10 – Paul’s Vision of the Afterlife

Paul was the first Christian writer, expressing his belief that Jesus was both the Messiah and God, and that through Christ all who have faith will be resurrected. This vision was new to Judaism, but it also sheds some light on beliefs about the afterlife held by first century Pharisees. The Rabbis, heirs of the Pharisees, did not produce any writings until the Third Century CE. Hundreds of years of subtle refinements to Rabbinical conceptions of eternity obscured views held by the Pharisees of Paul’s era. Paul wrote in the mid-first century, prior to the compilation of the gospels and infrequently refers to traditions contained within them. He only quotes Jesus directly on two occasions. First Corinthian 7:10-12 is one of these:

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

A second quotation is found in First Corinthians 11:23-27:

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Acts 20:35, written by Luke, contains a third, indirect quotation by Paul:

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Information about Jesus is scarce in Paul’s writings, but details about his own spiritual life and his faith in a risen savior is abundant. The task of distinguishing first century Jewish beliefs from Christian beliefs, and of identifying concepts that Paul himself may have introduced is difficult, but not impossible. Paul exclusively quotes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. At the time there were no Gospels, and no Christian writings as authoritative as the Hebrew Bible. Although the developing oral tradition reflected the fulfillment of Hebraic prophecy, it had not yet been written down. Paul’s background as a Pharisee distinguishes his literary style from that utilized for the Gospels, and even the ideas expressed in the writings of Paul and the Gospels differ in content and meaning. Paul understood the Messiahship of Jesus through his personal experiences, beginning with his famous encounter with Jesus while enroute to Damascus. On the other hand, the Gospels understood the Messiahship through the events of Jesus’ life and mission. These differing perspectives, which are often difficult to reconcile, both influenced emerging Christian ideas about resurrection.

It is noted that Paul was not as influential on the first century Christian church as most currently assume he was. The author notes that “This will give pause to all those who think Paul invented Christianity. He did not.” Paul basic perspective is that of a convert and missionary. Unlike most converts of his era, however, Paul did not convert to Christianity from paganism. Instead, he converted from an erudite, sophisticated form of Judaism to a new, apocalyptic variant of Judaism. The remarkable expansion of Christianity was due to the emphasis that its first adherents placed on missionary activity. Paul energetically labored to create new Christians, to convert others just as he had been converted. This imperative obligation for all believers became less emphatic as mission and evangelism later became increasingly consigned to specialists in these fields. Though his detractors accused Paul of having abandoned Judaism, in his own estimation he continued to be a Jew who had merely switched denominations. Philippians 3:5-6 confirms his self-identity:

Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Philippians 3:7-9 reveals Paul’s reason for changing his denomination and concludes by noting a doctrinal distinction between his old and new belief systems:

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

The personal biography of Paul (formerly known as Saul, a persecutor of Christians) serves as a miraculous witness to the power of the Holy Spirit in his life, and in the world. His success in evangelizing the gentiles validates Paul’s claims to special revelation and his call to missionary endeavor after his visionary encounter with Jesus recorded in Acts 9:3-6:

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Paul is temporarily blinded. In Damascus, the Lord informs a disciple named Ananias that he must lay hands on fearsome and loathed Saul to restore his sight. In Acts 9:13-16, Ananias expresses his reluctance to do so, but God reveals the significance of Saul/Paul to the disciple:

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Paul’s understanding of the resurrection was firmly grounded in the Hebrew, rather than the Greek tradition. Throughout his writings, resurrection is directly linked to an apocalyptic end of the world when Jesus returns to redeem his saints. First Thessalonians 1:9-10 is an example:

For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

The resurrection of Jesus was accepted as proof that converts to Christianity would be protected and removed from the consequences of God’s pending outpouring of wrath upon sinners. First Corinthians 15:20-23 describes Jesus’ resurrection as first in a series of many subsequent resurrections:

Describing Jesus’s death as “firstfruits” connects these verses to Deuteronomy 26. Verses 1-2 are representative:

And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.

