NT2213 The Pauline Tradition: 1 & 2 Corinthians
 Mary E. Hinkle
Associate Professor of New Testament
Luther Seminary
Fall 2004

God, the Gum and the Wrapper

To Do List for Week 8

  1. Read this web page and 1 Cor. 15.
  2. Read Hays's 1 Corinthians commentary, 252-282.
  3. If you have not finished "Comparing Translations," do so by Oct. 29. It's in the Coursework section of MyLutherNet.
  4. The next exegetical workshop is "Tracing Movement," due Nov. 5. It's also in the Coursework section of MyLutherNet.
  5. Blog on a topic listed below.

God, the Gum and the Wrapper

The theme for this week comes from a comment I once heard from Luther Seminary Old Testament Prof. Mark Throntveit. He was talking about the importance of the human body in Jewish thought. Even today, for instance, Jews do not embalm or cremate corpses. The body is God's creation every bit as much as any "life force" that the Greeks would have called a soul. As such, the body is valued and treated with respect even in death. 

Prof. Throntveit was explaining Jewish respect for the body and Christian belief in the resurrection of the body, and he contrasted these Jewish and Christian beliefs with how modern Americans often talk about the soul living on in a disembodied state. "People think God just takes the gum and throws away the wrapper," he said. "But in the Creed, Christians say that we believe in the Resurrection of the wrapper!"

Big Issues this Week

Christology

In 1 Cor. 2, Paul says that he decided to know nothing among the Corinthians except "Jesus Christ and him crucified" (2:2). Yet, it is clear from chapter 15 that Paul's comment in chapter 2 is a shorthand for what he actually preached. "Christ crucified" means "Christ crucified and risen." The resurrection does not minimize the scandal of the cross or turn Paul's message into the "lofty words or wisdom" that he rejects in chapter 2. Yet without the resurrection, Paul would not have any reason to speak to the Corinthians at all. He says, "If Christ is not raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain" ( 15:14).

Apocalyptic Eschatology

Why is the resurrection so important to Paul and his message? Remember that in apocalyptic thinking, the world and its natural progression offer no hope. Things are too far gone for a little tweaking, or letter-writing campaign, or something else like that, to bring about justice and mercy on earth. Instead, if things are going to be made right (justified), God will have to intervene in the natural course of events. Signs of such intervention would be unnatural things like earthquakes, or the sun and moon going dark (cf. Joel 2:10, for example). 

Signs of the End: Resurrection

A particularly important sign of God intervening in the natural order of things is the resurrection of the dead. (Makes sense, yes? Seeing the dead come back to life would convince me that something “unnatural” was happening!!) As a result of the risen Christ's own revelation of himself to Paul—remember the Greek apokalypsis means "revelation"—Paul came to believe that God's new just and justifying order had broken into the present evil age. Something new had begun in Christ's resurrection. Christ was the first fruits of the dead. "First fruits" are just the beginning of the harvest. For Paul, Christ's resurrection implied a general resurrection of those who had died in him. The Corinthians were balking at the general resurrection, so Paul tries to convince them of such a thing in 1 Cor. 15.

Signs of the End: Gentile Worship of the One True God

One of the reasons Paul can preach to gentiles in the first place is that in the new age, even gentiles, who from the Jews' perspective were not known for their discernment in the worshipping business, will come to know and worship the one true God, the God of Israel, and they will do so without needing to become Jews (with males needing to be circumcised, and so on). Isaiah 60:3 is an example of such a prophetic vision: "Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." Nations, that is the gentiles, will come to Israel's light and come to fear the Lord.

So... Part of Paul's argument in 1 Cor. 15 is this, "If Christ is not raised from the dead, then the new age has not really begun, and if the new age has not really begun, then you gentiles are not really among the elect people of God after all. The old rules still apply." Or in his words, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" ( 15:17). As you know, Paul does not end the argument here, but this outcome (if it were true, which it is not) is one reason he is adamant that Christ has been raised.

Embodied Existence

Throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul seems preoccupied with issues that concern the body, issues like sexual activity, eating, head covering, and the like. Against all who would say that the body belongs to the old order of things only, Paul says no. Even now, the Corinthians' bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. And although Paul cannot say exactly what the resurrected body will be like, he will not compromise on its reality. Salvation does not mean transcending the created, material world. Salvation means that the created, material world—bodies included—will be transformed.

Blog Topics

Resurrection of the Body

What content do people have today for a phrase like the resurrection of the body? What reasons would you give for holding on to the resurrection of the body as a way of talking about our hope, rather than talking about the immortality of the soul?

Cremation

In years past, Christians have been reluctant to cremate the dead because of the value we place on the resurrection of the body. Imagine yourself in a conversation with someone about cremation. They want to know if it’s ok. How might you counsel with them about that?

From the Hays Text...

In his “Reflections for Teachers and Preachers,” Richard Hays has seven observations about this chapter. Any of them would be good blogging topics. Bring one of his points into conversation with a ministry context you know well. How is Hays’s observation (1) true to 1 Cor. and (2) true to your context (or not)?