This kind of personal identification between consuming the transformed elements of the Eucharist and one’s hope of giving life to the mortal body is not as far removed from Paul as it might first sound. When he instructs the Corinthians about the way in which they must approach this sacred meal with awe and proper preparation, Paul observes that some of them, who have disregarded the “body of Christ,” have become “weak and ill, and some have died” (1 Corinthians 11:30). He means this quite literally. He links the physical health and well-being of their bodies to the way in which they are participating in the Lord’s Supper. The implication is that if one properly participates in this sacred meal one will be preserved “body, soul, and spirit” in sound health until the arrival of Christ in the clouds of heaven (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
When the Christians of Asia, where Paul had worked for many years, first came to the attention of the Romans in the early second century A.D., they were viewed with suspicion as an illegal cult, given to “superstition” and suspected of practicing “abominations.” The Romans suspected them of eating human flesh, drinking blood, practicing magical curses and spells, and holding nocturnal meetings involving men and women of all classes at which they would remove their clothing and engage in vile sexual acts of every description.30 Pliny the Younger, appointed by the emperor Trajan as a provincial governor in Bithynia-Pontus, in northern Asia Minor, around A.D. 110, had Christians arrested and interrogated on suspicion of such crimes. The Christians, of course, maintained their innocence, and one of the things they emphasized was that when they gathered together to eat their sacred meals they consumed only “ordinary harmless food,” and that they took oaths to never lie, steal, kill, or commit adultery. In contrast, Jews were accepted in Roman culture as a legal religion with a high standard of ethics. It is not hard to imagine how an outside observer might have so characterized Paul’s “mystery religion,” when he himself had trouble keeping things in check.
By the end of the second century Paul’s triumph was complete. His views of baptism and the Lord’s Supper had been accepted as orthodox Christian teaching and his emphasis on the cosmic Christ over the human Jesus predominated. The editing of the New Testament, with the gospels, the book of Acts, and Paul’s thirteen letters following, more or less sealed the orthodox interpretation. The Christianity of James and the original apostles began to fade in influence.
Despite Paul’s efforts at propagating the validity of these spiritual experiences and practices among his followers, his message faced major difficulties. As we will see in the following chapter, both his experiences and his message were grounded in his conviction that the end of the age was near and that his followers very shortly would experience the full transformation from flesh to spirit, which had been only partially realized in their initial union with Christ. Time was not on Paul’s side, and as a result his followers increasingly had to face the hard reality of continued life in a world that remained very much as it had always been. They were truly trapped between two worlds.
SEVEN
ALREADY BUT NOT YET
Paul and his followers faced an insurmountable problem, and unwittingly their failure to overcome it resulted in incalculable human suffering and misery. They had pushed themselves hard up against the cruel reality of time. It is one thing to believe that one is living at the end of history, right on the cusp of its transformation, but quite another to continue to deal with the hard, relentless reality of ordinary day-to-day life, unchanged year after year. The passing of time is something that every apocalyptic group has had to face, in whatever period they have lived.
However, for Paul and his followers it was even worse. It was not just a matter of time, of waiting. Not only did they believe that the transformation of the world was near: they were convinced it had already begun—but it had not yet arrived! They believed they were “in Christ,” and thus already participating in God’s grand reshaping of the cosmos. At the same time, “outside” in the natural world, human life and history continued as always. They were not simply living between two worlds, waiting for one to end and the other to begin. They were living within two worlds. Plato had taught that one could leave this world and go to a higher heavenly existence. Jesus and other apocalyptic Jews expected the imminent end of this world and the arrival of the new age. Paul’s gospel said that the chosen ones were already in the kingdom of God, by being in Christ even while waiting for its arrival.
The term “kingdom of God” refers to the reign of God, usually understood in Jewish apocalyptic texts in this period as the time when God decisively intervenes in human affairs to bring about a new age of God’s righteous rule. God’s anointed one, or Messiah, was expected to usher in this dramatic halt and turnabout of human history. The Messiah would be exalted above every other authority so that through his reign the will of God would be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. Paul taught that Jesus, who was a royal descendant of David, had fulfilled the role of the expected Messiah. But more important to Paul, he had been “declared Son of God in power by his resurrection.” Paul believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead and glorified to sit “at the right hand of God” (Romans 1:3–4). Since his reign was a heavenly one, the kingdom of God had already arrived and would shortly be manifested to the surprise of the entire world.
As we have seen, Christ’s rule from heaven, not just over the earth, but the entire cosmos, will continue until he destroys all rule, authority, and power, putting “all things” under his feet (Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25). Paul’s cosmos is a disrupted one, a cosmos in rebellion, currently controlled by Satan, “the god of this age.” But Satan’s time is short-lived. Paul triumphantly declares to the Christians at Rome: “The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20). This was in the late 50s A.D., during the reign of Nero.
The final result of Christ’s heavenly exaltation and reign is that every knee will bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord. The word “Lord” (Greek kurios) means master, ruler, or potentate. It is the same word that the Roman emperors put on their coins and demanded in oaths of allegiance. That Jesus is already “Lord” means that his reign has been inaugurated. It is already here, but not yet consummated.
Stage one in the plan for extending the reign of God to the entire cosmos was the selection and preparation of a special group of human beings who would receive the same exaltation as the Messiah, in order to share in his reign. Those “in Christ” were already “in the kingdom.” There was indeed a battle raging, not with “weapons of worldly warfare” but divine power to destroy strongholds, particularly the grip of Satan and his demons upon those whom God had chosen (2 Corinthians 10:3–6). Paul says that once those “in Christ” learn to complete their own obedience, they will then be ready to punish every disobedience—empowered as co-rulers with Christ.
During this interim period, as the reign of Christ is being extended, there will be persecution and outside opposition. This the group could handle, even if it might seem to contradict their faith that Christ was the new cosmic ruler. They had been taught that in order to be glorified they must first suffer, as Christ had suffered. Paul tells them they should even “rejoice” in sufferings, since it will result in great reward (Romans 5:3). They expected the natural world to continue, temporarily, on its tired and worn path of birth and death, disease and decay, and sin and injustice. Paul had told them that Satan was the god of “the present evil age” and that he had “blinded the eyes of the unbelievers” (Galatians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan had been attacked by Christ’s victory over death, but not yet defeated. Those in Christ still had to live in the old world, but without being contaminated by it. The tensions, stresses, persecutions, and even temptations were considered necessary tests that would only make them stronger (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul had taught his followers that “all things work together for good for those called [literally, “invited”] according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). This is not a general promise of divine providence for humankind in general, but a specific promise made only to the elect group. No matter what came their way, even if it had been sent by Satan, God would use it to perfect them: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).