Ans. The terms are figurative, and refer to state or condition, not to the body. Eld. W.'s view involves more difficulties than ours.
8. Paul was not certain but that he had been "out of the body."
Ans. In the same way that he was "present in spirit" at Corinth while really at Ephesus.
9. Paul would not have said, "To die is gain," unless he had supposed that he was "to be with Christ" at once.
Ans. Paul expected his reward only at the coming of Christ, not at death.
10. In Christ's time persons were "possessed" by evil spirits.
Ans. Possession by spirits did not consist in the spirit being actually inside a person, but in its having control of him.
11. "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
Ans. The most reliable original reading is phantom, an imaginary existence, which would of course be immaterial. Christ was a spiritual being at the time he spoke the words quoted, and yet had both flesh and bones, showing that a spirit may be material.