Paul's Probably Was a Dualist
December 8th, 2017
Acts 23:6-8 - Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
What did Paul reveal about his view of the human person? On this verse, John W. Cooper observes:
Here according to Luke we have Paul's own words identifying himself with the personal eschatology of the Pharisees. Though their doctrines were not fixed, most Pharisees believed in a conscious intermediate state until the general future resurrection. Certainly they were neither immediate ate resurrectionists nor extinction-re-creationists. (Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting; Kindle Loc. 1711-1712)
He doesn't give argue that this verse shows him to be a dualist of some kind or another without a doubt, for example, he suggests that this remark might be "a defense lawyer's ploy" of sorts. And, besides, "Paul does not explicitly mention either the immediate state or the time of the resurrection". (Loc. 1712-1714) However, he does say that Paul's remark, even if thought of as consistent with either an immediate Resurrection view, or an annihilation-then-recreation view of personal eschatology - both of which are comfortable in a non-dualistic view of the human person - give us no reason to adopt those views. However, Paul's remark here give us good reason to think that Paul was a dualist, and that his teaching on personal eschatology should be seen as carrying dualsitic implications.
For one thing, Paul was a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5), which would give us reason to think that, even as he became a Christian, he still embraced the Pharisaic view of the human person as it relates to personal eschatology. Hence, when he noticed that half of his opponents that day were Pharisees, he used this common ground to turn his enemies against each other. And, since he did this, we have reason that he didn't understand "resurrection" isolated from the an intermediate state.
Also relevant is his discussion of 1 Thessalonains 4:13-18. Here, Paul writes to a congregation that apparently thought that they would all live until Christ's return. Then some of them began to die, and this troubled them - what would become of them if they weren't around to celebrate at Christ's return To alievate this Paul writes (in v. 14):
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Cooper comments:
Those who are still alive will meet Christ and the resurrected dead in the air, and all will be with him forever. (Kindle Loc. 1729-1730)
Does this indicate this passage indicate that the dead were with Christ before his second coming, that is, before the Resurrection? I think so.
Importantly, this passage, like several others (which we will discuss later), place the resurrection at the second coming. No quarter is given to the notion that the resurrection is experienced immediately upon death. And this should be of no surprise, since in the resurrection our bodies are to be redeemed. (Romans 8:23) A body that is dead and decaying can hardly be said to be redeemed!
Aside from the arguable implication of 'will bring the dead with him' does this passage favor an intermediate state (and thus dualism) over an annihilation-then-recreation view (which can be happily endorsed by non-dualists)?
It seems to me that Cooper gives us good reason to think that Paul's metaphor of sleep favors the intermediate state view. Now, those who embrace and annihilation-then-recreation view (such as Witnesses) will take the metaphor as just that; ontologically speaking they do not exist.
However, such use of that metaphor are hard to come by - though, they are present in pagan sources. Conversely, use of "sleep" in Jewish literature about the unconscious, semi-conscious or still actively aware dead is not uncommon; which gives us some reason to think that Paul intended one of these dualistic understandings of death. (Especially, given his rabbinic and specifically Pharisaic past.)
Cooper discusses a later verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:10, writing:
The same is true for I Thessalonians 5:10, where Paul writes that our Lord Jesus Christ "died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him." While it is prima facie possible to assert that those who are "asleep" simply do not exist, background information makes it much more likely that Paul meant that they are already living with Christ, just as those who are still "awake" will live with him after his return. (Kindle Loc. 1743-1745)
1 Thessalonians 5:10 - He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.Perhaps it will be said that 'live with him' refers to the community with Christ and all fellow believers in the Age to Come, and this is all that is being promised. I think that Cooper is right in saying that this is prima facie plausible. However, there are reasons to opt for a different view.
For one thing, Christ already lives in 'awake' believers now in a very real way. (See, inter alia, Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 2:20; 4:19; Ephesians 3:17) Since 'sleeping' believers are mentioned in the same breath as the living, and are promised the same thing 'to live with Christ', I think they enjoy Christ simultaneously with the living. Hence, the intermediate view is favored, and dualism by extension.
I think these considerations show that the intermediate state is taught in the Bible, and thus dualism (at apart from any specific formulation) is biblical as well. These considerations lead to dualism as much as any philosophic argument would. And there are much more to be said on both accounts, for revelation perfects reason as both affably lead us to truth.
Related Posts:
I'm Naked! - NSFW
You're a Dime a Dozen
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
