Paul the Platonist? (1)

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 2 Corinthians 5:1-2

Earthly tent – Mas. Chagigah 12b in the Talmud, citing many verses including Isaiah 57:1, teaches the pre-existence of the soul.[1] Paul would have been familiar with this teaching. His analogy of the physical body as a earthly tent suggests that he also believed in the separation of body and soul, the body housing the animating breath of YHVH. Talmudic explanations suggest that upon death the “soul” returns to the Lord who gave it and must therefore be returned in the condition it was received, namely, pure and undefiled. But this does not mean that Paul was a Platonist. Understanding the difference between the Talmudic idea of body and soul and Plato’s conception of body and soul is crucial, especially since Western religion is essentially Platonic rather than Talmudic.

Perhaps we can best summarize the Jewish idea of death and afterlife in a single sentence: no one really knows what this means. While it seems clear that there is an afterlife, there is little uniformity on its character, nor on the relationship between the “soul” of a human being in this world and the existence of the person in the world to come. What is true of virtually all Jewish sects is the belief that reward and punishment are recompensed for actions chosen in this world. Therefore, behavioral choices here are significant and decisive. This is the first important difference between the Jewish-Talmudic concept of body and soul compared to Plato’s view. In Platonic thinking, the material world is essentially flawed and unfit for true spiritual existence. Actions taken in this world are therefore also essentially corrupt. In Plato’s view, the most important (and perhaps the only) choice is to exercise the option of eros by leaving this world behind and entering into a purely spiritual existence undefiled by any physical matter. In other words, if Paul were a Platonist he would do all he could to exit this “earthly tent” since simply being in the world is a mark of deficient existence.

There are other significant differences, but let’s just elaborate this one. If I believe that the “real” world is the world of purely spiritual existence separated from the corruption of the physical (all those bodily desires that trip me up), then my goal will be to get out of here, that is, to get to “heaven” where I will no longer have to contend with the body. It follows that whatever happens in this bodily existence might have consequences here but has no consequences later when I no longer occupy this body. Whatever form I have in the next life, it will not be tied to the corrupt body I have now, so it really doesn’t matter what I do with or to this present body. I will get a brand new, start-over. So, by the way, will the entire universe. Consequently, what I do to this world doesn’t really matter anyway. Yes, I may have some moral obligations now, but they are merely temporary, while I am here. They do not carry over into the next life.

This, of course, is not what Paul teaches, nor is it taught anywhere in the Jewish concept of life on this earth. First, YHVH made what exists now, and even though it is broken, it is not garbage. The goal of living is not escape. It is restoration to the original. Therefore, every action here counts, not only here but in the life to come. The next life is contingent upon this life and directly related to it. If I ignore my obligations to the creation, including the creation of my own body, I eternally damage what God intended for me to restore and there will be eternal consequences. The physical world is the world of His creation. It was pronounced “good,” and it is no less so simply because Man had defiled it. Death does not provide an exit from obligation to the creation. I don’t start over. What I will experience is cloudy now, but it will certainly involve continued obligation and interaction with what God created from the beginning.

The Platonist can summarily dismiss this world, and the world of his own material existence, as but a shadow of the true reality. The Jew cannot. Therein lies an enormous difference. How you behave demonstrates whether you are working for Zion or Valhalla.

Topical Index: body, soul, tent, Plato, death, Talmud, afterlife, 2 Corinthians 5:1-2

[1] Interested readers may consult Everyman’s Talmud, p. 78 and the original text of Mas. Chagigah 12b at http://halakhah.com/pdf/moed/Chagigah.pdf. Other sources concerning the ideas of death and afterlife can be found at http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/282508/jewish/What-Happens-After-We-Die.htm, and http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm.