Bible Discussion Thread

1 Corinthians 15:36 Thou fool,...

So, have apostle Paul sinned by saying this, and is in danger of hellfire?

I don't believe that the Apostle Paul did wrong. The word that he used is 'aphron' in Greek, which means 'foolish, without reason, understanding or inconsiderate'. His use of the word denotes that the person did not understand the fact that as a seed is sown in the ground is in a 'dead, lifeless state', but when it germinates, it brings forth a plant peculiar to that seed. So too, at the resurrection of the dead: it is buried in a corrupt decaying state but raised in a new God-appointed state.

Then in Matthew 5:22, Jesus says, "That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Here the word for 'fool' is 'moros' in Greek, from which we get the word 'moron', stupid, a fool. A person who says this to another (obviously said in anger & hatred), is likened to a murderer, who may not have murdered physically but done so in his heart. This person stands judged for it just as if he murdered physically. So you can see how Jesus brought the people, especially His disciples, the fuller, God intended meaning of the Law. The Law said, "Thou shalt not kill", but Israel failed to understand that that command could be broken by an act of the mind & probably the mouth.