📖 Biblical Definition
Greek soma, body, the NT term for the physical body of a human or animal and metaphorically for the church as the body of Christ. The semantic range encompasses (1) the physical body in its created goodness (1 Corinthians 6:13-20, the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body... your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost); (2) the resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:35-58, the great resurrection-body chapter, distinguishing the natural body sown in dishonor from the spiritual body raised in glory); (3) the eucharistic body of Christ (the bread of communion, this is my body, Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 11:24); (4) the church as the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1:23; 4:12, 16; 5:23, 30; Colossians 1:18, 24, the great body-of-Christ ecclesiology). The Reformed-confessional reading retains the goodness of the body against gnostic and ascetic dualism, the integrated unity of body and soul in the believer's life, the substantial reality of the resurrection-body destiny, and the organic-mystical unity of the church as Christ's body. The patriarchal-Reformed reader notes the NT theological weight: bodily life matters; bodily resurrection is the believer's destiny; the church is not a voluntary association but Christ's living body.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Greek soma (G4983), body; physical body in creation goodness; resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15); eucharistic body; church as the body of Christ.
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SOMA, Greek noun (G4983; body) NT term for body. Four NT registers: (1) physical body in created goodness (1 Corinthians 6:13-20, body as temple of the Holy Ghost); (2) resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:35-58, natural body sown / spiritual body raised); (3) eucharistic body of Christ (Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 11:24, this is my body); (4) church as body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1:23; 4:12; 5:23, 30; Colossians 1:18, 24). Reformed-confessional reading: goodness of body against gnostic dualism; unity of body and soul; substantial bodily resurrection; organic-mystical unity of the church as Christ's body.
📖 Key Scripture
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 — "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."
Romans 12:4-5 — "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."
Colossians 1:18 — "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Gnostic-ascetic dualism denies the goodness of the body; modern Christian individualism dissolves the church-as-body into voluntary association; Reformed-confessional doctrine retains the NT substance.
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The two principal contemporary corruptions of biblical soma are opposite. Gnostic-ascetic dualism (early heretical and various Catholic-monastic tendencies; modern spiritual-not-bodily sentimentalisms) denies the goodness of the body, treats matter as inferior to spirit, and aspires to disembodied spirituality. Modern Christian individualism dissolves the church-as-body into voluntary association of self-actualizing individuals, severing the organic-mystical unity Paul develops in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. The Reformed-confessional answer holds the integrated biblical doctrine: the body is good as created, redeemed in Christ, destined for resurrection, and the church is Christ's living organic body with the LORD Jesus as its head and the saints as its many members.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
G4983; NT body-term; physical, resurrection, eucharistic, ecclesial registers.
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['Greek', 'G4983', 'soma', 'body']
['Hebrew', 'H1320', 'basar', 'flesh, body (OT equivalent)']
['Greek', 'G4561', 'sarx', 'flesh (distinguished from soma)']
Usage
"Soma: body; physical, resurrection, eucharistic, ecclesial registers."
"Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19)."
"Church as body of Christ; LORD Jesus as head (Colossians 1:18)."