How are the soul and the body related to each other according to the RCC?
Upvote:0
The Council of Vienne (1311-1312), under the authority of Clement V, defined the dogma that the soul is the form of the human body (Denzinger 481):
Moreover, with the approval of the said council, we reject as erroneous and contrary to the truth of the catholic faith every doctrine or proposition rashly asserting that the substance of the rational or intellectual soul is not of itself and essentially the form of the human body, or casting doubt on this matter. In order that all may know the truth of the faith in its purity and all error may be excluded, we define that anyone who presumes henceforth to assert defend or hold stubbornly that the rational or intellectual soul is not the form of the human body of itself and essentially, is to be considered a heretic.
"Form" is "the actualizing principle that makes a thing to be what it is." Thus, a body without the substantial form of a human being (a soul) is a corpse.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines form as:
In the Scholastic philosophy: The essential determinant principle of a thing; that which makes anything (matter) a determinate species or kind of being; the essential creative quality.
This use of form (Aristotle's μορϕή or εἶδος) and matter (ὕλη) is a metaphorical extension of their popular use. In ordinary speech, a portion of matter, stuff, or material, becomes a ‘thing’ by virtue of having a particular ‘form’ or shape; by altering the form, the matter remaining unchanged, we make a new ‘thing’. This language, primarily applied only to objects of sense, was in philosophical use extended to objects of thought: every ‘thing’ or entity was viewed as consisting of two elements, its form by virtue of which it was different from, and its matter which it had in common with, others.
Read St. Thomas Aquina's short work On the Principles of Nature (De principiis naturæ) for more information on matter and form (hylemorphism).
St. Thomas Aquinas also addresses the question of the union of a human's intellectual soul with the human's body in Summa Theologica I q. 76.
More post
- 📝 How is the atonement sufficient for salvation according to Calvinists?
- 📝 For those who don't believe baptism is required for salvation, when, scripturally, does someone die with Christ?
- 📝 Does God still create everything
- 📝 What was the explicit purpose of Jesus' question to James and John?
- 📝 What are the common arguments against theistic evolution?
- 📝 What does it mean to be "poor in spirit"?
- 📝 writing and pronouncing Bible references
- 📝 King David accepts God's will by touching the Ark
- 📝 How do Jehovah's Witnesses explain Thomas's exclamation, "My Lord and my God"?
- 📝 To what name does Didache X refer?
- 📝 John Wesley's influence by ancient fathers
- 📝 What is the purpose of marriage in light of 1 Cor 7?
- 📝 When is the first documented case of Christians praying to the dead saints?
- 📝 Why is literary style not inspired?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for preachers to be paid from members' tithing?
- 📝 What is the difference between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches?
- 📝 Is there any Biblical answers to what condition our bodies will be in after the resurrection?
- 📝 From where does the doctrine that there is no time in heaven originate?
- 📝 Will men be circumcised after the Resurrection?
- 📝 According to the LDS faith, did Noah build the Ark in America?
- 📝 What version of the Bible is closest to the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts?
- 📝 Can blood disinfect a house from plague according to Leviticus?
- 📝 What is the biblical argument used by Protestants against the Catholic doctrine of Penance?
- 📝 Tithing and excommunication question (LDS)
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Irresistible Grace?
- 📝 What is some relevent scripture regarding having something stolen?
- 📝 From a Dogmatic Catholic perspective, what is the eternal destination of an unbaptized embryo?
- 📝 Church Fathers on life beyond the earth?
- 📝 Jesus's genealogy: 28 generations or 41 since David?
- 📝 How do people who believe in immediate heaven for believers at death explain Tabitha?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How are the soul and the body related to each other according to the RCC?
- 📝 How are the different covenants related to or different from each other?
- 📝 How Christians are expected to accommodate or view the existence and presence of other religions vis a vis Christianity?
- 📝 What are the core beliefs of Presbyterianism? How does it differ and compare to other denominations of reformed Protestantism?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses, what are the essential features of a true follower of Christ, and can such be found in other denominations?
- 📝 According to Latter-day Saints, what are the essential features of a true follower of Christ, and can such be found in other denominations?
- 📝 When are the various assorted labels for Catholics - see body - applied and how are they related?
- 📝 How are the religious usages of mainline and evangelical related to their general nonreligious meanings?
- 📝 Why are demons and other fallen angels loyal to the devil according to the Bible?
- 📝 How can I tell the difference between the Moral law and other laws in the old testament?
- 📝 How are the Calvinist, Arminian and Lutheran conceptions of Total Depravity different?
- 📝 Where, exactly, were Christ's body and soul during the Descendit?
- 📝 In the NPP, if Paul's "works of the law" are only circumcision and diet, how is Galatians 3:10 interpreted?
- 📝 How is the belief that Christians are both adopted and begotten sons of God reconciled?
- 📝 How are prayer and asking the saints to intercede distinguished?
- 📝 What is the source of the count of 40000 denominations, and how are they classified?
- 📝 How comparable are the concepts of the Teaching Magisterium in the Catholic Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses view of their Watch Tower society?
- 📝 Does God want things? What are some of the things He wants, and how did we find out?
- 📝 How do we know that Satan, Lucifer, and Devil are the same guy?
- 📝 What are the differences between Mormonism and Islam, and how do Mormons react to comparisons with it?
- 📝 How are the Catholic church's teaching on plastic surgery and GRS self-consistent?
- 📝 According to Lutherans, under what conditions (or at what moment) do the consecrated species cease to be the blood and body of Christ?
- 📝 How can common believers in the Eastern Orthodox Church be sure that the Church's decisions are correct and not erroneous?
- 📝 How far are priests and other religious allowed to go in terms of political endors*m*nts (or non-endors*m*nts)?
- 📝 How should other churches respond to a pastor and congregation who live contrary to the Gospel?
- 📝 What is a gospel, and how many gospels are there in the Catholic Bible?
- 📝 According to Catholic Church tradition, where, when, how and by whom did the devotion of the Stations of the Cross begin?
- 📝 How many practicing Canon Lawyers are there in the USA, and the world?
- 📝 According to full preterism, who is 'the dragon' and what are the differences between 'the dragon' and 'the beast'?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, are Adam and Eve in heaven?
