Chapter 5: Paul's Letters to the Greeks and Romans Summary and Analysis

Mack continues the examination of the letters of Paul and how they influenced Christian thought. Chapter 5 looks at Paul's letters to the Corinthians, the Romans, to Philemon and to the Philippians.

The Christian congregation at Corinth had developed some disturbingly Greek ideas about Christianity in Paul's view, and his letter to them was a chastisement to change their ways. The Corinthians took a more spiritual outlook, diminishing the importance of the physical world. This view held that since the physical body was not important, it was acceptable to engage in physical pleasures with no spiritual repercussions. Paul responded with a metaphor of the church as a spiritual body that was connected to the body of Christ. For this reason, the Corinthians were to keep their own bodies...