ORIGINAL SIN ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL

(http://www.romanity.org)

© John S. Romanides

[ This article originally appeared in the St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly, Vol. IV, Nos. 1 and 2, 1955-6. ]

CONTENTS

I. Fallen Creation
II. The Justice of God and Law
III. The Destiny of Man and Anthropology
	a. The Destiny of Man
	b. Anthropology of St. Paul

Synthetic Observations
Concluding Remarks

In regard to the doctrine of original sin as contained in the Old Testament and illumnated  by the  unique revelation of  Christ in the  New Testament, there continues to reign in the denominations of the West--especially since the development of scholastic  presuppositions--a great confusion, which in the last few centuries  seems to have gained much ground in the theological problematics of  the Orthodox East.  In some circles this  problem has been dressed in a halo  of mystifying vagueness to such an extent that even some Orthodox theologians seem to  expect one to accept the doctrine of original sin  simply as  a great and  profound mystery  of faith (e.g.,  Androutsos, Dogmatike, pp. 161-162).  This has certainly become a paradoxical attitude, especially since  these Christians  who cannot point their  fingers at this enemy of  mankind are the same people who  illogically claim that in Christ there is remission of this unknown original sin. This is a far cry from the certitude of St. Paul,  who, of the devil himself, claimed that "we are not ignorant of his thoughts" (noemata).

If one is to  vigorously and consistently maintain that Jesus Christ is the unique Savior  Who has brought salvation  to a world in  need of salvation, one obviously must know  what is the nature of the need which provoked this salvation.  It would,  indeed,  seem  foolish to  have medical  doctors trained to  heal sickness  if there were  no such thing as  sickness in the world. Likewise, a savior who claims to save people in need of no salvation is a savior only unto himself.

Undoubtedly, one  of the most important causes of  heresy is the failure to understand the exact nature of the human situation described by the Old and New  Testaments, to which  the historical  events of the  birth, teachings, death, resurrection  and second coming  of Christ are the  only remedy. The failure to understand this  automatically implies a perverted understanding of what  it is  that Christ did  and continues to  do for us,  and what our subsequent  relation  is  to  Christ  and  neighbor  within  the  realm  of salvation. The  importance of a correct definition  of original sin and its consequences  can  never  be  exaggerated.  Any  attempt  to  minimize  its importance  or  alter  its  significance  automatically  entails  either  a weakening or even a  complete misunderstanding of the nature of the Church, sacraments and human destiny.

The temptation  facing every inquiry into  the thought of St.  Paul and the other  Apostolic  writers  is to  approach  their  writings with  definite, although many  times unconscious, presuppositions contrary  to the Biblical witness. If one approaches the Biblical testimony to the work of Christ and the life of the primitive community with predetermined metaphysical notions concerning the  moral structure of what most  would call the natural world, and,  by consequence,  with fixed  ideas concerning  human destiny  and the needs of  hte individual and humanity in  general, he will undoubtedly take from the faith and  life of the ancient Church only such aspects as fit his own frame of reference. Then, if he wishes to be consistent in representing his own interpretation of  the Scriptures as authentic, he will necessarily proceed to exaplain away everything extraneous to his concepts as secondary and superficial,  or simply as the product  of some misunderstanding on the part of certain Apostles or a group of Fathers, or even the whole primitive Church in general.

A  proper approach  to the  New Testament  teaching of St.  Paul concerning original  sin  cannot  be  one-sided.  It  is incorrect,  for  example,  to emphasize, in Romans 5:12, the phrase, eph'ho pantes hemarton, by trying to make it  fit any certain system  of thought concerning moral  law and guilt without first establishing the  importance of St. Paul's beliefs concerning the powers  of Satan  and the true  situation not only  of man,  but of all creation. It is also  wrong to deal with the problem of the transmission of original sin  within the  framework of dualistic anthropology  while at the same  time  completely  ignoring  the  Hebraic foundations  of  St.  Paul's anthropology. Likewise,  and attempt to interpret  the Biblical doctrine of the fall in terms of a hedonistic philosophy of happiness is already doomed to failure  because of  its refusal to  recognize not only  the abnormality but,   more  important,   the   consequences  of   death  and   corruption.

A correct  approach to the Pauline doctrine of  original sin must take into consideration St. Paul's understanding of (1) the fallen state of creation, including the powers of Satan, death and corruption, (2) the justice of God and law,  and (3) anthropology and  the destiny of man  and creation. These divisions are not meant to suggest that each topic is to be dealt with here in detail;  rather, they shall be  discussed only in the  light of the main problem  of  original  sin  and its  transmission  according  to St.  Paul.

I. Fallen Creation

St. Paul  strongly affirms  the belief that  all things created  by God are good. Yet,  at the  same time,  he insists  on the  fact that not  only man,  but also all of creation has fallen.  Both man and creation are awaiting  the final redemption.  Thus,  in spite  of the fact  that all things created  by God are good,  the devil has temporarily become the "god of this age."  A basic presupposition of St. Paul's thought is that althought the  world was created by God and as such  is good, yet now there rules  in  it the  power  of  Satan. The  devil,  however, is  by no  means absolute, since God has never abandoned His creation.

Thus, according to St.  Paul, creation as it is is not what God intended it to be--"For the creature  was made subject to vanity...by reason of him who hath  subjected  the  same."  Therefore,  evil  can  exist,  at  least temporarily, as a parasitic  element alongside and inside of that which God created originally  good. A  good example of  this is one who  would do the Good according  to the "inner man," but finds  it impossible because of the indwelling power  of sin in the flesh.  Although created good and still maintained and  governed by God, creation as it is  is still far from being normal or  natural, if  by "normal" we  understand nature according  to the original and final destiny of creation. governing this age, in spite of the fact that God Himself is still sustaining creation and creating for Himself a remnant, is the devil himself.

To  try  to read  into  St.  Paul's thought  any  type of  philosophy of  a naturally  well balanced  universe with  inherent and  fixed moral  laws of reason, according to which men can live with peace of mind and be happy, is to do  violence to the apostle's faith. For St. Paul,  there is now no such thing as a natural world with an inherent system of moral laws, because all of creation  has been subjected to the vanity and  evil power of Satan, who is ruling  by the powers of  death and corruption.  For this reason all men  have become  sinners. There  is no  such thing  as a man  who is sinless simply because he is living according to the rules of reason or the Mosaic  law.  The  possibility of  living according to  universal reason entails, also, the possibility of being without sin. But for Paul this is a myth, because  Satan is  no respecter of  reasonable rules of  good conduct and has under  his influence all men born under the power of death and corruption.

