1 Corinthians. B. J. Oropeza

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СКАЧАТЬ Jas. Protoevangelium of James

      Ps.-Phoc. Pseudo-Phocylides

      Pun. Appian, Punic Wars

      Pyth. Pindar, Pythionikai

      QG Philo, Questions and Answers on Genesis

      Quaest. rom. Plutarch, Quaestiones romanae et graecae

      Qidd. Qiddušin

      Rab. Perd. Cicero, Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo

      Rect. rat. aud. Plutarch, De recta ratione audiendi

      Reg. imp. apophth. Plutarch, Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

      Rep. Plato, Republic

      Rhet. Aristotle, Rhetorica

      Rhet. Alex. Anaximenes, Rhetorica ad Alexandrum (Ars rhetorica)

      Rhet. Her. Rhetorica ad Herennium

      Rom. Plutarch, Romulus

      Sacr. Philo, De sacrificus Abelis et Caini

      Sent. Pseudo-Phocylides, Sententiae

      Sib. Or. Sibylline Oracles

      Smyrn. Ignatius, To the Smyrneans

      Somn. Philo, De somniis

      Soph. Isocrates, In sophistas

      Spec. Philo, De specialibus legibus

      Stoic. abs. Plutarch, Stoicos absurdiora poetis dicere

      Suave viv. Plutarch, Non posse suaviter vivi secundum Epicurum

      Subl. Longinus, On the Sublime

      Suppl. Euripides, Supplices

      SVF Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta. Hans Friedrich August von Arnim. 4 vols. Leipzig: Teubne, 1903–1924.

      Symp. Plato, Symposium

      Trall. Ignatius, Trallians

      T. Abr. Testament of Abraham

      T. Benj. Testament of Benjamin

      Tg. Targum

      T. Jac. Testament of Jacob

      T. Job Testament of Job

      T. Levi Testament of Levi

      t. Meg. Tosefta Megillah

      T. Mos. Testament of Moses

      T. Naph. Testament of Naphtali

      T. Reub. Testament of Reuben

      T. Sol. Testament of Solomon

      T. Zeb. Testament of Zebulun

      Theog. Hesiod, Theogony

      Thesm. Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae

      Tranq. Seneca, Tranquillitate animi

      Tu san. Plutarch, De tuenda sanitate praecepta

      Verr. Cicero, In Verrum

      Vg Latin Vulgate

      Virg. Tertullian, De virginibus valandis

      Vir. ill. Jerome, De viris illustribus

      Virt. Philo, De virtutibus

      Vit. Vita/Vitae

      Vit. Beat. Seneca, De vita beata

      Vit. phil. Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum

      Vit. soph. Philostratus, Vitae sophistarum

      Vit. X orat. Plutarch, Vitae decem oratorum

      Introduction

Paul’s transformation from a Pharisee and persecutor of Christ’s followers took place only several years after Christ’s crucifixion.1 Once established in Antioch, he became an apostle to the Gentiles travelling to different cities proclaiming the gospel of Christ. It was during his so-called second missionary journey that he first evangelized Corinth, according to Acts 18:1–20.2 If his stay in Corinth corresponds with Gallio’s proconsulship of the region as portrayed in Acts, he was there somewhere between the years of 50–52 CE.3 A few years later he stayed in Ephesus and there wrote 1 Corinthians (see 1 Cor 15:32; 16:8–9), having already sent them at least one previous letter now lost to us (5:9). The first canonical letter was written about 54 or 55 CE.4 We will address issues surrounding Paul and the Corinthians, and the occasion and purpose for this letter, but first some information about ancient Corinth and its myths is in order.

      Corinth: Its People and Myths

Corinth acquired the reputation of wealth and accessibility. It was situated strategically near the Isthmus of the Peloponnesus and had ports at Cenchreae and Lechaeum along with the diolkos road that enabled ships prior to Paul’s day to pass from the Aegean to Ionian Sea. Among other things, the city was a center for commerce, high-quality bronze, and state-of-the-art ships.5 The Corinthians demonstrated their military power when, together with Athenians and Spartans, they defended Greece against Persia (5th c. BCE). As a prime mover of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), they stirred up alliances which eventually led to Athen’s demise, and in the Corinthian War that followed they allied with other Greek cities against Sparta’s expansions. They fought against Philip II of Macedon at Chaeronea, and later joined the Achaean League, which eventually led to their disaster when opposing Rome. The Roman general, Lucius Mummius, set the city aflame, put to death many of its men, and sold its women and children into slavery (146 BCE).6

Bravery, hardship, and heroism in the Corinthian battles were doubtless retold by its citizens, things that stand in tension with characterizations of Corinth as a place of leisure and sexual license. The Acrocorinth’s alleged thousand sacred prostitutes devoted to Aphrodite, goddess of love (Strabo Geogr. 8.6.20c), at best seems exaggerated since sacred prostitution was not customarily a Greek practice.7 Aphrodite’s legendary origin from the foam of the sea, where the god Chronos had cut off the genitals of his father Ouranus (Hesiod Theog. 188–206), casts her in sensual light. But she also represented beauty, fruitfulness, safe seafaring, and protector of the Corinthians.8 Perhaps in this last role the women of Corinth would climb the Acrocorinth; they begged for “a great and terrifying divine force to inspire their warriors to overwhelm the horrifying destructive power of war.”9 Nevertheless, Corinth did have a licentious reputation. Plutarch СКАЧАТЬ