Topics / Plan of Salvation
A gift, not an embarrassment
The Body
Latter-day Saint theology treats embodiment as an achievement rather than a problem to be escaped. That single premise reorganises health, chastity, appetite, disability and the resurrection into one doctrine rather than several rules.
18 min2 sections
The premise
Cross-references
- Genesis 1:27, 31Created in the image of God, and 'very good' — the intensifier appears on the day living bodies were made.
- D&C 88:15'The spirit and the body are the soul of man.'
- D&C 130:22The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's — embodiment is the direction of travel, not what we are rescued from.
- Abraham 3:26Those who kept the first estate 'shall be added upon,' and a body is what was added.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19–20The body as a temple of the Holy Ghost. Paul's argument is stewardship, not shame.
Principle
A body is not a container the person eventually leaves; it is part of what the person is, and it is permanent after the resurrection.
What follows
- Health practice is doctrinal rather than merely prudential — D&C 89 attaches spiritual as well as physical promises.
- Chastity is about a sacred power rather than about shame; Alma 39:5 places it in a hierarchy rather than in a taboo.
- Appetite is not an enemy. D&C 59:18–20 says the good things of the earth are made 'to please the eye and to gladden the heart,' with the condition of moderation and gratitude attached.
- Disability, illness and a body that fails are not a diminished humanity. Alma 11:43–45 promises a restoration to a perfect frame, and Alma 7:11–12 puts sicknesses among the things Christ took upon Himself.
- Asceticism for its own sake has little scriptural footing here. Fasting is directed outward in Isaiah 58, and consecration is about use rather than deprivation.
What this topic holds
The body is a gift and part of the soul, not a prison for it.
Care for the body is a stewardship, with promises attached that are physical and spiritual together.
Check your reading
3 questions01What does D&C 88:15 say the soul of man is?
02What is Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20?
03What does D&C 59:18–20 say about the good things of the earth?
Where to go next
Sources
- Gospel Topics, "Word of Wisdom"
- D&C 88:15; D&C 89; 1 Corinthians 6 — The primary texts.