Whether  or not  belief  in the  present, real  and  active power  of Satan appeals to  the Biblical  theologian, he cannot ignore  the importance that St. Paul  attributes to the power  of the devil. To  do so is to completely misunderstand  the problem  of  original sin  and its  transmission  and so misinterpret the  mind of  the New Testament  writers and the  faith of the whole ancient Church. In regard to the power of Satan to introduce sin into the  life of every  man, St.  Augustine in combating  Pelagianism obviously misread St.  Paul. by relegating the power  of Satan, death, and corruption to the background and  pushing to the foreground of controversy the problem of  personal  guilt in  the  transmission  of original  sin, St.  Augustine introduced a  false moralistic  philosophical approach which  is foreign to the thinking  of St. Paul and which was  not accepted by the patristic tradition of the East.

For St.  Paul, Satan is not simply a negative power  in the universe. He is personal with will, with thoughts, and with methods of deception, against whom Christians must wage and intense battle because they can still  be tempted by him. He is active in  a dynamic manner, fighting for  the destruction of creation  and not simply waiting passively in a restricted corner  to accept those who happen to rationally decide not to follow  God and the moral laws inherent in  a natural universe. Satan is even capable of transforming himself into an angel of light. He has at his disposal  miraculous powers  of perversion and has  as co-workers whole armies of invisible powers. He is the "god of this age," the one who deceived the  first woman. It is he who led man and all of creation into the path of death and corruption.

The power of death  and corruption, according to Paul, is not negative, but on the contrary, positively  active. "The sting of death is sin," which in turn reigns in  death. Not only man, but all creation has been yoked under its  tyrannizing power and  is now awaiting redemption. Creation itself shall  also be delivered  from the slavery of  corruption. Along with the  final destruction of all the enemies  of God, death--the last and probably  the greatest  enemy--will be  destroyed.  Then death  will be swallowed  up in  victory. For  St. Paul,  the destruction of  death is parallel to the destruction of the devil and his forces. Salvation from the one is salvation from the other.

It  is  obvious from  St.  Paul's expressions  concerning fallen  creation, Satan, and  death, that  there is no room  in his thinking for  any type of metaphysical dualism, of departmentalization which would make of this world and intermediary  domain which for  man is merely a  stepping stone leading either into the presence of God or into the kingdom of Satan. The idea of a three  story universe,  whereby God  and His  company of saints  and angels occupy  the top floor,  the devil the  basement, and  man in the  flesh the middle,  has no  room in Pauline  theology. For  Paul, all three  orders of existence  interpenetrate. There  is  no such  thing as  a middle  world of neutrality where  man can live according to natural  law and then be judged for a life of  happiness in the presence of God or for a life of torment in the pits of outer  darkness. On the contrary, all of creation is the domain of God,  Who Himself cannot be  tainted with evil. But  in His domain there are other  wills which He has created, which  can choose either the kingdom of God or the kingdom of death and destruction.

In  spite of the  fact that creation  is of  God and essentially  good, the devil at the same  time has parasitically transformed this same creation of God into a temporary kingdom for himself.  The devil, death, and sin are reigning in this world and not in another. Both the kingdom of darkness and kingdom  of light are  battling hand to  hand in  the same place.  For this reason, the  only true victory possible over  the devil is the resurrection of the  dead.  There is no escape from  the battlefield. The only choice possible for every man  is either to fight the devil by actively sharing in the victory of Christ,  or to accept the deceptions of the devil by wanting to   believe  that   all   goes  well   and  everything   is   normal.

II. The Justice of God and Law

It  is obvious,  according to  what has  been said  about St.  Paul's views concerning the non-dualistic nature of fallen creation, that for Paul there cannot  exist any  system of moral  laws inherent  in a natural  and normal universe. Therefore,  what man  accepts as just  and good according  to his observations  of human  relationships within  society and nature  cannot be confused  with the  justice of God.  The justice  of God has  been revealed uniquely and  fully only in Christ.  No man  has the right to substitute his own conception of justice for that of God.

The  justice of  God as revealed  in Christ  does not operate  according to objective  rules  of conduct,  but  rather according  to the  personal relationships of  faith and love.  "The law is not  made for a just man, but  for   the  lawless   and  disobedient,  for   the  ungodly  and   for sinners..."  Yet  the  law is  not  evil,  but  good  and even spiritual.  However, it  is  not  enough. It  is  of  a temporary  and pedagogical nature, and  in Christ must be fulfilled and surpassed by personalistic love, according  to the image of God's love as revealed in Christ.  Faith and  love in Christ  must be personal.  for this reason, faith  without love is  empty. "Though I  have all  faith, so that  I could remove mountains,  and have not love, I am  nothing."  Likewise, acts of faith bereft  of love  are of no avail.  "Though I bestow all  my goods and though I  give my  body to be  burned, and have  not love,  it profiteth me nothing."

There is no life  in the following of objective rules. If there were such a possibility of receiving life by living according to law, there would be no need  of redemption  in  Christ. "Righteousness  should  have been  by the law."  If a "law was given capable of  giving life" then salvation, and not  a promise, was bestowed upon Abraham.  But life does not exist in  the   law.  It  is  rather   of  essence  of  God,   "Who  alone  hath immortality."  Only God  can  bestow  life and  this  He does  freely, according to his own  will, in His own way, and at  the time of His own choosing.

On  the other  hand,  it is  a grave  mistake  to make  the justice  of God responsible  for  death and  corruption.  Nowhere does  Paul attribute  the beginnings  of death  and corruption  to God.  On the contrary,  nature was subjected to  vanity and corruption by  the devil, who  through the sin and death  of the first  man managed to lodge  himself parasitically within creation, of  which he was already a part but at  first not yet its tyrant. For  Paul,  the transgression  of  the first  man  opened the  way for  the entrance of death into  the world, but this enemy is certainly not the finished product of God. Neither can the death of Adam, or even of each man, be  considered the outcome of  any decision of God  to punish.  St. Paul never suggests such an idea.

To get at the  basic presuppositions of Biblical thinking, one must abandon any juridical scheme of  human justice which demands punishment and rewards according  to  objective rules  of  morality.  To approach  the problem  of original  sin in  such a  naive manner as  to say  that tout  lecteur sense concilura qu'une  penalite commune  implique une offense commune , and that thus all  share in the guilt  of Adam, is to  ignore the true nature of the justice of God and deny and real power to the devil.

