Orthodox Forge

Church Worship as a Journey to Heaven

How can the body cooperate with the soul in sacred worship?

Q882 · Church Worship

As long as we live in this world, it is befitting for us to worship and glorify the Creator with our bodies as well as with our souls. Indeed, if the body is compared to the soul, the body is considered material and the soul spiritual; but one cannot glorify God without the other. The body worships with its members and the soul interacts with the body because there is no dualism in the human being. If the body ignores the role of the soul, worship turns into lifeless literalism; and if the soul tries to worship God while ignoring the body — even if the body is weary or sick — then its worship is incomplete. Each of them needs the other to offer sincere worship that is pleasing to God, the Creator of the body and soul.