The Flesh & The World in St. Paul

[Geremia]

After reading more about what the Bible, specifically St. Paul, means by “the flesh” in a blog entry by Msgr. Charles Pope, I asked him:

How do you explain why Ephesians 5:31, that the husband and wife become “one flesh,” uses σάρξ, too? Is this another rare exception where “the Biblical phrase ‘the flesh’ (ἡ σὰρξ (he sarx), in Greek) refer only to the physical body?” Saying that a husband and wife become “one flesh” in the sense of flesh you discuss above makes it seem as though marriage somehow doubles the temptations of the flesh of the husband and wife. Is St. Paul here hearkening back to his “divisus est” (1 Corinthians 7: “But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided.”) when he uses σάρξ in Ephesians?

Related to this is: How is “omnis creatura Dei bona est” (1 Timothy 4:4) compatible with St. Paul’s condemnations of the world? Does he use the word “world” in the same analogical sense he uses σάρξ?

Thank you for the help

How would you answer my questions? Thank you

 

[MarcoPolo]

After reading more about what the Bible, specifically St. Paul, means by “the flesh” in a blog entry by Msgr. Charles Pope, I asked him:How would you answer my questions? Thank you

I don’t see the discrepancy with the Msgr’s article. He stated:However when the definite article “the” is placed before the word “flesh” we are dealing with something else. Only very rarely does the Biblical phrase “the flesh” (ἡ σὰρξ (he sarx), in Greek) refer only to the physical body (eg. John 6:53; Phil 3:2; 1 John 4:2) , but almost always the phrase refers to something quite distinct from the physical body.Eph 5:31 doesn’t have the qualifying definite article. I also think the term for flesh in Ephesians is σάρκα, no? Am I reading the wrong word? The Greek looks different there than, say, in John 6:63 which he uses as an example of the Greek wording he’s talking about.

 

[Geremia]

Eph 5:31 doesn’t have the qualifying definite article. I also think the term for flesh in Ephesians is σάρκα, no?

σάρκα is just the accusative case of σάρξ.

 

[rcjones]

The flesh can refer to the physical flesh or to the instinctive nature of the flesh.

Original sin has the element of placing the instincts above the word of God. When you live instinctively, without considering God’s word, you are committing original sin.

Marriage is one of the reminders that we are more than instinctive animal. We are not to procreate instinctively, though we have the instinct to do so. We are to be guided by the word.

Marriage is the proper place to ‘indulge’ the instinct… even more so, to fulfill the instinct.

When two people have a proper place in marriage to exercise the instinct, they are responding to the Word of God first.

If we eat without giving thanks, we are eating instinctively. When we say grace first, we have placed God and his word above the flesh. Same principle for all of the law.

 

[Geremia]

If we eat without giving thanks, we are eating instinctively. When we say grace first, we have placed God and his word above the flesh. Same principle for all of the law.

That’s a good analogy. Thank you