out difficult and painful issues. Gnostic denial of Christ’s physical life and extraordinarily gruesome death has always found willing adherents, but a consumerist culture is especially susceptible, because many have the leisure, the economic resources, and the inclination to experiment with ever newer and more exotic sensations, including “spiritual” ones. Over against this type of religion, the Christian gospel places the cross. Paul’s Corinthian correspondence is especially notable in its insistence