Dec 30, 2019

1 Corinthians as Triage or Surgery

Jack Levison's discussion of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians is interesting. At the beginning of the article he states,
Flush with references to pneuma and pneumatikos—spirit and spiritual—1 Corinthians seems like a
manifesto of the Holy Spirit. Actually, it is not. The letter is triage, pure and simple. It does not reflect the skilled hand of the surgeon. In this letter, Paul stanches the bleeding of misguided believers ("The Holy Spirit in 1 Cornthians," in Interpretation 72 [2018]: 29).
I am not sure one has choose between triage or surgery. I am inclined to believe it might be a little of both. Although it is obviously fictional, Paul might be like "Hawkeye" Pierce of television's MASH who often operated within triage circumstances and yet saved lives because he was a skilled surgeon.

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