Spiritual Body

Text and Content

The phrase "spiritual body" appears in 1 Corinthians 15, known as the Resurrection Chapter. In 15:35 the question is raised: "How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?" Paul answers with analogies and contrasts.

• Seed and harvest: A sown seed must die before it comes to life, and God gives that seed a new form (15:36-38).
• Different kinds of bodies: The flesh of humans, beasts, birds, and fish differs, and celestial and terrestrial bodies also differ in glory (15:39-41).
• Four paired contrasts: corruption and incorruption, dishonor and glory, weakness and power, the natural body and the spiritual body (15:42-44).
• The first Adam and the last Adam: The first man, Adam, "was made a living soul" (quoting Genesis 2:7), while Christ, the last Adam, "was made a quickening spirit." Just as believers have borne the image of the earthy, they will also bear the image of the heavenly (15:45-49).

Paul then states that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (15:50). He goes on to say that at the last trumpet the dead will be raised incorruptible and the living will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

Background and Original Language

Some in the Corinthian church were saying "that there is no resurrection of the dead" (15:12). The Greek thought of the period, which regarded the body as inferior to the soul, is commonly cited as the background to this view.

In the phrase sōma psychikon (rendered "body of flesh" in the traditional Korean Bible and "natural body" in the KJV), the adjective psychikon derives from psychē (life, soul) and denotes a state of living by one's innate, natural life. The Revised New Korean Standard Version renders the phrase "natural body." Pneumatikon derives from pneuma (spirit, Spirit). In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 Paul uses the same two words to contrast "the natural man" with "he that is spiritual." For this reason, many interpreters read "spiritual body" not as "a body made of spirit" but as "a body governed and given life by the Holy Spirit."

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

Paul expresses the same hope in other letters. He writes that Christ "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Philippians 3:21), and that the Spirit will also give life to mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). He also says that, together with the creation, believers wait for "the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:19-23).

The Gospels report that the risen Jesus had flesh and bones and ate food (Luke 24:39-43). At the same time, they report that he entered a room whose doors were shut (John 20:19). Many interpreters regard Jesus' resurrection body as the model of the spiritual body that believers will receive (1 Corinthians 15:20, 49).

Interpretation and Issues

• Continuity and transformation: Church tradition has generally held that the present body is not discarded but that the same body is transformed and raised. The Apostles' Creed confesses "the resurrection of the body." The Westminster Confession of Faith states that the dead will be raised "with the selfsame bodies, and none other (although with different qualities)."
• The question of materiality: Some read "spiritual" as "immaterial" and understand the resurrection as a spiritual survival of the person. Other interpreters dispute this view, arguing that pneumatikos refers not to the substance of the body but to the source and character of its life, and that the seed analogy and the language of "putting on" (15:53) in the same context also point to a transformation of the body.
• Jehovah's Witnesses: Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus was raised as a spirit being and that those who go to heaven will likewise receive spirit bodies. Major Protestant denominations reject this interpretation and confess that Jesus' body was actually raised.
• What the text does not say: The age, height, or appearance of the resurrection body, or the food eaten in heaven, are sometimes discussed in devotional books and sermons. This passage, however, says nothing about such matters. It speaks only of incorruption, glory, power, and conformity to the image of Christ.

In the Korean Church

The spiritual body is frequently mentioned when the hope of the resurrection is proclaimed at funeral services and graveside committal services, where 1 Corinthians 15 is commonly read. When the Apostles' Creed is recited in Sunday worship, this passage is also sometimes taken up to explain the phrase "the resurrection of the body."