The  relationships  which  exist  among God,  man  and  the  devil are  not according to rules and regulations, but according to personalistic freedom. The fact that there  are laws forbidding one from killing his neighbor does not  imply the  impossibility  of killing  not  only one,  but hundreds  of thousands of neighbors. If  man can disregard rules and regulations of good conduct, certainly the devil  cannot be expected to follow such rules if he can help  it. St. Paul's version of the devil is  certainly not that of one who is simply obeying  general rules of nature and carrying out the will of God by  punishing souls in hell. Quite on the  contrary, he is fighting God dynamically by  means of all possible deception,  trying by all his cunning and  power to  destroy the  works of  God.  Thus salvation for  man and creation  cannot come  by  a simple  act  of forgiveness  of any  juridical imputation of  sin, nor can it  come by any payment  of satisfaction to the devil (Origen) or to God (Rome). Salvation can come only by the destruction of the devil and his power.

Thus,  according  to  St.  Paul,  it  is  God  Himself  Who  has  destroyed "principalities and powers" by nailing the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, to the cross of Christ. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing to them their offences." although we were in  sin, God  did not hold this  against us, but has  declared His own justice  to those  who believe  in Christ. The  justice of God  is not according to  that of men, which operates by the law  of works.  For St. Paul, the  justice of God and  the love of God are  not to be separated for the sake of any juridical doctrine of atonement. The justice of God and the love of  God as revealed in  Christ are the same  thing. In Romans 3:21-26, for  example,  the  expression,   "love  of  God,"  could  very  easily  be substituted for the "justice of God."

It is  interesting to note that every time St.  Paul speaks about the wrath of  God it  is  always that  which is  revealed  to those  who  have become hopelessly enslaved, by their own choosing, to the flesh and the devil.  Although creation is held  captive in corruption, those without the law are without excuse  in worshipping  and living falsely,  because "the invisible things  of Him  from  the creation  of the  world  are clearly  seen, being understood  by  the things  that  are  made, even  His  eternal  power and Godhead --"Wherefore God also  gave them up to  uncleanness through the desires  of  their  own   hearts  to  dishonor  their  own  bodies  between themselves..."  and again, "God gave them  over to reprobate mind." This does not mean that god caused them to become what they are, but rather that He  gave them up as being completely lost  to corruption and the power of  the devil.  One  must also  interpret  other similar  passages in  like manner.

This giving  up by God of people who have  already become hardened in their hearts against  His works is  not restricted to the  gentiles, but extends, also, to Jews.  "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers  of the  law shall be justified."  And, "For as  many as have sinned in  the law shall be judged by the  law."  The gentiles, however, even though  they are  not under the  Mosaic law, are not  excused from the responsibility of  personal sin, for they,  "having not the law,  are a law unto  themselves, who  shew the work  of the  law written in  their hearts, their conscience  also bearing witness, and  amongst themselves accusing or else excusing  their thoughts."  At the  last judgment, all men, whether under the law or  not, whether hearers of Christ or not, shall be judged by Christ according  to the Gospel as preached by  Paul, and not according to  any system  of natural laws.  Even though  the invisible things  of God "from the  creation of the world are clearly  seen, being understood by the things that  are made, even His eternal power  and Godhead," there is still no such thing as moral law inherent in the universe. The gentiles who "have not the law" but who "do by nature the things contained in the law" are not abiding by  any natural system of  moral laws in the  universe. They rather "shew the  work of the law  written in their hearts,  their conscience also bearing  witness."  Here, again,  one  sees Paul's  conception of  personal relationships between God and  man. "God hath shewed it unto them, and it is  God Who is still speaking to fallen man  outside of the law, through the  conscience and in  the heart, which  for Paul  is the center  of man's thoughts, and  for members of the body of Christ the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and Christ.

III. The Destiny of Man and Anthropology

Before  making  any  attempt  to  determine  the meaning  of  original  sin according to  what has been said  thus far, it is  necessary to examine St. Paul's   conception  of   the   destiny  of   man  and   his  anthropology.

(a) The Destiny of Man

It would  be nonsense to try  to read into Paul's  theology a conception of human destiny  which accepts the aspirations and  desires of what one would call "natural man" as normal. It is normal for natural man to seek security and  happiness in the  acquisition and  possession of objective  goods. The scholastic  theologians of the  West have  often used these  aspirations of natural man  as proof that he is  instinctively seeking after the Absolute, the possession  of which is the only  possible state of complete happiness, that is,  a state wherein it is impossible  to desire anything more because nothing better  exists. This  hedonistic type of approach  to human destiny is,  of course,  possible only  for those  who accept death  and corruption either  as normal  or, at  most, as  the outcome  of a  decision of  God to punish. If  those who  accept God as  the ultimate source of  death were to really attribute  sin to the powers of corruption,  they would in effect be making God Himself the source of sin and evil.

For St.  Paul, there is no  such thing as normality  for those who have not put  on Christ.  The destiny of  man and  creation cannot be  deducted from observations of the life of fallen man and creation. Nowhere does Paul call on Christians  to live  a life of  security and happiness  according to the ways of this world.  On the contrary, he calls on Christians to die to this world and the body  of sin, and even to suffer in the Gospel, according to the power of God. Paul claims that "all who want to live godly lives in Christ  Jesus shall be persecuted."  This is hardly  the language of one  who is  seeking  security and  happiness.  Nor  is it  possible to suppose that  for Paul such sufferings without  love could be considered as the means  to reach  one's destiny. This  would fall under  the category of payment for works and  not eh personal relationships of faith and love.

St. Paul  does not believe  that human destiny consists  simply in becoming conformed to  the rules and regulations  of nature, which supposedly remain unchanged from  the beginning of time. The  relationship of the Divine Will to human wills is  not one of juridical or hedonistic submission of the one to the other (as St. Augustine and the scholastics thought), but rather one of personal love. St.  Paul claims that "we are co-workers of God."  Our relationship of love with God is such that in Christ there is now no longer need for  law. "If ye be  led by the Spirit ye are  not under the law."  The members of the body of Christ are not called on to live on the level of impersonal ordinances,  but are now expected to  live according to the love of God as revealed  in Christ, which needs no laws because it seeks not its own, but strives to empty itself for others in the image of the love of Christ.

The love and  justice of God have been revealed once and  for all in Christ by  the destruction of the devil and  the deliverance of man from the body of death  and sin, so that man may actually become an imitator of God Himself, Who has predestined His elect to become "conformed to the image of His  Son," who did nothing to please Himself but suffered for others.  Christ  died so that the living should no longer live unto themselves, but should become perfect men,  even "unto the measure of the stature  of the  fulness of Christ."  Christians are  no longer to live according  to the  rudiments of this  world, as though  living in this world, but are to have the same mind as Christ, so that in Christ they  may  become perfect.  Men are  no  longer to  love their  wives according to the world,  but must love their wives exactly "as Christ loved the  Church and  gave  Himself for  it."  The  destiny of  man  is not happiness and self-satisfaction, but rather perfection in Christ. Man must  become  perfect, as  God and  Christ are  perfect.  Such perfection  can come  only through  the personalistic  power of  divine and selfless love, "which is the  bond of perfection."  This love is not to be confused with the love of fallen man who seeks his own.  Love in  Christ   does  not  seek  its   own,  but  that  of   the  other.

