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44 | Claudia Setzer www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/1, 35â47
soul. Third, memory is created by events that act upon the self and helps make sense
of subsequent events. Fourth, these events take place within a wash of events, so
oneâs capacity to grow in understanding is a function of time. Last, there are no rigid
borders between body and soul, between past, present, and future. John also speaks
of slipping from the corporeal to the spiritual via perception and memory. No one can
see the Father except via the Son. No one has seen God, he tells us over and over, God
is not corporeal, not visible to the eye. But, âwhoever has seen me has seen the Fa-
ther. How can you say âShow us the Fatherâ?â (14:9) and âwhoever sees me sees him
who sent meâ (12:45). So you have seen the Father. You have entered into the spiritual
by way of your bodily perception of Jesus in the form of flesh. You have slipped across
the curved railway line. This creates a permanent effect. Memory further allows the
report of these experiences to pass to subsequent generations.
Johnâs three innovative theological ideas assert that body and spirit interact in
time and memory. The incarnation concept, for example, asserts that within the flux
of the temporally unfolding universe, at one point the same abstract Logos that was
present at creation coalesces and takes on human flesh and form. By passing from
the non-corporeal to corporeal, he becomes a vehicle for others to experience the
non-corporeal, a porous membrane between heaven and earth. Similarly, realised es-
chatology asks readers to understand themselves as living within two kinds of time,
the normal, mundane time that moves in one direction and the eternal, glorified exist-
ence beyond regular time. Hearers are to understand that they have already passed
from death to life. Finally, the idea of the Paraclete, the advocate or counsellor, says
that the physical Jesus must go away in order for this spiritual presence to come to
the community: âIf I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to youâ (16:7). The
corporeal must cede to the incorporeal, but an identity remains, dwelling with the
earthly community. These three innovations from John exhibit a nuanced expression
of relations between body, spirit, and temporality that moves far beyond earlier gos-
pels.
These thinkers, ancient and modern, articulate the crucial importance of percep-
tion in bridging body and spirit and healing the pain of human separation. Today,
transhumanism uses the language of biology to talk about extending the bodyâs per-
ceptual possibilities. Enhancement of senses via technology, especially the senses
of hearing and speaking, creates new ways to reach beyond the finite self. Disability
Studies was a bellwether in recognising the âcontingency of the bodyâ. Nancy Eies-
land showed that for the disabled, technology like wheelchairs or braces was part of
the experience of embodiment, allowing a fuller flourishing of the self.19 Andy Clark
says that through incorporation and restructuring, our best tools become us, that
the self of embodied agency is a âsoft selfâ.20 He notes that we need a fuller under-
19 Eiesland 1994.
20 Clark 2013, 124.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/01
- Title
- JRFM
- Subtitle
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Volume
- 02/01
- Authors
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Editor
- Uni-Graz
- Publisher
- SchĂźren Verlag GmbH
- Location
- Graz
- Date
- 2016
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Size
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Pages
- 132
- Categories
- Zeitschriften JRFM