Soma in Biblical Theology With Emphasis on Pauline Anthropology [Paperback]

Argues that the Greek word soma should be read as the individual physical body rather than man as an indivisible whole.Theologians have argued that the translation of the word soma as 'person' defines man as an indivisible whole and as a complex of relationships rather than an organization of substances. Against the trends of modern biblical theology, Dr Gundry seeks to show that soma always refers to the individual physical body and that it should be defined in substantive categories.Theologians have argued that the translation of the word soma as 'person' defines man as an indivisible whole and as a complex of relationships rather than an organization of substances. Against the trends of modern biblical theology, Dr Gundry seeks to show that soma always refers to the individual physical body and that it should be defined in substantive categories.This addition to the well-known series of theological monographs deals with the use of the Greek work traditionally translated 'body' but recently as 'person', especially in certain parts of the writings of Paul. Theologians have argued that the translation as 'person' defines man as an indivisible whole and as a complex of relationships rather than an organization of substances. Against the trends of modern biblical theology, Dr Gundry seeks to show that soma always refers to the individual physical body and that it should be defined in substantive categories. Consequently, the theological importance of the body as individual physical substance is insured for life in this world and in the next. Neither antagonism between body and spirit nor the possible independence of full personhood from physical existence characterizes biblical anthropology.Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Part I. For and Against a Holistic Definition of Soma: 1. Soma as the whole person: the rise of a definition; 2. Soma in extra-Biblical literature; 3. Soma in the LXX; 4. Soma in the NT outside Pauline literature; 5. The alternation of soma with perlC6