“Flesh” also has the concept of weakness attached to it which goes along with the concept of sin affecting and weakening our bodies. But, “flesh” means the living material of the body – the living material of this form and refers more to the composition of the body.
“Body” speaks of this form that we know, that we see, that we touch, that we can feel. It is important to understand something of the use of these Scriptural words and something of the distinctions between them. ‘Sarcophagus,” for example, means a “flesh eater”. In the term “psychosomatics” the word psycho means “soul” and somatics means “body.” In the Old Testament the Hebrew word is basar, (“flesh”) and its equivalent in the New Testament, sarx. There are two principal terms for “body” in the Bible. The first point to discuss is how the Bible deals with the body. What is this relationship, the nature of it, and what are the implications of that?’ The problem to be addressed is the relationship of mind to body. With physicians, the definition might need to be altered to state that everything that goes into a jar of formalin is body. (Some brains, perhaps, rot before they go into the ground). We must, therefore, understand as “body” everything that goes into the ground and rots, including the brain. We have to talk about body because, significantly, the Bible does not distinguish brain from the body. We’ll have to examine that idea in some detail as we go along. “Mind is nothing more than a term we employ to describe some of the functions of the brain.” The present view prevalent in our country today, and perhaps around the Western world at least, is very close to a complete somatizing of man – making him all body.
For instance, Thomas Huxley once wrote, “Thought is as much a function of matter as motion is.” Moreover, the vague notions that most Christians have when they use the word “mind” should be sharpened. It is a word needing Biblical definition, because there are so many views that people hold that compete with biblical concepts. The plural assumes that there are more than one and I take this to mean ways in which the Bible looks at the question. The Bible doesn’t authoritatively tell us whether we ought to buy an American or Japanese car, for example. I shall presuppose the Scriptures as the inerrant Word of God, given as the infallible rule of faith and practice concerning everything of which the Scriptures wish to speak, not concerning everything, but everything that the Scriptures intend to teach. The Scriptures are the basis and ultimate authority for our conclusions. That means that we’re going to base our approach on Scripture. The first is biblical, biblical perspectives. My intention is to move us a bit farther along the road to understanding in this area – not to complete the job but to move us somewhere beyond total ignorance. That’s about all that many Christians can say about the mind-body question, “Well, mind isn’t body and body isn’t mind.” And, yet, there is much more we need to say and many things we need to think about very seriously. Well, then, what is matter? Never mind.” That’s not very funny, but it’s quite descriptive of our knowledge. The old ditty has it: “What is mind? No matter. The Biblical Perspective on the Mind/Body Problem, Part OneĪdapted from a presentation to the Winter Institute on Counseling in Medicine given in San Diego, February, 1992.
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