Paul's Inner Struggle

Paul’s contrast between flesh and spirit sounds Platonic. But for Paul, humans were not divided into flesh and spirit (i.e. body and soul, as in Plato) as opposing categories. It is not the human spirit fighting against the corporeal); man’s aspiration is not the loosing of one’s own spirit from the tomb of the body. Rather, for Paul, it is similar to the formulation of the Rabbis. [That is,] Man faces a constant inner struggle because he possesses both the yetzer ha-tov (good inclination) and the yetzer ha-ra (evil inclination).

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Author: John Fischer

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Bible reference(s): Rom 8:1, Rom 8:4-5, Rom 8:9, Rom 8:13, 1 Cor 5:5, Gal 5:16-17, Gal 6:8

Source: “Paul in his Jewish Context,” The Evangelical Quarterly 57.3 (July-Sept. 1985), pg. 235.

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