125. The Glorious and Integral Body of the Risen Christ
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Lecture Notes
Main Topics #
The Glorious Body of Christ #
- Christ’s body in resurrection was glorious, derived from the glory of His blessed soul
- Three reasons Christ’s body was glorious:
- Exemplarity: His resurrection is the exemplar and cause of our resurrection; we rise glorious, therefore much more did Christ
- Merit: Through the humility of His passion, Christ merited the glory of resurrection
- Redounding of Glory: The soul of Christ, glorious from conception through enjoyment of the divinity, by dispensation did not allow this glory to redound to the body during His passion, in order to fulfill the mystery of redemption. After the passion was completed, the soul’s glory immediately shone forth in the risen body
How Glory Manifests in the Risen Body #
- Glory is received according to the mode of the receiver (Augustinian principle)
- The brightness/clarity of a glorified body appears as color natural to the human body
- Just as variously colored glass manifests the sun’s splendor according to its own color, so the glorified body manifests clarity according to its natural color
- Christ had power over whether His clarity would be seen or not seen
- Christ appeared to disciples in His color without the perception of clarity, which is why He was not immediately recognized
The Apparent Problem: Tangibility and Incorruptibility #
- Objection: If Christ’s body was glorious and incorruptible, how could it be touched? Gregory says what can be touched must be corruptible
- Resolution: Tangibility derives from resistance and density (which follow from elementary composition), not from corruptibility itself
- A body that resists touch but lacks the qualities proper to human touch (like a celestial body) is not said to be touchable
- Christ’s body was composed from elements with tangible qualities required by human nature, making it naturally touchable
- However, Christ’s body had something beyond human nature that rendered it incorruptible: the glory redounding from His blessed soul
- Augustine’s explanation: God made the soul so potent that from its fullness of beatitude (plenissima beatitude), there redounds into the body the fullness of health, i.e., the vigor of incorruption
Integrity of the Risen Body #
- Christ rose with complete integrity—all flesh, bones, blood, and parts
- A perfect resurrection requires that whatever fell through death be restored
- The problem with “flesh and blood”: 1 Corinthians 15 says “flesh and blood do not possess the kingdom of God,” yet Christ rose in glory
- Solution: “Flesh and blood” in this passage refers not to the substance/nature of flesh and blood, but to their guilt (culpa) or corruption (corruptio)
- The corruption and mortality of flesh and blood will not be present, but flesh in its substance will possess the kingdom of God
- Just as “the sins of the flesh” does not mean the nature of flesh is sinful, “flesh and blood” here means the corruptible state of flesh and blood
- The humors objection: If Christ had blood, wouldn’t He have had all four humors (blood, phlegm, cholera, melancholy) and thus be corruptible?
- Response: Divine power can preserve the visible and tangible nature of bodies while removing qualities that lead to corruption—power without fatigue, eating without necessity of hunger
Eating After Resurrection #
- Christ ate fish and honeycomb after resurrection, not from necessity but to demonstrate the truth of His flesh
- Bede’s analogy: Water is absorbed by thirsty earth (from indigence) in one way; in another way, the ray of the sun is absorbed (from power)
- Similarly, Christ ate not from the need of food (indigence) but from power, to prove His body truly rose
- He did not have hunger for food, yet retained the power to eat
Christ’s Invisibility and Disappearance #
- Christ vanished from the disciples’ sight at Emmaus, not through corruption or becoming naturally invisible
- Rather, by His will He stopped being seen by them—either by being present but unseen, or by departing by means of agility
- Small differences suffice to make someone appear entirely different in appearance; small optical illusions can take an identical face and make it appear entirely different by changing context
- Christ could manifest either His glorious form or non-glorious form to the sight of those beholding Him
Key Arguments #
Against Objections on Glorious Body #
Objection 1: Glory requires brightness/shining, but Christ appeared in color, not light
- Response: Glory manifests as brightness according to the mode of the receiver; natural human bodies receive it as color. Just as colored glass shows the sun’s splendor according to its own color, the glorified body shows clarity according to natural color. Christ could make His clarity visible or invisible according to His will.
Objection 2: Glorious bodies are incorruptible, but Christ’s body was touchable; Gregory says what can be touched must be corruptible
- Response: Touchability derives from elemental composition and density, not from corruptibility. The four tangible qualities (hot, cold, wet, dry) follow from elemental nature. However, divine power can preserve these qualities while removing what leads to corruption. Christ’s body had what rendered it incorruptible: glory redounding from the blessed soul.