To become perfect according to the image of Christ is not restricted to the realm of love, but forms and inseparable part of the salvation of the total man  and creation  alike.  Man's body  of humility  will be  transformed to become "conformed"  to Christ's  "body of glory." man is  destined to become, like  Christ, perfect  according to the  body also. "He  Who raised Christ from  the dead  shall bring to  life also your mortal  bodies by His Spirit which dwells in you."

St. Paul claims that death is the enemy which came into the world and passed unto all men through the sin of one man.  Not only many, but all of creation  became subject to corruption.  The subjugation of man and creation  to the  power of the  devil and  death was obviously  a temporary frustration of  the original  destiny of man  and creation. It  is false to read into Paul's statements  about the first and second Adams the idea that Adam  would have  died even though  he had  not sinned, simply  because the first Adam  was made eis psychen zosan --which expression, according to St. Paul's usage within the context, clearly means mortal.  Adam could very well have  been created  not naturally immortal,  but if he  had not sinned there is  no reason  to believe that  he would not have  become immortal by nature.  This is certainly implied by the extraordinary powers St. Paul attributes to death and corruption.

(b) Anthropology of St. Paul

As  we  have  said,  for  St.  Paul,  the  law  is  good and  even spiritual.  According to the "inner man" this  is obvious.  But in spite of the fact  that he can possess the will to do good according to the law he cannot find the power to do the good because he is "carnal and sold under sin."  If he himself, according to the "inner man," wants to do good  but cannot,  it is no  longer he who  does the evil,  but sin that dwelleth  in him.  So  he asks, "O  wretched man  that I am!  who will deliver  me from the  body of this  death?"  To be delivered  from the "body of this  death" is to be saved from the power  of sin dwelling in the flesh. Thus,  "the law of the spirit of life  in Christ Jesus has liberated me from the law of sin and death."

It is  misleading to try to interpret this section of Paul according to a  dualistic anthropology,  which would make  the term,  sarkikos, refer only  to the  lower  appetites of  the body--and  especially of  the sexual desires--to the  exclusion of the soul. The word, sarkikos , is not used by Paul in  such a  context. Elsewhere, St.  Paul reminds married  people that they have not authority over their own bodies and so should not deprive one another, "unless it be  with consent for a time that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and come together again that Satan may not tempt you for your  incontinency.  To the  Corinthians he declare that they are an  epistle written  not with ink,  "but with the spirit  of the living God, not  in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables  of the heart--en plaxi kardias sarkinais."  Christ was known according to the flesh and "God was  manifested in the flesh."  St. Paul asks  whether, if he has planted spiritual things amongst  the Corinthians, it is such a great thing if he  shall reap  the sarkika.  Nowhere does he use  the adjective, sarkikos , exclusively  in  reference to  the sexual,  or what  is commonly called  the  desires  of  the flesh  in  contrast  to  those  of the  soul.

It seems  that St. Paul attributes  a positive power of sin to  the sarx as such only in the epistle to the Galatians, who, having begun int he Spirit, now think  that they are being  perfected in the flesh.  The sarx here has a will  which desires against the pneuma.  "The works of the flesh are  manifest,  which a  re  these;  adultery, fornication,  uncleanliness, lasciviousness, idolatry,  witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like."  Most of these works of the  sarkos would require the very active, and even initiative,  participation of the intellect, which here is an indication that the sarx, for Paul, is much more than what any dualistic anthropology  would be  ready to admit.  The flesh  as such, however,  as a positive force  of sin,  found over-emphasized in Galatians,  where Paul is infuriated  over the foolishness  of his  readers, cannot  be isolated from other  references, where sin  parasitically dwells in the  flesh and where the flesh itself is not only not evil, but that in which God Himself has  been manifested.  The  flesh as such is  not evil, but has become very  much weakened by sin  and the enmity which  dwells in it.

To understand St. Paul's  anthropology, it is necessary to refer not to the dualistic  anthropology of  the Greek,s  who made  a clear  cut distinction between soul  and body, but rather  to the Hebraic frame  of references, in which sarx  and psyche (flesh and soul) both denote the whole living person and not  any part of him.  Thus, in the  Old Testament the expression, pasa sarx  (all flesh), is employed for all living  things, as well as for man  in particular.  The expression,  pasa psyche  (all souls), is used in the same  manner.  In the New Testament, both expressions, pasa sarx and  pasa psyche, are used  in perfect accord with the Old Testament context.

Thus we find that,  for St. Paul, to be sarkikos and psychikos means  exactly the  same thing.  "Flesh and  blood (sarx kai  haima) cannot inherit  the  kingdom  of  God" because  corruption  cannot  inherit incorruption.  For  this  reason,  a   soma  psychikon  is  "sown  in corruption"  and raised  in  incorruption; it  is sown  in dishonor,  it is raised in  glory; it is sown  in weakness, it is raised  in power."  "A soma psychikon is  sown, and a soma pneumatikon is raised.  There is a soma psychikon and there is  a soma pneumatikon!"  Both the sarkikon and the psychikon and  dominated by death and corruption  and so cannot inherit the kingdom  of  life.  This  only  the   pneumatikon  can do.  "However,  the pneumatikon is not first, but the psychikon, and afterward the pneumatikon. The first  man is  from the earth;  earthy; the second man,  the Lord, from heaven."  That the  first man became eis psychen zosan (a living soul), for Paul, means exactly  that he became psychikon, and therefore subject to corruption, because "from  the earth, earthy..."  Such expressions do  not admit  of any dualistic  anthropology. A  soma psychikon  "from the earth, earthy,"  or a psyche  zosa "from the earth,  earthy," would lead to impossible confusion  if interpreted from the  viewpoint of a dualism which distinguishes  between the  body and  soul, the  lower and the  higher, the material  and the  purely spiritual. What,  then, would  a psyche  zosa be, which came  from the earth and  is earthy? In speaking  of death, a dualist could  never say  that a  soma  psychikon is  sown in corruption.  He would rather have  to say that the  soul leaves the body,  which alone is sown in corruption.

