NT2213 The Pauline Tradition: 1 & 2 Corinthians
Mary E. Hinkle
Associate Professor of New Testament
Luther Seminary
Fall 2004

Week 6 | Oct 12-19

Week 6 To Do List

1. Read this web page and 1 Cor. 5-7 in at least one English translation.
2. Read "Exegesis for Textual Preaching," my Word & World article, on desk and e-reserve.
3. Review the handout, "Learning to Read: Exegesis for Human Beings."
4. Complete "Comparing Translations." (This is due Friday, Oct. 29, because I am out of town next week and cannot grade it until then. You may turn in any exegetical workshop ahead of time.) Posted in Coursework section of MyLutherNet.
5. Read selections in the Hays commentary pp 80-134 (as you have time and interest, but read 133-34 for sure).
6. Blog on a Week 6 topic or another related issue.

Sex and Marriage in the 50s

The title of our work this week refers, of course, to the 50s of the first century CE.  This is the time when Paul and the Corinthians were corresponding.  This week, we are reading 1 Corinthians, chapters 5-7. Here Paul takes up questions that have come to him both from oral reports (by way of Chloe's people, perhaps?  Cf. 1:11) and from a letter that the Corinthians have written to Paul.  Here is a brief outline of our chapters for this week.  The topic titles here are taken directly from 1 Corinthians, by Richard Hays.

Themes in the Corinthian Letters

Remember the themes from the introduction to Richard Hays's commentary on 1 Corinthians (see pp. 9-11)?  Here they are again.  (Those themes especially important this week are highlighted.)

1. Christology
2. Apocalyptic Eschatology
3. Embodied Existence
4. The Primacy of Love
5. The Transformation of Power and Status through the Cross

Last week, when we read the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, we focused our attention on apocalyptic eschatology and the transformation of power and status through the cross (themes 2 and 5).  We talked about how the Corinthians needed a conversion of the imagination; that is, they needed to imagine themselves, their world, and their neighbors differently than they had in the past.

This week, we find that the conversion of the imagination Paul seeks for the Corinthians includes the way they imagine their relationships to each other and the way they regard even their bodies. Again, two of the five themes that Hays identifies are particularly important to our study.

Big Issues this Week

Apocalyptic Eschatology | This week as before, material from Paul's letters lands us right in the middle of a conversation on that great apocalyptic question, "What time is it?"  What time is it for Paul and the Corinthians, and what time is it for us, centuries after their time?  How do we imagine ourselves in relation to the ends of the ages?  Where are we?  What time is it?

Note from Bookworm William...

In this week's reading, you won't want to miss commentary pages 133-34 where Hays takes up the question, "Now what?" as we consider how to read Paul's directives to a church made when Paul thought that Christ's return (or parousia) was coming soon. 

Embodied Existence | Throughout this letter, we will see how important the body is to Paul and to his understanding of God's creative and redeeming work in Christ.  Paul has much to say about both the corporate body of believers (a.k.a. the body of Christ) and the physical bodies of individuals.  

"Exe...what?" Exegesis for Human Beings

Exegesis is a word from Greek that means "to read out," as in reading or bringing the meaning out of a text. It is a technical term for interpretation. There are dozens of ways of teaching and doing exegesis. Throughout Module Two, we will have a focal text and an exegetical/pastoral/theological problem each week that will give us a chance to do some close reading, including reading Greek, and practice some exegetical skills. The handout, "Learning to Read: Exegesis for Human Beings" explains more.