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 Bodies Still Unrisen, Events Still Unsaid: A Hermeneutic of Bodies without Flesh J O H N D. C A P U T O Only those who are unfamiliar with theology would be surprised to hear that theology is all about bodies, very corporeal bodies, mystical bodies, bodies politic, but also what Saint Paul called the soma pneumatikon (1 Cor 15),1 a certain ‘‘spiritual body,’’ which, if there is such a thing, is my special interest here. Of all these visible but slightly immaterial and insubstantial incarnations one body in particular stands out, the ‘‘risen body’’ in the New Testament, which I treat as a focal body. It is upon just such a body that Christian theology has turned from of old. It marks both its arche—‘‘the first fruits’’—and its eschaton—our ‘‘faith is in vain’’ (1 Cor 15:20, 14), for the whole end of our faith is that we too will be risen. As such, this body is, in one way or another, theology’s bottom line, the final payoff of a certain strong theology, the sum and substance of its faith. I agree with Paul that if there is not some sort of hope in transformation as is figured in this body, then what is the use of our faith (in the event)? Of what can we dream? In what can we hope? (1 Cor 15:14). What would there be still to come? I want to answer that question by way of a hermeneutics of the risen body as figure of what I am calling an event. I make this proposal, then, not as a contribution to the exegesis of the relevant New Testament texts, although I will certainly rely upon historical-critical commentary, but as a way to answer Paul’s question, which was probably, in his mind, a rhetorical one. BODIES WITHOUT FLESH The risen body is a distinct phenomenon that should not be confused with other related phenomena.2 The risen body is not the same as the j o hn d . ca p u to 兩 9 5 immortality of the soul, where immortality is gained by separating the soul from the mortal and corruptible body. The risen body represents a refusal to be separated from the material body. It refuses to abdicate the body and insists on the reinstatement of the body even after death and in such a way as to transcend death. The risen body is not a resuscitated body—Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus are resuscitated, but they do not have risen bodies. Rather, in being brought back to life, they reassume their mortal or corruptible bodies, subject all over again to suffering and to death at a later date. Snatched from death once, their final death is but deferred; exceptionally, they actually have to die twice. The risen body is not a matter of reincarnation, in which an imperishable soul migrates from one corruptible body to another. The risen body is not matter of eternal recurrence, in which one passes through the cycle of birth and death, living this same corruptible life over and over again, being born and dying over and over again. According to Paul, who comes the closest to giving us an account of it, the risen body refers to rising again from the dead in such a way as to put all mortality and corruptibility behind it once and for all. For this transformation to occur one would not even, in principle, have to die— since it was Paul’s expectation and that of the early Church that Jesus would return in their lifetime, and they would then all put on this immortality . I will tell you a mystery—we will all be transformed, but we will not all die (1 Cor 15:51). The body that is risen, reinstated, and resurrected is ‘‘imperishable’’ or incorruptible (1 Cor 15: 35–54), released from suffering and death. One might also speculate that it is blocked from sensual pleasures, since pain and pleasure are seated alike in self-feeling; if it cannot feel pain, it cannot feel at all. It would in fact be a body without flesh—‘‘flesh and blood’’ (sarx kai aima) cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50). That makes for a quite unusual body, which is why it provides an inviting and suggestive occasion for the exploration of the event. The risen body readily rises above bodily limitations. It is able to pass through walls, to...

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