Corpus-Paul

["John M. Contabile II" <jcontabile AT earthlink.net>]

Debbie,

I would recommend to you a book entitled "Paul's Idea of Community" by 
Robert Banks.  Here is a snippet from a portion of the book where he 
describes the relationship between family and fellowship:

Banks states that Paul's use of the word koininia had more to do with 
"participation in some common object or activity, e.g., participation in 
the Spirit, in someone's faith, in Christ and his sufferings, in the work 
of the gospel, in a financial contribution - not in the sharing of people 
concerned directly with one another...in his use of koinonia, Paul's 
emphasis is upon their participation 'alongside' one another in such 
things, not 'in' one another as the term 'fellowship' suggests.  Paul does 
talk about fellowship with one another in this more personal and intensive 
sense, but uses words other than koinonia to express it" (57)

He elaborates on those words in later chapters.  I think that this book 
would be helpful to you as you study this topic.

So there you have it, a third possibility - fellowship "alongside one 
another!"


John Contabile
Fellow Student
jcontabile AT earthlink.net