In the Jewish tradition, Paul taught that the dead are resurrected into spiritual bodies. Below is Corinthians 15:42-45:

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

In Ezekial 37:6 it is the spirit of the Lord that resurrects the dead:

And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

It is this same spirit which directs prophecy, Paul’s sermonic epistles, and explains the remarkable expansion of Christianity shortly after its beginning. Paul’s experiences helped to organize the church for missionary activity, and this activity energized those who undertook it. Paul transferred the Jewish YHWH into the Messiah, remaining within the Judaic tradition but placing more emphasis upon the resurrection. In the 4th chapter of First Thessalonians the resurrection of all living Christians immediately follows the resurrection of deceased Christians. Apocalypticism is not prominently featured in Paul’s discourses, but since the resurrection of the living and the dead occurs at Jesus’ second coming it can be described as an end time event.

Those who saw Jesus prior to his resurrection were not as enlightened as those who encountered him afterward. In First Corinthians 15 Paul describes this latter group, which included himself:

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Whereas Cephas, and the twelve, and above five hundred beheld a corporeal, not-yet-ascended Jesus, Paul encountered in his vision a risen, deified Christ. This places him in the select company of prophets like Abraham, Enoch, Noah, Job, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and Daniel. In the Near Eastern tradition those who saw God include Enmeduranki, Adapa, Etana, Gilgamesh, Dan’l, and Aqhat. As significant as the earthly teachings of Jesus may be, it was the implications of Jesus ascended to the Father that began a new epoch in history, the Christian Era.

Paul describes a man’s literal or envisioned ascent to heaven in Second Corinthians 12:1-5:

It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

Paul terms this experience an apokalysis, or revelation. Paul’s mysticism has its Judaic forerunners. Several passages in First and Second Enoch describe similar ascensions. Third Baruch 2 is the writer’s account of his journey to the first heaven:

And he took me and led me where the firmament has been set fast, and where there was a river which no one can cross, nor any strange breeze of all those which God created. And he took me and led me to the first heaven, and showed me a door of great size. And he said to me, Let us enter through it, and we entered as though borne on wings, a distance of about thirty days' journey. And he showed me within the heaven a plain; and there were men dwelling thereon, with the faces of oxen, and the horns of stags and the feet of goats, and the haunches of lambs. And I Baruch asked the angel, Make known to me, I pray thee, what is the thickness of the heaven in which we journeyed, or what is its extent, or what is the plain, in order that I may also tell the sons of men? And the angel whose name is Phamael said to me: This door which thou seest is the door of heaven, and as great as is the distance from earth to heaven, so great also is its thickness; and again as great as is the distance (from North to South, so great) is the length of the plain which thou didst see. And again the angel of the powers said to me, Come, and I will show thee greater mysteries. But I said, I pray thee show me what are these men. And he said to me, These are they who built the tower of strife against God, and the Lord banished them.

As noted, Rabbinic doctrine, with its secret knowledge of heavenly ascents, did not emerge until the third century. Paul’s story of such an ascent contained in Second Corinthians 12 demonstrates that these traditions existed among the first century Pharisees. Paul states that charismatic gifts are not a proof of faith, but the dominant interpretation of this story ascribes aspects of this mystical experience to Paul. Second Corinthian 12:7-20 shift the story from a third to the first-person account without any indication that he had changed the subject, leading to conjectures that the man caught up to the third heaven was Paul himself:

