A glorified body is not physical, it is spiritual. Read on to understand why that is the case.
The following verses are fully congruent with what the Baha’i Writings say about life in this physical world and life in the spiritual world, and the kind of body we will have after the physical body dies and takes on a new form.
1 Corinthians 15:35-58
New Living Translation
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed
(35-37) Paul is using an analogy. The seed is your soul which is housed in a physical body while you live on earth will not grow fully, into a plant, until after you die physically and enter the spiritual world.
(38) After we die and enter the spiritual world, God will give the soul a new body, a body God wants it to have, a body that God considered it worthy of inhabiting.
That is exactly what Baha’u’llah wrote:
“The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 157
That form will be a spiritual body, because physical bodies do not exist in the spiritual world.
“The answer to the third question is this, that in the other world the human reality doth not assume a physical form, rather doth it take on a heavenly form, made up of elements of that heavenly realm.” Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 194
39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
(39) Paul says that there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. He does not explain what happens to animals, birds, or fish after they die physically.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
(40-41) In these verses Paul is saying that there are bodies in the heavens and bodies on earth, and these bodies are not the same, they are different from each other. I think he is likening the physical body to the moon, and the spiritual body to the sun and stars, because the sun and stars give off their own light and they are brighter than the moon. In the spiritual world, not all souls who inhabit spiritual bodies will be the same. Paul said even the stars differ from each other in their glory, and that is analogous to the human souls who will all differ in their glory, since souls will reflect the spiritual growth that they attained in this world, so the souls who attained more spiritual growth will be more glorious, like a star that is brighter.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.
(42) What Paul is saying is that our physical bodies will be buried in the ground when we die, but then our sprit (soul) will be raised and live forever. When we die, our spirit (soul) leaves our body and it passes from one world (the physical world) into another (the spiritual world), and it lives forever in the spiritual world because the soul is immortal (not subject to death like the physical body).
421. When the body is no longer able to perform the bodily functions in the natural world that correspond to the spirit’s thoughts and affections, which the spirit has from the spiritual world, man is said to die. This takes place when the respiration of the lungs and the beatings of the heart cease. But the man does not die; he is merely separated from the bodily part that was of use to him in the world, while the man himself continues to live. It is said that the man himself continues to live since man is not a man because of his body but because of his spirit, for it is the spirit that thinks in man, and thought with affection is what constitutes man. Evidently, then, the death of man is merely his passing from one world into another. And this is why in the Word in its internal sense “death” signifies resurrection and continuation of life.
Heaven and Hell, p. 351
Death of man is merely his passing of the spirit (soul) from one world into another and that is why in the Bible “death” signifies resurrection and continuation of life. The physical body will be planted in the ground when we die but our spiritual body will be raised to live forever
43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
(43) What Paul is saying here is that the physical body is weak and broken, but the spiritual body will be raised in strength and glory. The physical body is the natural human body that is buried. Paul is differentiating natural bodies from spiritual bodies, saying that they are not the same.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[a] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
This is exactly what Abdu’l-Baha was saying in this chapter:
Question.—In verse 22 of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians it is written: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” What is the meaning of these words?
Answer.—Know that there are two natures in man: the physical nature and the spiritual nature. The physical nature is inherited from Adam, and the spiritual nature is inherited from the Reality of the Word of God, which is the spirituality of Christ. The physical nature is born of Adam, but the spiritual nature is born from the bounty of the Holy Spirit. The first is the source of all imperfection; the second is the source of all perfection.
Some Answered Questions, p. 118
The whole chapter can be read here:
29: EXPLANATION OF VERSE TWENTY-TWO, CHAPTER FIFTEEN, OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS
46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[b] the heavenly man.
(46-49) Paul is stating the obvious. First we are born and grow in natural bodies, then when we die we are given spiritual bodies. The soul of Christ came from heaven and then His body was born on earth. Earthy people are people who are attached to the earth whereas heavenly people have their thoughts focused on the spiritual world, even while they are still living on earth. Someday we will all be like the heavenly man, when earthy people no longer have the things of the earth to be attached to.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
(50) This verse is very clear. Our physical bodies cannot enter the Kingdom of God in the heaven, which is a spiritual world. Because our physical bodies will die eventually, they cannot enter the spiritual world, which will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
(51-53) What Paul is saying is that the moment we die, our physical body will be transformed into a spiritual body, and we will live forever in the spiritual world. Our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die (immortal bodies) because otherwise we could not live forever.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[c] this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.[d]
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?[e]”
(54-55) In these verses Paul is saying that physical death is no longer our enemy; it has been swallowed up in victory, so we now have defeated death.
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(56-57) Paul is saying that sin results in spiritual death, but God has given us a way to overcome sin and spiritual death, by believing in and following Jesus.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
(58) Paul is now closing this chapter by telling us to be strong and never give up because nothing we do for Jesus is ever in vain. That reminded me of these verses.
Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