Neither the psyche nor the pneuma is the intellectual part of man. To quote I  Corinthians 2:11  (tis  gar oiden  anthropon ta  tou anthropou ei  me to pneuma tou  anthropou to en auto?)  or I Thessalonians 5:23  (Autos o Theos tea eirenes  hagiasai hymas holoteleis, kai  holokleron hymon to pneuma kai he psyche kai to  soma amemptos en te parousia toy K.H.I.X. teretheie) does not prove  otherwise. One  cannot take these expressions  in isolation from the rest  of Paul's writings for  the sake of trying  to make him speak the language of  even a Thomistic dualist, as is done,  for example, by F. Prat in  La Theologie de s.Paul, t.2, pp.  62-63. Elsewhere, in speaking against the practise  of certain individuals' praying  publicly in unknown tongues, St. Paul says, "If I pray in an unknown tongue my pnuema prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the pneuma and I will pray with  the mind also."  Here a  sharp distinction  is made between  the pneuma and  the nous (mind).  Therefore, for St. Paul,  the realm of pneuma does  not belong  within  the category  of  human understanding.  It is  of another dimension.

In  order  to express  the  idea  of intellect  or  understanding all  four evangelists use  the word, kardia  (heart).  The word,  nous (mind), is used only  once by St. Luke.  In contrast, St. Paul  makes use of both kardia and nous to denote the faculty  of intelligence. Nous, however, cannot  be taken for any such  thing as the intellectual faculties of an immaterial soul. Nous is rather synonymous with kardia, which in turn is synonymous with the eso anthropon.

The Holy  Spirit is  sent by God  into the  kardia, or into  the eso anthropon, that Christ may dwell in the kardia.  The kardia and the  eso anthropon are the dwelling place of  the Holy Spirit. Man delights in the law of  God according to the eso anthropon, but there is another law in his members which wars against he law of the nous.  Here the nous is clearly synonymous with the eso anthropon, which in turn is the kardia, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and Christ.

To  walk in  the  vanity of  the  nous,  with the  dianoia  darkened, being alienated  from the  life  of God  through ignorance,  is  a result  of the "hardening  of the heart-- dia ten perosin  test kardias."  It  is the heart which is the seat of man's free will, and it is here where man by his own  choice  either  becomes  blinded and  hardened, or  else enlightened  in  his  understanding  of  the  hope,  glory, and  power  in Christ.  It is in the heart where the secrets of men are kept, and it is  Christ "Who both will  bring to light the  hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart."

It  would be absurd  to interpret St.  Paul's use  of the expressions,  eso anthropon and  nous, according to a  dualistic anthropology by ignoring his use of the word,  kardia, which is in perfect accord with the New Testament and Old Testament  writers. By using such words as nous  and eso anthropon, Paul  is  certainly introducing  new  terminology,  foreign to  traditional Hebraic usage,  but he  is definitely not introducing  any new anthropology based on  Hellenistic dualism.  St. Paul never  refers to either  psyche or pneuma as faculties of  human intelligence. His anthropology is Hebraic and not Hellenistic.

In both the Old and New Testaments, one finds the expression, to pneuma tes zoes  (the  spirit  of  life),  but  never  to   pneuma  zon  (the  living spirit).  Also, one  finds psyche  zosa (the  living soul), but  never psyche tes zoes (the  soul of life).  This is due to  the fact that the psyche,  or sarx,  lives only by participation, while  the pneuma is itself the principle of life given to man as a gift from God, "Who alone hath immortality."  God  gives  man  of  His Own  uncreated  life  without destroying  the  freedom  of   human  personality.  Thus,  man  is  not  an intellectual  form  fashioned  according  to  a  predetermined  essence  or universal idea  of man whose destiny  is to become conformed  to a state of mechanical  contentment in  the  presence of  God whereby  his  will become sterile and immobile in a state of complete self-satisfaction and happiness (e.g.,  according to  the Neo-platonic  teaching of  St. Augustine  and the Roman scholastics in general  concerning human destiny). The personality of man does  not consist of an immaterial intellectual  soul which has life of itself and uses the  body simply as a dwelling place. The  sarx, or psyche, is the  total man, and the  kardia is the  center of intelligence where the will has complete independence of choice to become either hardened to truth or receptive to divine enlightenment from without. The pneuma of man is not the center  of human  personality, nor is  it that faculty  which rules the actions of men,  but rather it is the spark of divine  life given to man as his principle of life.  Thus, man can live according to the pneuma tes zoes or according  to the law of  the flesh, which is  death and corruption. The very  personality  of  man, therefore,  although  created  by God  Himself, remains outside of the essence of God,a nd therefore completely free either to reject the act of creation, for which he was not consulted, or to accept the creative  love of God by  living according to the  pneuma, given to him for this purpose by God.

"The mind  of the flesh  is death, but the  mind of the spirit  is life and peace."  Those who live according  to the flesh shall  die.  Those who  mortify the  deeds of  the flesh  by the  spirit shall live.  The spirit of man, however, deprived of union with the vivifying spirit of God, is  hopelessly weak  against the  flesh dominated  by death and  corruption--"Who  shall deliver me from the body of  this death."  And, "the law of the pneumatos tes zoes (spirit of life) in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law  of sin and death."  Only those whose spirit has been renewed by union with the Spirit of God can fight the desires of the flesh. Only those who are given the Spirit of God and hear Its voice in  the life  of the  body of Christ  are able  to fight against  sin. "The Spirit itself  beareth witness with our spirit that  we are the children of God."

Although the spirit of man is the principle of life given to him by God, it can still  partake of the filthiness of fleshly  works. For this reason, it is necessary for Christians to guard against the corruption not only of the flesh, but  of the  spirit, also.  The union of man's  spirit with the Spirit of God in baptism is no magical guarantee against the possibility of their separation.  To become again enslaved  tot he works of  the flesh may very well lead to exclusion from the body of Christ.  The Spirit of God is given  to man that  Christ may dwell in  the heart.  "Now  if any an have not the  Spirit of Christ he is none of His."  To have the Spirit of God dwelling in the body is to be, also, a member of the body of Christ. To be deprived of the one is to be cut off from the other. It is impossible to be in communion with only part of God. Communion with Christ through the Spirit is  communion with the whole Godhead.  Exclusion from the One Person is exclusion from all Three Persons.

"The works  of the  flesh are manifest..."  "The mind of  the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So  then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  Such people are enslaved to the power of death and corruption in the flesh. They must be saved from  the "Body of this death."  On the other hand, those who have  been buried with Christ through baptism have  died to the body of sin and are living unto Christ.  They are no longer living according to the desires of flesh,  but of the spirit. "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy,   peace,   longsuffering,  gentleness,   goodness,  faith,   meekness, temperance--against such  there is no law. And  they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."

It is  clear that, for St. Paul, the union of  man's spirit with the Spirit of God in the life of love within the body of Christ is life and salvation. On the other hand, to live according tot he desires of the flesh, dominated by the  powers of death and  corruption, means death--"For the  mind of the flesh is death."  St. Paul is dealing throughout his epistles with the categories of  life and  death. God is  life. The devil holds  the reins of death and  corruption. Unity  with God in  the Spirit, through  the body of Christ in  the life of love,  is life and brings  salvation and perfection. Separation of  man's spirit from the  divine life in the  body of Christ is slavery to the powers  of death and corruption used by the devil to destroy the  works of  God. The  life of  the spirit  is unity  and love.  The life according to the flesh is disunity and dissolution in death and corruption.

