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Spiritual dying and dying to sin

geistlichen absterben; geistlicher weise; nicht im leiblichen absterben

Spiritual dying means dying to sin and the old Adam, not bringing about the physical death of the body.

From the book

The Sophic Hydrolith, Water Stone of the Wise

Anonymous and companion authors · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordSpiritual dying means dying to sin and the old Adam, not bringing about the physical death of the body.
  • In the Sophic HydrolithPart IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 48 begins with the person already born anew and living in a Christian manner.
  • In this editionThe English preserves the explanatory ‘that is’, the repeated ‘as it were’, the explicit ‘not in the bodily death’ and the parenthetical restriction ‘understand this of the godly’.
  • A place to readDying to old Adam and daily leave-taking of sin are explained through the furnace of tribulation.

Meaning

Spiritual dying means dying to sin and the old Adam, not bringing about the physical death of the body. The main author states this distinction explicitly. Terms for dissolution, grinding, destruction and putrefaction are carried into an analogy of transformed allegiance and reliance on divine grace.

‘Daily bids farewell to sins’ describes a continuing change in conduct so that sin no longer rules. The soul’s apparent ascent is then glossed as the heart and spirit longing for eternal life while the body remains on earth. Without these explanations, the dramatic death-language could easily be misread as literal bodily separation.

Use in the book

Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 48 begins with the person already born anew and living in a Christian manner. The furnace of tribulation corresponds to the material compound’s suffering, but its purpose is to end reliance on one’s own powers and direct comfort towards God’s mercy. The reference to baptismal burial and new life gives the theological frame. It does not recommend seeking injury or producing suffering as a technique for earning renewal.

The raven’s-head image names how the person can appear despised and mocked before the world. The duration is not tied to the material schedule: the author says suffering can extend throughout life. That explicit difference prevents a mechanical one-to-one transfer of every process time into spiritual experience.

Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 49 interprets the upward movement through heavenly rather than worldly conduct. Body and soul are as if separated yet remain near and connected; the soul refreshes the body, and the Spirit comforts it when tribulation becomes too great. The author repeats that this is dying to sin, not bodily death. He then discusses actual temporal death separately, calling it natural dissolution and gentle sleep, and limits the assured unceasing union with God’s Spirit to the godly. The distinct clauses should remain distinct: spiritual transformation during life is not physical immortality, and actual death is not simply erased.

Places to read

  1. Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 48Dying to old Adam and daily leave-taking of sin are explained through the furnace of tribulation.
  2. Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 49The author explicitly distinguishes this separation from bodily death and describes continuing bodily refreshment.

Translation

The English preserves the explanatory ‘that is’, the repeated ‘as it were’, the explicit ‘not in the bodily death’ and the parenthetical restriction ‘understand this of the godly’. These are governing qualifications, not ornamental hedges. They make the passage a theological account of conduct, reliance and consolation rather than a statement that literal destruction of body or divinity is necessary for salvation.

Attested forms

Alten Adam; abgestorben; sünden täglich vrlaub gibt; geistlicher weise; geistlichen absterben; nicht im leiblichen absterben