gmmartin42:
Recently, I saw a story about the physical resurrection of the body. It quotes both the The Nicene Creed: “We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.” and the Apostles’ Creed: professing a belief in “the* resurrection of the body*.”
As a cradle Catholic, I was wondering if we are to believe in a physical resurrection, or merely spiritual resurrection. I have always thought, and been taught, that it was merely a spiritual one- not physical.
The poll in the story stated that *only *36 percent of the 1,007 adults interviewed by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University said “yes” to the question: “Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?” Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided.
They quoted a bunch of protestant ministers on the issue, who stated that the lack of faith was disturbing.
But I was wondering what the Catholic stance on resurrection may be. Actual Physical, or Spiritual?
Thanks-
There is an ambiguity in the word “physical” 
It can be used to mean either:
- solid, able to be touched, bulky, taking up space
or
- according to the physis, the nature, of a thing
A cat is physical in the first sense - if a cat is on a bed, one can’t sit down where the cat is, because that space is occupied by the bulk of the cat, which is a tangible animal endowed with a body
In the second sense, a cat has the physis, the
nature, of a cat - which is what makes it a cat in the first place; rather than a dog, say. Because it has that particular nature, it acts in accordance with it as the cat that it is. Its nature, is known by its acts - not directly. All cats share a common cathood - & that cathood can be known only through specific cats; through this tabby, or that Siamese.
The Resurrection body will be in accord with our nature as human beings - it will be a genuinely human body: so, not a ghost, any more than the Risen Christ was a ghost. We are not ghosts, nor shall we be. Della’s post explained that, so there is no need to repeat what she said.
As to the relation of the resurrected human body to space, it won’t be quite the same as now; it seems there will be continuity between the bodies we have now, and those we hope to have then - what that continuity will be guaranteed by, is one of the unknowns: we are, after all, discussing something that is ultimately mysterious, something that God has kept to Himself.
In His Glorious Resurrected Body, Jesus ate with His disciples. He also vanished from the sight of His disciples at Emmaus. So His Body did occupy space, and could receive food - yet it could also pass through a locked door. It is like the present body, yet also unlike. It was physical in the first sense discussed: it could be touched, as well as seen and heard - but was not related to space in the same way as ours are now. The human nature of Christ was His human nature still, but it had been transformed. And it is Resurrection in the body - not of the soul alone. The soul needs no resurrection: only a body does.
There are hints of this glorified body in the OT - Moses’ face shone when he came down from the mountain, and the people were afraid. It shone because he had been speaking with God; so he wore a veil over it. Moses is seen again at the Transfiguration, which was a foretaste of the glorification of Christ.
In the Church, we have some of the results of the glorification of Christ, in the lives of those holy people whose bodies have done unusual things such as disregard the laws of gravity; or who have read the consciences of others, or known of events distant in time or space without human help. The lesson seems to be that, to be very close to God, is to be changed by Him, to become like Him. And what this means in practice, is shown us in the Glorification of Christ, which is the beginning of our own. (Which is possibly why He ascended into Heaven - that was a further stage in His Glorification, which is not yet complete, but will be fulfilled on the Last Day.)
