What does Paul mean when he says he thinks he has the Spirit of God?

Explanation:

When we reach 1 Corinthians 7:40 we find the clause δοκῶ δὲ κἀγὼ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἔχειν. This could be translated as, I think that I also have the Spirit of God. If this translation is correct, Paul might be suggesting that although his teaching on unmarried people is not a command (1 Corinthians 7:25), he thinks he has the Spirit, so his teaching is true. Another way to translate the clause is, I also think that I have the Spirt of God.⁴ In this case, it seems that Paul is responding to others who claim to have the Spirit of God. In other words, there are some in Corinth who claim to have the Spirit of God, and they have certain views on Christian marriage. Paul responds with his apostolic instructions on marriage. To indicate that, he counters particular teachers in Corinth, he adds that, while they claim to have the Spirit of God, Paul also has the Spirit of God.

The second option is the more likely translation, and we can deduce this from κἀγώ (and I). κἀγώ is a combination of ἐγώ and καί and should be taken emphatically.⁵ In other words, if they think they have the Spirit, Paul is emphatic that he too has the Spirit.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it rests on how one takes κἀγώ (and I), but the term can be taken in multiple ways. It could be taken to mean I also, as in, I as well as others, as the above argument would have it.⁶ It can also mean something like I in particular.⁷ If this is right, then Paul would be saying, I think that I in particular have the Spirit of God. If κἀγώ is taken in the first sense, it supports the above interpretation, but if it is taken in the second sense it does not. The problem is that the above argument provides no basis to adjudicate between these two possibilities. One cannot say that κἀγώ should be taken in the first sense without an argument for why this is so. As it stands, either translation remains viable.

Response to counterargument:

The argument here is not that κἀγώ (and I) shows definitively that Paul means to say that if some in Corinth claim to have the Spirit, so does he. Still, κἀγώ lends to such an interpretation. Of course, if we consider the context, we might point out that it seems strange for Paul to suddenly point out that he in particular has the Spirit. There is nothing in the previous verses that would anticipate or support such a statement. On the other hand, we know from 1 Corinthians 7:1 that Paul responds to a letter from the Corinthians. He also seems to quote from their letter when he says, It is good for a man not to touch a woman. These clues lend to the notion that there are some in Corinth who claim to have the Spirit (maybe they did have the Spirit) who are giving instruction about marriage. Paul offers his apostolic instruction and points out that he too has the Spirit.

Explanation:

We know from Scripture that God promises his Spirit to his children. For example, in Ephesians 1:17, Paul prays that God would give the Ephesians the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Also, in Romans 8:16 we read that the Spirit of God bears witness to the children of God. Of course, we know that God promises his Spirit to his children, and that Paul is one of God’s children, who addresses God’s children. Thus, likely Paul is saying that, just as they have the general illumination of the Holy Spirit, so does he.⁸

Counterargument:

While it is true that God promises his Spirit to his children in general, he also offered it specially to the writers of Scripture. We know this because we read in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is breathed out by God. Since Paul here is busy writing Scripture, he indicates that what he says was inspired by the Holy Spirit in a special way. Thus, Paul likely has special inspiration, not general illumination in mind.⁹

Response to counterargument:

This might be a valid counterargument except for the fact that we know Paul addresses particular circumstances in his letter to the Corinthians. Paul knows there is no monopoly on the Holy Spirit, and will soon address particular concerns related to the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1 – 14:40).¹⁰ Given that Paul is responding to certain views held by the Corinthians, that God’s Spirit goes to all his children, and that Paul will soon address concerns over the distribution of the Holy Spirit, it’s most likely that he has general illumination and not special inspiration in mind. And if he has in mind general illumination, κἀγώ (and I) lends to the notion that Paul is saying that while the Corinthians might have the Spirit of God, Paul does too.

Possible weaknesses:

It’s hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. One possible problem is that Paul never states that he says he has the Spirit of God in response to others who have made the same claim. Thus, we are forced to infer this from the context. Still, it’s reasonable to think that there were people in Corinthians who claimed authority because they had the Spirit of God, and Paul responds by pointing out that he does too.

Explanation:

Early Judaism associated the Spirit with prophetic empowerment. Here Paul associates his own writing with such empowerment when he says that he has the Spirit of God. Paul has given his opinion on unmarried people (1 Corinthians 7:25), and in case anyone doubts his authority on the matter, he makes a strong claim to inspiration by the Spirit.¹¹

Counterargument:

There are several problems with this view. First, no evidence is offered for the notion that early Judaism associated the Spirit with prophetic empowerment. Thus, we cannot decide what is meant by early Judaism. Is early Judaism when the Israelites were slaves in Eygpt, or when they entered the Promised Land, or when they were exiled to Babylon, or when Paul was a Pharisee? Further, is the argument that because Paul was Jewish, he thought he was inspired by the Spirit?

Second, this argument overlooks κἀγώ (and I). This term is used to indicate that Paul also has the Spirit. It does not make sense for Paul to say that he also had the Spirit of inspiration, unless he thinks that the Corinthians had the Spirit of inspiration. But of course, if he thinks they had the Spirit of inspiration, he would likely concede rather than amend their instructions on marriage.

Third, we can see that Paul likely has general illumination in mind, because he raises the point of general illumination again in 1 Corinthians 14:37. There Paul says that if anyone thinks he is spiritual he should acknowledge that Paul’s writing is a command from the Lord. Thus, he has in mind that those who are generally illuminated by the Spirit can understand Paul’s instruction. That Paul refers to people who think they are spiritual suggests that there were some in Corinth who claimed to have the Spirit. This explains why Paul would say that he also has the Spirit of God.

Possible weaknesses:

The possible weakness of this view is that it seems strange for Paul to state that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit while he wrote. As an apostle Paul’s instructions carried authority, so he did not have to point out that he had the Spirit to solidify that authority.