It  is absolutely  necessary to  grasp the  essential spirit of  St. Paul's usage  of the  words,  sarx,  psyche , and  pneuma,  in order to  avoid the widespread  confusion  that dominates  the  field of  inquiry into  Pauline theology. St. Paul is  never speaking in terms of immaterial rational souls in  contrast  to material  bodies.   Sarx and   psyche  are synonymous  and comprise, together with the pneuma, the total man. To live according to the pneuma is  not to live  a life according to  the lower half of  man. On the contrary, to live according to the sarx, or psyche, is to live according to the law  of death. To live according to the spirit  is to live according to the law of life and love.

Those who  are sarkikoi cannot live according  to their original destiny of selfless love for God and neighbor, because they are dominated by the power of death  and corruption. "the sting of death is  sin."  Sin reigned in death.  Death is the last  enemy to be destroyed.  So long as man lives according  tot he  law of death, in  the flesh, he cannot  please God because he does  not live according to the law of life and love. "The mind of the flesh is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither  can it be."  In order to live  according to his original destiny, man  must be  liberated from "the  body of this  death."  This liberation from  the power of death  and corruption has come  from God, Who sent His own Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh" to deliver man "from the law of  sin and death."  But, although the power  of death and sin has thus been destroyed by  the death and resurrection of Christ, participation in this  victory can come only  through dying to this  world with Christ in the  waters of  baptism.  It  is only  by  dying in  baptism  and then continuously dying to the  rudiments and ways of the world that the members of   the  body   of  Christ   can  become   perfect  as  God   is  perfect.

The importance  that St. Paul attributes to dying  to the rudiments of this world  in  order to  live  according  to the  "spirit  of  life" cannot  be exaggerated. To try to  pass off his insistence on complete self-denial for salvation as a product  of eschatological enthusiasts is to miss completely the  very basis  of the New  Testament message.  If the destruction  of the devil, death  and corruption is  salvation and the only  condition for life according to  man's original  destiny, then the  means of passing  from the realm of death and its consequences to the realm of life, in the victory of Christ over  death, must  be taken very  seriously. For Paul,  the way from death to life is communion with the death and life of Christ in baptism and a continuous life of  live within the body of Christ. This new life of love within the  body of  Christ, however, must  be accompanied by  a continuous death to the ways of this world, which is dominated by the law of death and corruption in  the hands  of the devil.  Participation in the  victory over death  does  not come  simply  by  having a  magical  faith  and a  general sentiment of vague love  for humanity (Luther). Full membership int he body of Christ can come  only by dying in the waters of baptism with Christ, and living  according to  the  law of  the  "spirit of  life." Catechumens  and penitents certainly  had faith, but they either  had not yet passed through death, in baptism, to  the new life, or else, once having died to the flesh in baptism, they failed  to remain steadfast and allowed the power of death and  corruption  to  regain  its  dominance  over  the  "spirit  of  life."

In  regard  to  St.  Paul's  teaching  concerning baptismal  death  to  the rudiments of  this world, it is interesting to note his  usage of the word, soma , to  designate the communion  of those  in Christ who  constitute the Church. The  word,  soma, in  both the Old  and New  Testaments, apart from Paul, is used predominantly  to designate a dead person, or corpse.  At the Last Supper, our Lord used the word, soma, most likely to designate the fact that He was  to pass through death, while his use of  the word, haima, was to  show his returning to life--since, for  the Old Testament, blood is the element  of life.  Thus, at the Last  Supper as at every Eucharist, there is  a proclamation  and confession of  the death and  resurrection of Christ. According  to the presuppositions set  forth by St. Paul concerning baptismal death, it is  very possible to describe the Church as the soma of Christ no  only because of the indwelling of Christ  and the Holy Spirit in the bodies  of Christian, but also  because all the members  of Christ have died to  the body  of sin in the  waters of baptism. Before  sharing in the life of Christ, on must first become an actual soma by being liberated from the devil  in passing through a death to the ways  of this world and living according to the "spirit."

Synthetic Observations

St. Paul does not say anywhere that the whole human race has been accounted guilty  of the sin  of Adam and  is therefore  punished by God  with death. Death  is an  evil force  which made  its way  into the world  through sin, lodged itself  in the world, and, in the person  of Satan, is reigning both in  man and  creation.  For this  reason, although  man  can know  the good through the  law written in his  heart and may wish to  do what is good, he cannot because of the  sin which is dwelling in his flesh. Therefore, it is not he  who does  the evil, but sin  that dwelleth in him.  Because of this sin, he cannot  find the means to do good. He must  be saved from "the body of this death."  Only then can he do good. What  can Paul mean by such statements? A proper answer is to be found only when St. Paul's doctrine of human destiny is taken into account.

If  man was  created  for a  life of  complete  selfless love,  whereby his actions  would always  be directed  outward, toward  God and  neighbor, and never toward himself--whereby he would be the perfect image and likeness of God--then it is obvious that the power of death and corruption has now made it impossible to live  such a life of perfection. The power of death in the universe  has brought  with it  the will  for self-preservation,  fear, and anxiety, which in  turn are the root causes of self-assertion, egoism, hatred, envy  and the like. Because man  is afraid of becoming meaningless, he is  constantly endeavoring to prove,  to himself and others,  that he is worth something. He thirsts  after compliments and is afraid of insults. He seeks his own and is jealous of the successes of others. He likes those who like  him, and  hates  those who  hate him.  He  either seeks  security and happiness  in wealth,  glory and  bodily pleasures,  or imagines  that this destiny  is to  be happy  in the possession  of the  presence of God  by an introverted  and individualistic  and inclined  to mistake his  desires for self-satisfaction and happiness for  his normal destiny. On the other hand, he  can  become  zealous  over vague  ideological  principles  of love  for humanity and  yet hate  his closest neighbors.  These are the  works of the flesh of which St.  Paul speaks.  Underlying every movement of what the world  has come  to regard  as normal  man, is  the quest for  security and happiness.  But such desires are  not normal. They  are the consequences of perversion by death and  corruption, though which the devil pervades all of creation, dividing and destroying.  This power is so great that even if man wishes to  live according to his original  destiny it is impossible because of the sin which  is dwelling in the flesh--"Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"

To share in the love of God, without any concern for one's self, is also to share in the life and truth of God. Love, life and truth in God are one and can be  found only in God.  The turning away of  love from God and neighbor toward the  self is breaking of  communion with the life  and truth of God, which cannot  be separated  from His love.  The breaking of  this communion with  God can  be consummated  only in  death, because nothing  created can continue indefinitely  to exist of itself.  Thus, by the transgression of the first man,  the principle of "sin (the devil) entered into the world and through  sin death, and so death passed upon  all men..."  Not only humanity, but all of  creation has become subjected to death and corruption by the  devil.  Because man  is inseparably a part  of, and in constant communion  with, creation and  is linked  through procreation to  the whole historical  process  of  humanity,  the fall  of  creation  through on  man automatically involves  the fall and  corruption of all men.  It is through death and  corruption that all of humanity and  creation is held captive to the devil and involved  in sin, because it is by death that man falls short of his original destiny, which was to love God and neighbor without concern for  the self.  Man  does not  die because  he  is guilty  for  the sin  of Adam.  He becomes  a sinner because  he is yoked  to the  power of the devil through death and its consequences.

