Jeff Ragan’s Reviews > The First Epistle to the Corinthians > Status Update

"The transformed body, therefore, is not composed of 'spirit'; it is a body adapted to the eschatological existence that is under the ultimate domination of, and animated by, the Spirit. Thus for Paul, to be truly pneumatikos is to bear the likeness of Christ (v. 49) in a transformed body, fitted for the new age" (869-70).

"Here he means that if there is no hope in the resurrection, then his life-or-death struggle against the opponents of his gospel is carried on at the merely human level - he is nothing more than a 'mere man' among other 'mere humans,' with nothing better than merely 'human hopes'" (854).

"Death is the final enemy. At its destruction true meaningfulness is given to life itself. As long as people die, God's own sovereign purposes are not yet fully realized. hence the necessity of the resurrection - so as to destroy death by 'robbing' it of its store of those who do not belong to it because they belong to Christ!" (838).

"It was the resurrection after all that made it possible for them to say, 'Christ died for our sins.' And it was the resurrection, as he will go on to argue (vv. 20-28), that guarantees our own future as the people of God. To deny the objective reality of Christ's resurrection is to have a faith considerably different from Paul's. One wonders whether such faith is still the Christian faith" (817).

"Paul's point seems emphatic The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was not a form of 'spiritual' existence. Just as he was truly dead and buried, so he was truly raised from the dead bodily and seen by a large number of witnesses on a variety of occasions" (808).

"If for Paul, and therefore for us, there is an element of mystery to the concept of a 'spiritual body', there can be little question that for him Christ's resurrection is central to everything. It is the ultimate eschatological event. By raising Christ from the dead God set in motion the final overthrow of death itself. Hence the inevitable fact and nature of our own resurrection" (796).

"The problems with seeing this as authentic are obvious. If Paul himself is responsible for such a 'corrective,' it is surprising that he should add it here, yet earlier...affirm that women should both pray and prophesy...in the gathered assembly. What is also surprising is the sudden shift from the problem of disorder in the congregation in Corinth to a rule that is to be understood as universal..." (790).

"Paul's response to all this has been twofold. First, they are to broaden their perspective to recognize that being Spirit people by its very nature means a great variety of gifts and ministries in the church (chap. 12). Second, the whole point of the gathered people of God is edification, the true expression of love for the saints" (775).

"Now Paul is arguing that the basis of all these instructions is ultimately theological. It has to do with the character of God...vis-a-vis the deities of the cults, whose worship was characterized by frenzy & disorder. The theological point is crucial: the character of one's deity is reflected in the character of own's worship. The Corinthians must therefore cease worship that reflects the pagan deities..." (771-2).

"The...account of the fall suggests that one of its first effects on humanity is their great...need to hide from the living God...one of the sure signs of the presence of God...is this deep plowing work of the Spirit, whereby through prophe[cy] the secrets of the heart are laid bare. No wonder the Corinthians preferred tongues; it not only gave them a sense of being...people of the Spirit but it was safer!" (761).