jkdoyle.com

[This is the first in a series of posts on "Scriptures Taken Out of Context and Why They Matter".]

It is commonly stated by Christians (and sometimes even others) that our individual bodies are the "temples of God."   However, the Bible doesn't explicitly say that.

Well, to be more exact, English translations do say "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own..." (1 Corinthians 6:19)  But, the way we in our individualistic culture read this and what it actually says are very different.  The contextual problem here is an issue of language and the context of Paul's whole letter; and, unfortunately, from the ambiguity of the English "you" it is easy to see why people have developed the theological and anthropological view that their bodies are little temples of God.

What the passage says is:  "Do you (plural) not know that your (plural) body (singular) is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you (plural), whom you (plural) have received from God?  You (plural) are not your own(plural). . ."

Now that's quite a bit different than thinking of my individual body as being God's temple.  What Paul is saying is that the whole Corinthian community of believers represents a temple of the Holy Spirit.  If we look at Paul's other uses this makes more sense in the context of his entire letter.  The idea of the community of believers being a single metaphorical or spiritual "building" or "body" is a theme that Paul uses throughout Corinthians and even in some other Pauline works.  Ultimately in 1 Corinthians, it leads up to the metaphor of "the body of Christ" that Paul uses to describe the church itself.   If we are going to look at the body as the temple in context, we need begin reading in verse 3:9, where Paul is concluding a discussion of the works of different ministers/leaders to the Corinthian community:

"For we are God’s servants, working together; you (plural) are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward.   If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

Do you (plural) not know that you (plural) are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you (plural)?   If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you (plural) are that temple." (1 Cor 3:9-17)

Later Paul also says:

“Do you (plural) not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you (plural) not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.”

But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you (plural) not know that your (plural) body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (plural), which you (plural) have from God, and that you (plural) are not your own? For you (plural) were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your (plural) body.” (1Corinthians 6:15–20 NRSV)

Notice that when Paul wants to refer to the individual bodies of the Corinthian believers he uses the plural "bodies" in verse 9.   This is an important distinction to note regarding his use of the singular "body" with the plural "you" in other places.  If Paul were using "body" (singular) as a general reference to the individual bodies of his recipients, verse 9 should read something like:  "Do you (plural) not know that your body is a member of Christ?"

And then lastly in 1 Corinthians Paul uses the body (singular) to refer to the entire community of believers in 1 Corinthians 12:

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”  (1Corinthians 12:12–27 NRSV)

Paul seems to be very concerned that the Corinthians recognize that they are one.  Together they (we) are the body of Christ, and that body (not each of our individual bodies) is the temple of God.  We also find this concept in other locations.  In 2 Corinthians Paul says, "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  (2 Cor 6:16 emphasis added)  It is because God's presence is within His people that we are the temple.  Ephesians contains a similarly minded passage that can almost be seen as a summary of some of the concepts in 1 and 2 Corinthians:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you (plural) also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”  (Ephesians 2:19–22 NRSV)

In summation of the Scriptures on this topic, should be pointed out, however, that Jesus does refer to his own body as a temple of God at John 2:19:  "Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 

So why does this matter?

It matters because in this case is the scripture not concerned with the individual but with the corporate existence and self-understanding of the church.   Our own culture is obsessed with the individual--personal morality, personal spirituality, personal ethics, etc.  This doesn't seem to be an issue for the biblical authors very often.  The Scripture is more concerned about our life together as the people of God. The church as a gathering of believers is the community where God is present in a special way, and our individual actions have bearing upon that corporate reality.  If I sin sexually I sin against the body--not just my own body, but the Body of Christ.  Paul is also saying in segments of these passages that God is very concerned about someone who would damage the Christian community by singling out persons or gifts for special honor in terms of rank.

Another point to b made is that if you are going to quote something as an important verse (or build whole sermons or doctrines out of them), please be sure you know what the verse says.  Study both the terms used and the context of the passage within the book or letter.  And a great word of advice when reading "you" in the Bible:   always check to see if it is plural or singular.

References

If you would like to do a little of your own research, the totality of NT uses of the word "temple" can be found at: 

Matt 4:5; 12:5–6; 17:24; 21:12, 14–15, 23; 23:16–17, 21, 35; 24:1; 26:55, 61; 27:5, 40, 51;

Mark 11:11, 15–16, 27; 12:35, 41; 13:1, 3; 14:49, 58; 15:29, 38;

Luke 1:9, 21–22; 2:27, 37, 46; 4:9; 18:10; 19:45, 47; 20:1; 21:1, 5, 37–38; 22:4, 52–53; 23:45; 24:53;

John 2:14–15, 19–21; 5:14; 7:14, 28, 32, 45; 8:2, 20, 59; 10:23; 11:56; 18:20;

