 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Would the Son have been incarnate if Adam had not sinned?
1 Corinthians 15:44-45 provides a prooftext for an affirmative answer. Verse 44 says that the "spiritual body" is implied by the existence of the "natural body." Human beings were created in a natural state, but they were destined from the beginning to be transfigured into what Paul is calling a spiritual condition.
Paul's proof text for this is Genesis 2:7 (v. 45): Adam became a living soul. He is the natural man, the soulish man. But the last Adam is life-giving Spirit; the spiritual man. Adam is the original possessor of the natural body, Jesus of the spiritual body. And the same conditional logic, the same "if" from verse 44, applies in verse 45: If there is a natural body there is a spiritual body; the proof is that Adam was born natural, and this implied a last Adam who would be spiritual. In short: If there is an Adam, there must needs be a last Adam. (This all, note, is premised on a creation-eschaton structure that does not depend on the intervention of sin.)
Paul's argument implies too that this translation from natural to spiritual would take place through something like death and resurrection. The "sown"/"raised" contrasts of vv 42-44 culminate with the "sowing" of the natural body and the "raising" of the spiritual body, and then Paul states his conditional "if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual." The line of argument strongly implies that the natural body would have been transformed to a spiritual through being "sown" and "raised."
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, August 12, 2006 at 05:42 AM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
