Corpus-Paul

[Richard Fellows <rfellows AT intergate.bc.ca>]

In his posting and in his book John Hurd has presented a theory of what
prompted the Corinthians to ask Paul about meat sacrifice to idols.  He
believes that Paul made an agreement with the Jerusalem leadership between
his first visit to Corinth and the writing of 1 Corinthians.  This
agreement included a concession on Paul's part concerning the issue of
diet.  In accordance with the agreement Paul included in the previous
letter (1 Cor 5:9) instructions on diet that were at variance with his
earlier teaching.  The Corinthians then asked for clarification in their
letter.

I would like to propose an alternative explanation.  The Corinthians had
been told the position of the Jerusalem apostles on the question of diet,
and it was not the same as what they remembered of Paul's teaching or
practice.  So they asked Paul to clarify his position.  Now, in  their
letter to Paul, the Corinthians probably did not state that they were
comparing his teaching on the diet question with that of the other
apostles: it would have been tactless to do so.  But I think that Paul
suspects that that is what lay behind their question, for at 9:1 he
abruptly embarks on a defence of his apostleship in rivalry to the other
apostles.

Richard Fellows
Vancouver.


John Hurd wrote:
>Nathan is quite right to be confused.  But 1 Corinthians (and most of
>the other letters) cannot be read as though it were an essay on a series
>of topics.  It is part of a conversation.  In his founding visit to
>Corinth he had not established any dietary restrictions, thus allowing
>the eating of "idol meat" (a phrase that has a wide range of meaning).
>Later, in his (mostly) lost letter to the Corinthians mentioned in 1
>Cor. 5:9-11 he told them to avoid idol meat.  The Corinthians responded
>in their Reply Letter (see 1 Cor. 7:1), "Why can't we eat idol meat?
>After all, you ate idol meat when you were here."  And Paul in 1 Cor.
>8:1--11:1 tries to affirm both sides of the question.  In principle
>Christian freedom allows the eating of idol meat, but various
>considerations make it unwise (demons) or uncharitable (the weaker
>brother).  And he liked the resulting argument so much that he reused it
>in Romans 14.
>    See in much more detail, JCH, The Origin of 1 Corinthians.
>With best wishes            --           John