44. A natural body (cdpya wuyicdv). See on ch. ii. 14. The word puxvxov natural occurs only twice outside this epistle ; Jas. iii. 15; Jude 19. The expression natural body signifies an organism animated by a puy7) soul (see on Rom. xi. 4); that phase of the immaterial principle in man which is more nearly allied to the cdp& flesh, and which characterizes the man as a mortal creature; while rvedywa spirct is that phase which looks Godward, and characterizes him as related to God. “It isa brief designation for the whole compass of the non-corporeal side of the earthly man” (Wendt). “In the earthly body the puyn soul, not the rvedua spirit is that which conditions its
*I am indebted to Wendt for the substance of this note,
+ The view of Calvin, followed by Heinrici and Edwards, that the apostle is contrasting the present state from birth to death with the post-resurrection state, cannot be maintained.
Cu. XV.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 983
constitution and its qualities, so that it is framed as the organ of the wvy7. In the resurrection-body the mvetpa spirit, for whose life-activity it is the adequate organ, conditions its nature” (Meyer). Compare Plato: “The soul has the care of inanimate being everywhere, and traverses the whole heaven in divers forms appearing; when perfect and fully winged she soars up- ward, and is the ruler of the universe; while the imperfect soul loses her feathers, and drooping in her flight, at last settles on the solid ground—there, finding a home, she receives an earthly frame which appears to be self-moved, but is really moved by her power; and this composition of soul and body is called a living and mortal creature. For immortal no such union can be reasonably believed to be; although fancy, not having seen nor surely known the nature of God, may imagine an immortal creature having a body, and having also a soul which are united throughout all time” (‘‘ Phaedrus,” 246).
Spiritual body (cepa mvevparixdv). A body in which a divine wvedua spirit supersedes the uy) soul, so that the resur- rection-body is the fitting organ for its indwelling and work, and so is properly characterized as a spiritual body.
‘¢ When, glorious and sanctified, our flesh Is reassumed,* then shall our persons be More pleasing by their being all complete ; For will increase whate’er bestows on us Of light gratuitous the Good Supreme, Light which enables us to look on Him ; Therefore the vision must perforce increase, Increase the ardor which from that is kindled, Increase the radiance from which this proceeds, But even as a coal that sends forth flame, And by its vivid whiteness overpowers it So that its own appearance it maintains, Thus the effulgence that surrounds us now Shall be o’erpowered in aspect by the flesh, Which still to-day the earth doth cover up ; Nor can so great a splendor weary us, For strong will be the organs of the body To everything which hath the power to please us.” ‘+ Paradiso,” xiv., 43-60.
* Dante believes in the resurrection of the fleshly body which is buried.
984 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. XV,
There is. The best texts insert 7 If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. The existence of the one forms a logical presumption for the existence of the other.
45. A living soul (uyjv Cacav). See Gen. ii. 7. Here arux7 passes into its personal sense—an individual personality (see Rom. xi. 4), yet retaining the emphatic reference to the vwrvyn as the distinctive principle of that individuality in con- trast with the mvedwa spirit following. ence this fact illus- trates the general statement there 7s a natural body: such was Adams, the receptacle and organ of the yuy7 soul.
Last Adam. Christ. Put over against Adam because of the peculiar relation in which both stand to the race: Adam as the physical, Christ as the spiritual head. Adam the head of the race in its sin, Christ in its redemption. Compare Rom. v. 14.