COMPARING PATTERNS-OF-RELIGION: MORAL PHILOSOPHY, JUDAISM AND PAUL

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Walter Schmithals (1956)

It was Walter Schmithals, one of Bultmann’s most promising pupils, who provided the most comprehensive study of Gnosticism in Corinth. Again, proponents of Gnostic influence in Corinth argued that Gnosticism, with its low view of the material world and devaluation of bodily existence, resulted in the dual response of libertinism and asceticism. Inspired by the conviction that Gnosticism was a pre-Christian movement, in 1956, Schmithals’ revised doctoral thesis asserted that the heresy of Gnosticism, brought in by Jewish false teachers, stood behind nearly all of the conflicts in Corinth. Schmithals’ version of this approach uses Gnostic sources to explain in a stepby-step fashion how Paul’s correspondence provides a rebuttal to Gnostic infiltration.

Ernst Käsemann (1969)

In 1969, Ernst Käsemann wrote an article entitled “On the Subject of Primitive Christian Apocalyptic” in which he develops some of the ideas found in, Lütgert produced six decades earlier.135 Käsemann presented his thesis that Christianity in its earliest form in Palestine was thoroughly apocalyptic, but its manifestation on Greek soil was a significantly different apocalypticism which mutated into a theology of enthusiastic freedom. Käsemann suggested, however, that some in Corinth believed that they had come into possession of the eschaton. He asserts: “Today we must take it for granted that the dominant group in Corinth believed themselves to have reached the goal of salvation already–in the shape of baptism–and Christian existence here on earth meant for them solely the temporal representation of heavenly being.”

David L. Dungan (1971)

In 1971, David L. Dungan, in his book The Sayings of Jesus in the Churches of Paul: The Use of the Synoptic Tradition in the Regulation of the Early Church, sets out to determine the extent to which the statutes governing the early church can be traced to back to Jesus. He compares Paul’s interpretation and application of Jesus tradition found in 1 Cor 7:1-17 and 9:4-18, with the corresponding tradition in the Synoptic materials (Matt 19:1-12, Mark 10:1-12), in an effort to determine whether or not the rules governing the early church are indeed traceable to Jesus. He begins by analyzing the above-mentioned legal sayings cited in 1 Cor and then applies form-critical analysis on the Synoptics to identify the distinctive motivations of each Synoptic editor, as revealed in the changes and additions that each made to their source material.

David Cartlidge, Kurt Niederwimmer (1975)

In 1975 two significant works came out by David R. Cartlidge and Kurt Niederwimmer. In harmony with Scroggs, Cartlidge characterizes Paul as being progressive in his sexual ethics since Paul, despite having a preference for the celibate lifestyle, recognizes the reality of the sexual drive and appears to be attempting to overturn an aggressive trend toward asceticism in Corinth. The social realities of the first century provide a stark contrast to the Pauline vision of ‘neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free.’ Cartlidge claims, “Paul’s preaching did not simply reevaluate these traditional patterns of hierarchy in the Hellenistic culture; it negated them. To declare that the rubrics of male dominance, ethnic differences, and slave economy were no longer operative was to declare that basic models upon which most of contemporary society was based were no longer viable.”152 It is precisely this liberating ideal that led to chaos in the Corinthian context.

D. L. Balch, C. M. Tuckett, Elisabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza (1983)

In 1983, David Balch submitted another article to the JBL entitled “1 Corinthian 7:32-35 and Stoic debates about Marriage, Anxiety and Distraction.”166 Balch explicitly sets out to contribute to the ongoing discussion about whether or not Stoic ideas are reflected in Paul’s thought. The first part of Balch’s article draws from the fifth century A.D. philosophical handbook of Johannes Stobaeus. Balch assesses the value of this collection of excerpts of ancient philosophical works on marriage and celibacy, which in some cases dates back well before the first century A.D. Stobaeus categorizes these excerpts into seven groups, but Balch draws from the first three headings: (1) marriage is best, (2) marriage is not good, or (3) the paired style of life makes marriage helpful for some but not advantageous for others.

