34 Resurrection and Ethics

Resurrection and Ethics

In each of the four previous essays Paul placed his theological teachings in the centre of the essay and positioned the ethical problem under discussion on the outside, around that centre. For example, in the first essay the ethical problem was the Corinthian quarrel over
Paul, Apollos and Cephas. After introducing that ethical problem, Paul discussed the theology of the cross, which was for all, both Jews and Greeks. He then presented a second ethical discussion of Paul, Apollos and Cephas. His pattern was ethics then theology and finally a return to ethics. He followed that pattern in each of the three following essays. But in this last essay, the order is reversed. On the outside there are two theological discussions centred on the resurrection. In the centre, however, he points briefly to a series of concrete ethical issues that are profoundly related to the resurrection. The text of this central ethical discussion is displayed in figure 5.3(1)…

Taken from Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey