Our Bodies and Eternity

[Doug]

I don't want to open the IBD debate. That's been discussed already. But, I do want to bring some scientific research into the discussion about the mind/body link.

 

It seems that research is moving more and more to establishing that the mind is indeed informed by the body, and vice-versa. Below is a quote from this link http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228385.900-virtual-robot-li...

 

Why robot bodies need a makeover

It is becoming clear that our physical bodies drive much of our thought. So building a machine that thinks like a human may mean building robots whose limbs enable them to interact with the physical world.

"The body plays a crucial role - it is the means by which the brain can acquire information and learn about the environment," says Rolf Pfeifer, a researcher in artificial intelligence at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Robots' bodies can be easily manipulated - adding or removing legs, arms or eyes, say - to systematically test the extent to which the shape of our bodies and their interaction with the environment influences cognition (see "Squishybots: soft, bendy and smarter than ever").

 

ENDOFQUOTE

 

I highly recommend reading the entire article, because there's lots of room for additional discussion. But what struck me the most is that research is confirming that the mind (and in my opinion the spirit too) is incomplete without the body. This is fascinating, because the christian religion especially has many fables about the afterlife, whether it be heaven or hell. Some contend that when we are changed, we will be sort of like vapors that float around in the clouds and play music all day on harps. Some say in hell we have these (literally physical) bodies that will be tortured but never destroyed. Some say that we will have bodies in heaven, but they will be incapable of feeling pain, or maybe even pleasure (as in sex). Others deny that there is a need or even a desire for the body to exist post-mortem.

 

So, after reading this article, I am curious what you all might think about the need for the body, in this life AND the next? Is there any need for such a thing? Because God is a spirit, does HE "need" a body? Of course, He has need of nothing, I know that. But are His senses better informed by a body? Likewise, because we shall be like Jesus, will WE have any need for a body? If you say no, then why not. If you say yes, then why?

 

[Doug]

Ken,

I don't see any connection between the molecules in our bodies now and whatever our bodies may be made of in the future. That's not really the point I was making.

I am saying that there really is something to this three part union of body, mind, and spirit that composes the whole of man. I don't beleive that one part will be left out in eternity due to its dissolution in this life!

The issue of cremation to a christian ought to be a moot point, understanding that the body we have now is only a vehicle for the spirit. You can take the hand out of the cotton glove and put it into a new glove made of leather and it will still be the same hand.

[Doug]

Ken,

I suppose you are right. Haven't done much study about Hebrew belief in the "physical" resurrection. But of course, not all "rabbis" believed in the resurrection. Witness the division between the Saducees and Pharisees on this very issue.

But you said "Christians since Jesus" believed in a spirit/body reunification. Are you saying that Christians post-cross believed this? Perhaps the eraly early church did, but I am not so sure this is what Paul taught. If we are being consistent preterists, we ought to believe that the resurrection is to newness of life, not to a "new body"

While I can accept that a new "body" will be provided me in heaven, I in no way beleive it will be made out of the constituent elements from this age and this body. If the Hebrews did indeed believe that it WOULD be made of the "dust of this dust", then I think perhaps early christians picked up that belief.

But I have had to do an about face on this issue once I understood that the newness of life that is granted to me is not the newness "yet to come" post mortem. But instead I ALREADY HAVE newness of life, and that newness is the resurrection of my spirit already done at baptism. I was resurrected from an old man to a new man.

This "body of death" isn't going to be what is given to me in heaven. Instead, God will give me a body that reunites my mind into something better than the frailty built into my frail body now. That reality doesn't do damage to the metaphorical symbols of the resurrection Paul spoke of in 1 Cor. 15.  

[marty drew]

the pslams speak of the meek inheriting the earth and living forever on it.this UNFUFILLED prophecy would require a physical body.