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New Test. Stud. vol. 44,1998, pp. 400-^419 Copyright 1998
Cambridge University PressPrinted in the United Kingdom
PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTIONIN ITS JEWISH CONTEXT*
ALAN F. SEGALBarnard College, Columbia University, New York
City, NY, USA
Paul describes his discipleship and mission, in short his
apostolate, interms of his vision of the resurrection of the
exalted Christ. The gloriousbody of Christ and the spiritual body
are similar in substance becauseone is transformed into the other,
a conclusion based on his own experi-ence of visions of the risen
Christ in a body but not a physical body innormal sight. This
notion of Christ's risen activity contrasts stronglywith the later
gospel description of the risen Christ. It comes out ofJewish
apocalypticism, revalued to express his new Christian vision ofthe
end.
Paul stands firmly within the Jewish apocalyptic-mystical
tra-dition. His understanding of the end of time and the
resurrection isfirmly apocalyptic. He describes his own spiritual
experiences interms appropriate to a Jewish apocalyptic-mystagogue
of the firstcentury. I want to show that apocalyptic in Paul's case
impliesmystical revelation. Many of his discussions of resurrection
dependdirectly on the apocalyptic end, an intuition about history
which hereceived from personal revelation.
Let me begin with apocalypticism and his concept of
discipleship:For they themselves report concerning us what a
welcome we had amongyou, and how you turned to God from idols, to
serve a living and true God,and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead, Jesuswho delivers us from the wrath
to come. (1 Thess 1.9-10)Here, we see a characteristically Pauline
use of an apparently
kerygmatic formula concerning resurrection in a missionary
con-text. That approaching resurrection is what justifies the
mission.Having turned from idols, Paul's converts learn to wait for
God'sson from heaven, who will rescue them from the coming
wrath.This seems in some respect a violation of the apocalyptic
passagein Dan 7.13 where the role of the son of man figure is to
bringjudgment. But one supposes the protection of innocent is part
of
* Main paper delivered at the 52nd General Meeting of the SNTS
in Birmingham in August1997.
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 401
the larger role of judgment. And the proof that all these things
areabout to happen is that Jesus, the son, was raised from the
dead.
A similar formula can be found in the salutation of the Letter
tothe Romans where Jesus is mentioned as seed of David accordingto
the flesh but, more importantly, son according to spirit andpower,
our Lord as a result of the resurrection. Lord is, of course,
adivine title and resurrection is what God, not the messiah,
wouldeffect at the end of time in apocalyptic literature. Jesus'
lordship isinherent in the resurrection, the transformation from
his earthly,fleshly state to his spiritual and powerful state. Thus
the relation-ship between flesh and spirit is homologous with the
relationshipbetween son of David and son of God. We shall see that
it is alsohomologous with the distinction between physical bodies
andspiritual bodies. It is the hypothesis of this paper that this
contrastis due to Paul's experience: he received an
apocalyptic-mysticalvision of the Christ but never met the man
Jesus in the flesh at all.Consequently, his entire explanation of
the distinction betweenflesh and spirit is congruent with his
experience of revelation,including his high evaluation of
spirituality in Christianity and hislack of attention to the person
of Jesus as he appeared in life.Though the contrast is
characteristic of Pauline thought, someof the vocabulary may well
have preceded Paul's uses and havebeen part of the primitive
tradition. On the other hand, like theexpression 'become a
life-giving Spirit' in 1 Cor 15.45, Paul mayhave added the notion
of power to the salutation.1 In the main,however, the emphasis of
the contrast between these two statesseems to me to express his
post-Christian experience of polemicand argument over his very
apostolate. Because this is a questionof emphasis rather than the
specific interpretation of a singlepassage, it will be necessary to
outline his thought from this pointof view, rather than attempt a
tight demonstration.
Paul's use of kerygmatic resurrection traditions appears to
growout of Jewish missionary literature, in which the promise of
resur-rection and the fear of the end of time feature prominently,
as onewould expect in an apocalyptic preacher. At the same time,
thespecific nature of his personal vision of Christ changes the
qualityof that apocalyptic prophecy so that Paul forever alters
thattradition for Christian apocalypticism afterwards (1 Thess
4.13-18). This passage explains that the resurrection of all
Christianswill follow closely upon the coming of the Lord, also
explicitly
1 See P. Perkins, Resurrection: New Testament Witness and
Contemporary Reflection (1st ed.Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984)
219.
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4 0 2 ALAN F. SEGAL
called both Jesus and Christ, a very interesting and
importantidentification. This formula both shows Paul to be
entirely withinthe Jewish mystical tradition and to have made
importantChristian modifications in it. But it does not go on in
detail aboutthe nature of the apocalyptic end. Instead Paul
features the issueof resurrection. Paul is not as concerned with
the punishment ofsinners as he is with the rewards of the faithful,
in this case, hisgentile converts. But the contrast appears again
to be related to hisconversion experience and the nature of his
knowledge of theChrist.
In 1 Thess 4, the resurrection of all living believers
immediatelyfollows upon the resurrection of the dead. Jesus will
keep faithwith the dead, called those who have fallen asleep as in
Dan 12(tcov Koip-conevcov) and Isa 26. Thus, Paul reproduces a
typical apoca-lyptic pattern, though his apocalyptic pattern has
several uniqueand quite identifiably Christian characteristics.