Acts 2:46; 3:1–2, 8, 10; 4:1; 5:20–21, 24–25, 42; 14:13; 19:27, 35; 21:26–30; 22:17; 24:6, 12, 18; 25:8; 26:21;

Rom 9:4;

1 Cor 3:16–17; 6:19; 8:10; 9:13; 2 Cor 6:16;

Eph 2:21;

2 Thess 2:4;

Rev 3:12; 7:15; 11:1, 19; 14:15, 17; 15:5–6, 8–16:1; 16:17; 21:22

This year I'll be posting the daily readings from a 1-Year Bible reading plan.  It runs straight through the Scriptures.  I'll also be linking to free audio downloads of an updated version of the American Standard Version, so you can listen if the reading isn't possible.  It may not be the best translation, but it is free and open source.

Today's Reading:  Genesis 7-9

MP3 Audio:

Gen 7   | Gen 8   |  Gen 9

Here's my personal translations from Genesis 1-11 that I blogged last year:

Genesis 7  Translation  

Genesis 8  Translation  

Genesis 9  Translation

For reading, I highly recommend The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox as a great English version of Genesis-Deuteronomy.  In my opinion it captures the feel of the Hebrew text great, while also being a very readable and accurate translation.  I discovered it after I had worked on my translation and was thrilled that in some places I had made similar choices.

This year I'll be posting the daily readings from a 1-Year Bible reading plan.  It runs straight through the Scriptures.  I'll also be linking to free audio downloads of an updated version of the American Standard Version, so you can listen if the reading isn't possible.  It may not be the best translation, but it is free and open source.

Today's Reading:  Genesis 4-6

MP3 Audio:

Gen 4   | Gen 5   |  Gen 6

Here's my personal translation and commentaries from Genesis 1-11 that I blogged last year:

Genesis 4  Translation   |  Commentary

Genesis 5  Translation 

Genesis 6  Translation

For reading, I highly recommend The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox as a great English version of Genesis-Deuteronomy.  In my opinion it captures the feel of the Hebrew text great, while also being a very readable and accurate translation.  I discovered it after I had worked on my translation and was thrilled that in some places I had made similar choices.

Bono lists his Top Ten for the next decade in the New York Times.   Here's an example of one:

Matter Doesn’t Matter

God, it appears, is a Trekkie. (God help us.)

Dr. Anton Zeilinger, an Austrian physicist, is becoming a rock star of science for his work in quantum teleportation, which I know very little about but which I think I may have achieved backstage one night in Berlin in the early 1990s. At any rate, it seems to have something to do with teleporting properties or bits of information, not physical objects; even though Dr. Zeilinger plays down the possibility of a “Star Trek” moment, his breakthroughs are catching the attention of the nonscientific world for their metaphysical implications. His own version of E=mc2 ends in a cosmic punch line: that when it comes to the origin of the universe, information matters more than matter.

The whole article is worth a read.

From an article about the first burial shroud from 1st century Judea being found:

"We really hit the jackpot."

Found in a first-century cemetery filled with priestly and aristocratic burials, the tomb was initially opened by looters, who left the shroud behind, apparently thinking it has no market value. Experts were able to retrieve the artifact before it began to disintegrate.

The so-called Tomb of the Shroud is a rarity among Jerusalem tombs from the time of Jesus.

For starters, the Tomb of the Shroud appears to have been sealed shut with plaster for 2,000 years, perhaps as a precaution against the spread of leprosy or tuberculosis, which was also detected in DNA extracted from the man's bones.

The tight seal apparently allowed the shroud—radiocarbon-dated to between A.D. 1 and 50—to survive the high humidity levels characteristic of Jerusalem-area caves.

Archaeologists were surprised to even find remains inside the tomb. Traditionally corpses were removed from such tombs after a year or so and placed in ossuaries, or bone boxes.

The article also briefly mentions the following significant discovery:

. . . the remains of the man wrapped in the shroud are said to hold DNA evidence of leprosy—the earliest known case of the disease.

So after all these years of connecting the leprosy of the Bible with skin disorders others than Hansen's Disease, maybe it was leprosy after all?

Very good "White Paper" by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, entitled "Evolution, Creationism, and Christian Laypeople."  In the paper Keller addresses the issues of the genre and resulting interpretive options for Genesis 1 and 2, the possibility of accepting evolution and the Biblical version of creation, and Adam & Eve as sources of the Fall.  It is definitely worth a read.  Here are some excerpts:

The way to take the Biblical authors seriously is to ask ‘how does this author want to be understood?’ This is common courtesy as well as good reading. Indeed it is a way to practice the Golden Rule. We all want people to take time to consider whether we want to be taken literally or not. If you write a letter to someone saying, “I just wanted to strangle him!” you will hope your reader understands you to be speaking metaphorically. If she calls the police to arrest you, you can rightly complain that she should have made the effort to ascertain whether you meant to be taken literally or not. 

