[T]he [proposed]
allusion in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 [to] slave purchase, and that the Greek
background in which the passage is normally set . . . refers not to slave
purchase but to bride purchase. The reference to the temple is not in a Greek context
but in an Hebraic one, but interestingly the temple is coupled throughout the
New Testament with a bride figure (John 2; 1 Corinthians 6:15-20; Ephesians 2:19-20;
cf. 5:25-33; Revelation 19:8). (Tom Holland, Contours of Pauline Theology: A
Radical New Survey of the Influences on Paul’s Biblical Writings [Ross-shire,
Scotland: Mentor, 2010], 119)
[In favour of] a
corporate setting for [1 Cor 6:19-20 is that of] verse 19: ‘do you not know
that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?’ This is normally interpreted as
a reference to the believer’s body being the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
But that interpretation overlooks the fact that sōma (body) is singular,
whereas humon (your) is plural. It is their corporate body, themselves
as a church, and not their individual bodies, that Paul is referring to as the
temple of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the traditional individualistic
interpretation is contrary to all other usages of the concept of the living temple
by New Testament writers. Elsewhere, this concept is always applied to the
Church (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3), never
to the individual. The only occasion that is used of the individual is when it
refers to Christ’s own body (Joh n2:19). All of this is supported by the use
Paul makes of the definite article coupled with the singular for temple. Their ‘body’
is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, in support of
a corporate setting, we can also note that in his closing statement, ‘you were
bought with a price’ (v. 20), Paul uses the collective pronoun, not the
singular. This marries with the rest of Paul’s statement regarding
redemption, where the price paid is always for the church and never for the
individual (Acts 20:28; Romans 3:24ff.; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; 5:24;
Colossians 1:13-14; see also Mark 10:45). (Ibid., 127)
