Matter matters — C.S. Lewis

https://solomedicalsupply.com/2024/08/07/onxx9qu

https://eloquentgushing.com/jj3n0681q “There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

I must sadly admit that all too many times we Christians talk as though this body and this reality do not matter. We talk about being in Heaven as though it means that our body is gone, even though Scriptures say quite the opposite. Or, worse, we talk about our body being with us but almost treat it as an afterthought. We say things like God promised to resurrect our body, so we will have a body, but, umm, really the body will not matter; it probably will not need sustenance; I mean, it will be a body in name only; or it will be so different that it will not really be recognizable as a body; and, we will spend our whole eternity worshipping God so, umm, well the body will be there, but it could not really mean much; I mean we would have to interrupt worship to care for our bodies, and I am sure that will not happen. You get the idea.

But, without answering any questions about Heaven, C.S. Lewis points out something very important. God made the Universe (or multiverse, if that version of cosmology is correct). And, He obviously thinks that matter is very important. We are to be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins. Worse, the Orthodox agree with many Evangelicals that full immersion in plain old water is the appropriate way to be baptized, except in exceptional cases. We are to eat bread and wine in order to eat his Body and Blood and receive life. According to the Old Testament and the New, it is possible to consecrate spaces and things such as arks and handkerchiefs. That he even says that we need to eat his Body and Blood says something about how God regards matter. When Jesus wants to point out to us how much God cares for us, he uses the metaphor of lilies in the field and birds in the trees. Over and over, the prophets and Jesus speak of matter as something that is important and is not merely some type of unimportant shell that will be discarded. It is true that the present heavens and Earth will be discarded, but only to be replaced by a new heavens and a new Earth that are also of matter.

https://merangue.com/99wli63360 When we speak of matter as being unimportant, we are speaking more like the Dualists or the Gnostics of old than we speak like Hebrew-minded Christians. We are almost saying that matter is created by a lesser god or that matter does not matter. But, this is not how God speaks. Matter is so important that giving sight to the blind, making the deaf hear, helping the lame to walk, taking care of the widow and the orphan, is important. Those activities are important precisely because God, “likes matter,” as C.S. Lewis said. If matter was not important, then all the nicely spiritual advice that many give to people who are suffering would make sense. But, it is precisely the revulsion we fell to some of the “pious” advice that people give to those who are suffering that lets us know that matter is important.

https://sugandhmalhotra.com/2024/08/07/gsd42sti I do not know what the future heavens and Earth will be like. I do know that we will not be disembodied spirits who float around doing nothing but worshipping God. How do I know that? Because at the end of the Book of the Apocalypse (or the Book of Revelation), a very physical city is pictured in which people live. Nowhere is there pictured an eternal existence in a cloudy space with an eternal worship service. At best, that seems to be a temporary time while the “souls under the altar” are awaiting their “redemption” and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. What is pictured is the return of our matter at the time of the Resurrection, even though that matter will not be like the matter we know now, whatever that means. And, we will live in a universe (or multiverse) that is made of matter. Please note that if you begin to argue that this is all purely metaphorical, I will have some great comedic fun with you as we go through other parts of the Book of the Apocalypse. [There will be no helicopters that are like scorpions, no asteroids slamming the Earth to destroy 1/3 of humanity, etc.]

https://www.psicologialaboral.net/2024/08/07/gp9utpm9a4 But, this also explains why God felt it was so important to care for the physical side of people. This is why Saint James is upset over business owners and managers who do not pay well enough. This is why it is important to care for the widow, the orphans, and the poor. This is why Christianity has avoided the fatalistic views of the Hindu or even Islam. We are not to accept that a suffering body (whether through poverty or persecution or etc.) is tolerable. Rather, the body is part of the image of God in an indescribable way. Jesus’ incarnation sanctifies all flesh (read Saint Athanasius). I cannot explain the mystery, but human beings cannot fully reflect the image and likeness of God without begin incarnate. Jesus did not simply rise in the spirit; he rose in the flesh.

https://nedediciones.com/uncategorized/sdka20x8m It is a mystery, but one that drives me to take care of my fellow human being and to treat not simply his “person” but also his “body” with a certain degree of honor and respect.