Corpus-Paul

[Anders Eriksson <aeriks2 AT emory.edu>]

Dear Don Mills

My point in the message of May 19 was that today many interpreters does not
want Paul to have said that women should be silent in church and therefore
they tend to view 1 Cor 14:34-35 as an interpolation.

To which you responded:  "But didn't Paul write that "in Christ there is
neither male nor female"?  Perhaps people want Paul to have *meant* what he
said."

Anders Eriksson now responds:
Of course Paul said and meant what he said in Gal 3:28, but my point is
that Galatians is a different letter than 1 Corinthians and therefore the
situation is different. The problem with many interpolation theories is
that they do not allow for different rhetorical situations, but proceed on
the assumption that Paul must always have said the same thing, or as it is
more commonly put have the same theology..

I can understand that those who advocate interpolation theories for 1 Cor
14:34-35 want Paul to have had pushed his equality position also in the
Corinthian situation. But what if he didn't? He omits the male-female pair
in 1 Cor 12:13, in my eyes deliberately.

David Amador has responded to your message already, with many of the same
points that I am making. He recommends Anne Wire's treatment (Corinthian
Women Prophets).  Let me just mention my treatment "Women Tongue Speakers,
Be Silent", which builds on Wire, in Biblical Interpretation, 6.1. 1998. I
have also treated the relationship to Gal 3:28 in Traditions as Rhetorical
Proof: Pauline Argumentation in 1 Corinthians, ConBNT 29, 1998.

Anders Eriksson




Dr. Anders Eriksson, Th. D              Anders.Eriksson AT teol.lu.se
Forskarassistent
Teologiska Institutionen
Lunds Universitet
Allhelgona Kyrkogata 8
223 62 Lund, Sweden