Paul’s thoughts on the role of physical bodily discipline in his letters often seems a bit on the contradictory side. Consider on the one hand:
I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:27)
On the other:
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism . . . these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Col 2:18; 23)
While, I suppose we could take the easy way out and just assume that Colossians was the product a later development of the Pauline tradition, the canonical question still remains for those who consider the New Testament to be the church’s Scripture. What are we to think, biblically speaking, about the role of physical discipline in Christian sanctification?
Umm… isn’t the 1 Corinthians verse a part of a longer athletic metaphor? As far as I know the games in Corinth involved running and boxing, the two sports Paul mentions in this passage. And it seems to me that the statement about beating his body is the conclusion of his boxing metaphor which would have been well understood in a city that hosted one of the Panhellenic Games.
Easy: Paul was the weaker brother when it came to physical discipline. :-)
I don’t see any contradiction, just different contexts (intratextual and occasional concerns).
I think Solomon thought one had an impact on the other, and so does Paul in Timothy (he sees that it has some profit, but that we should not overemphasize the physical [which is decaying II Cor. 4:16ff] to the disparity on focusing on the spiritual).
I think stewardship comes into play on this question, and pragmatically if we don’t take care of our bodies our ability to think and move may be compromised. I don’t know . . . I’ll have to think some more.
“Muscles – lots of muscles.”
St. Eroids
I think Paul makes a great point about how asceticism doesn’t stop indulging in the flesh. I think for many asceticism IS indulgence.
However this is not your question. Sorry.
Yeah, I think asceticism can easily become nothing more than a fetish.
Jason’s right: Paul’s punishing (ὑπωπιάζω) of his body in 1 Cor. 9:27 refers to Paul’s rigorous training for the sake of the Gospel, which is quite different from neglecting/severe treatment of the body (ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος). Richard Hays cautions us “not to lose the thread of Paul’s argument and slip into thinking of spiritual discipline in an individualistic way. The self-control to which Paul is calling ‘the strong’ is precisely the discipline of giving up privileges for the sake of others in the community. They are to exercise self-discipline by giving up their rights to certain foods – and perhaps some of the privileged social status as well. This is a minor consideration, Paul suggest, in contrast to the prize set before us” (Hays, 1 Corinthians, Interpretation Commentary, p. 156). He also reminds us that for Paul the body (the whole human person, not just the physical body!) is an instrument of the spiritual life, not its nemesis. The dualism between flesh (sarx) and spirit (pneuma) exists for Paul, but sarx is not the same the human body (soma).
In Colossians, Paul only grants that this humility (not necessarily asceticism) has the appearance of wisdom because it promotes harsh treatment of the body. Since it doesn’t curb indulgence of the flesh, it’s worthless, to make Steven’s point.
It is interesting that Paul still uses the langugage of rigorous personal discipline in Colossians 3:5. So, any form of personal exercise that is not shaped by the concept of Jesus having died and been raised, and therefore the killing of old habits for the sake of building up the individuals in the community and spreading the gospel is inadequate, dangerous, and sinful.
So, just like harming your brother’s conscience is the problem in Corinthians so harming your body as a matter of self-congratulatory effort is a problem for the Colossians. The solution in both letters appears to be a gospel shaped, other oriented asceticism. Think Philippians 2:1-11.
So starving myself and hitting myself with a whip is probably a reall bad thing. But going without new shoes and missing a meal or two a day because I got a second job and bought new shoes for a parishoner is probably the direction Paul would desire us to go. Just a guess. I suck at interpreting the bible.