Der Philipperbrief des Paulus. Eve-Marie Becker

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СКАЧАТЬ in his sexual ethics, Paul wishes to implement cultic purity. It seems as though Paul combines various traditions of ethical teaching, which are partly derived from Jewish instruction and partly analogous to Stoic ethics: When Paul wants the Thessalonians to “abstain” (ἀπέχεσθαι) in a general sense from “immorality” (πορνεία), he also uses a “technical term” – ἀπέχεσθαι – which “aimed at distinguishing Christian from pagan morality.”CiceroTusc3,7CiceroTusc3,23f.CiceroTusc4,115 It is thus common for current scholarship on Pauline ethics to emphasize how, in his teaching about sexuality, Paul combines Hellenistic moral philosophy and Jewish parenesispar(a)enesisParänese.Betz, Hans Dieter6 Will Deming has worked extensively on this topic, especially in regard to 1 Cor 7071 Kor07.7

      Such a description of Pauline sexual ethics might be adequate. However, this description focuses on either the collective or communal or the religious aspects of Paul’s moral arguments. Thus, as much as scholars tend to neglect Paul’s concept of “anxiety” and “care,” they also tend to overlook the individual implications of Pauline ethics. In 1 Cor 7071 Kor07 in particular, Paul does not restrict himself to a collective moral exhortation; rather, he presupposes and enforces a human selfSelbst, self, selfhood-understanding according to which ethical discourse can be developed individually. He does so by taking himself as a paradigm and pointing to his own human “anxiety”: consequently, μέριμναμέριμνα, μεριμνάω occurs as an anthropological viz. ethical criterion of individual decision-makingDecision-making.

      3.2. Sexuality and anxiety: individual decision-makingDecision-making in 1 Cor 7071 Kor07

      In 1 Cor 7071 Kor07:32071 Kor07,32, Paul states: “I want you to be free from anxieties (ἀμέριμνος).” This seems to be close to Paul’s admonition in Phil 4 (s. above). Again, Paul is concerned with the analysis of human existence because, in 1 Cor 7, the context is also full of various temporal, that is eschatological, motifs. Paul says, “the appointed time has grown very short (ὁ καιρὸς συνεσταλμένος).” However, in this frame of correctly perceiving time, Paul does not only admonish his community; rather, he makes his engagement with individual anxiety into the final criterion of sexual ethics.

      How does Paul achieve this? The general discourse about sexual ethics is raised by the Corinthians themselves, who write to Paul and ask him about various subjects (1 Cor 7071 Kor07:1071 Kor07,1; περὶ δέ) which all concern the legitimacy of sexual practice among Christ believers. One central question is whether those who are unmarried should marry. If the Corinthians simply take Paul as an individual paradigm here, they will remain single and live unmarried. And, indeed, Paul recommends his unmarried lifestyle to the Corinthians (v. 8).

      At the same time, Paul is well aware of the moral challenges of remaining unmarried. He argues that, if the Corinthians “cannot exercise selfSelbst, self, selfhood-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion (πυροῦσθαι)” (v. 9). Paul is clearly aware of erotic affects,Gefühl(e)1 and he is realistic enough to consider these affects when responding to the Corinthian questions (cf. v. 36). Since he cannot refer to the Lord’s authority here (v. 10), everything Paul says about the status of being “unmarried” is based upon his individual view: “I have no command (ἐπιταγή) of the Lord, but I give my opinion (γνώμη) as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy” (v. 25). At this point, Paul actually reveals the principles of individual decision-makingDecision-making.

      In light of eschatological hope, Paul would like the Corinthians to adopt an adequate type of Christ-believing “anxiety.” For this reason, he does not intend to “lay any restraint (βρόχος) upon” the Corinthians (v. 35). He therefore identifies various options for handling “anxiety” by, of course, sympathizing with how “anxiety” appears among those who are unmarried.2 “The unmarried man is anxious (μεριμνᾷ) about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious (μεριμνᾷ) about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious (μεριμνᾷ) about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious (μεριμνᾷ) about worldly affairs, how to please her husband” (v. 32b-34). Paul concludes that getting married “is no sin” (v. 36), but refraining from marriage is a better choice (v. 38).

      Paul’s recommendation to remain single is remarkable, especially when seen in the light of Hellenistic-Roman politics and culture: Augustan marriage legislation was designed to increase the birthrate in the early Roman Empire,SuetonAug34Rom3 and Aristotelian politics is rooted in the theory that marriage is the prototype of communitarian life in the polis (pol 1:2Aristotelespol1,2).4 Most evidently, in 1 Cor 7071 Kor07, Paul elaborates on eschatological “anxiety” as an individual tool of decision-makingDecision-making.Zeller, Dieter5 In Paul’s argument, μέριμναμέριμνα, μεριμνάω is a basic pattern of anthropology and ethics. While Paul generally engages in communal affairs, such as the οἰκοδομή (“manner of building”)6 of the Corinthian community, in 1 Cor 7, he is primarily concerned with each person’s existential “anxiety”; in this way, he reflects on the female and the male person equally. Reflections about “anxiety” and “care” help to develop the experience of the human Self. It is precisely in this that the Corinthians can ultimately follow Paul’s personal example. It is the individual paradigm of decision-makingDecision-making rather than Paul’s personal lifestyle or his case for celibacy (Dieter ZellerZeller, Dieter)Zeller, Dieter7 or practices of “temporary abstinence”8 that the Corinthians should follow.

      4. Paul’s explosure of the human selfSelbst, self, selfhood

      In contrast to modern anthropology and ethics, Paul’s treatment of “anxiety” and “care” is not systematic. And although – as E. A. JudgeJudge, E. A. claims – social “behaviour and training people in it was a major interest Paul shared with the popular philosophers,”Judge, E. A.1 Paul does not develop a consistent training program or a comprehensive anthropological or ethical concept. However, by reflecting on human “anxiety” and “care,” i.e. μέριμναμέριμνα, μεριμνάω, Paul not only takes the conditio humana seriously, he also develops ethical discourse in the direction of individual decision-makingDecision-making. As a communal body, the ecclesia finally consists of the moral integrity of individuals. Since the community as such should imitate Paul, the apostle proposes existential “anxiety” and “care” as individual tools to face temporality and prove oneself in an ethical sense.

      By shaping the pattern of individual “anxiety” and “care,” Paul thus surpasses the purpose of communal ethics: he finally explores the human Self. In doing so, Paul even prepares for some modern thoughts of individual ethics. “AnxietySorge” and “care” appear to be individual habits of Pauline anthropology and ethics. In the end, they connect Paul with modern philosophy, or perhaps more accurately, they connect modern philosophy with Paul. For this reason, I will conclude by suggesting that we apply to Pauline exegesis what Harold BloomBloom, Harold once said about the field of literary theory: He favors “a Shakespearean reading of Freud … over a Freudian reading of Shakespeare.”Bloom, HaroldSorge2 The same could be said about Paul and modern philosophers. Since Paul anticipates central ideas of individual anthropology and ethics, I dare to say that I favor a Pauline reading of philosophy over a philosophical reading of Paul.

      Bibliography

      S. BartschBartsch, Shadi, The Mirror of the Self: Sexuality, Self-Knowledge, and the Gaze in the Early Roman Empire (Chicago etc.: University of Chicago Press, 2006).

      G. Bertram, “Φρήν κτλ.,” СКАЧАТЬ