Objection · Case 02 · Resurrection of Christ
Paul says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom and calls the resurrection body spiritual. Doesn’t that mean Paul believed in a non-physical resurrection?
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
This turns on the Greek. Paul contrasts the natural (psychikon) body with the spiritual (pneumatikon) body, and the same word pair appears in 1 Corinthians 2:14 to 15 for natural versus spiritual people, where it obviously does not mean immaterial people. Spiritual for Paul means empowered and governed by the Spirit, not made of nothing. Flesh and blood is a standard idiom for mortal, perishable human nature, which is why the next clause says the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. His seed-and-plant picture requires continuity between the thing sown and the thing raised, transformed. That means the body in the tomb is the body that was raised.
About this exhibit
This objection is to The reports were visionary and the physical details grew later.
The claim here is that Paul, our earliest source, only lists that Jesus ‘appeared’ (1 Corinthians 15) without describing a physical body or an empty tomb, while the bodily details, being touched,…
Under Claim 05: A real resurrection is the best explanation of the facts.