Many times Augustine is accused of hating embodied life, seeking to flee into a Neoplatonic bliss of dis-incarnate life. This is not the case because the Incarnation
showed that it is sin which is evil, and not the substance or nature of flesh…He showed also that death itself, though it is the penalty of sin – a penalty which He paid for us without sin – is not something that we are to avoid by sinful means. Rather, if need be, we should suffer death in the name of righteousness. For He was able to redeem us from sin by His own death, because He died, but He died for no sin of His own. (City of God, 10.24)
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[…] And the second, where we see that Augustine is not against the flesh… The incarnation “showed that it is sin which is evil, and not the substance or nature of flesh … He showed also that death itself, though it is the penalty of sin – a penalty which He paid for us without sin – is not something that we are to avoid by sinful means. Rather, if need be, we should suffer death in the name of righteousness. For He was able to redeem us from sin by His own death, because He died, but He died for no sin of His own.” (City of God 10.24) […]