Flesh

Sarx (flesh) in Orthodox theology has a double resonance. First, in St. Paul's usage: the flesh as the seat of disordered desire and weakness, the aspect of human nature that pulls toward sin ('the works of the flesh,' Galatians 5:19-21). Second, in St. John's usage: 'the Word became flesh' (John 1:14) — the flesh as the genuine human nature assumed by the eternal Son. The tension is important: what Paul calls 'fleshly' is not the physical body per se (which is good and will be resurrected) but the entire fallen human condition under the power of sin and death.