We are more than one-dimensional

When will our mind and our body become one?
Perhaps we have asked the wrong question. This is an analytic way of thinking, breaking down something into its components and study them. Man is broken down into mind and body. But I think it is wrong to pitch the mind against the body. This is the mistake of dualism, a Greek philosophical legacy. The Greeks believed that the soul descended from the Idea world and entered a material body in this world of senses. When people died, their souls regained freedom and returned to the Idea world. That explains the poor reception of Paul's preaching in Athens. This idea has dominated the thought pattern of the western world for centuries because Christianity adopted it so much so that mortification of the body has been highly valued. To a certain extent, this idea served a historical purpose --- martyrdom. A martyr would die fearlessly, to give up his/her body for his/her faith. Thus, a tradition is set up. It takes a long-reigning Pope John Paul II to turn the tide. He developed the Theology of the Body, putting our attitude back to the right track.

This kind of dualistic thinking exhibits itself when we talk about action and motive. We can only observe the external action of a person but not his inner motive. We can see what a person does ---say helping people, stealing money and praying to God etc. However, people do the same thing for different reasons, with different motives. John hands Mary ten thousand dollars in order to solve her problem, or to please her, or to gain people's good impression, or to repay an earlier debt, or to follow the procedures etc. But is it true that the action, handing Mary $10,000,  is the same in all cases? I think not. Other than the motives, I thnk that the manner, the attitude and the mutual feelings with which the money is handed will be totally different. Therefore, even if we simply look at the actions in themselves, together with all the visible elements accompanying them, we are able to tell that they are different without resorting to the motives. Indeed, the "motives" are deduced from these accompanying visible elements. I am not trying to abolish of the concept of "motive/intention". I think that it is a useful concept, especially in ethics and criminology. It is a useful shorthand for discussion. Like body and soul, the distinction between action and motive should not be over-emphasized.

In explaining Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5 today, we tend to say that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had stressed too much the letters of the Law and had ignored its spirit. They have been caricatured as being legalistic. When Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), we tend to think and teach that Jesus came to reinstate the lost spirit of the Law, thus fulfilling it. This is not a bad explanation, but I think that it is inadequate because we have broken down the Law into its letters and its spirit. But should we break it down in this manner?

In the gospel reading today, we heard of Jesus teaching in a very authoritative manner. For four times, we read Matthew reporting in the same formula: "You have heard such and such, but I say to you so and so" (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34). Indeed, Jesus taught authoritatively and such is the manner in which God announced His Law. But Jesus denied that he made use of his authority to abolish the Law. Instead, he brought our attention to things we had ignored. Jesus did not teach new things.
Thus, Jesus teaches that not only should we not kill, but we should also not be angry. It is well known that anger would lead to murder. In fact, Jesus was drawing our attention to the source, the root of murder. Again, not only should we not commit adultery, but we should also not be lustful because lust is the root of adultery. We should not divorce because divorce is an adulterous act caused by lust, by being unfaithful to your vow of being faithful to your spouse. Lastly, not only should we refrain from swearing falsely, but we we should also not swear at all. There is no need to swear when what we speak is the truth, nothing but the whole truth.
Jesus is teaching the same Law, but he shows that areas of our life which we have ignored. He draws up a more comprehensive, integrated picture: murder is extended to anger, adultery to lust, divorce to unfaithfulness and swearing to telling the truth etc. We are an integrated whole. We are not one-dimensional men.

Dear Lord, You have come so that I may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). You have come to enrich my life. May I learn to love you more so that Your life will well up in me to eternal life (John 4:14). Amen.