Other passages which include primitive statements of thekerygma
about resurrection would include Rom 4.24-5; 8.34;
10.9;and2Tim2.8-13:2
It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus
our Lord fromthe dead,who was handed over to death for our
trespasses and was raised for ourjustification. (Rom 4.24-5)It is
Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right
hand ofGod, who indeed intercedes for us.3 (Rom 8.34)because4 if
you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in
yourheart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
(Rom 10.9)Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant
of David thatis my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the
point of being chainedlike a criminal. But the word of God is not
chained. Therefore I endureeverything for the sake of the elect, so
that they may also obtain thesalvation that is in Christ Jesus,
with eternal glory.The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;if we
endure, we will also reign with him;if we deny him, he will also
deny us;if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny
himself. (2 Tim 2.8-13)
Paul is most dependent upon this traditional imagery
whenspeaking about the future judgment. But as R. Tannehill
suggests,
2 See Perkins, Resurrection, 219-28.
3 Or 'Is it Christ Jesus . . . for us?'
4 Or 'namely, that'.
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 403
Paul emphasizes not visions of the end so much as the life of
thebeliever in the risen Christ.5 But the simplest way to connect
thetwo ideas is merely to attribute both to the saving action of
God.2 Cor 4.14 contains a short summary of that belief: 'knowing
thathe who raised the Lord will bring us with you into his
presence'.Resurrection is the beginning of this process of
transformation andsalvation.
It is difficult to explain why exactly Paul de-emphasizes
tra-ditional notions of the end of time in place of the experience
of thepresence of Christ except to say that this appears to be a
con-sequence of his own spiritual experience. In place of any
floriddescription of the end of time, Paul elaborates on the
relationshipbetween resurrection and apostolic commissioning, which
is deeplyconnected to his own conversion (call) in Galatians and
hisdescription of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15.
For instance, we see the connection made clearly when Paul
isaccused of antinomianism: 'Paul an apostle not from men
northrough man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father,
whoraised him from the dead' (Gal 1.1).
The greeting emphasizes the connection between
apostolicauthority and resurrection, especially as Paul, otherwise,
is fond ofrather more simple formulas in his correspondence (1 Cor
1.1;2 Cor 1.1 and Rom l . l ) . 6 In 1 Cor 9.111 Paul again
responds toaccusations that appear to have been levelled at his
missionaryactivity. And once again, he emphasizes resurrection and
his per-sonal vision of Christ: 'Am I not free? Am I not an
apostle? Have Inot seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship
in theLord?' (1 Cor 9.1). It is this question which appears to
occasion theremarks of 1 Cor 15, concentrating so fully on
resurrection. Thus,with Paul we can begin to discuss the effect of
Jewish mystical andapocalyptic visions not just as a warning of the
end of time and asvindication for those who stay faithful to the
precepts of Judaismbut as an important spiritual experience within
the life of anindividual Jew (in this case a Christian but Paul
might not haveunderstood the difference; he never uses the term
Christian).
Now, in 1 Cor 9, Paul uses the perfect tense of opdco (to see)
todescribe his visionary experience (OOK ei(xl eXevQepoq; otnc
e{|xl doto-
q; ox>%\ 'ITIOOUV TOV icupiov f||icov ecopaica; ox> TO
epyov \iox> h\ieic, eaxe
5 R. C. Tannehill, Dying and Rising with Christ: A Study in
Pauline Theology (BZNW 32;
Berlin: Topelmann, 1967) 130ff. See also Perkins, Resurrection,
295.6 Perkins, Resurrection, 197.
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4 0 4 ALAN F. SEGAL
ev icoptcp;). This suggests that Paul is emphasizing that his
visionwas equivalent to normal seeing, just as you and I might see
eachother. But Paul actually does not want to stress the
ordinariness ofthe seeing here. He is aware of and very conscious
of the specialnature of his revelation. Rather it is the continuity
with othersthat Paul wants to stress, not the nature of the
seeing.7
Much more often Paul wants to demonstrate that his vision
ofChrist was of the same type and order as that of the other
apostles.In 1 Cor 15.57 and elsewhere Paul uses the aorist passive
6kp6r| todescribe this kind of seeing. The visionary language works
inseveral ways at once. First, it follows the tradition of the LXX
fordescribing visions. In the Septuagint the aorist passive form
isused frequently with the sense of visionary seeing or seeing
adivine being. Again, it is important to note that Paul uses the
verysame verb and form to describe his own seeing and that of
theoriginal apostles. This demonstrates his contention that he is
theirequal in every way. Conversely this suggests that the
originalapostles saw no more than he did. Of course, the original
apostlessaw and knew the Jesus of the flesh. But it is not their
experienceof the teacher Jesus which is important in this context.
And thereason for this is that it is not the earthly Jesus who
preaches anddemonstrates that the resurrection has already started.
Ratherthe vision of the risen Jesus makes this clear. Because Jesus
hasbeen seen or revealed in this very way, we know that the
generalresurrection has begun and we also know that Paul and all
thosewho saw him in his transformed state are the first apostles
andprophets of this new epoch in human history.8 It is very
importantto note that Paul knows this because of his visions, in
which theembodied Christ was revealed to him.
Paul's references to apocalypses and visions, as well as
heavenlyascent, also put him squarely within apocalyptic tradition.
Theplural is very important in this context because it states
surelythat Paul's reception of revelation was progressive. Although
theaccount of Paul's ecstatic conversion in Acts is a product of
Luke'sliterary genius, Paul gives evidence for ecstatic experience
inthe justly famous passage 2 Cor 12.1-10. As in Gal 1, Paul
callsthis experience an apokalypsis, an apocalypse, a revelation.
Justas in Acts and Gal 1, the actual vision is not described.
Unlike
7 See, for example, the discussion of T. Lorenzen, Resurrection
and Discipleship: Interpretive
Models, Biblical Reflections, Theological Consequences
(Maryknoll: Orbis, 1995) 127-46.8 Joost Holleman, Resurrection and
Parousia: A Traditio-Historical Study of Paul's Eschato-
logy in 1 Corinthians 15 (Leiden: Brill, 1996).
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 405
Luke's general description of Paul's conversion and Gal 1,
however,this passage contains hints of a heavenly vision or
possibly twodifferent ones, depending on whether the paradise
visited in theascension can be located in the third heaven.9 Thus,
the vision isboth mystical and apocalyptic.10 Similar ascensions
can be seen inapocalyptic literature - for instance, 1 Enoch 39.3;
52.1, and 71.1-5as well as 2 Enoch 3, 7, 8, 11 and 3 Baruch 2.
