(1) *The spirit* is the spirit of man elevated and ennobled by grace; *the flesh*, the corrupt dispositions and weak thoughts of human nature unaided by grace (see Rom. viii. 5, 6); and the meaning of the verse is; it is the mind illumined by grace that quickeneth to faith and to a proper understanding of My words; the mind or human nature by itself is of no avail in such matters; the words which I have spoken to you are _to be understood by_ the mind quickened and illumined by grace. So St. Chrys., Teoph., Wisem., Perr., M’Ev. But there are serious difficulties against this view—(1) “caro” is then taken metaphorically in this verse, while throughout the context it has been taken literally of the flesh of Christ; (2) the explanation of the words “are spirit and life” is unnatural. (2) Others take *the Spirit* of the Divinity of Christ, *the flesh* of His humanity considered apart from the Divinity; and the meaning of the verse then is: it is My Divinity that quickeneth, and maketh My flesh a meat enduring unto eternal life; the flesh if separated from the Divinity would profit nothing; the words which I have spoken to you regard My life‐giving Divinity as united to My humanity. In this view, as Mald. explains it, “life,” by a Hebraism, is equivalent to an adjective signifying _life‐ giving_, as may be inferred from the beginning of the verse, where it is said that it is the Spirit _that giveth life_.(60) Hence “Spirit and life” is equivalent to _life‐giving_ Spirit, and the latter part of the verse means that Christ’s words have reference to His life‐giving Divinity in union with His humanity. So, too, St. Cyril of Alex., Beel., Corl. We prefer this view, and hold that Christ here gives the key to the solution of the difficulty on account of which His disciples had murmured (verse 62). He had closed His discourse with words attributing eternal life to the eating of His flesh (verse 59); they murmured accordingly, thinking it absurd or incredible that such effect could follow from such a cause as the eating of a man’s flesh; and in verse 64 He explains that His flesh is the flesh of the Man‐God, which therefore through the quickening influence of the Divinity with which it is united, is capable of producing such marvellous effects.