St.  Paul clearly says  that "the sting  of death  is sin,"  that "sin reigned in  death,"  and that death  is "the last enemy  that shall be destroyed."  In  his epistles,  he is  especially inspired when  he is speaking about the victory of Christ over death and corruption. It would be highly   illogical  to   try   to  interpret   Pauline  thought   with  the presuppositions (1)  that death  is normal or  (2) that at most,  it is the outcome of  a juridical decision of God to punish  the whole human race for one sin,  (3) that happiness is  the ultimate destiny of  man, and (4) that the soul  is immaterial, naturally immortal and  directly created by God at conception   and  is   therefore   normal  and   pure  of   defects  (Roman scholasticism).  The Pauline  doctrine of  man's inability  to do  the good which he  is capable of acknowledging  according to the "inner  man" can be understood only if one takes seriously the power of death and corruption in the  flesh, which  makes it  impossible for  man to  live according  to his original destiny.

The moralistic problem raised  by St. Augustine concerning the transmission of  death to  the descendants of  Adam as  punishment for the  one original transgression is  foreign to Paul's thoughts. The  death of each man cannot be considered the outcome  of personal guilt. St. Paul is not thinking as a philosophical moralist  looking for the  cause of the fall  of humanity and creation in the breaking of objective rules of good behavior, which demands punishment from a God  whose justice is in the image of the justice of this world. Paul  is clearly  thinking of the  fall in terms  of a personalistic warfare between God and  Satan, in which Satan is not obliged to follow any sort of moral rules  if he can help it. It is for this reason that St. Paul can  say  that the  serpent  "deceived Eve"  and that  "Adam was  not deceived, but the woman  being deceived was in the transgression."  Man was not punished by God, but taken captive by the devil.

this  interpretation  is  further  made clear  by  the  fact  that Paul  is insisting that "until the  law sin was int he world, but sin is not imputed when there is no  law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over   them  that   had  not   sinned  after   the  similitude   of  Adam's transgression."  It is  clear that Paul here is denying anything like a general personal guilt for the sin of Adam. Sin was, however, in the world, since death  reigned even over them who had not  sinned as Adam sinned. Sin here is  obviously the person of  Satan, who ruled the  world through death even before the coming of the law. This is the only possible interpretation of  this statement,  because it  is clearly  supported elsewhere  by Paul's teachings concerning  the extraordinary powers of  the devil, especially in Romans 8:19-21.  St. Paul's statements should  be taken very literally when he says  that the last enemy  to be destroyed is death and that "the sting of death is sin."

From  what  has  been  observed,  the  famous  expression,  eph'ho  pantes hemarton, can be safely interpreted as modifying  the word, thanatos, which preceeds it, and  which grammatically is the only word which fits the context.  Eph'ho as a reference to Adam is both grammatically and exegetically impossible. Such  an interpretation  was first  introduced by Origen, who  obviously used it with a purpose  in mind, because he believed in  the pre-existence  of all souls  whereby he  could easily say  that all sinned  in  Adam. The  interpretation  of  eph'ho  as  "because" was  first introduced into  the East  by Photius, who claims that  there are two interpretations prevalent--Adam and  thanatos--but  he would interpret  it dioti  (because). He  bases his  argument on a false interpretation  of II Corinthians 5:4 by  interpreting eph'ho, here again, as  dioti. But here it is quite  clear that  eph'ho refers  to skensi  (eph'ho  skenei ou thelomen ekdysasthai). Photius is  interpreting Paul within the framework of natural moral law and is seeking to justify the death of all men by personal guilt. He claims that all men die because they sin  by following in the footsteps of Adam.  However, neither he nor any of the  Eastern Fathers accepts the  teaching that all men are made guilty for the sin of Adam.

From purely grammatical considerations it is impossible to interpret eph'ho as a  reference to any word other than thanatos . Each time the grammatical construction of the preposition  epi with the dative is used by Paul, it is always used as a  relative pronoun which modifies a preceding noun or phrase.  To make an exception in Romans 5:12 by making St. Paul use the wrong Greek expression to express the idea, "because," is to beg the issue. The  correct  interpretation  of   this  passage,  both  grammatically  and exegetically,  can be  supplied only when  eph'ho  is understood to  modify thanatos --kai  houtos eis  pantas anthropous  ho thanatos  dielthen eph'ho (thanato) pantes hemarton--"because  of which" (death), or "on the basis of which"  (death),  or "for  which  (death)  all have  sinned." Satan,  being himself the principle of  sin, through death and corruption involves all of humanity  and creation in  sin and death.  Thus, to  be under the  power of death according to Paul is to be a slave to the devil and a sinner, because of the inability of the flesh to live according to the law of God, which is selfless love.

The theory  of the transmission of original sin  and guilt is certainly not found in  St. Paul, who can  be interpreted neither in  terms of juridicism nor in  terms of any  dualism which distinguishes between  the material and the  allegedly pure,  spiritual, and  intellectual parts  of man. It  is no wonder that  some Biblical scholars are at a loss  when they cannot find in the  Old testament  any  clear-cut support  for what  they  take to  be the Pauline  doctrine   of  original   sin  in  terms   of  moral  guilt   and punishment.  The  same perplexity  is met  by many  moralistic Western scholars  when  they  study the  Eastern  Fathers.  Consequently,  St. Augustine  is popularly  supposed to  be the  first and  only of  the early Fathers who  understood the theology of  St. Paul. This is  clearly a myth, from which both Protestants and Romans need liberation.

