Fr. Dwight Longenecker on Our Resurrection Bodies

"In Perelandra C.S.Lewis puts out an interesting discussion about the physicality of angels. He says we conceive of angels and the spiritual realm as less real than this material world, but what if is the other way around?

"I explained it in an earlier post here. Simply put, the gospels make it clear that Jesus was not a ghost, but they also make it clear that he was not simply a resuscitated body. Jesus' body was physical, not spiritual and ghostly and ephemeral. However, it was also not like our bodies. It didn't relate to the physical world like ours.

"The simplest way to put this is that Jesus' resurrection body was not less real than this physical world, but more real.

"Lewis plays with this idea further in The Great Divorce. The souls from purgatory make a visit to heaven and they find that world to be more real than they are. The blades of grass hurt their feet. The apples are too heavy to pick up. They are afraid of the rain for it will pierce them like bullets.

"I was delighted therefore to discover when reading St Therese of Lisieux that she says, 'In heaven every grain of dust will be a diamond.' She had the same insight as Lewis. Nice."

In a recent commentary, Father Dwight C (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on what our resurrected bodies may be like.

To access Fr. Longenecker's complete post, please visit:

Fr. Dwight Longenecker: C.S.Lewis, St Therese and Our Resurrection Bodies (17 APR 18)