How ‘Throw My Body in a Ditch’ Theology Relates to Sexual Ethics

In 2 Corinthians, then, Paul isn’t arguing for some preferred disembodied existence. Rather, as Seifrid notes, “he is reminding the Corinthians that the hope of the Gospel is a resurrected body, and not the bodiless existence of the naked soul” (Seifrid, 227).

The resurrection doesn’t make less of the body—it makes more of it. We’re trading in our tent body for our temple body. We’re not casting off our evil fleshly body in exchange for a spiritual existence.

That’s Gnosticism, Patrick…(If you don’t get the reference: here)

The Battle With Gnosticism

Gnosticism was one of the earliest rival philosophies that the church had to battle. Foundational to their belief was that all matter was evil and the spirit was good. In their understanding our human spirit is trapped in these evil bodies—and redemption is to cast off the body. Who I really am, is who I am in my spirit. That is my true existence.

This might explain why John spent so much time on the death and burial of Jesus. It’s certainly why he says some of what he does in 1 John. There were already those in his context who were denying that Jesus was truly human (incarnation), that Jesus really died, that he was buried and that He was truly resurrected.

The church fought to teach that Jesus Christ “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.” But it wasn’t only doctrine about Christ they fought for. They also taught “the resurrection of the body.”

The early church placed great importance upon the body. What we do in the body matters. What happens to our body matters. The church didn’t separate flesh from spirit as we do. And they certainly didn’t have a “throw me in a ditch” theology.

We, however, think can get away with “throw me in a ditch” theology these days because we have the mistaken assumption that Gnosticism is one of those long-gone beliefs. But I would argue giving up this foundation is shown in the consequence of our battles over sexual ethics.

How This Relates to Today’s Sexual Ethics

In his book, “Strange New World,” Carl Trueman argues that “expressive individualism” is the water in which we swim. Our understanding of self is the core issue confronting us in issues of sexuality. He defines the self this way: “When I use the term self in this book, I am referring…to the deeper notion of where the ‘real me’ is to be found, how that shapes my view of life, and in what the fulfillment or happiness of that ‘real me’ consists” (Trueman, 21-22).

He goes on to say: “…the modern self assumes the authority of inner feelings and sees authenticity as defined by the ability to give social expression to the same. The modern self also assumes that society at large will recognize and affirm this behavior” (Trueman, 22).

In other words, who you really are is immaterial. “Throw my body in a ditch” is synonymous with “surgically change my genitalia” because that isn’t who I really am. It’s a similar argument.