Paul's referenceto the third heaven confirms the environment of
Jewish apoca-lypticism and mysticism. Paul's experience differs
from otherJewish mystics in that he identified the angelic seated
figure inExodus, Daniel and Ezekiel as Christ. Leaving aside the
specialChristian polemic that the man on the throne is the messiah
Jesusand is also greater than an angel, Paul's statements are
importantevidence for the existence of first-century Jewish
mysticism.Notice, however, that Paul does not know whether this
journeytakes place in the body or not. This ambiguity will parallel
hisvision of Christ.
The information contained in 2 Cor 12 is so abstruse and
esotericthat it must be teased from context and combined with our
meagreknowledge of apocalypticism and Jewish mysticism. While
tech-niques of theurgy and heavenly ascent were secret lore in
rabbinicliterature (see b. Hagiga 13a-15b), rabbinic literature
starts in the
9 Paradise or the garden of Eden was often conceived as lying in
one of the heavens, though
the exact location differs from one apocalyptic work to another.
See M. Himmelfarb, Tours ofHell: The Development and Transmission
of an Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and ChristianLiterature
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1984). 2 Enoch, for
example, locatesthem in the third heaven. But 2 Enoch may have been
influenced by Paul's writings, eventhough the shorter version
mentions worship in the Temple in a way that suggests it is still
inexistence, thus antedating 70 CE.
1 0 In different ways, the close relationship between mysticism
and apocalypticism has been
touched upon by several scholars of the last decade, myself
included. See my Two Powers inHeaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About
Christianity and Gnosticism (SJLA 25; Leiden: E. J.Brill, 1977); I.
Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkabah Mysticism (Leiden-Cologne:
Brill,1979); and now especially C. Rowland, The Open Heaven: A
Study of Apocalyptic in Judaismand Early Christianity (New York:
Crossroads, 1982) and Jarl Fossum, The Name of God andthe Angel of
the Lord: Samaritan and Jewish Concepts of Intermediation and the
Origin ofGnosticism (WUNT 1.36; Tubingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1985). The
Pauline passage is also deeplyrooted in Jewish and Hellenistic
ascension traditions, which imposed a certain structure ofascent on
all reports of this period. See also my 'Heavenly Ascent in
Hellenistic Judaism,Early Christianity and their Environments',
ANRW 2.23.2 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1980)1333-94; M. Dean-Otting,
Heavenly Journeys: A Study of the Motif in Hellenistic
JewishLiterature (Frankfurt-New York: Peter Lang, 1984); I. P.
Culianu, Psychanodia I: A Survey ofthe Evidence of the Ascension of
the Soul and its Relevance (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1983). Culianuhas
also published a more general work, Experiences de VExtase: Extase,
ascension et r&citvisionnaire de I'helUnisme au moyen age
(Paris: Payot, 1984), introduction by Mircea Eliade.The verb
harpazo in Greek and its Latin equivalent rapto is sometimes shared
with paganascensions (sol me rapuit, etc.), but also probably
initially denotes both the rapture of visionand the specific
heavenly journeys of Enoch (Hebrew: laqah = Greek: metetheken).
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4 0 6 ALAN F. SEGAL
third century, so without Paul we could not demonstrate that
suchtraditions existed as early as the first century.11
Most people understand the passage to refer to Paul
himself.12Although Paul says he is boasting, he does not explicitly
ident-ify himself as the ecstatic voyager, since rhetoric demands
hismodesty and he says that nothing will be gained by his
boasting.This follows from his statement that charismatic gifts
cannotthemselves prove faith (1 Cor 1213). Paul may actually be
tact-fully revealing some secret information about his own visions
inthis passage, but doing it in such a way that he cannot be
accusedof breaking confidentiality.13
When Paul is not faced with a direct declaration of
personalmystical experience, he reveals much about the mystical
religion asit was experienced in the first century. Paul himself
designatesChrist as the image of the Lord in a few places: 2 Cor
4.4; Col 1.15(if it is Pauline), and he mentions the |iop(pr| of
God in Phil 2.6.14More often he talks of transforming believers
into the image of hisson in various ways (Rom 8.29; 2 Cor 3.18;
Phil 3. 21; 1 Cor 15.49;see also Col 3.9). These passages are
critical to understandingPaul's experience of transformation,
resurrection, and conversion.They must be seen in closer detail to
understand the relationship
1 1 Whether or not Paul's experiences typified the rabbis has
been debated vigorously with
acute attention to the implications for rabbinic rationalism.
The debate misses the obviouspoint that the evidence for these
experiences occurs all over Judaism in the Hellenistic periodand is
coterminous with Pharisaic Judaism. If Paul is the mystic, there is
a close connectionbetween this apocalypticism and Pharisaic
Judaism. Precisely what the connection is stillcannot be defined,
but Paul gives us interesting hints about it. It is ironic that
scholars whoaccept almost all rabbinic datings at face value seem
reluctant to believe these traditions,supposing that all mystical
experience is something despicable for the rabbis. Debating
thereliability of talmudic reports that the early rabbis engaged in
such practices regularlybecomes somewhat theoretical, when the
Mishnah's testimony for the first century is nowsuspect on general
methodological grounds, according to J. Neusner, The Rabbinic
Traditionsabout the Pharisees before 70, 3 vols.: The Masters, The
Houses, Conclusion (Leiden: Brill,1971).
1 2 See W. Baird, 'Visions, Revelation, and Ministry:
Reflections on 2 Cor 12.1-5 and Gal
1.11-17", JBL 104 (1985) 651-62. See also C. Forbes,
'Comparison, Self-Praise and Irony:Paul's Boasting and the
Conventions of Hellenistic Rhetoric', NTS 32 (1986) 1-30. Paul
doesnot say that the man saw nothing, he only mentions what the man
heard. While we are on thesubject of difficulties, a significant
exception to the identification of Paul with the mystic isMorton
Smith, Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark
(Cambridge: HarvardUniversity, 1975); Jesus the Magician (New York:
Harper and Row, 1978). He believes thatthe passage refers to Jesus,
although Paul never met the man Jesus. As we shall see, thepassage
is probably another record of the kind of experience Paul had in
meeting the risenChrist, this time in heaven.
