ONE SPIRIT, ONE BODY, ONE TEMPLE: PAUL'S CORPORATE TEMPLE LANGUAGE IN 1 CORINTHIANS 6.

A small number of contemporary scholars have suggested that in 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul speaks of the body of Christ as the one temple of the Holy Spirit, not the individual bodies of every Christian. This study contends that such a reading is historically likely, literarily plausible, and redemptive-historically coherent. It is also helpful in clarifying both the rest of the pericope and the entire letter. Historically, three considerations point in this direction: (1) The rest of the Pauline corpus speaks of the corporate church as the singular temple of God. (2) Other early Christian authors (especially Peter and even the Gospels) describe the corporate church as the singular temple of God. (3) Greek, not Jewish, sources describe human bodies as temples, and that of multiple gods. Literarily, two lines of argument are presented: (1) careful attention to the nouns and pronouns in the immediate context, and (2) the discourse through chapters 3--6, as well as the retrospectively illuminating chapters 12--14. Redemptivehistorically, it is significant that the true God has always had one dwelling place in the creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]