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Why even cite the Bible, as if it carried some kind of divine authority, while making yourself the arbiter of ultimate truth? Why quote Scripture if it can be trumped by the latest theories of psychology or sociology?

What Does St. Paul Mean by “The Flesh”? Msgr. Charles Pope • October 11, 2016 • In the first reading at Mass today (Wednesday of the 28th Week), St. Paul enumerates the sins that proceed from the flesh. There are many references to “the flesh” in the New Testament, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase is commonly misunderstood as being synonymous with the physical body or merely with sexual sin.Although there are many places in Scripture in which the word “flesh” alone refers to the physical body, when it is preceded by the definite article (“the”),...

There are many references to “the flesh” in New Testament Scripture, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase confuses some who think it synonymous with the physical body, or sometimes with sexual sin.It is true that there are many times when Scripture uses the word “flesh” to refer to the physical body. However when the definite article “the” is placed before the word “flesh” we are dealing with something else. Only very rarely does the Biblical phrase “the flesh” (? s??? (he sarx), in Greek) refer only to the physical body (eg. John 6:53; Phil 3:2; 1 John...

I have often heard it said that our Lord did not care overmuch about sins of the flesh; for He was relentless in his attacks upon hypocrisy, pride, and avarice, but was so mild towards adulterers and fornicators that we might, extrapolating from that mildness, so far dispense Christians from the strictures of the sixth commandment as to ignore their sins, nay, even to make a virtue of them, so long as they commit them with sufficient sweetness and affection.That interpretation cannot be supported by any commonsense reading of His words.When the Pharisees, “tempting Him,” asked Him whether it was...