From: McKay family (music@fl.net.au)
Date: Thu Mar 26 1998 - 03:26:32 EST
Ward wrote:
For years I have heard this
>"you are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in you" expounded to have
>Paul teaching that each individual Christian (or Christian's body, 1 Cor
>6:19) is a temple of God. All sorts of theological and exhortatory
>conclusions are then drawn from this, especially as to how we should look
>after our body, as God's temple.
>
>Indeed, I was teaching this understanding of the text myself on one
>occasion when, after the meeting, my son, GNT in hand, drew my attention to
>the significance of the number in the Greek. "You" is plural, "temple" is
>singular.
>
>Paul's teaching takes off from Stephen's insight in Acts 7:48, "The Most
>High does not dwell in houses made with human hands." "You [plural]" Paul
>teaches (1 Cor 3:9), "are God's building [singular]." Then a few verses
>later comes this further clarification: not just any "building", but "you
>[plural] are God's temple" (verse 9). This is immediately followed by "If
>anyone destroys God's temple ..." (verse 10). This is not a reference to
>someone destroying a Christian's body. Rather, it is to the "you [plural}"
>which is God's temple, God's dwellingplace; that is, the Christian
>community as a whole. It is the unity of the church which is under threat
>in verse 10, as the total context of this passage in 1 Corinthians 1-4
>makes clear. The church as a whole ("you [plural]", addressed to
>Christians) is the temple of God.
Another post which justifies my $35 per month for [unlimited!] internet
access.
Thanks Ward! And thanks one and all for the many insights gained from this
list.
David McKay
music@fl.net.au
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