpoint a while back. I heard it was taped and that CDs would be available. I’ll see if I can get a hold of them.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Hieromonk Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery gave a retreat with a Western priest(Benedictine?) on the theology of the body from an East/West viewpoint a while back. I heard it was taped and that CDs would be available. I’ll see if I can get a hold of them.

Fr. Loya is also one of the top teachers of Theology of the Body. I just want to compare it with Eastern teachings on the body. I know not all Western theologians taught everything consistently with what Pope John Paul II is teaching. St. Aquinas I think believes that Christ would have not become man if Adam and Eve fell.

 

[ciero]

Fr. Loya is also one of the top teachers of Theology of the Body. I just want to compare it with Eastern teachings on the body. I know not all Western theologians taught everything consistently with what Pope John Paul II is teaching. St. Aquinas I think believes that Christ would have not become man if Adam and Eve fell.

Don’t get me wrong…I think Fr. Tom Loya is great…but I’m told his take on Theology of the Body is from the Western slant. I was traveling the weekend Fr. Maximos gave his retreat so I wasn’t able to attend but I’m told it was very good.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Don’t get me wrong…I think Fr. Tom Loya is great…but I’m told his take on Theology of the Body is from the Western slant. I was traveling the weekend Fr. Maximos gave his retreat so I wasn’t able to attend but I’m told it was very good.

Well, it of course will take time to merge the teaching with the Eastern praxis. Its still very new and even RC teachers are figuring out a lot of things. What I like how our priest teaches it, and I believe this is how TotB it taught everywhere, is very similar to Eastern teaching. Not a very legalistic view of sin and redemption. Instead it focuses on scripture and Church teachings on how important our bodies our, what it means to us, and how we should keep it pure. Yesterday’s epistle I think is a very good summary of Theology of the Body as to how I understand it at this point:

[BIBLEDRB]1 Corinthians 6:12-20[/BIBLEDRB]

 

[Nine_Two]

Our bodies will be glorified, but they will be our bodies, which is why we don’t practice cremation.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Our bodies will be glorified, but they will be our bodies, which is why we don’t practice cremation.

The Orthodox doesn’t? Interesting. The Catholic belief is cremation is just “speeding up the process”. Although its an absolute no-no to scatter remains the way some people do it.

 

[rben20]

I’ve heard that Christopher West’s view of ToB is skewed theology? How true is this?

 

[ciero]

The Orthodox doesn’t? Interesting. The Catholic belief is cremation is just “speeding up the process”. Although its an absolute no-no to scatter remains the way some people do it.

RCs only recently allowed cremation, ECs frown upon it and Orthodox still forbid it.

 

[Nine_Two]

The Orthodox doesn’t? Interesting. The Catholic belief is cremation is just “speeding up the process”. Although its an absolute no-no to scatter remains the way some people do it.

The Catholic Church at one time forbid the practice. As it stands now the Orthodox Churches (as I understand it) allow it if a country requires it by law (like many Asian countries). Although even with a decomposed, or completely burnt body, it isn’t like God can’t reunite the body, however the other reason it isn’t done is because you can’t have relics if you cremate.

 

[ConstantineTG]

The Catholic Church at one time forbid the practice. As it stands now the Orthodox Churches (as I understand it) allow it if a country requires it by law (like many Asian countries). Although even with a decomposed, or completely burnt body, it isn’t like God can’t reunite the body, however the other reason it isn’t done is because you can’t have relics if you cremate.

Also, even those eaten by sharks and lions will still be resurrected