Temple, Body, and ʻthe Man Within’
Temple, Body, and ʻthe Man Within’

Summary/Abstract: According to Paul the three concepts—the temple, the body, and the inmost self of the human being—are related to each other in many and quite complicated ways. For the Jews, the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem were holy, since they represented the presence of God in Israel. Paul regarded human bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit within them. Like the temples, human bodies belong to God. According to Paul the body is like a common denominator or a link between the concepts of the temple, the individual human body and the community. Paul used the word body to designate human physical existence and to refer to the collective, social body, and he made this double meaning understandable to his readers.

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