Religious ‘Slogans’ in 1 Corinthians: Wit, Wisdom, and the Quest for Status in a Roman Colony
First Corinthians contains a number of well-known maxims, commonly called ‘slogans’ in the commentary tradition, but which Paul’s contemporaries would have called sententiae (Gk. γνῶμαι). A handful of these appear to have been coined by rival teachers at Corinth. Others have obviously been composed...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2021
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2021, Volume: 72, Issue: 1, Pages: 125-154 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Corinthians 1.
/ Catchword (Parole)
/ Religion
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| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | First Corinthians contains a number of well-known maxims, commonly called ‘slogans’ in the commentary tradition, but which Paul’s contemporaries would have called sententiae (Gk. γνῶμαι). A handful of these appear to have been coined by rival teachers at Corinth. Others have obviously been composed by Paul himself, often in direct response to his competitors. Commentators have long studied these ‘slogans’, especially those attributable to Paul’s rivals, for information about the Corinthian assembly. But why sententiae in the first place? And why at Corinth and not, say, at Paul’s earlier foundation at Thessalonica? The answer to these neglected questions lies in the essential role sententiae came to play in the elite rhetoric of Paul’s day, rhetoric Paul first confronted at Corinth. Paul would always lack the education to match the easy eloquence of his cultural betters. But he could with effort imitate their genus dicendi or way of speaking in his written correspondence, which he first attempts in 1 Corinthians. The mixed result is neatly summarized in 2 Corinthians 10:10: ‘His letters, they say, are weighty and strong; nevertheless, his physical presentation is weak and his speech contemptible’. Readers of Paul’s Corinthian letters do well to consider his cultural precarity. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flab040 |