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 [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
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