Dualism and the unfortunate splitting of the soul and the body can take two forms. Typically, dualism has pitted the soul against the body with the latter considered evil—along with all of physical reality. Contemporary culture, however, tends towards the opposite, with the body and all that is physical treated as ultimate goods and the spiritual disregarded as irrelevant. And it is to this latter tendency that Jesus’ radical message can serve as a timely corrective. Accordingly, although the body and all created reality are unequivocally good, both are in transition and our present bodies will have to die before they are transformed and are taken up into immortality and glory. This can only occur if their spiritual dimension is not neglected—something that usually requires the disciplining and training of the body so that it is restored to harmony with the soul and serves virtue and holiness. So although it might not necessitate plucking out an eye or severing a limb, entering the kingdom is not going to happen without some discomfort and even suffering—all not worth comparing to the glory that will be ours when Christ Jesus is revealed.
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