It is  only when one understands the meaning  of death and its consequences that one can understand  the life of the ancient Church, and especially its attitude toward martyrdom. Being  already dead to the world in baptism, and having  their life  hidden with  Christ in  God, Christians  could not falter  in the face  of death. They  were already  dead, and yet  living in Christ.  To be  afraid of  death was  to be  still under  the power  of the devil--II  Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us  the spirit of fear, but of power, and of  love, and of sound mind." In trying to convince the Roman Christians not to hinder  his martyrdom, St. Ignatius wrote: "The prince of this world would fain carry me away, and corrupt my disposition toward God. Let none  of you therefore, who are in Rome,  help him."  The Cyprianic controversy  over  the  fallen during  times  of  persecution was  violent, because the Church understood that it was a contradiction to die in baptism and then  to deny Christ for  fear of death and  torture. The canons of the Church,  although today generally  ignored as  an aid to  understanding the inner faith  of the ancient Church, still remain  very severe for those who would reject  their faith for fear of death.  Such an attitude towards death  is not  the  product of  eschatological frenzy  and  enthusiasm, but rather  of a  clear  recognition of  who the  devil is,  what his  thoughts are, what his  powers  over humanity  and  creation are,  how he  is destroyed  through baptism  and the  mystagogical life  within the  body of Christ, which is the  Church. Oscar Cullman is seriously mistaken in trying to make  the New Testament writers say that Satan  and the evil demons have been  deprived  of  their   power,  and  that  now   leur  puissance  n'est qu'apparente.  The greatest  power of  the devil  is death,  which is destroyed  only  within  the   body  of  Christ,  where  the  faithful  are continuously engaged in the struggle against Satan by striving for selfless love.  This combat  against  the devil  and striving  for selfless  love is centered  in the  corporate Eucharistic  life of the  local community--"For when you assemble frequently  epi to auto (in the same place) the powers of Satan are  destroyed and the destruction  at which he aims  is prevented by the unity  of your  faith."  Anyone,  therefore, who does  not hear the Spirit within him calling  him tothe Eucharistic assembly for the corporate life  of selfless  love  is obviously  under the  sway  of the  devil. "He, therefore,  who  does  not  assemble with  the  Church,  has  even by  this manifested his  pride and  condemned himself..."  The  world outside of the corporate life of  love, in the sacraments, is still under the power of the consequences of death  and therefore a slave to the devil. The devil is already defeated  only because his  power has been destroyed  by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ; and this defeat is perpetuated only in the  remnant of those saved  before Christ and after  Christ. Both those saved before Christ and  after Him are saved by His death and resurrection, and  make  up the  New  Jerusalem.  Against this  Church  the devil  cannot prevail, and by this  fact he is already defeated. But his power outside of those who are saved  remains the same.  Satan is still "the god of this world," and it  is for this reason that Christians must live as if not living in this world.

Concluding Remarks

The modern Biblical scholar cannot claim to be objective if his examination of  Biblical theology  is one-sided,  or governed by  certain philosophical prejudices.  The modern school  of Biblical  criticism is clearly  making a false attempt  to get at the essential form  of the original kyregma, while remaining quite  ignorant and blind to the very essence  of the Old and New Testament analysis of the fallen state of humanity and creation, especially in regard  to its teachings concerning the natures  of God and Satan. Thus, one sees the anti-liberal tendencies of modern Protestantism, accepting the method of Biblical criticism and at the same time trying to salvage what it takes to be the  essential message of the Gospel writers. yet, in all their pseudo-scientific method  of research, writers of  this school fail to come to  any  definite  conclusions  because  they  stubbornly  refuse  to  take seriously the  Biblical doctrine  of Satan, death and  corruption. For this reason, such  a question  as whether or  not the body of  Christ was really resurrected is not regarded as important--e.g., Emil Brunner, The Mediator. What is important is the faith that Christ is the unique Savior in history, even though very possibly not resurrected in history. How he saves and what he saves men from is presumably a secondary question.

It  is clear that  for St. Paul  the bodily  resurrection of Christ  is the destruction of the devil, death, and corruption. Christ is the first fruits from  the  dead.  If  there  is  no  resurrection  there can  be  no salvation.  Since  death is  a consequence  of the  discontinuation of communion with the life and love of God, and thereby a captivity of man and creation by the devil,  then only a real resurrection can destroy the power of the  devil. It is inaccurate and shallow thinking to  try to pass off as Biblical the  idea that  the question of  a real bodily  resurrection is of secondary importance. At the center of Biblical and patristic thought there is  clearly  a Christology  of  real  union, which  is  conditioned by  the Biblical doctrine of Satan,  death and corruption, and human destiny. Satan is governing  through death, materially and  physically. His defeat must be also material  and physical. Restoration  of communion must be  not only in the  realm of mental  attitude, but,  more important, through  creation, of which  man is  an inseparable  part. Without  a clear understanding  of the Biblical doctrine  of Satan and  his power, it is  impossible to understand the  sacramental life  of  the body  of  Christ, and,  by consequence,  the doctrine  of  the  Fathers concerning  Christology  and  Trinity becomes  a meaningless diversion of scholastic specialists. Both Roman scholastics and Protestants  are  undeniably  heretical in  their  doctrines  of grace  and ecclesiology simply  because they do not  see any longer that  salvation is only the union of man with the life of God in the body of Christ, where the devil  is being  ontologically and  really destroyed  in the life  of love. Outside of the life  of unity with each other and Christ in the sacramental life of  corporate love there is  no salvation, because the  devil is still ruling  the  world  through  the  consequences  of  death  and  corruption. Extra-sacramental organizations, such as the papacy, cannot be fostered off as the essence of Christianity because they are clearly under the influence of worldly  considerations and  do not have  as their sole aim  the life of selfless  love. In  Western  Christianity, the  dogmas of  the  Church have become the  object of  logical gymnastics in the  classrooms of philosophy. What is usually taken  as natural human reason is set up as the exponent of revealed theology. The teachings of the Church concerning the Holy Trinity, Christology,  and Grace,  are  no longer  the accepted  expressions  of the continuous and existential experience  of the body of Christ, living within the very  life of the Holy  Trinity through the human  nature of Christ, in whose  flesh the  devil  has been  destroyed  and against  whose body  (the Church) the gates of death (hades) cannot prevail.

It  is the  mission of  Orthodox theology  today to  bring an  awakening to Western Christianity, but in  order to do this the Orthodox themselves must rediscover their own traditions  and cease, once and for all, accepting the corroding  infiltration  of  Western  theological confusion  into  Orthodox theology. It  is only by  returning to the Biblical  understanding of Satan and human  destiny that the sacraments of the  Church can once again become the source  and strength of Orthodox  theology. The enemy of  life and love can  be destroyed  only when  Christians can  confidently say, "we  are not ignorant  of his  thoughts."  Any  theology which  cannot  define with exactitude the  methods and  deceptions of the devil  is clearly heretical, because such  a theology is already  deceived by the devil.  It is for this reason that the Fathers  could assert that heresy is the work of the devil.

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