Ancient and Jewish Hellenistic philosophy forms an important background for early Christian reflections on the body. Plato insisted that the body is mortal, while the soul, or at least the intellectual soul, is immortal and the true self. In the Timaeus he posited that the “intellect” (nous), the superior part of the soul, is created by the demiurge (God the Creator), whereas the inferior parts of the soul are produced by minor, “younger” deities. This difference derives from the tenet of theodicy, “…