Who are the Lowly, Weak and Despised?: A Re-evaluation of 1 Corinthians 1:26–31

Scholarship on 1 Corinthians has almost universally understood 1:26 as a window into the sociological setting of the early church in Corinth. A largely proletariat view of the constituency of the Christian congregation has held sway for centuries on the understanding that Paul highlights to his Cori...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rockwell, Stephen (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: NTWSA 2021
In: Neotestamentica
Year: 2021, Volume: 55, Issue: 1, Pages: 139-153
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Corinthians 1. 1,26-31
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Scholarship on 1 Corinthians has almost universally understood 1:26 as a window into the sociological setting of the early church in Corinth. A largely proletariat view of the constituency of the Christian congregation has held sway for centuries on the understanding that Paul highlights to his Corinthian audience their status—that not many of them were wise, not many of them were influential and that not many of them were of noble birth. This article offers a fresh exegesis of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 to re-evaluate this consensus. Firstly, it will identify some exegetical problems with the traditional understanding. Secondly, it will consider the possibility that Paul's ὅτι construction in 1:26 is being utilised as an interrogative rather than a declarative construction. Thirdly, it will examine Paul's argument from 1:10-4:21, as well as the broader biblical concept of the "despised" in Paul's use of ἄτιμος.
ISSN:2518-4628
Contains:Enthalten in: Neotestamentica
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/neo.2021.0019