1 3 Alan F. Segal, Paul the Convert: The Apostolate and Apostasy
of Saul the Pharisee (New
Haven: Yale University, 1990) 40-51.1 4
In this section, I am particularly endebted to G. Quispel,
'Hermetism and the NewTestament, Especially Paul', ANRW2.22,
forthcoming.
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 407
to Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism, from which they
derivetheir most complete significance for Paul. Paul's longest
discussionof these themes occurs in an unlikely place in 2 Cor
3.18-4.6. Herehe assumes the context rather than explaining it
completely:
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,
are beingchanged into his likeness from one degree of glory to
another; for this comesfrom the Lord who is the Spirit (fi|ieiq 8e
navxeq dvociceKaA/onnivG) Ttpoacmtco ir\vSo^av icupioi)
KaTOjrtpi6|ivoi TTIV OOTHV eiicova (iETanop
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4 0 8 ALAN F. SEGAL
skin of his face shines with light, as the Bible states (Exod
34.29-35). Moses thereafter must wear a veil except when he is in
thepresence of the Lord. Paul assumes that Moses made an
ascensionto the presence of the Lord, was transformed by that
encounter andthat his shining face is a reflection of the
encounter.
So far Paul is using strange and significant mystical
language.But what is immediately striking about it is that Paul
uses thatlanguage to discuss his own and other Christians'
experience inChrist. Paul explicitly compares Moses' experience
with his ownand that of Christian believers. Their transformation
is of thesame sort, but the Christian transformation is greater and
morepermanent. Once the background of the vocabulary is pointed
out,Paul's daring claims for Christian experience become clear.
Thepoint, therefore, is that some Christian believers also witness
atheophany as important as the one vouchsafed to Moses, but
theChristian theophany is greater still, as Paul himself has
experi-enced. The Corinthians are said to be a message from Christ
(3.2),who is equated with the Glory of God. The new community
ofgentiles is not a letter written on stone (Jer 31.33), but it
isdelivered by Paul as Moses delivered the Torah to Israel. The
newdispensation is more splendid than the last, not needing the
veilwith which Moses hid his face. Paul's own experience proved
tohim and for Christianity that all will be transformed as Moses
was not just the face but the whole body.
Thus, Paul's term, 'the Glory of the Lord' must be taken both as
areference to Christ and as a technical term for the Kavod
(TOD),the human form of God appearing in biblical visions. In 2 Cor
3.18,Paul says that Christians behold the Glory of the Lord (TTIV
86^av
as in a mirror, and are transformed into his image
(xf|vevKova).16 For Paul, as for the earliest Jewish mystics, to
be
!6 The use of the mirror here is also a magico-mystical theme,
which can be traced to theword ys occurring in Ezekiel 1. Although
it is sometimes translated otherwise, ysi probablyrefers to a
mirror even there, and possibly refers to some unexplained
technique for achievingecstasy. The mystic bowls of the magical
papyri and Talmudic times were filled with waterand oil to reflect
light and stimulate trance. The magical papyri describe spells
which use asmall bowl that serves as the medium for the appearance
of a god for divination: e.g., PGM IV,154-285 (Betz, pp. 40-3), PDM
14.1-92, 295-308, 395-127, 528-53, 627-35, 805-^0, 841-50,851-5
(Betz, pp. 195-200, 213, 218-9, 225-6, 229, 236-9). The participant
concentrates onthe reflection in the water's surface, often with
oil added to the mixture, sometimes with thelight of a lamp nearby.
Lamps and charms are also used to produce divinations,
presumablybecause they can stimulate trance under the proper
conditions. The Reuyoth Yehezkel, forinstance, mention that
Ezekiel's mystical vision was stimulated by looking into the
watersof the River Chebar. It seems to me that Philo appropriates
the mystic imagery of the mirrorto discuss the allegorical
exposition of scripture. See The Contemplative Life 78 andD.
Georgi, Die Gegner des Paulus im 2. Korintherbrief (Neukirchen:
Neukirchener, 1964) 272-3. Paul's opponents then look into the
mirror and see only the text. But because Paul and
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 409
privileged enough to see the Kavod or Glory (56a) of God is a
pro-logue to transformation into his image (eiiccov), to his selem
(D1?^ ), asthe Hebrew of Gen 1.26 puts the phrase. This is parallel
to thejourney Enoch makes to the divine throneroom where he is
trans-formed into the figure on the throne, the son of man. In 3
Enoch,he becomes the angel Metatron. Paul does not say that all
Chris-tians have made the journey literally but compares the
experienceof knowing Christ to being allowed into the intimate
presence ofthe Lord. But we have good reason to suspect that he
himself hasmade that journey; at the very least he knows others who
have.
The result of the journey is to identify Christ as the Glory of
God.When Paul says that he preaches that Jesus is Lord and that
Godlias let this light shine out of darkness into our hearts to
give thelight of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ' (4.6), heseems clearly to be describing his own call or
conversion andministry, just as he described it in Gal 1, and just
as he is explain-ing the experience to new converts for the purpose
of furtheringconversion. His apostolate, which he expresses as a
propheticcalling, is to proclaim that the face of Christ is the
Glory of God that he has the face and marks of the crucified
messianic candidatewhom God has vindicated through resurrection. It
is very difficultnot to read this passage in terms of Paul's later
description of theascension of the man to the third heaven and
conclude that Paul'sconversion experience also involved his
identification of Jesus asthe 'image' and 'Glory of God', as the
human figure in heaven, andthereafter as Christ, son, and saviour.
Or at least this is how Paulconstrues it when he recalls it.
