Thiselton on Embodied Sexuality and Personhood

Last updated on: August 24, 2013 at 7:16 am by Paul C. Maxwell

Thiselton on Embodied Sexuality and Personhood 2013-08-24T07:16:10-04:00 Paul C. Maxwell

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Anthony C. Thiselton gives a helpful picture of the relationship of “spiritual” actions and the body. Commenting on 1 Corinthians 6:18

v. 18: Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

“Far from devaluing sex, the very opposite comes about [in v. 18]. In this area Paul was far ahead of first-century cultural assumptions in perceiving the sexual act as one of intimacy and self-commitment which involved the whole person; not the mere manipulation of some ‘peripheral’ function of the body . . . In the context of union with Christ and of physical union the issue becomes one of fully ‘giving’ oneself to the one to whom one belongs. In the context of marriage Paul can perceive this intimacy of self-giving as making ‘holy’ (7:14) or as ‘in the Lord’ (7:39) . . . [A] possible background to 6:18-20 [is] the covenantal relationship which is presupposed in Hos 3:1-3.”[1]

He comments on v. 19:

v. 19: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

“Paul declares that the very person of the Holy Spirit of God . . . stands to the totality of the bodily, everyday life of the believer (σῶμα) in the same relation of influence and molding of identity as the images of deities in pagan temples . . . Grace and judgment go together: to desecrate the body is to violate God’s gift and to invite an unfavorable and awesome verdict on the part of God himself.”[2]

It is easy to see, then, that the actions we perform with our body are spiritual. Because the Spirit interfaces with us, as Thiselton puts it, as “the whole person,” our bodies inevitably effect our spiritual state. In new thinking, then, could we not also say that what is done to our bodies is inevitably of spiritual consequence for our souls as well?

[1] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 474.

[2] Ibid., 475.

Previous Post

August 23, 2013

The Science of Emotions and Embarrassment

Next Post

August 25, 2013 Feminists on the Trauma of Abuse Research

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Biblical Counseling Blog Historical Theology New Testament Old Testament Philosophy prayers Psychology Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The night of the Passover what did Israel have to do so their firstborn wouldn't die?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Take a Bath Put blood around the door of their homes Go to Sleep Change Clothes