Tuesday, April 15, 2003

So what is so great about the body anyway? Ah yes, it is 'postmodern,' it is 'hermetic'. But it isn't exaclty these things either... In fact, our body isn't really 'ours' at all. This body is the dust of the earth. There is nothing uniquely "me" about the material that consititutes my body at present. In fact, 7 years for now that material will be entirely replaced. The essence of me is not my present physicality, is it? This is the corruptible body, which I take all of our sacred texts to subordinate in importance. The resurrection provides us with a new body that doesn't suck. Part of being mortal is having a terrible body. Our bodies are weak, sickly, fallible, located, old-getting, etc. The body that we get in the resurrection doesn't seem to follow any of the rules that our present bodies follow. They can appear anywhere, move through walls, not be subject to corruption, etc. Exactly what is the same between the body that we have now and the body that we have then? It seems that the only thing that is the same about them is that our spirit (material or material-esque) happens to occupy both of them.

And thus we see, Platonism is insidiously intertwined with Mormonism. The entire notion of the unembodied spirit, the pre-existent form, and the eternal soul are are critical to the LDS plan of salvation and the Platonic myth of the soul. Why celebrate the materially constituted body? Why celebrate the matter of this world? I reserve my praises for the good body to come...
Happy birthday to the Lawyer and to the name-to-be-determined Baby Litcrit!