The identification of Christ with the Glory of God brings
atransformation and sharing of the believer with the image aswell.
This is the same as regaining the image of God which Adamlost. This
transformation is accomplished through death and re-birth in
Christ, which can be experienced in direct visions as
Paulapparently did, or subsequently by anyone through baptism.
Butthe important thing is to note how completely the
theophaniclanguage from Greek and Jewish mystical piety has been
appro-priated for discussing what we today call conversion. It is
Paul'sprimary language for describing the experience of
conversion,because it gives a sense of the transformation and
divinizing thathe feels is inherent in his encounter with the risen
Christ.
Ecstatic ascensions like the one described in 2 Cor 12, and
those truly in Christ actually behold the Glory of the Lord,
they have a clearer vision on thetruth.
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4 1 0 ALAN F.SEGAL
spiritual metamorphoses like 2 Cor 3 are strangely unfamiliar
tomodern Jewish and Christian religious sentiments. Neither
Chris-tianity nor rabbinic Judaism transmitted these lively
mysticalJewish traditions of the first century openly. But in the
context ofthe first few centuries, the combination of these two
themes ofascension and transformation, both inside and outside
Judaism,normally suggested the gaining of immortality and the
contextof Jewish mysticism also connects with the issue of
theodicy.Dan 12 suggests that those who lead others to wisdom (or
'theenlighteners' D'^ 'Dtonn) will shine as the brightness of the
heavensOp-in -imD wnr) , like the stars (D'3D"DD), and that they
will beamong those resurrected for eternal reward. This scripture
impliesthat the teachers or apostles or the missionaries will be
trans-formed into angels, since the stars and angels are equated
con-tinuously and from the very earliest levels of biblical
tradition (e.g.Judg 5.20 and Job 38.7). This means, by the way,
that Paul hasevery right to expect his own transformation at the
end of time andsuggests another reason why apostolic status is so
important tohim. The Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 3771) contains the
interest-ing narration of the tranformation of Enoch into the son
of man,but no one can be sure that this is not itself a Christian
addition tothe text, since it agrees so completely with the
transformation thatPaul outlines.17 Without Paul we could not
suppose that thisexperience is evidenced in the first century
because the date of1 Enoch is uncertain. Nor would we know that the
mystic experi-ence was even possible within Judaism. What Paul is
suggestingtherefore is that the transformation of Jesus into Lord
makes hima divine creative and is the beginning of the fulfilment
of thepassage in Dan 12 that the wise will shine like the
brightness ofthe heaven and that those who show people this truth
will becomeangels.
Paul's famous description of Christ's experience of humility
andobedience in Phil 2.511 also hints that the identification of
Jesuswith the image of God was re-enacted in the church in a
liturgicalmode. In Phil 2.6, the identification of Jesus with the
form of Godimplies his pre-existence. The Christ is depicted as an
eternalaspect of divinity which was not proud of its high station
but
1 7 The romance of exaltation to immortality was hardly a unique
Jewish motif; rather it
was characteristic of all higher spirituality of later Hellenism
- witness the Hermetic litera-ture. Even in a relatively
unsophisticated text like the magical Recipe for Immortality (the
so-called Mithras Liturgy) of third-century Egypt, the adept gains
a measure of immortality bygazing directly on the god and breathing
in some of his essence.
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 411
consented to take on human shape and suffer the fate of
humanity,even death on a cross (though many scholars see this
phrase as aPauline addition to the original hymn). This
transformation ofform from divinity is followed by the converse,
the retransfor-mation into God. Because of this obedience God
exalted him andbestowed on him the 'name which is above every name'
(Phil 2.9).For a Jew this phrase can only mean that Jesus received
the divinename Yahweh, the tetragrammaton YHWH, understood as
theGreek name icopioq, Lord. We have already seen that sharing in
thedivine name is a frequent motif of the early Jewish
apocalypticismwhere the principal angelic mediator of God is or
carries the nameYahweh, as Exod 23 describes the angel of Yahweh.
Indeed theimplication of the Greek term (xopcpri, 'form', is that
Christ has theform of a divine body identical with the Kavod, the
Glory, andequivalent also with the EVKCOV, for man is made after
the eiKcov ofGod and thus has the divine H-opcpri (Hebrew rviD"l).
The climax ofPaul's confession is that 'Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of Godthe Father' (Phil 2.11), meaning that Jesus, the
messiah, hasreceived the name Lord in his glorification, and that
this name, notJesus' private earthly name, is the one which will
cause every kneeto bend and every tongue confess.18
In paraphrasing this fragment from liturgy, Paul witnesses
thatthe early Christian community directed its prayers to this
humanfigure of divinity along with God (1 Cor 16.22; Rom 10.9-12; 1
Cor12.3) - all the more striking since the Christians, like the
Jews,refuse to give any other god or hero any veneration at all.
Whenthe rabbis gain control of the Jewish community they
vociferouslyargue against the worship of any angel and specifically
polemicizeagainst the belief that a heavenly figure other than God
can forgivesins (b. Sanh. 38b), quoting Exod 23.21 prominently
among otherscriptures to prove their point. The heresy itself they
call believingthat there are 'two powers in heaven'.19 By this term
the rabbislargely (but not exclusively) referred to Christians who,
as Paul
18 The bibliography on the Pauline and post-Pauline hymns in
Phil 2.6-11 and Col 1.15-20
appears endless. See E. Schillebeeckx, Jesus: an Experiment in
Christology (New York:Seabury, 1979); M. Hengel, 'Hymn and
Christology', in E. A. Livingstone, ed., Studio. Biblica1972,
173-97, reprinted in Hengel, Between Jesus and Paul, 78-96; J.
Murphy-O'Connor,'Christological Anthropology in Phil. 2.6-11', RB
83 (1976) 25-50 and D. Georgi, 'Dervorpaulinische Hymnus Phil.
