He Shall Have Dominion

can arise to eschatological glory. Despite their pride of “having arrived,”
the pneumatic Christians cannot “be there” yet. Their bodies haven’t
been “sown.”
In 1 Corinthians 15:38–41 Paul emphasizes two crucial truths in
response to their question (v 35): (1) “God gives it a body just as he
wished” (v 38a). As with Augustine later, all objectors must recognize: “Is
he who was able to make you when you did not exist not able to make
over what you once were?” (Sermons on Ascension, 264:6). Any objection
regarding the difficulty of resurrecting a dead body is more than
accounted for by the fact that it is God who effects it.
(2) God gives bodies appropriate to their environment (1Co 15:38b).
He gives fish bodies appropriate to water, birds appropriate to flight, and
so on (vv 39–41). And all bodies have a level of “glory” appropriate to
their estate (vv 40–41), whether they be “earthly” or “heavenly” (v 40).
Christ adapts the glorious condition of the resurrected body for victory
over the decay element. Though our pre-eschatological condition suffers
dishonor and weakness, our future estate will enjoy glory and power (vv
43–44; cp. Ro 8:11; 2Co 4:7–12; Php3:21). In fact, it is “the body” itself
that Christ will transform from being perishable to imperishable (vv 42,
52–54).
Paul employs shock therapy against these pneumatics: “It is sown a
natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there
is also a spiritual body” (1Co 15:44). His point appears to be that not only
should they not denigrate the present material order (which they do, chs.
6–7), but he informs them that they will arise again in a “spiritual body”
in the eschatological order! And here is where the hyper-preterist
theological naivete causes them to stumble so badly. Hyper-Preterists
believe Paul’s reference to the “spiritual body” speaks of the substance of
the body, its compositional makeup. Consequently, they boldly employ
this verse for discounting a physical resurrection. Of course, this is as
wrong-headed as to say a Coca-Cola bottle is made of Coca-Cola. Note the
following evidences supporting the orthodox approach to Paul’s
argument (to name but a few):
(1) This “spiritual (pneumatikos) body” is no more immaterial than the
“natural (psuchikos) body,” even though both “spirit” (pneuma) and “soul”
(psuche) often refer to the immaterial element within the creature. Here
Paul uses these (usually spiritual) terms to describe the body, and we
know that our present natural (psuchikos) body is material. In 1
Corinthians 2:14 these adjectives distinguish the believer and the
unbeliever. Rather than distinguishing their body materials, the terms