The way to discern how an author wants to be read is to distinguish what genre the writer is using.  In Judges 5:20, we are told that the stars in the heavens came down and fought against the Syrians on behalf of the Israelites, but in Judges 4, which recounts the battle, no such supernatural occurrence is mentioned. Is there a contradiction? No, because Judges 5 has all the signs of the genre of Hebrew poetry, while Judges 4 is historical prose narrative. Judges 4 is an account of what happened, while Judges 5 is Deborah’s Song about the theological meaning of what happened. When you get to Luke 1:1ff., we read the author insisting that everything in the text is an historical account checked against the testimony of eyewitnesses. That again is an unmistakable sign that the author wants to be taken ‘literally’ as describing actual events. 

This does not mean that the Biblical author’s intent and the genre are always clear. Genesis 1 and the book of Ecclesiastes are two examples of places in the Bible where there will always be debate, because the signs are not crystal clear. But the principle is this--to assert that one part of Scripture shouldn’t be taken literally does not at all mean that no other parts should be either. 

 and

When Paul speaks of being ‘in’ someone he means to be covenantally linked to them so their historical actions are credited to you. It is impossible to be ‘in’ someone who doesn’t historically exist. If Adam doesn’t exist, Paul’s whole argument—that both sin and grace work ‘covenantally’—falls apart. You can’t say that ‘Paul was a man of his time’, but we can accept his basic teaching about Adam. If you don’t believe what he believes about Adam, you are denying the core of Paul’s teaching. 

You can read the entire work here via the BioLogos website.

The one major caveat I have with the article is that Keller seems to think that Genesis 2 is a narrative that is more "natural" and seems to imply that it corresponds more naturally with evolution.  The reality is that this is only felt in the English translations.  In the Hebrew of Gen 2:18,29 the natural reading is that God created the animals after he had created Adam.   The English translations often go against the typical Hebrew syntax (and my guess is that it has to do more with theological positions rather than solid arguments from Hebrew syntax).

The bottom line is that the Hebrew Bible does not see the world from a modern, scientific point of view but is grounded in an Ancient Near Eastern cosomology.  It isn't going to fit with modern models, nor does it present a view of the universe that corresponds to our post-Copernican view.  There are more difficult issues in Genesis 1-3 than 6 literal days or possibilities for evolutionary interpretation.  As I have brought up before, the raqia--or dome, frimament--in the sky that was commonly accepted as reality by ancients in Near East presents us with intepretive issues on how an ancient text is authoritative for us today. 

This year I'll be posting the daily readings from a 1-Year Bible reading plan.  It runs straight through the Scriptures.  I'll also be linking to free audio downloads of an updated version of the American Standard Version, so you can listen if the reading isn't possible.  It may not be the best translation, but it is free and open source.

Today's Reading:  Genesis 1-3

MP3 Audio:

Gen 1   | Gen 2   |  Gen 3

Here's my personal translation and commentaries from Genesis 1-11 that I blogged last year:

Intro to Genesis 1-11, part 1

Intro to Genesis 1-11, part 2

Genesis 1, part 1

Genesis 1, part 2

Genesis 1, part 3

Genesis 1, part 4

Genesis 2, Part 1

Genesis 2, Part 2

Genesis 3, Translation

Genesis 3, Commentary

For reading, I highly recommend The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox as a great English version of Genesis-Deuteronomy.  In my opinion it captures the feel of the Hebrew text great, while also being a very readable and accurate translation.  I discovered it after I had worked on my translation and was thrilled that in some places I had made similar choices.

Here are the various versions of the birth/advent of Christ in NT sources:

The Gospel of Matthew:

The Gospel of Luke:

“Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified.But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us.” So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger.When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean.So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.”

(Luke 2:1–20 NET)

The Gospel of John

“Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.”

(John 1:14 NET)

Paul's Letter to the Philippians

“. . . though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death –even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow –in heaven and on earth and under the earth– and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

(Philippians 2:6–11 NET)

The Revelation to John:

“Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.”

(Revelation 12:1–6 NET)

“I went into church and sat on the velvet pew. I watched as the sun came shining through the stained glass windows. The minister dressed in a velvet robe opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk bookmark and said, “If any man will be my disciple, said Jesus, let him deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow me.”

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard
"And I looked around and nobody was laughing"

Christmas Eve is a great time for the Church to remember that God didn't need wealth or power to save the world, but it is through the giving away and emptying of wealth and power that salvation arrives.  How helpless and foolish to the world it must seem.

It is also a good time for us to repent of following the ways of the world rather than the Way of Christ.

(HT to Jim West on the Kierkegaard quote)