Table of Contents :

• PREFACE
• CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 The Problems of Communication and Perspectives
  • 1.2 The Problem of Methodology
  • 1.3 “Paralellomania” and the Debate on Jesus and Paul
  • 1.4 Hypotheses Presented in this Study
  • 1.5 Overview of Thesis Chapters
• CHAPTER 2 THE APOSTLE PAUL ON MARRIAGE, CELIBACY AND DIVORCE IN 1 CORINTHIANS 7: A REVIEW OF SELECTED SCHOLARS
  • 2.1 BEFORE BULTMANN:
    • 2.1.1 Ferdinand Christian Baur (1831)
    • 2.1.2 Frédéric Godet (1889)
    • 2.1.3 J. B. Lightfoot (1895)
    • 2.1.4 William Wrede (1904)
    • 2.1.5 Wilhelm Lütgert (1908)
    • 2.1.6 Albert Schweitzer (1912)
    • 2.1.7 Johannes Weiss (1925)
    • 2.1.8 Gerhard Delling (1931)
    • 2.1.9 Pre-Bultmann Conclusions:
  • 2.2 BULTMANN:
    • 2.2.1 Rudolf Bultmann (1948)
    • 2.2.2 Bultmann Conclusions:
  • 2.3 AFTER BULTMANN:
    • 2.3.1 W.D. Davies (1955)
    • 2.3.2 Walter Schmithals (1956)
    • 2.3.3 Ernst Käsemann (1969)
    • 2.3.4 David L. Dungan (1971)
    • 2.3.5 David Balch, Robin Scroggs (1972)
    • 2.3.6 David Cartlidge, Kurt Niederwimmer (1975)
    • 2.3.7 Orr and Walther (1976)
    • 2.3.8 D. L. Balch, C. M.Tuckett, Elisabeth Fiorenza (1983)
    • 2.3.9 O. L. Yarbrough (1985)
    • 2.3.10 Vincent L. Wimbush (1987)
    • 2.3.11 Wolfgang Schrage (1988)
    • 2.3.12 Antoinette C. Wire (1990)
    • 2.3.13 Will Deming (1995)
    • 2.3.14 Dale B Martin (1997)
    • 2.3.15 David Fredrickson (2003)
    • 2.3.16 Post-Bultmannian Conclusions:
• CHAPTER 3 COMPARING PATTERNS-OF-RELIGION: MORAL PHILOSOPHY, JUDAISM AND PAUL
  • 3.1 PRELIMINARY Considerations
    • 3.1.1 A Methodological Note: E. P. Sanders’ Pattern of Religion
    • 3.1.2 Hellenistic Philosophy: A Brief Historical Sketch
    • 3.1.3 Second-Temple Judaism: A Brief Historical Sketch
  • 3.2 Greco-Roman Views on Life-After Death
    • 3.2.1 Greco-Roman Philosophy and Religion on Life-After Death
    • 3.2.2 Epicureanism:
    • 3.2.3 Cynicism
    • 3.2.4 Stoicism
    • 3.2.5 Secularists
    • 3.2.6 Judaism
    • 3.2.7 Christian Eschatology
  • 3.3 Greco-Roman Views on the Marriage, Celibacy and Divorce
    • 3.3.1 Greco-Roman Sexuality
    • 3.3.2 Marriage, Celibacy and Divorce among Greeks and Romans
    • 3.3.3 Jewish Attitudes Regarding Women, Marriage, Celibacy and Divorce
    • 3.3.4 Marriage, Celibacy and Divorce among Christians
• CHAPTER 4 THE PROBLEM OF DIFFERENTIATION: UNDERSTANDING THE
  • IMPETUS BEHIND PAUL’S VIEWS ON GENDER RELATIONS
  • 4.1 Judaism and the Question of Differentiation
  • 4.2 Factors in Differentiation
  • 4.3 Paul, Pharisaism and Differentiation:
  • 4.4 Differentiation and Sexual Ethics
• CHAPTER 5 PAUL’S DEPENDENCY UPON JESUS TRADITION FOR HIS
  • VIEWS ON MARRIAGE, CELIBACY AND DIVORCE
  • 5.1 Tradition and the Early Church:
  • 5.2 Paul’s Exposure to Jesus Tradition:
  • 5.3 Agreement between Jesus and Paul
• CHAPTER 6 1 CORINTHIANS 7 AS EXPANDED JESUS TRADITION
  • 6.1 EXEGESIS OF 1 COR
    • 6.1.1 Paul on Marriage:
    • 6.1.2 Paul on Divorce:
    • 6.1.3 Paul on Celibacy:
• CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS AND ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTIONS
  • 7.1 Academic Contributions
  • 7.2 Conclusion and Summary of the Need for Further Research
• Bibliography

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FIRST CORINTHIANS 7 AS EXPANDED JESUS TRADITION