What Do the Manicheans, René Descartes, and Lady Gaga Have in Common?

Human nature is a mysterious and enigmatic reality, confounding the most brilliant minds generation after generation. Every era seems to propose a new theory to explain the interconnectedness of the body, soul, and mind. Manicheans of the 3^rd century believed that the soul was imprisoned in the body. René Descartes considered the body and soul to be distinct substances, stressing the importance of the intellect at the expense of the senses. More recently, Lady Gaga penned the catchy lyric, “You can’t have my heart, and you won’t use my mind, but do what you want with my body.” These ideas might initially appear unrelated, but a recurrent theme stealthily underpins each postulation: the body is unimportant.

            Is this true? Is human nature simply a spiritual reality, able to dispense of the body as irrelevant to earthly life? Our pilgrimage across many ancient lands has shined light on a certain human behavior that challenges this possibility. When seeing these ancient and venerated wonders of history, simply observing them does not seem to satisfy. We often experience a powerful impulse. Seeing is not enough; we are compelled to touch these objects. Why must we reach out our hands to unite our fingers with these stones and statues of antiquity?

Aristotle taught that we can better understand the nature of a thing by observing its actions and behaviors. Persons everywhere strive to reach out and touch that which they hope to know more intimately. Making contact with bits and pieces of historical consequence forms a kind of union between us and the item; touching generates a communion with the artifact. Its history, value, and durability become our own. The body’s inclusion in this activity validates the reality that the corporeal is an indispensable part of our human nature. If it were not, we would not behave in this way.

Original Sin brought forth a darkening of the intellect. Because of the Fall, we sometimes become uncertain about the realities of life. To help us discern what is true from what is false, our Lord Jesus Christ instituted his Church to guide and help us on our life’s journey. Accordingly, paragraph 364 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.” Jesus Christ definitized this dignity by becoming man, taking upon himself a human nature. Since his divinity touches our humanity, our human nature is able to commune with the divine. Regardless of how many theories are put forward from however many philosophers, we can have unwavering confidence in the goodness, dignity, and honor of our bodies, actualized by our Lord himself and confirmed through his Church.

Raymond J. Grieshaber, Seminarian, Archdiocese of Chicago