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Paul has had a powerful conviction by the Risen Jesus.
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Of all the passages we have looked at Paul is one who did not know Jesus ‘in the flesh’ as it were, before the resurrection
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Paul’s conversion of course picks up vividly the idea we have see elsewhere in the gospels about blindness/sight
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Remember that the audience is Greek; so there will be an assumption that Paul is arguing against Greek culture and religious expectations.
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He himself was a Pharisee, and as such open to the idea of resurrection – the Sadducees did not
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Greek thought did NOT sit comfortably with the idea of resurrection. When you entered one of the Greek mystery religions you were in this life already deified by the god of that cult.
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1 15, 1 Paul refers to the Good News –euangellion – and for Paul the Gospel is the proclamation of the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that in the power of God, under whom all is subjected, Jesus is Lord. It is by holding on to this message that believers are being saved ie an on going process, not a one- off event! The one off event is the death of Jesus, which brings us the possibility of salvation.
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Paul then gives a mini- creed and lists witnesses. ie here is the evidence for the reality of the Good News that Paul is proclaiming. If they can’t believe in resurrection all this message is in vain – they may as well remain Greeks who worship the gods of the Greek cults.
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From 12 onwards Paul then attacks the Greek culture that is resistant to the principle that a dead person can be raised. If you can’t (or won’t) accept this then there is no point even in Jesus dying to rise again. So if these people gathered in the Chrisitan Community want to claim faith in Chris, they have to accept that resurrection lies t the heart of this acceptance. If you like this is similar to ‘if I don’t believe, I can’t see’.
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If they don’t accept it they are left in sin (the Good News is about forgiveness of sin); those who claimed to be Christians have simply just perished as if their faith had meant nothing (the good News is about new life in JC and resurrection); and if Christ can only give us something in this life, then what is the point, so we are to be pitied.
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Paul then uses 2 images from the scriptures to make his point – Adam as a ‘type’ of Christ, and the idea of the ‘firstfruits creation.
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Death and sin came about through Adam, resurrection and forgiveness comes through Christ for all.
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The firstfruits (sheaf of the harvest) was offered in the temple the day after Passover and represented the whole harvest – so here we have both a hint at Passover (Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us) and the first offering of the grain. See also (Col 1,15)
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15,29 is problematic. Does Paul believe in baptism by proxy (Mormons do!)? More likely he is continuing his challenge to those who are doing this (as it may have been done in the mystery cults of Greece) and showing that it is a pointless exercise in baptism if there is no resurrection from the dead.
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Paul then contrasts different Greek philosophical groups – eg Stoics and Epicureans . He contrasts both of these physical options with his own conviction based on the dangers ha has faced for his faith in Jesus.
