Imagine a person trying to express love for another person:
Joe: I love you.
Chris: What do you mean by that?
Joe: I mean…I love you [pointing].
Chris: You are pointing at my neck, do you mean that you love my neck?
Joe: No, I’m pointing at you generally to say that you are the one that I love.
Chris: But this is just my body. Many say that I am not my body. Supposedly, my body is quite distinct from me actually and some say that we are not the same at all. Which do you love, my body or me?
Joe: You…I love you! This is crazy. I’m just trying to tell you that I love you.
Chris: But how do you know that you love me? What do you love about me? How do you expect me to know that you love me?
Joe: You hear me don’t you?
Chris: The ears on my body are picking up sounds, but my ears are not me.
Joe: I love the way that you care for me. You help me when I need help. You listen when I need to talk. You give me advice when I need it. You feed me. You give me many gifts. You demonstrate your love for me in so many ways.
Chris: But everything you mentioned involves my body in some way or another. Am I to believe that you love my body and not me?
Joe: You are talking nonsense! You are you. Your body is a major and vital and inseparable part of you. All of your thoughts, words, and deeds involve your body in some way of another.
Chris: Careful now, I’m just repeating to you what a great number of people say. Are you implying that a great number of people are talking nonsense when they try to say that I am completely distinct from my body?
Joe: I’m not trying to accuse a great number of people of anything, I just want you to know that I love you. I suppose that I may be trying to say that I love your soul.
Chris: But you cannot know my “soul” except by interpreting the actions of my body. If I speak to describe my soul, I use my mouth. If I write a lengthy description of my soul, I use my hand. If I demonstrate the essence of my soul in the ways you mentioned earlier, I use my body.
Joe: Right.
Chris: So basically, people who try to relegate the body’s significance are kooky.
Joe: Right.
Chris: When you take time to ponder various truths of Scripture, do you ever think about the significance of describing the Church as the Body of Christ?
Joe: I can see that I need to spend time pondering the implications of that. That would certainly give a man pause before doing any harm to the Church.
Chris: Indeed.
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