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  • From: "David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: new thesis request for info
  • Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 12:16:30 -0500


Jeff Peterson responds to Patrick Emmett:

>>I would think this a difficult thesis to sustain, on at least two ground
that occur right off: (1) The ancients had no concept of alcohol addiction
as a disease; the sort of people therapeutically minded moderns term
"suffering with alcoholism" they called "drunks." (2) Paul is quite clear
that "drunks" (METHUSOI) will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-10),
and he is equally clear that he expects to (e.g., Phil 1:23).<<

Jeff,

The problem with your analysis is that you make it sound like "drunkenness"
is an entirely voluntary thing. "Alcoholism," as a modern concept,
recognizes that a combination of genetic, emotional and environmental
factors causes some people to drink to excess, and concentrates on ways to
change environmental and emotional factors to reduce or eliminate exposure
to the drink that might start a binge.

However, the fact that ancients of Paul's time might not have recognized
this and lumped persons who have what we term "alcoholism" into the same
group as those who drink to excess because they are "ne'r do wells" (which I
think was the meaning the author of 1 Cor 6:9-10 had in mind) does not mean
that people with this condition did not exist. You would not suggest that
modern-day alcoholics cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, or that modern
day alcoholics who strive for inclusion in the KoH (and may well make it) do
not exist.

I am sure that there must have been some ancients, even otherwise
intelligent and godfearing ones, with alcohol problems who recognized they
had a problem and were making efforts to deal with it as best they could. It
could not have been easy in a world where wine consumption was routine, thus
making the possibility of a binge a daily problem.

But getting back to Patrick's question, I was trying to come up with an
analogy, thinking of some sort of involuntary condition to use as an
example, and the subject of epilepsy came to mind. I wonder if that might
not be a more fertile ground to plow for a dissertation subject. To many
common folks of Paul's day, epilepsy might be taken as an indication of
daimon possession, while to Roman elites, it might be seen as flashes of
divine inspiration (cf. Claudius, although I am not sure that "inspiration"
is the best term to use).

While offhand I do not recall whether hallucinations are ever associated
with grand mall seizures, I do think that most epileptics "black out" and
cannot remember the seizure. For persons who normally considers themselves
fully in charge of their mental facilities, holes in their memories might
end up getting filled-in from their imaginations as part of their mental
coping strategies.

Another idea might be schizophrenia, although I doubt an un-medicated
schizophrenic who has periodic psychotic episodes could carry on a trade
involving international travel as well as organize a worship network as Paul
is represented as doing in Acts and the letters in his name.

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA






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