2:6-11', in E. Dinkier, ed., Zeit und Geschichte, Dankesgabe
anRudolf Bultmann (Tubingen: Mohr, 1964) 263-93, esp. p. 291 for
bibliography. Kasemannemphasizes that Paul's metaphoric use of the
body and its separate parts is characteristic ofparaenetic
sections, emphasizing the relationship between the believer and the
risen Lord.See Schweizer, TDNT 7,1073.
19 Segal, Two Powers in Heaven.
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4 1 2 ALAN F.SEGAL
says, do exactly what the rabbis warn against - worship the
secondpower.20
Concomitant with Paul's worship of the divine Christ is
trans-formation. Paul says in Phil 3.10 'that I may know him and
thepower of his resurrection and may share his sufferings,
becominglike him in his death' (av|j.|iop(pi6n.vo
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 413
may even have survived from a pre-Christian setting because
Pauldoes not mention resurrection here at all. Clearly
glorification isdoing the job of resurrection in this passage.
Likewise, in Rom 12.2Paul's listeners are exhorted to *be
transformed (nexanopcpovaGe) byrenewing of your minds'. In Gal 4.19
Paul expresses another butvery similar transformation: 'My little
children, with whom I amagain in travail until Christ be formed
(|xop(pco0f\) in you!' Thistransformation is to be effected by
becoming like him in his death(a-o|i(iop(pi^ 6|a.evoq T(p GavaTW
onkou Phil 3.10).
Paul's central proclamation is: Jesus is Lord and all who
havefaith have already undergone a death like his will also share
in hisresurrection. As we have seen, this proclamation reflects a
baptis-mal liturgy, implying that baptism provides the moment
wherebythe believer comes to be 'in Christ'. Christianity may have
been aunique Jewish sect in making baptism a central rather than
apreparatory ritual, but some of the mystical imagery comes fromits
Jewish past.
Paul speaks of the transformation being partly experienced
bybelievers already in their pre-parousia existence. His use of
thepresent tense in Rom 12.2 and 2 Cor 3.18 underscores that
trans-formation as an ongoing event. However in 1 Cor 15.49 and Rom
8it culminates at Christ's return, the parousia. This suggests
thatfor Paul transformation is both a single, definitive event yet
also aprocess that continues until the second coming. The
redemptiveand transformative process appears to correspond exactly
with theturning of the ages. This age is passing away, though it
certainlyremains a present evil reality (1 Cor 3.19, 5.9; 2 Cor
4.4; Gal 1.4;Rom 12.2). The gospel, which is the power of God for
salvation(Rom 1.16), is progressing through the world (Phil 1.12;
also Rom9-11). This is why Paul does not prophesy about the
comingworld with exaggerated visions of the end of time. For Paul
thatworld has already started (1 Cor 2.610). Paul writes in the
con-text of considerable communal argumentation and
factionaldispute. His interpretation of the gospel has been called
intoquestion by his opponents. He avers that his only source is
the
religion's mysticism unless it is the conscious and explicit
intent of the mystic's vision to do so.See R. C. Zaehner's Hinduism
and Muslim Mysticism (New York: Schocken, 1969); S. Katz,'Language,
Epistemology, and Mysticism', in S. Katz, ed., Mysticism and
PhilosophicalAnalysis (London, 1978). In this case the language is
not even primarily Christian. The basiclanguage is from Jewish
mysticism, though the subsequent exegesis about the
identificationof the Christ with the figure on the throne is
Christian; the vision of God enthroned is the goalof Jewish
mystical speculation.
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414 ALAN F. SEGAL
risen Christ; his only proof (ev anodei,zi, 1 Cor 2.6) supplied
by theHoly Spirit. 22
In this context, Paul speaks of those who are qualified (ev
toigzekeioiq, 2.6), the mature ones who evidently share his
perspectiveand, perhaps, his revelation. At Qumran too, knowledge
andperfection (Din) were expected of the membership and only
theperfected ones (D^D'on) had access to the full secrets of the
sect(1QS 1.8; 2.2; 3.3, 9; 5.24; 8.20f; 9.2, 8f, 19).23 This
mystery isfurther described as the revelation of the crucified
messiah (2.8),which clarifies that it is not a secret mystery in
the way thatQumran was. Although it needs to be taught and it is
not evidentlyuniversally accepted, it does not itself need to be
secret. It finds itsparticular adherents. The issue of hiddenness
or being stored up(D33 ,nP3a), is quite characteristic of Jewish
mysticism and seems tohelp conceptualize the identity of the
transformed figure ratherthan any Greek concept of the immortal
soul.
In 1 Cor 15, Paul sums up his entire religious experience in
anapocalyptic vision of the resurrection of believers. Paul begins
witha description of his previous preaching and suggests that if
hislisteners give up belief in the resurrection then they believe
inChrist in vain. Paul claims instead to have given them,
indeedemphasized as the first importance, the true teaching, as he
hadhimself received it. And that teaching is simply that Christ
died forsins in accordance to scripture, that he was entombed and
rosethree days later, all in accordance with scripture. There is no
doubtthat this is the earliest Christian teaching with regard to
theresurrection: it is part of the primitive kerygma or
proclamationof the church. He does not specify which scripture he
means.Nor does he begin a demonstration of the reality of
resurrectionfrom scripture or from philosophical principles. For
him, it has thereality of an experience related to others. The
reports of those whohave witnessed it, including himself, are
sufficient to demonstrateits reality. Nor does he recount a vision
in typical apocalypticfashion, as we might have imagined. Instead
he lists the witnessesto the post-resurrection appearances of
Jesus: Peter (calledKepha), the twelve, and the five hundred. Some
of those five hun-dred have died but most are still alive. Again he
uses the typicalapocalyptic language of sleeping and awakening,
which has itsroots in Dan 12 and Isa 26 (tiveq 8e Koi|iri9r|aav).
Then he lists the
22 M. Bockmuehl, Revelation and Mystery in Ancient Judaism and
Pauline Christianity(WUNT 2.36; Tubingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1990; repr.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerd-mans, 1997) 158. See also 1.18
and Rom 1.16.
