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In I Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul writes:

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (ESV)

It occurred to me today that Paul might be contrasting the faith of Christians (in whom God lives) with the Jerusalem Temple (where God was thought to live) and its rituals in these verses. I checked a few commentaries and while a couple mentioned the Temple, most did not.

So my question is, how likely is it that Paul was referencing The Temple, as opposed generic/Gentile temples, here?

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  • Related: What is the temple that Paul refers to in 2 Thessalonians 2:4?
    – ThaddeusB
    Oct 1, 2015 at 2:48
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    More of Paul using temple imagery of people: 1 Cor. 6:19, 2 Cor 6:16, Eph. 2:19-22.
    – Susan
    Oct 1, 2015 at 11:33
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    Honestly as worded it's a little puzzling to me what you see as the alternatives here, but maybe that's for answerers to sort out anyway…
    – Caleb
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:44
  • @Caleb I am wondering if Paul is referring implicitly to the Jerusalem Temple, which was the heart of first century Judaism, and thus saying the Temple cult (for lack of better phrasing) is invalid. Or he is just comparing Christianity to more more generic idea of places of worship (i.e. primarily pagan temples).
    – ThaddeusB
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:59
  • The Greek pronoun for "you" is plural in both these verses. So I'm not sure what other interpretation we can take from "You all are God's temple" and "you all are that temple". Paul was certainly aware of Jesus own use of temple that we read in Mark and Matthew when he speaks of destroying this temple and rebuilding it in three days. His body was truly the temple he was referring to. The temple being referenced isn't a building at all, it is the tabernacling of the holy spirit which Paul is reminding them now abides in them.
    – Joshua
    Nov 27, 2015 at 17:57

3 Answers 3

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It's unlikely Paul is saying the Temple in Jerusalem is replaced with human beings:

  • Paul doesn't use "true Temple" terminology, as if to say the Temple of God in Jerusalem is no longer God's house. There's no textual requirement to read his words this way.
  • Paul took part in the Temple service (Acts 21) and sought to be in Jerusalem during the Biblical festivals (Acts 20:16) which centered around Temple service. If Paul was saying the Temple in Jerusalem was no longer God's house, it betrays his actions recorded in Acts. (Indeed, the actions of the disciples also who are found to be taking part in the Temple services after Messiah's resurrection.)

A better and more harmonious interpretation is one in which Paul is likening redeemed human beings to the Temple in Jerusalem: a house of God, set apart for divine purposes, clean and righteous, inhabited by the divine presence.

Reading this passage as an analogy, rather than a contrast/replacement, is more harmonious and, in my opinion, a more authentic interpretation.

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    Welcome to the Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange and thanks for answering. I hope to see more of your work in the future.
    – ThaddeusB
    Dec 1, 2015 at 0:01
  • Meeting at the 2nd temple for worshiping Jesus is not the same thing as relying on Old Testament sacrifices. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Tearing of the veil was symbolic of the Old Testament sacrifices ending.
    – Maximus1987
    Sep 30, 2022 at 18:03
  • Maximus, that's a separate question. The question is whether Paul is arguing that Christians are the true temple, replacing the Temple in Jerusalem. My answer to that question is no: Paul and the disciples kept attending the Temple in Jerusalem, even after Jesus' death and resurrection. Additionally, Jesus said that the Temple in Jerusalem is "my Father's house", to be a "house of prayer for many nations." Jesus was "consumed by zeal for God's house" (John 2), such that he threw money changers out of it. That all points to the Temple's ongoing relevance, not its obsolescence.
    – Judah Himango
    Nov 9, 2022 at 17:46
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Paul was a Pharisee before he was converted. He does use a lot of Hebrew traditions throughout his work to make his points more clear. God lived in the Temple of Solomon as in the Tabernacle in the Old Testament. With the coming of the Holy Spirit God lived in peoples Spirits.

He was referencing The Temple in clear contrast with the old believe.

Damaging The Temple is most probably not bodily harm but would refer to Spiritual harm. As it is your spirit that would worship God.

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  • Welcome to Stack Exchange and thanks for offering an answer to my question. When you have a chance, be sure to check out the site tour and read up on how this site is a little different than other sites around the web. This is not a comment on the quality of your answer, but rather a standard welcome message.
    – ThaddeusB
    Oct 28, 2015 at 14:36
  • This is a good start to an answer - that Paul was a Pharisee is a reasonable argument in favor of a Jewish Temple understanding. Your answer could be strengthened by adding analysis showing the the context in I Corinthians also supports this interpretation and/or showing this is what Paul has in mind when he describes people as "temples" in other letters.
    – ThaddeusB
    Oct 28, 2015 at 14:39
  • I did felt at a moment that I could be wrong as Paul was writing to Corinthians and they were not Jews or at least most of them. But the message is still the same and the person reading it would interpreted it as to were you come from Spiritually. But in Paul's heart it would be The Temple in Jerusalem as that is where he came from Spiritually.
    – Jan Malan
    Oct 30, 2015 at 15:07
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Paul has more likely referencing the Jerusalem Temple.

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

Psalm 11:4 (ESV)

Identifying the temple of God as the believer portrays the relationship of God with his people via universal priesthood (cf. Hebrews 4:16; 1 Peter 2:9)

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 2:16-17 (ESV)

Paul may have been making a connection with what Jesus said in GJohn. The substance of the matter is that the Jerusalem Temple typifies the believers in whom God's Spirit dwells.Approaching God has never been like this -- so close and so unlimited.

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:21-24 (ESV)

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