a Paul's Attempt to Describe the Christian Fact	3Back to Home

4 Navigation --------------- Homepage St. Matthew St. Matthew 2 St. Mark St. Luke St. Luke 2 St. John St. John 2 Acts of Apostles Acts of Apostles 2 --------------- The Letters --- Romans --- 1. Corinthias --- 2. Corinthias --- Galatians --- Ephesians --- Philippians --- Colossians --- 1. Thessalonians --- 2. Thessalonians --- 1. Timothy --- 2. Timothy --- Titus --- Philemon --- Hebrews --- James --- 1. Peter --- 2. Peter --- 1. John --- 2. John --- 3. John --- Jude --------------- The Apocalypse

Paul's letters, the earliest Christian documents, record the same belief. In the very first of them to be preserved, he is at special pains to point out that those who have died are not cut off from participating in the coming victory of God over the powers of evil ( I Thess. 4: 13-18). But Paul's fullest discussion takes place in his answer to the Greeks, who thought the idea of the resurrection of the body was absurd. They wanted a "spiritual" salvation. All that the "body" stood for in their eyes was a limitation, a hindrance. It is to these people that Paul writes in I Cor., ch. 15. The chapter is not easy reading, but Paul is not dealing with an easy subject. There is no "simple" answer to such questions as: "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" ( I Cor. 15: 35). e's answer is an analogy from nature. He reminds his skeptical readers that when they sow grain, it must first "die" if it is to burst forth in newness of life. The "body" that the unplanted seed has is very different from the "body" that the full-grown wheat has, and yet there is continuity between them. The seed is "raised" in a transformed fashion. What is reaped is different from what is sown, and yet it comes from what is sown. Now the same kind of thing is true, Paul goes on, with regard to the resurrection from the dead. We are "sown" a physical body, he says, but we are "raised" a spiritual body. He makes this clear in a series of contrasts: What is sown is perishable,  what is raised is imperishable.   It is sown in dishonor,  it is raised in glory.   It is sown in weakness,  it is raised in power.   It is sown a physical body,  it is raised a spiritual body.    (I Cor. 15: 42-44) God conquers death God gives us the power to conquer The Only Real "Answer" A Question You Can't Avoid Some Current Answers -- a Dime a Dozen The First Part of the Biblical Answer What Is the "Image of God"? Some Consequences The Second Part of the Biblical Answer What Sin Is Supplying Some Documentation What Sin Is Not Getting Straightened Out How Can I Be Changed? The Third Part of the Biblical Answer The First Step After the First Step The Heart of the Matter Not Once and for All Some Hints for Growing -- Tried and Tested A Final Warning Why Isn't "Individual Religion" Enough? The Case Against the Church -a Bagful of Objections When Did the Church Get Started? Just What Is a "Covenant"? The "New Covenant" Becomes a Possibility Those Words of Jesus to Peter Those "Upsetters of the World" A Rebuttal of the Case Against the Church Why the Church? Last Judgment? Second Coming? What Do They Mean? The Inescapability of Eschatology The Point of Biblical Eschatology: History Is Going Somewhere The Dangers of Literalism Exploring New Testament Eschatology The Kingdom of God A Few Bits of Help The Gift of God Schatology and "What I Do Today" What Happens When I Die? Sheol -- Where God Is Not Present The Community of the Resurrection Paul's Attempt to Describe the Christian Fact A "Spiritual Body" The Facts of the Case I Try to Live a Good Life. Why Isn't That Enough? The "Micah" Variation The "Worship and Action" Variation The "Therefore" Variation The Biblical faith that God is the Creator