The Origin of Paul's ReligionMachen, J. Gresham (John Gresham)
Religion
The Origin of Paul's Religion
Machen, J. Gresham (John Gresham)
Bible. Epistles of Paul -- Theology; Paul, the Apostle, Saint
Thus, so far as the idea of "knowledge" is concerned, Reitzenstein
has not been successful in showing any dependence of Paul upon the
mystery religions. But how is it with regard to the doctrine of the
"Spirit"?
In 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15, the "spiritual man" is contrasted with the
"psychic man." The spiritual man is the man who has the Spirit of
God; the psychic man is the man who has only a human soul. It is not
really correct to say that the spiritual man, according to Paul,
is a man not who has the Spirit but who is the Spirit. Paul avoids
such an expression for the same reason that prevents his speaking of
the "deification" of the Christian. Everywhere in Paul the personal
distinction between the believer and the Christ who dwells in him is
carefully preserved. His "mysticism" (if the word may be used thus
loosely) is never pantheistic. Here already is to be found a most
vital difference between Paul and Hermes Trismegistus.
But this observation constitutes a digression. It is necessary
to return to 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15. The spiritual man, according to
that passage, is the man who has the Spirit of God; the psychic
man is the man who has only a human soul. Reitzenstein apparently
insists that the "only" in this sentence should be left out. The
psychic man, according to Paul, he says, has a soul; the spiritual
man has no "soul" but has the divine Spirit instead. But such a
representation is not really Pauline.[195] Paul clearly teaches
that the human soul continues to exist even after the divine
Spirit has entered in. "The Spirit himself," he says, "beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are children of God" (Rom. viii.
16). Here "our spirit" clearly means "our soul," and is expressly
distinguished from the divine Spirit. At every point, then, the
attempt to find a pantheistic mysticism in Paul breaks down before
the intensely personal character of his religion. The relation of
Paul to the risen Christ, intimate as it is, mediated as it is by
the all-pervasive Spirit, is a relation of one person to another.
[195] See especially Vos, "The Eschatological Aspect of the Pauline
Conception of the Spirit," in _Biblical and Theological Studies by
the Members of the Faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary_, 1912,
pp. 248-250.
But it is still necessary to return to the Pauline contrast between
the "spiritual man" and the "psychic man." Reitzenstein lays great
stress upon that contrast. He regards it as lying at the heart of
Paul's religion, and he thinks that he can explain it from the
Hellenistic mystery religions. Apparently the method of Reitzenstein
can be tested at this point if it can be tested at all. If it does
not succeed in explaining the Pauline doctrine of the Spirit, upon
which the chief stress is laid, probably it will explain nothing at
all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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