The Shepherd of Hermas

I am glad, sir, said I, to hear this explanation.[*](The practical conclusion) Listen, now, he said. Guard this flesh of yours, pure and undefiled, that the spirit which dwells in it may bear it witness, and your flesh may be justified.

See to it, lest the idea enter your heart that this flesh of yours is mortal, and you abuse it in some defilement. For if you defile your flesh you defile also the Holy Spirit, and if you defile the flesh you shall not live.

But, if, sir, said I, there was any previous ignorance before these words were heard, how can the man who defiled his flesh be saved? For the former ignorances, said he, it is possible for God

if, for the future, you defile neither the flesh nor the spirit; for both are in communion, and neither can be defiled without the other. Keep, therefore, both pure, and you shall live to God.[*](This is directed against the Gnostic tendency to divide flesh and spirit, and to regard the acts of the flesh as unimportant. Against this the church insisted on purity of life now, and on the hope of a resurrection of the flesh hereafter.)