MORTIFICATION. The term mortification derives from the church Latin mortificare ("to put to death"), a term that appears several times in the Latin New Testament. In the Letter to the Romans, Paul counseled the early Christians, "if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death [mortificetis] the deeds of the body you will live" (8:13). In the Letter to the Colossians the Christian is exhorted: "Put to death [mortificate] what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (3:5). This "mortification of the flesh" was intimately connected with the "mortification" of Jesus Christ, that is to say, with his crucifixion. According to Paul, Christians carry this death (mortificatio) of Jesus in their bodies so that the life of Jesus might also be manifest in them (2 Cor. 4:10). All who belong to Christ have "crucified" the...