Objection 3: Glorious bodies are spiritual/not animal, but Christ ate and drank
- Response: Christ ate not from necessity but to demonstrate true flesh. Eating does not make a body animal; it is the need for food that pertains to animal life. Christ had power over whether to eat, not compulsion.
Against Objections on Integrity #
Objection 1: “Flesh and blood do not possess the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 15), yet Christ rose in glory
- Response: “Flesh and blood” refers to the corruption and mortality of flesh and blood, not to the substance. The substance of flesh and blood rises; the corruption does not. This is like saying “sins of the flesh” without meaning flesh itself is sinful.
Objection 2: If Christ had blood, wouldn’t He have had all four humors and thus been corruptible?
- Response: Divine power can preserve the tangible qualities and visible nature while removing corruptible qualities. God can grant power without fatigue, eating without necessity, motion without impediment.
Important Definitions #
Glorious body (corpus gloriosum): A body whose glory derives from the blessed soul’s perfect enjoyment of the divinity; characterized by incorruptibility, tangibility, and the capacity to control its visibility according to the will
Tangible qualities: The hot, cold, wet, and dry that follow necessarily from elemental composition and are proper objects of human touch; their presence does not necessarily entail corruptibility if divine power preserves the body from corruption
Plenissima beatitude: The complete/fullest beatitude enjoyed by Christ’s soul in perfect enjoyment of the divinity; from this fullness there redounds into the body the vigor of incorruption
Culpa and corruptio: The guilt and corruption of flesh and blood, as distinguished from their substance/nature; what is destroyed in resurrection is not the substance but the corruption
Modica differentia: A small/slight difference; Berquist illustrates how small contextual differences can make an identical face appear entirely different, analogous to how Christ could appear to disciples without immediate recognition
Examples & Illustrations #
Colored glass and sunlight: Just as variously colored glass manifests the sun’s splendor according to its own color, the glorified body manifests clarity according to its natural color. This explains how Christ’s body could have glory yet appear in color to the disciples.
Optical illusions: Pictures of the same face with slight contextual changes appear entirely different; a modica differentia suffices for apparent difference. This illustrates why disciples sometimes did not immediately recognize the risen Christ despite His body being unchanged in substance.
Water and thirsty earth vs. sun’s rays: Water is absorbed by thirsty earth from indigence (neediness); sun’s rays are absorbed from power. Christ ate from power, not from necessity—to demonstrate His flesh was true, not from hunger.
Heineken beer anecdote: A tangential personal example about bottles left in the house, illustrating casual contemporary life (not directly theological).
Questions Addressed #
Was Christ’s body glorious?
- Resolution: Yes, for three reasons: (1) exemplarity of our resurrection, (2) merit through passion, (3) redounding of the soul’s glory after the mystery of redemption was completed
How can a glorious body be tangible if glorious bodies shine with light?
- Resolution: Glory manifests according to the mode of the receiver; in human bodies, it appears as natural color. Christ could manifest or conceal the brightness of His glory.
How can Christ’s body be incorruptible if it was touchable, when touchable things must be corruptible?
- Resolution: Tangibility follows from elemental composition, not from corruptibility. Divine power preserved the elemental nature while removing the conditions of corruption.
Did Christ rise with complete flesh and blood despite 1 Corinthians 15 saying “flesh and blood do not possess the kingdom”?
- Resolution: Yes. “Flesh and blood” refers to the corruption and guilt of flesh and blood, not to their substance. The substance rises incorruptible; the corruption does not.
If Christ had blood, didn’t He have all four humors and thus remain corruptible?
- Resolution: No. Divine power can preserve the tangible and visible nature of elemental bodies while removing the corruptible qualities that normally follow from them.
How could Christ eat without needing food?
- Resolution: Christ ate from power, not necessity—to demonstrate the truth of His flesh. He had the capacity to eat without the compulsion of hunger.
Notable Quotes #
“The body of Christ in the resurrection was of the same nature, but of a different glory.”
“Everything that is received in another is received in it according to the way of the receiver.”
“The brightness or clarity of the glorified body is according to color, which is natural to the human body, just as glass, diversely colored, we see splendor from the shining of the sun according to the mode of its own color.”
“So potent in nature God made the soul, that from its most full beatitude, there redounds into the body the fullness of health, that is the vigor of incorruption.” (Augustine)