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Paul’s admission in the verses above that he had spoken with Christ, and that Christ had answered him, places this exchange above the level of most petitionary prayers. The record of this and other visions demonstrates that Paul had an apocalyptic, mystic, and ecstatic spiritual life. It is not known if Paul’s manner of mysticism was common among first century Pharisees, but it is safe to assume that it was embraced by some. Paul likely introduced elements of Jewish mysticism into his Christian experience, modified by the context of the gentile converts he ministered to. The later Rabbis consciously avoided the subject, but evidence exists that rabbinical mystical experiences were not rare. Merkabah mysticism continued to be developed despite being officially condemned by the Rabbis. The Talmudic interdictions concerning merkabah speculation are numerous and widely held. Discussions concerning the merkabah were limited to only the most worthy sages, and admonitory legends are preserved about the dangers of overzealous speculation concerning the merkabah. Mysticism in early Rabbinic movement concentrated on ascents to heaven, magical chants and procedures, and spells and rituals that would aid memorization of the Torah. The bodies of adepts experiencing an ascent remained on earth, and words spoken in a vision were written down by a group of disciples. Paul lived before this body/spirit division was codified, which explains why he was uncertain whether the ascent described in First Corinthians 12 was in the body or out of it. The possibility that the body may have ascended distances Paul from the Platonic belief that only the soul, or spirit can depart the world.

Although apocalypticism and mysticism are regarded as separate literary genres by academics, they are often intertwined. Jewish mystical texts are filled with apocalypses, and early apocalyptic writings are based on ecstatic, mystical experiences. Apocalypses typically contain a first-person description of a vision and ascent. Mysticism of the Rabbinic period utilized a famous, but pseudonymous Rabbi as the narrator of these visionary journeys to heaven and included the preparations required to inaugurate an ascent. Apocalypses record a bodily ascent, but the mystics describe an out-of-body experience. The author notes that the similarities between these two religiously altered states of consciousness overwhelm the distinction between the means by which ascent is achieved, criticizing their separation by scholars as unwarranted.

The origin of Merkabah mysticism can plausibly be traced to First Enoch, which preceded the writings of Paul. Rabbinical mysticism persisted until the rise of the Kabbalah in the twelfth century. Also predating the Pauline era is the possibly pre-Christian Angelic Liturgy from Qumran which parallels Paul’s mysticism. This writing contains many oblique references to the seven concentric levels of heavens and the manifestations and movements of God’s throne chariot based on Ezekial 1. This throne chariot was significant to the formation of Merkabah. Mystic believed that they had ascended liturgically to the heavenly temple for Sabbath worship, achieving angelomorphic immortality in the process. Beliefs about the hierarchies of heaven were drawn from Merkabah documents like the Reuyoth Yehezkal (The Visions of Ezekial).

Like Enoch, Paul claimed to have gazed on the Glory, whom Paul identifies as Christ. Like Enoch, Paul understood that he had been transformed into a divine state that would be fully realized after his death. Like Enoch, Paul claimed that this vision and transformation was, somehow, a mystical identification with the Son of Man figure. Like Enoch, Paul claimed to have received, through the spirit, a calling, his special status as an intermediary. Unlike Enoch, Paul specified the meaning of his calling for all believers, but the creators of First Enoch were likely aware of the implications of Enoch’s ascent. The Parables of First Enoch 37-31 have not been found among the Dead Sea scrolls, so they could date from the first century or later and may have even been influenced by Christian texts since they are only extant in the Ethiopic version of Enoch.

Along with the Angelic Liturgy, another writing of the Dead Sea scrolls serves to confirm beliefs that members of the Qumran community may have engaged in Sabbath rites of transformation and transmutation that placed them in the company of angels, the b’nei Elohim. Scholar Morton Smith translates a passage from 4QMa in the following manner:

El Elyon gave me a seat among those perfect forever, a mighty throne in the congregation of the gods. None of the kings of the east shall sit in it and their nobles shall not come near it. No Edomite shall be like me in glory. And none shall be exalted save me, nor shall come against me. For I have taken my seat in the congregation in the heavens, and none shall find fault with me. I shall be reckoned with gods and established in the holy congregation.