2 3 Bockmuehl, Revelation, 159.
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 415
apostles and finally himself. So Paul again uses the
resurrection asa significant part of his apostolic commissioning.
They are all equalin vision of the risen Lord.
This list has seemed to most scholars to be already reduced to
aformula before Paul recites it for us: it is a formula passed to
himfrom earlier tradition, as he himself says. Notice that in
thisearliest recital of the resurrection tradition there is no
empty tomband there are no witnesses to the resurrection itself.
Instead, forPaul, the resurrection is demonstrated by the
post-Easter appear-ances, in which he equally shares. This is
crucial for understandingPaul's claim to be an apostle. He is the
equal of every other disciplebecause he is equally a witness to the
resurrection. Jesus' teach-ings are secondary to his continued life
after death. Paul is anapostle because it is not so much Jesus'
human form that isimportant but his resurrected form which
commissions persons tohis service.
Of course, those cultures professing a belief in an immortal
soulcould have accounted for these appearances too. But Paul
appar-ently does not count himself among those who believe in
thisconcept of the immortal soul. Perhaps he polemicizes against
thedoctrine of the immortal soul, since he is writing to a
gentileaudience. Perhaps he senses that invoking the Greek concept
of theimmortal soul changes the saving event of Jesus' resurrection
intoa natural occurrence and perhaps he does not even know of
thePlatonic notion explicitly. For him, as for the Jewish
apocalyp-ticists, death was final and whatever survived death was a
poorshadow or shade of what preceded it. Instead, the
apocalypticistwaits for the resurrection of the body, which is
normally the signthat the end is upon us. And indeed it is the
reward of themartyred righteous to have eternal life on earth or as
heavenlyangels for having enlightened the world:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but
not driven todespair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down,
but not destroyed,always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus mayalso be manifested in our bodies. (2
Cor 4.8-10)It is therefore evident that these spiritual experiences
of the
Christian form analogies to the life and death of Jesus. And
moreconcretely it means that the believer must be ready to
acceptsuffering as part of Christian discipleship.24 For Paul there
is notmuch recognition that a resurrection without the end is
verystrange. Paul apparently feels that the end will shortly
arrive.
2 4 Lorenzen, Resurrection and Discipleship, 158.
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4 1 6 ALAN F.SEGAL
And, as we know, the demonstration that the age has begun is
theactual appearance of Jesus to him.
Paul in contradistinction to some later gnostic traditions
-begins from supposing that the death and burial were real,
hencethe resurrection was actual and in accordance with scripture(1
Cor 15.3). Paul then lists those to whom the post-resurrectionJesus
appeared. Clearly, in Paul's understanding the post-resur-rection
appearances rather than the physical presence of Jesus areprimary.
He includes himself modestly in the list of those to whomJesus had
appeared. But if the list had been made up of thosewho knew Jesus
in the flesh, Paul would have been left out. Thecorruptible flesh
of the earthly Jesus is not the point for Paul,obviously. He is
deliberately widening a concept of apostle toinclude persons like
himself, for to him, it is Jesus the heavenlyredeemer, who was
revealed to him, who is the proof of faith, notmerely those who may
have heard Jesus' preaching.
Paul then asserts that all these people saw the same thing
andpreach the same thing and believe the same thing. And
indeed,Paul asserts that the Corinthians had believed exactly that
whenhe was there with them. In verses 12-19 Paul claims that
thedeniers of the resurrection of the dead are denying the
gospelwhich they had received and initially believed. He begins a
seriesof arguments which ends in the reductio ad absurdum that
'ifChrist has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in
vainand your faith has been in vain'. Obviously this argument
onlymakes sense to believers; no one else would see the absurdity
ofthe conclusion. But, for Paul, it is the bodily resurrection of
Jesusthat guarantees that God's plan for the final destruction of
the evilones of the world is already set in place. For if the soul
is immortaland that is the highest form of immortality to be
achieved as thePlatonists believed, it is available to all as a
natural right and thesacrifice of Christ is hence unnecessary.
In verses 208 Paul stops arguing against enemies and
beginsarticulating his own notions. He shows that the resurrection
ofChrist entails the resurrection of all the righteous dead as
Christ isthe 'first fruits of them who have fallen asleep' (v. 20),
yet againusing the term which is clearly dependent upon Daniel 12
and, inturn, Isaiah 26 (see also others like LXX Ps 87.6). Probably
then,the scriptural passage that Paul had in mind earlier (1 Cor
15.3)is none other than Dan 12.2 again. His argument is made onthe
basis of analogy from Adam. Just as death came from Adam,so eternal
life comes from Christ. But Christ is the first, thenthose who
belong to Christ. At the end, Christ will hand over the
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 4 1 7
kingdom of God to the father, after he has destroyed every
(evil?)power. Again Paul is making clear reference to the son of
manpassage in Dan 7.13 (though he never actually uses the term)
whenhe says that Christ must reign until he has put all his
enemiesunder his feet. There are, of course, other enthronement
passagesin the Hebrew Bible but no others in which the reign of
justice ismade dependent upon the enthroned figure. Although Paul
neveruses the term 'son of man' he clearly identifies the Christ
withthe 'son of man' figure on the throne in Dan 7.13. This is
quiteimportant to note, for Paul shows the antiquity of that
position,without affirming to us that 'son of man' was a title. It
is not a titleyet in Paul's day; he knows the passage by its
content. In this, heseems rather to be working in a Jewish context
in which anyscripture can be read as prophecy, not by any
association of anypre-existent titles to Jesus.
