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  • From: Peter Kirby <kirby AT earthlink.net>
  • To: "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Corpus-Paul] 1 Cor 2:6-8
  • Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 16:33:04 -0700

Paul writes:

6 Yet we do speak a wisdom to those who are mature, but not a wisdom of this
age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
7 Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined
before the ages for our glory,
8 and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

I am trying to decide whether the passage has in mind heavenly rulers or
earthly rulers. For example, Origen interpreted the passage as referring to
heavenly rulers (de Principiis 3.3), while Tertullian interpreted the passage
as referring to earthly rulers (Against Marcion 5.6): "But (the apostle)
evidently did not speak of spiritual princes; so that he meant secular ones,
those of the princely people..."

There are several extracanonical texts that speak of Satan or demonic powers
as being in ignorance concerning Christ during his life, such as Ignatius to
the Ephesians 19:1, "And hidden from the prince of this world were the
virginity of Mary and her child-bearing and likewise also the death of the
Lord -- three mysteries to be cried aloud -- the which were wrought in the
silence of God."

Here is the secondary literature that I have been able to find on the subject.

Paul Ellingworth and Howard Hatton write: "The second question, concerning
the
rulers of this age, does not affect translation into certain languages such
as English. But translators into many other languages may have to decide
whether the rulers are human or nonhuman. Verse 8 does not settle this
question; the rulers of this age may be either people like Caiaphas, Pilate,
and the Roman emperor, or the supernatural powers of evil which are
ultimately responsible for Christ's death (compare Col 2.10, 15). A majority
of scholars think that supernatural powers are intended here." (A
Translator's Handbook on Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, p. 46)

Ellingworth and Hatton provide a footnote: "However, M. Pesce's detailed
Paolo
e gli arconti a Corinto (Brescia 1977) argues that the 'rulers' are the
Jewish authorities. So do A.W. Carr, 1976, 'The rulers of this age--1
Corinthians 2:6-8,' New Testament Studies 23.20-35; and T. Ling, 1956, 'A
note on 1 Corinthians ii.8,' Expository Times 68.26. Against this view,
W.J.P. Boyd, 1957, '1 Corinthians ii.8,' Expository Times 68.158." (A
Translator's Handbook on Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, p. 46)

Robertson and Plummer write: "Some Fathers and early writers, from Marcion
(Tert. Marc. v. 6) downwards, understand the ARCONTES TOU AIWNOS TOUTOU to
mean demons: cf. KOSMOKRATORAS TOU SKOTOUS TOU AIWNOS TOUTOU (Eph. vi. 12).
Perhaps this idea exists already in Ignatius; ELAQEN TON ARCONTA [T. AIWNOS]
TOUTOU . . . O QANATOS TOU KURIOU. See Thackeray, The Relation of St Paul to
Contemporary Jewish Thought, pp. 156 f., 230 n. But this interpretation is
wholly incompatible with v. 8, as also is the very perverse suggestion of
Schmiedel that St Paul refers to Angels, whose rule over certain departments
in God's government of the world belongs only to this dispensation, and
ceases with it (KATARGOUMENWN), and who are unable to see into the mysteries
of redemption (Gal. iii. 19; I Pet. i. 12). See Abbott, The Son of Man, p.
5." (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St Paul to
the Corinthians, p. 37)

William Orr and James Walther write: "There seems to be no convincing reason
to interpret 'this world's rulers' as being any other than those who actually
took part in the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus, and the wisdom they
did not know was that their action would have a result exactly opposite to
their intention: the ignominy of the cross was turned into the glory of
redeeming lordship." (1 Corinthians)

Orr and Walther refer to a 1972 article in the Journal of Biblical Literature
91 by Gene Miller.

Leon Morris writes: "With unwearied persistence the apostle points out that
the wisdom of which he speaks is not the wisdom of this age. He has been
stressing this for some time and he now adds or of the rulers of this age. In
antiquity, Origen took this to refer to the demonic powers behind world
rulers, an interpretation which Chrysostom rejected, and this difference of
opinion has persisted through the centuries. Among modern commentators
Conzelmann, for example, sees a reference to the demons, while Orr and
Walther think of earthly rulers. The 'demonic' view sees Christ as engaged in
a gigantic struggle with evil forces of the unseen world, a view which is
undoubtedly to be found in Paul's writings (e.g. Rom 8:38-39; Col. 2:15; cf.
2 Cor 4:4). But it may be doubted whether this is his meaning here. Three
points are especially important. One is that throughout this whole passage
the contrast is between the wisdom of God shown in the gospel and the wisdom
of this world. To introduce now the thought of the wisdom of demonic powers
is to bring in an extraneous concept, and one that is out of harmony with v.
9, which clearly refers to humans. Paul could scarcely have expected his
readers to grasp this without one word of explanation. A second is that it
was the rulers of this age who are said to have crucified Christ and this
same word rulers, archontes, is repeatedly used of the Jewish and Roman
leaders (Acts 3:17; 4:5,8,26; Rom. 13:3, etc.). The third is that it is
explicitly said that they carried out the crucifixion in ignorance (Acts
3:17; 13:27; cf. Jn 16:3), but, by contrast, the demons are often said to
have known who Jesus was when people did not (Mk. 1:24, 34, etc.). Paul
habitually ascribes power to the demonic forces, but not ignorance. The very
concept of a struggle between demonic forces and the power of God implies
that the demons knew what they were up against. Paul's use of this age
probably points to the transitory nature of the office of rulers, over
against the truth of the gospel, which is permanent. This transitoriness is
also in mind in the concluding who are coming to nothing (the verb is
katargeo; see on 1:28). The rulers are being rendered completely ineffective;
their vaunted power and wisdom are made null and void." (1 Corinthians, pp.
53-54)

So I see that the following articles might have more detailed information on
the subject:

A.W. Carr, 1976, 'The rulers of this age--1 Corinthians 2:6-8,' New Testament
Studies 23.20-35.

T. Ling, 1956, 'A note on 1 Corinthians ii.8,' Expository Times 68.26.

W.J.P. Boyd, 1957, '1 Corinthians ii.8,' Expository Times 68.158.

A 1972 article in the Journal of Biblical Literature 91 by Gene Miller.

My questions are:

1. Since I don't have access to these journals, could I persuade someone to
be kind enough to send me a copy of one or more? I could pay a fee.

2. Can anyone mention any additional sources that deal with the subject, or
perhaps outline some of the arguments on the question?

Thanks for your help!

--
Peter Kirby (Student at Fullerton College, CA)
4:08pm up 5:24, Mandrake Linux 9.0, kernel 2.4.19-16mdk on AMD Athlon 750
Web Site: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/



  • [Corpus-Paul] 1 Cor 2:6-8, Peter Kirby, 05/16/2003

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