Brother Body: The Problem of the Body in Orthodox Anthropology

Referring to the religious-philosophical domain of anthropology, the author of the paper attempts to carry out an apologetic understanding of corporeality in Christianity. The analysis embraces such sources that are rarely the subject of philosophical and anthropological research. The author uses treatises by representatives of patristic philosophy, liturgical and dogmatic texts, ascetic instructions, and church practice to answer several questions. Is the body sinful from the point of view of Christian teaching about man? Soul and body: union or enmity? Can the human soul be perfected outside of his body? Body and flesh: are they one and the same, or different phenomena? Man’s task: body to put to death or to bring to eternal life? What is the reason for the contradictions in the actions of the soul and the body of the individual? Exploring the place and role of the body in the destiny of man from the perspective of Orthodox anthropology, the author comes to the conclusion that this anthropology describes the nature of coexistence of human body and soul in terms of cooperation, synergy. The fact of human corporeality is evaluated by Orthodox thinkers and ascetics as the basis of human superiority over angels. The paper concludes by stressing the necessity to study Orthodox Christian anthropology for the development of philosophical anthropology.