SPIRITUAL MEAT

(broma pneumatikon, "food spiritual"): Nourishment for the soul, referring specifically (1 Corinthians 10:3) to the manna by which the children of Israel were miraculously fed and which was made by Paul prophetically equivalent to the broken bread of the Christian sacrament symbolizing the body of Christ. Hence,

(1) Christ Himself as the food of the soul: "I am the bread of life" (John 6:48-58);

(2) anything that nourishes the spiritual life:

(a) obedience to the will of God: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me" (John 4:32-34);

(b) the truths of God in the Scriptures: "Word of righteousness" = "strong meat" (Hebrews 5:12-14); "word of God" (Matthew 4:4);

(c) the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:1-2; compare 1 Corinthians 2).

Dwight M. Pratt