The Impact of Bodily Experience on Pauls Resurrection Theology

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Kai-Hsuan Chang engages with the longstanding scholarly debate concerning the development of Pauls resurrection theology, by investigating the correlation between his bodily experiences and his diverse articulations about resurrection. Drawing on insights from cognitive linguistics, Chang considers Pauls ideas about resurrection as fundamentally grounded in recurrent patterns of bodily experience, arguing that such experience of some religious activities in Pauls timedeath rites, spirit possession, and baptismcontributed to the formation and development of his resurrection theology. Chang demonstrates that developments in Pauls ideas about bodily transformation at resurrection reflected in 1 Corinthians 15 resulted from a change in the experiential patterns on which his new idea is constructed, rather than transformation during heavenly ascent as seen in Jewish traditions of resurrection. He thus applies cognitive linguistic tools to two considerations; first, whether Paul had contextual reasons to generate his innovation in 1 Corinthians 15, and second, whether Pauls innovation recurred or had continual effects in Christian groups. In so doing, Chang shows that Pauls innovation directly addressed a contextual issue of death rites in Corinth and exerted a continuing effect on Pauls later ideas of transformation, spirit possession, and baptism.

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[O]ffers a complex but fresh approach to analyzing the development of Paul's teaching about bodily resurrection. * The Bible Today *

Author Bio

Kai-Hsuan Chang is assistant professor at China Evangelical Seminary, Taoyuan, Taiwan.