In 1 Cor 15.35 Paul begins a brief exposition of the nature of
theresurrection body; it is here that we see most clearly the
comp-lementarity between his experience of the risen Christ and
hisnotion of the resurrection body. He is, in this passage,
outlining anotion of immortality which has nothing to do with an
immortalsoul directly; it is an offshoot of Jewish apocalypticism,
out ofwhich the Christian kerygma grows. But it may also be
cognizantof the beliefs of the audience; perhaps this is why he
ignores theimmortality of the soul. Instead, he fastens on the
notion of spiritto explicate how the physical body of believers
will be transformedby the resurrection. His argument has nothing to
do with whathappened to Christ during the passion nor does he
mention anyempty tomb. His argument is by analogy with experience
since heis trying to keep faith with his own experience of the
spirit.
Paul's use of language of the body is entirely unique. The
termfor physical body is not exactly what one might expect. Neither
theterm oS(xa oapKiKov nor the term aG>\ia (puoiKov occurs;
rather theterm which occurs is aG>\ia.-yx>xiK6v, a word which
can mean naturalbody but is not the most obvious term, since it is
a combination ofthe term for soul and the term for body. Although
it means literallyan 'ensouled body', it has been taken as an
oxymoron in Platonicthought. In fact, because yx>x"h could be
taken to mean life in thephysical sense in a non-Platonic setting
in Greek it is notnecessarily a problem, strange though it may
look. It does occurfrequently in Hellenistic literature with this
meaning. Indeed thatis what it means here - yvx(\ - with the simple
meaning of 033.25
2 5 See, e.g., TDNT 9, 661.
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4 1 8 ALAN F.SEGAL
Paul may be just clarifying that he means everything that
theGreeks take as a natural body. The contrasting term a>|ia
nvev\ia-XIKOV is also a complete contradiction in terms for anyone
in aPlatonic system: 'It is sown a physical body, it is raised a
spiritualbody. If there is a physical body, there is also a
spiritual body'(aneipexax aa>n,a \^V%IKOV, eyeipetai aco|ia
7cvet>|j.omK6v. et eativ a>|i.ayoXiKov, ECTXIV Kai
TrveujiatiKOV, 1 Cor 15.41).
It may be that, in this place, Paul is behaving somewhat like
avery sophisticated minority opinion in Greek culture, thinking
thateverything, even the soul, is a kind of body - albeit a refined
andindestructible one. After all, he distinguishes between the
earthlybody and the resurrection body. But, if so, he is likewise
andI think primarily speaking out of his apocalyptic Judaism. He
isentirely consistent with his Hebrew past. Paul (and Josephus
too)gets away with this because he is speaking to a Greek audience
butnot necessarily a Platonic one. They are both using Greek
languageto approximate the Hebrew concepts. But it is not an
interpretatioGraeca; rather the converse, figuring a Hebrew notion
in Greekdress.
In any event Paul acknowledges the bodily aspect of the
resur-rection in the sense that the body is visible while the soul
(ifhe even knew the term) is invisible. He uses the term spirit
topreserve the previous identity of those resurrected in their
newperfected state. It is also the predominant view of the New
Tes-tament, except Hebrews, John, and 1 and 2 Peter, where
\|/t>xr|evidently refers to the physical life of persons and
animals. Noticethat for Paul life in its most basic sense, psychic
life, is also bodilylife as we should expect but even pneumatic
spiritual life is bodilyas well. We have already seen that the
spirit makes itself known toPaul but not in ordinary sight, rather
in apocalyptic visions. Thus,spiritual bodies are those bodies
which are yet only visible in thisspecial state of consciousness.
Even though flesh and blood cannotinherit the kingdom of God, the
risen Christ is a 'body of glory'(Phil 3.20-1) as we have seen.
Since those in Christ are made overin the image of the resurrected
Christ in a kind of mysticalconsummation, the new body which God
gives his faithful mustalso be a glorified body. The body of glory
which Christ got at theresurrection must be equivalent with the
pneumatic or spiritualbody that we will get. Another way to think
about this is toremember that Paul saw the resurrected Christ as a
body, but hewas aware that this seeing was an apocalypse, or
vision. Thisimplies, though Paul does not exactly state it, that
such a body ofglory will be visible only in revelatory states of
consciousness until
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PAUL'S THINKING ABOUT RESURRECTION 419
the final consummation. It is a bodily resurrection because
Paulsaw the bodily resurrected Christ in a vision but the
appearance ofChrist was not a physical appearance. Paul was
transported to aspiritual level where we will all be when we are
transformed andwhich is visible to us primarily through revelation.
And, of course,Paul's notion contrasts heavily with the gospel
writers who claimthat Jesus was literally resurrected as a physical
body which canbe seen in ordinary bodily sight. It is even
conceivable that thegospels were written as a kind of polemic
against Paul's thinkingbut they are certainly meant to complement
and complete his viewof the spirit in Christianity.
Paul's notion completely coheres with his notion that the
fleshlyway to salvation with observances of times and rituals is
not aspiritual, transforming way to salvation. He argues that the
natureof the resurrection body is different from anything we know,
just asthe nature of various flesh is different. Paul, in fact,
leaves theissue of the nature of immortality in a peculiarly
intermediateposition. He affirms that we have an imperishable
bodily naturebut he suggests that we receive it by bodily
resurrection. The bodywe receive will not be flesh and blood. It
will be both a suddenchange, a summorphosts, like the metamorphosis
that Paulachieved in Christ and a continuous process that
culminates in aspiritual kingdom of God. That metamorphosis started
him on theprocess to being a person of spirit, not of the flesh.
The lasttrumpet will culminate the process for everyone.
Paul's view of the immortality of believers begins in
resurrectionand mission. It is parallel to his description of the
raised Christ inheaven and depends on it. Paul's imagery for the
description of thecoming resurrection in 1 Cor 15 fulfils the
vocabulary of spiritualbody and Glory of God which ultimately
derives from his ownconversion and call. Because believers on
earth, by virtue of theirconversion have been transformed into the
body of Christ, who isthe image of God, the destiny of believers
will be shared withChrist. The believer is to share in Christ's
immortality at thelast trumpet, just as Paul himself experienced
transformation byChrist.