Simply put, what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world.
The soul is spread throughout all the members of the body, and Christians throughout the cities of the world.
The soul dwells in the body but is not from the body; Christians dwell in the world but are not from the world.
The invisible soul is held within the visible body; Christians are known to be in the world, but their piety remains invisible.
The flesh hates the soul and wages war against it, though it has suffered no wrong, because it is prevented from indulging in pleasures. The world likewise hates Christians, though it has suffered no wrong from them, because they oppose its pleasures.
The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and its members; Christians likewise love those who hate them.
The soul is enclosed in the body, yet it is the soul that holds the body together; Christians are held in the world as in a prison, yet they themselves hold the world together.
The immortal soul dwells in a mortal dwelling; Christians live as sojourners among perishable things, awaiting the incorruptibility that is in heaven.
When the soul is treated harshly in matters of food and drink, it grows better; Christians, when punished day by day, increase all the more.
God has assigned them to so great a station, one that they are not permitted to refuse.