326. The concreteness of the resurrection body
326. THE CONCRETENESS OF THE RESURRECTION BODY
To what extent will our resurrected bodies in Heaven be real bodies? Scripture speaks of “a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44); does that mean something like a spirit, ghost, or angel?
It is written (Rev 1:7): Every eye shall see Him. Therefore there will be actual sensation. . . .
Further, there will be actual movement, since they shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds (Wis 3:7).
All are agreed that there is some sensation in the bodies of the blessed; else the bodily life of the saints after the resurrection would be likened to sleep rather than to vigilance. . . . But there is a difference of opinion as to the mode of sensation (S82,3).
Certain heretics, as Augustine relates,. . . said that at the resurrection the body will be transformed into a spirit. . . . But this cannot be maintained . . . because if this were possible, and one’s body were changed into a spirit, one would not rise again a man, for a man naturally consists of a soul and body (S83,1).
Certain heretics said . . . that human bodies in rising again will be like the air or the wind . . . but this again cannot be maintained, because our Lord had a palpable body after the Resurrection, as appears from the last chapter of Luke. . . . Moreover, the human body will rise again with flesh and bones, as did the body of our Lord, according to Luke 24:39, A spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see Me to have (S83,1).
Scripture (1 Cor 15:44) distinguishes “a spiritual body” not from “a physical body” but from “a natural body”. It is “spiritual” in the same sense that “the spiritual man” (1 Cor 2:15) is “spiritual” now: not that he lacks a body but that he is moved by the Holy Spirit. The new body will be moved by the soul that is moved by the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:15 distinguishes the “spiritual” not from the “physical” but from the “natural”: it is supernatural, not non-physical. The “spiritual man” has a body both in this life and also in the next. We are to be re-clothed, not un-clothed (2 Cor 5:2-4). Remember, the Spirit that makes us “spiritual” is the same Holy Spirit that provided a literal physical human body for Christ in Mary’s womb at the Annunciation!
Christ took His physical human body with Him to Heaven at the Ascension. Therefore He is now visible in Heaven, just as He was on earth. And since He is visible, we will see Him (Rev 1:7). “Therefore there will be actual sensation.” For the absence of physical sensation is a lack, not a gain. It is like mere dreaming, or sensory paralysis. That is why the denial of “the resurrection of the body” is a heresy (as Augustine says above).
That, plus the evidence of Jesus’ post-resurrection body (St. Thomas’ last paragraph), is the theological argument, from the data of divine revelation. The philosophical argument, from reason, is that man is essentially body as well as soul. We are not of the same species as angels. “Men without bodies” are oxymorons, like “squares without sides”.
St. Thomas says that it is certain that we will have senses, but it is not certain what their “mode” (nature) will be.
If our bodies are destined for eternal Heavenly holiness rather than the scrap heap; if our present bodies are embryonic forms of something so perfect and holy that they share in the very nature of God by sharing in Christ’s body; how much more should we now love and respect our bodies, and those of all others! This casts new light on the seriousness of “sins against the body” (1 Cor 6:18-20). Instead of comparing our own bodily sins with spiritual sins (that’s the Devil’s trick: A is worse than B, so don’t worry about B), we should compare them with God’s design for our bodies.