1 Cor. 15:38-41 Genesis creation account or science?

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Stephen Hughes
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1 Cor. 15:38-41 Genesis creation account or science?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Is the apostle's classification system here taken from the creation account or from other scientific taxonomical system used at that time? 1 Corinthians 15:22 makes reference to Genesis theologically with "ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσιν". But the taxonomy of Paul doesn't really completely match with the creation account.

If it is from Moses, then there might be an implied "and if we think back to the creation of the world itself" between verses 40 and 41 (on the assumption that ἐπουράνια in verse 40 refers to physical rather than metaphysical bodies). Even if there is some degree of parallelism, it is only a loose correlation at best. Are there passages in scientific literature with a better correlation?

Here are the Biblical passages:
1 Corinthians 15:36-41 wrote:36 Ἄφρον, σὺ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ ζῳοποιεῖται ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ· 37 καὶ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ τὸ σῶμα τὸ γενησόμενον σπείρεις, ἀλλὰ γυμνὸν κόκκον, εἰ τύχοι, σίτου ἤ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν· 38 ὁ δὲ θεὸς αὐτῷ δίδωσιν σῶμα καθὼς ἠθέλησεν, καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν σπερμάτων τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα. 39 Οὐ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἡ αὐτὴ σάρξ· ἀλλὰ ἄλλη μὲν ἀνθρώπων, ἄλλη δὲ σὰρξ κτηνῶν, ἄλλη δὲ ἰχθύων, ἄλλη δὲ πτηνῶν. 40 Καὶ σώματα ἐπουράνια, καὶ σώματα ἐπίγεια· ἀλλ’ ἑτέρα μὲν ἡ τῶν ἐπουρανίων δόξα, ἑτέρα δὲ ἡ τῶν ἐπιγείων. 41 Ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων· ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ.
Genesis 1:20-31 wrote:20 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν καὶ πετεινὰ πετόμενα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατὰ τὸ στερέωμα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως 21 καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ κήτη τὰ μεγάλα καὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ζῴων ἑρπετῶν ἃ ἐξήγαγεν τὰ ὕδατα κατὰ γένη αὐτῶν καὶ πᾶν πετεινὸν πτερωτὸν κατὰ γένος καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλά 22 καὶ ηὐλόγησεν αὐτὰ ὁ θεὸς λέγων αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὰ ὕδατα ἐν ταῖς θαλάσσαις καὶ τὰ πετεινὰ πληθυνέσθωσαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς 23 καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα πέμπτη 24 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν κατὰ γένος τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως 25 καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος καὶ τὰ κτήνη κατὰ γένος καὶ πάντα τὰ ἑρπετὰ τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος αὐτῶν καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλά 26 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς 27 καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς 28 καὶ ηὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς λέγων αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν καὶ κατακυριεύσατε αὐτῆς καὶ ἄρχετε τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς 29 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν πᾶν χόρτον σπόριμον σπεῖρον σπέρμα ὅ ἐστιν ἐπάνω πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶν ξύλον ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ καρπὸν σπέρματος σπορίμου ὑμῖν ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν 30 καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ παντὶ ἑρπετῷ τῷ ἕρποντι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ψυχὴν ζωῆς πάντα χόρτον χλωρὸν εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως 31 καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν καὶ ἰδοὺ καλὰ λίαν καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα ἕκτη
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
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Re: 1 Cor. 15:38-41 Genesis creation account or science?

Post by cwconrad »

Stephen Hughes wrote:Is the apostle's classification system here taken from the creation account or from other scientific taxonomical system used at that time? 1 Corinthians 15:22 makes reference to Genesis theologically with "ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσιν". But the taxonomy of Paul doesn't really completely match with the creation account.]
When you speak of a "scientific taxonomical system used at that time", I think you're thinking more in terms of German Wissenschaft than of what English-speakers mean by science. This discussion may very well exceed the boundaries of forum guidelines and enter into the whole realm of "higher criticism", but I think we must be aware that readers of any text written in an earlier age and in a different social context interpret that text in the light of the reader's contemporary context. Thus we talk about Qumran texts and their methodologies of interpretation of scripture and we talk of Alexandrian scholarship and its interpretations of Homeric epics, and we take this sort of awareness into our reading of Paul's interpretation of OT texts such as these. Particularly instructive, I think, for comparison with Paul's methodology of scriptural interpretation is study of the treatises of Philo on the many segments of the Torah from the perspective of a Hellenistic Judaism under heavy influence of Platonism. I would guess that the better commentaries on the Corinthian letters should deal with questions such as these, but I haven't read enough in them to know for sure whether they do.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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