PHIL 206 (STOLZE)
Notes on Paul’s Letters
Two excellent websites:
www.ntgateway.com/
www.thepaulpage.com/
A Fourth Century Fresco from a Roman Catacomb:
The Earliest Surviving Image of Paul of Tarsus?
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vatic
ancityandholysee/5675461/Oldest-image-of-St-Pauldiscovered.html
The Journeys of Paul
(as Described in the Book of Acts)
Key Terms in Paul’s Letters
• Ekklesia = “assembly” or “congregation,” which met in private
dwellings of early Christians and involved a common meal and
singing of hymns of praise to God and Jesus.
• Paraenesis = “moral advice, exhortation”; in which someone is
advised to pursue or abstain from something; its formal
characteristics include phrases like “as you know,” which indicate
that the speaker does not instruct as much as remind the
listener/reader of what he or she should already know; other
rhetorical features include compliments for already adhering to
what is exhorted and encouragement to continue in the same
practice.
• Parousia = “presence” (of Paul…and soon…Jesus); same termed
used to describe the arrival to a city by Roman dignitaries or the
emperor himself.
A Brief Outline of 1 Thessalonians
1:1
1:2-3:13
4:1-5:22
5:22-28
Salutation
Thanksgiving/Narration
Moral Exhortation
4:1-2
Basic Exhortation
4:3-8
Topic: Sexual Behavior
4:9-12
Topic: Love for Siblings in the New Family
4:13-18
Topic: The Dead in Christ
5:1-11
Topic: The Day of the Lord
5:12-22
Miscellaneous Exhortations
Final Prayers and Greetings
Paul’s Corinth
A Diverse Society
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As Paul arrived at Corinth in 49 or 50 C.E., he would have seen lots of rock piles,
ruins of ancient city walls. Rome had destroyed the old Corinth in 146 B.C.E. The
city Paul entered was therefore young—not even a century old. In 44 B.C.E. a
decree of Julius Caesar had re-founded Corinth as a Roman colony.
Corinth, the capital of the province of Achaia, was a city of social, cultural, and
religious diversity, including Jews. The Jews living there were more cosmopolitan
and multicultural than those in Palestine. Paul's visit came at a significant time for
mission work. In 49 C.E., the Jews were expelled from Rome. A good number
migrated to Corinth.
While Paul stayed in Corinth, he met with Jewish refugees from Rome. Paul sought
out two of them, Aquila and Prisca, because they were tentmakers like him. He
asked if they could work together as business associates. Aquila and Priscilla also
became key leaders of the young Christian church (Acts 18:1-12, 1 Cor. 16:19).
Around 150-200 followers of Jesus were in Corinth at the time of Paul's writing his
letters to them. Corinthian Christians lived in large, complex households and
worshiped in house churches that reflected the city's diverse make-up.
A Strong Economy
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Corinth was prosperous enough to be named as one of the three economic centers of Greece
by Plutarch, a writer of the second century. The historian Strabo wrote, "Corinth is called
'wealthy' because of its commerce, since it is situated on the Isthmus and is master of two
harbors, of which the one leads straight to Asia, and the other to Italy; and it makes easy the
exchange of merchandise from both countries that are so far distant from each other."
The Corinthian economy was more wide-ranging than that of many other Roman colonies. In
addition to agriculture, Corinth was known for manufacturing and trade, especially of bronze,
and the Isthmian games.
Not surprisingly the city derived income from its control of the isthmus. A charge was
imposed for boats or cargo hauled on a platform across the isthmus on the Diolkos, a paved
road.
The Isthmian games were a big event. They were held very two years on the isthmus in honor
of Greek god Poseidon, god of water and sea, horses and earthquakes. When Paul was in
Corinth, however, the games may have been held in the city (the games moved back to the
isthmus about 50-60 C.E.). Both men and women competed in these popular pan-Hellenic
games. For those more interested in the arts or who wanted a mix of physical and intellectual
competition, musical and oratorical contests were held at the same time in a theater on the
isthmus.
The Christians of Corinth were economically diverse. Assemblies included a cross section of
society: rich people, tradespeople, slaves, and former slaves. Although some Christians were
wealthy, they did not have high status; they were like the "new rich" of our day.
An Advantageous Location
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Corinth was located directly south of the Corinthian Gulf, on the Peloponnesian
side (southern Greece) of the Isthmus of Corinth. Two harbors accommodated the
city's position of control over the isthmus between two seas. Lechaeum served the
westward facing the Corinthian gulf, and Cenchreae functioned as the harbor on
the eastward facing the Saronic Gulf.
The territory included quite a variety of terrain: the coastal plain, which was
abundantly watered and fertile; relatively flat areas further from the coast, which
were fairly well-watered; areas of arable sloping hills; and mountainous regions.
The most famous Corinthian mountain was the Acrocorinth, which served as the
city's citadel.
Acrocorinth
An Outline of First Corinthians
1:1-9
1:10-4:21
5:1-7:40
8:1-14:40
15:1-58
16:1-24
Opening and Thanksgiving
Addressing Divisions in the Assembly: The Wisdom and
Power of the Cross
Addressing Moral Divisions: Life between the Cross and
the Parousia
Addressing Liturgical Divisions: The Cross and Worship
Addressing Theological Divisions: Resurrection as a
Vindication of the Cross
Closing
(Adapted from Michael Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological
Introduction to Paul and His Letters [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004], p. 238.)
Caesar Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (Chief
Priest)
Close-Up of Augustus as High Priest
“Benevolent” Augustus
The Priscilla Catacomb in Rome:
Scenes from the Life of an Early Christian Woman Leader?
Priscilla Catacomb in Rome:
A Eucharist Meal Led by a Woman?
Socrates’ Argument (in the Phaedo)
for an Immortal Soul
1. Destroying something means breaking it down into its
component parts.
2. But the soul is simple and has no component parts.
3. Therefore, the soul can neither be broken down nor
destroyed.
Objections to Socrates
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Why think we have a soul?
Why think that the soul is simple?
Even if we have a soul, as Socrates’ friend
Cebes suggests, just like at the end of a
musical performance, the soul could vanish
without coming apart.
Immortality vs. Resurrection
NOTE: immortality doesn’t require that God created souls in the first
place. Souls by their very nature are immortal: they preexist and will
survive the body’s death. By contrast, resurrection is the belief that
physical bodies are created by God and are corruptible. After a
person’s death God will at some time in the future recreate his or her
body in a spiritual, incorruptible form (see the apostle Paul’s First
Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15). In the historical context of the
first-century Greco-Roman world, Paul was likely arguing against
something like the Socratic/Platonic position that the soul is separable
from, and superior to, the body. Such a view had evidently given rise
to a “spiritual elitism” among certain leading members of the Christian
community in Corinth; Paul criticized such elitism in the name of the
egalitarian ideals of solidarity and love.
General Observations
about Paul’s View of Resurrection
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Jesus’ resurrection is an experiential reality for those who follow him.
Jesus’ resurrection is the “first fruits” of the general resurrection.
The general resurrection has not yet happened but is going to occur in the near
future.
The resurrected body is not “physical” but “spiritual.”
Resurrection is less a description about what will happen than an imperative to
live in the world differently—it is as much about “life before death” as it is about
“life after death.”
See also the video featuring Anglican Bishop and NT scholar N.T. Wright on
biblical views of life after death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZC6tbgpsl4