Debate surrounding the dating of First Enoch and the Dead Sea scrolls makes Paul the first datable author to describe angelic transformation in the context of Judaism, and to link it directly to resurrection in the afterlife. Most Near Eastern ascent stories include an out-of-body experience, but Paul’s ambivalence about whether he was in the body or out of the body (in the spirit). Paul equates spiritual bodies with the bodies of angels, bodies that were not comprised of flesh. First Corinthians 15:41-44 describes this transformation:

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Outside of descriptions of his own visions, Paul’s writings contain terms and phrases that offer an insight into first century Jewish mysticism. In Second Corinthians 4:4 and Colossians 1:15 Christ is designated as “the image of the Lord.” Romans 8:29, Second Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 3:21, First Corinthians 15:49, and Colossians 3:9 variously describe believers as being transformed into “the image of His son.” Paul’s lengthiest discussion of these themes is derived from Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism (including a reference to hidden knowledge) is found in Second Corinthians 3:17-4:6:

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The verse “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” of Second Corinthians 3:18 recalls Moses’ encounter with the angel of the lord found in Exodus 33 and 34. Exodus 23:21 describes this angel as carrying the name of God. Moses sees the “Glory of the Lord,” makes a covenant, receives the ten commandments, then descends the mount with his face shining with light, a transformation that requires him to wear a veil except when he is in the presence of the Lord. In Second Corinthians 3:18 Paul infers that Moses’ halo of light later began to fade, but Second Corinthians 4:4 states that Christians possess a more lasting glory because they have accepted the Gospel. This superior dispensation was not communicated to gentile converts through laws incised upon tablets of stone, but through the speech and letters of Paul. Jeremiah 31:33 prophesized this new and improved covenant relationship with God:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

For Paul and other Jewish mystics, it was considered a privilege to behold the Kavod (the human form of God) or the Glory of God. Paul never stated that every Christian would enjoy this privilege, but he did compare the condition of knowing Christ to that of being allowed into the intimate presence of the Lord and into God’s court, a journey that Paul himself had experienced. Paul labored to explain his own experience to new converts to strengthen their newfound faith and to prepare them for their own transformations through death and rebirth in Christ (baptism), or through a direct vision, the mechanism whereby Paul died and was reborn as an apostle to the gentiles. These transformations became authenticated in communal life and in social transactions. First Corinthians 12-14 provides guidelines for new believers which can be summed up in the last verse, 41, of chapter 14:

Let all things be done decently and in order.

First Corinthians 5:1-5 is an example of one of Paul’s often frustrating efforts to infuse Judaic-Christian morality into pagan minds:

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Paul exhorted his followers to imitate him, just as he endeavored to imitate Christ. In First Corinthians 11:1-2 he proclaims to his flock:

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

The epistles of Paul proclaim that the body of believers would be refashioned into the glorious body of Christ. This process commences with conversion and growing in faith, and concludes with the Parousia, the time when Jesus Christ will return to judge humanity at the end of the world. First Corinthians 15 reveals that salvation can only be experienced in a spiritualized body, since a body composed of flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom. First Corinthians 15:51-55 states this precondition:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Paul wrote that the believer would be transformed into the glorious body of Christ through death and rebirth/resurrection. He believed that this was related to baptism. Paul’s central theme was that Jesus is Lord, and that all who have faith have already experienced a death like Christ’s death. The faithful will share in his resurrection by being transformed into his form, spirit, and shape. This theme reflects a baptismal liturgy, implying that baptism provides the moment that enables a believer to be “in Christ.” Christianity was unique among Jewish sects in making baptism a central, rather than a preparatory ritual. Some of its mystical imagery was drawn from Judaism, probably through the teachings of John the Baptist. When Paul refers to believers being in the “image of Christ” he does not mean a conformity of thought, but a spiritual transformation of the believer’s body into the form of the divine image. Romans 8:28-31 mentions this conformity:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Philippians 3:20-21 is similar:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Paul’s principal discussion of resurrection, which shares the language of Jewish apocalyptic mysticism, is found in First Corinthians 15. This letter begins by stating that those who understand true wisdom are initiated into the revelations of the Holy spirit. First Corinthians 2:6-10 is a preview of this augmented ability to know God in depth:

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. [from Isaiah 64:5, 65:17]

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The nearby Qumran community expected its members to cultivate knowledge and “perfection.” Only the Perfected Ones were granted complete knowledge of the secrets of this sect. Section 1 QS 8:1-9 of the Dead Sea scrolls describes what was expected of an initiate in quest of perfection:

[to] do what is good and proper (upright) in his [God’s] sight (before him) even as he has commanded by the hand of Moses and by the hand of all his servants the prophets… and never to walk again (anymore) in the ways of a guilty heart and lustful eyes. To love all who take upon themselves to keep the laws of God by covenant in righteousness (or in the covenant of grace); to enter into (be made one with) the deliberations (counsel} of God; and to walk before him perfect (in) all that has been revealed regarding the performance [in proper time and place] of their appointed duties (or ordinances).

These preconditions are similarly attributed to Zacharias and Elisabeth in the prologue of the Book of Luke. Luke 1:5-6 describes the perfect obedience of the parents of John the Baptist:

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Mystery was a major component of Qumran religious life, which forbore sharing its secrets with outsiders. Paul also refers to mysteries but was eager to share these mysteries with everyone who could receive them. In First Corinthians 2:4-8 Paul refers to “perfected” Christians which, in contrast to Qumran selectivity, was a term for all Christians:

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

In contrast to Platonic conceptions of a disembodied immortal soul, Paul followed the apocalyptic-mystical traditions of Judaism. In First Corinthians 6:12-14 he immediately suggests that the body will survive death since it belongs to a God who will raise it, as was the case with Jesus, in glory and perfection through the Holy spirit:

All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

These verses are in the context of a discussion of moral issues within the community. Clarification of these ideas for inhabitants of a Greco-Roman culture is contained in chapter 15. First Corinthians 15:12-21 may be the first description by a Christian writer of the implications of Christ’s death and resurrection; the bodily resurrection of Christians

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Since all Christians identify with Jesus, all Christians qualify for the martyr’s reward of resurrection. This includes a transformed, physical body and the particular reward reserved for martyrs (those who lead many to knowledge), transformation into heavenly angels (stars). Believers must be prepared to accept suffering, to a greater or lesser extent, as part of Christian discipleship. Second Corinthians 4:8-10 describes this condition:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

First Corinthians 15:12-18 is an argument that can only make sense to believers. A bodily resurrection would have been considered undesirable by non-Christians in a Hellenistic setting that ascribed to Plato’s distinction between corrupt flesh and pristine, disembodied immortal soul:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

In First Corinthians 15:20-28 (portions of which have been previously cited) Paul advances the Christian view that the resurrection of Christ necessarily includes the future resurrection of the righteous dead:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Conceptions of resurrection and ascension had already entered Jewish thought in the century that preceded the martyrdom of Jesus. Many sects would have naturally expected his resurrection based exclusively on his human endeavors. What was novel and unique in Christianity was its conception of a crucified Messiah, and early Christians (in proper Jewish fashion) sought validation for this concept in the messianic prophecies of scripture. Psalm 110:1 was solely appropriate:

(A Psalm of David.) The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Daniel 7:9-13 describes the enthronement of the “Son of Man.” Combining these verses with Psalm 110:1 serves as a prophecy of Christ’s exaltation and ascension. It also helps to explain Paul’s use of the term “spiritual body.” The early church embraced this interpretation, and the revelations and visions granted to Paul confirmed it. The Jewish mystical and apocalyptic tradition is incorporated into a systematic explanation by Paul of the message and meaning of Christ’s resurrection. This explanation can be found in First Corinthians 15:35-50:

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The Greek term that English language Bibles translate as “natural body” or “physical body” is “soma psychikon,” which means “ensouled body.” This term combines matter and soul in a manner that a Hellenistic group familiar with Plato’s conceptions of the ensouled, and thus corruptible body could understand. In contrast, the Greek term translated as “spiritual body” is “soma pneumatikon,” which would be incomprehensible to Platonists. Like Josephus, Paul attempted to explain his theology in a way that non-Jews and non-Christians could relate to, but his message only makes sense within its Jewish apocalyptic context. The soma pneumatikon is an ordinary body absorbed by and transformed by the Spirit of God. Paul had been granted a foretaste of these redeemed bodies because the Spirit of God already dwelled within him. As the end of the world approaches, the spirit will gain strength until the final transformation, at the last trumpet when all believers share the image of Christ’s glorified body. Paul utilized the Greek term “anthropos,” meaning human being, as part of a new vocabulary of inwardness and mysticism based on an apocalyptic vision of the end of time. Inward and outward states are not inexorably connected, but both are being transformed to better conform to the will of God. Romans 6:1-6 explains why this transformation in necessary:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man [anthropos] is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Second Corinthians 6:14-16 is similar:

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man [anthropos] perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Paul linked the inner process of salvation to the outward process of the apocalyptic redemption of the world. In Romans 8:18-25 he synthesizes these two transformational occurrences:

God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

A few verses later, Paul parallels the groaning of the universe to bring forth a new birth with the redemption of the body, the personal transformation of believers into the image of Christ. Below is Romans 8:28-31:

The gentile communities that Paul shepherded had access to the presence of Jesus through the liturgical rites of baptism and communion. As was the case with Judaism, Christian baptisms initially involved complete immersion and were performed in the name of Jesus. The Book of Acts describes several instances where the Holy Spirit was received immediately after a person was baptized. Theories that this rite was based on similar rites performed by Hellenistic cults are inaccurate since baptism was also practiced by local Jewish millennial groups. The best-known example is Jesus’ own baptism by John the Baptist. Galatians 3:27 is one metaphorical description of what can happen when Christ’s name is invoked:

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

In the Passover rituals celebrated by the Rabbis of Mishnah new generation was to imaginatively identify themselves with the Jews who escaped Egypt by liturgically reenacting the events of the Exodus. Similarly, Holy communion is not simply a passive process, but one by which the Christian can enter into the Paschal mystery. Anamnesis (from the Attic Greek word ἀνάμνησις, meaning reminiscence or memorial sacrifice) is a liturgical statement in Christianity which the church employs to refer to the memorial character of the Eucharist or to the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. It has its origin in Jesus' words at the Last Supper, "Do this in memory of me" ("τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν"). First Corinthian 11:23-26 is the setting for this commandment:

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Second Corinthians 5:6-8 compares Jesus to the Passover lamb:

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

For Paul and his followers, the Eucharist confirmed a believer’s capacity to be “in Christ.” The Synoptic Gospels (subject of the next chapter) disclose a strikingly different viewpoint. In the writings of Paul, the experiences of the early church are augmented by, and illuminated by Paul’s personal experience and by his ongoing relationship with Christ. His conception of the divinity of Jesus, or Messiah, was both characteristically Christian and a unique development within the framework of the Jewish apocalyptic/mystical tradition. Paul exerted a major influence on Christian liturgy, missionary endeavor, and on a believer’s capacity to endure suffering. Paul was not only attached to a community that would achieve eternal life as described in Daniel 12, but a man who made others wise, and therefore privileged to shine as the stars in heaven. At the last trumpet, he and his faithful followers would become angels in heaven and, as angels, possibly play a role in the final judgement. Paul describes an inward transformation not yet manifested outwardly but accomplished by the same mechanisms. This element of mysticism is absent in the much more apocalyptic balance of the New Testament which presents the story of Jesus from the viewpoint of an outside observer. By connecting the internal processes of transformation with the redemption of the world, Paul implies that personal rebirth can influence, and even expedite the creation of a new earth. Paul taught that human beings are spiritually transcendent, an ennobling concept that appealed to potential Hellenistic converts, and that the world could be changed from what it was, and what it is, to what it should be through the perfecting of the self.