ABSTRACT
The apostle Paul was certainly one of the very greatest of those who through the ages have believed in a future life for man. Paul argues in direct opposition to this for the resurrection of the body, although he opposes also the current Jewish conception that flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom of God, and must add the word “spiritual” in order to make the idea of resurrection correspond to his experience of the resurrection of Christ. From the Old Testament Paul may have derived some fundamentals of his faith in the future, in spite of the fact that the Old Testament is almost entirely concerned with the present life. Another important Old Testament point of connection for Paul’s thought is found in the word “spirit.” The spirit of God is the divine breath that gives man life.
