Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians: Paul, Stoicism, and Spiritual Hierarchy

by Timothy A. Brookins

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2024

Overview

A bold new reading of 1 Corinthians in light of Greco-Roman philosophy.

The First Letter to the Corinthians begins with an admonishment of the church over their internal division and reliance on human wisdom. What exactly occasioned Paul’s advice has perennially troubled New Testament scholars. Many scholars have asserted that Paul disapproved of the Corinthians’ infatuation with rhetoric. Yet careful exegesis of the epistle problematizes this consensus.

Timothy A. Brookins unsettles common assumptions about the Corinthian conflict in this innovative monograph. His close reading of 1 Corinthians 1–4 presents evidence that the Corinthian problem had roots in Stoicism. The wisdom Paul alludes to is not sophistry, but a Stoic-inspired understanding of natural hierarchy, in which the wise put themselves above believers they considered spiritually underdeveloped. Moreover, Paul’s followers saw themselves as a philosophical school in rivalry with other Christians, engendering divisions in the church.

Combining scriptural exegesis and investigation of Greco-Roman philosophical culture, Brookins reconstructs the social sphere of Corinth that Paul addresses in his letter. His masterful analysis provides much needed clarity on the context of a major epistle and on Pauline theology more broadly.

Key Features

• Presents evidence that the Corinthian problem had roots in Stoicism
• Provides much needed clarity on the context of a major epistle
• Combines scriptural exegesis and investigation of Greco-Roman philosophical culture

Contents

I. Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians

• 1. 1 Corinthians 1–4 in Modern Scholarship
• 2. The Problems of Definition and Comparison

II. Reading 1 Corinthians 1–4

• 3. 1 Corinthians 1:17b–31: One λόγος against Another
• 4. 1 Corinthians 2:1–5: Proclaiming Christ Crucified
• 5. 1 Corinthians 2:6–16: A Spiritual σοφία
• 6. 1 Corinthians 3:1–4:5: The Apostles and the σοφία of God
• 7. 1 Corinthians 4:6–13: The Apostles and the Corinthian σοφοί
• 8. 1 Corinthians 4:14–21: Paul as Founder and Teacher
• 9. The Sub-Stoic Wisdom of the Corinthians

III. Reconstructing the Occasion

• 10. 1 Corinthians 1:10–17a: The Paul Faction as Philosophical School
• 11. Philosophy in the Roman Empire and Roman Corinth
• 12. Church Prosopography and the Sub-Stoic School in Corinth

IV. Conclusion

Product Details

• Title: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians: Paul, Stoicism, and Spiritual Hierarchy
• Author: Timothy A. Brookins
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 354
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. N.T. 1 Corinthians 1-4 › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9780802883230, 0802883230
• Resource ID: LLS:RDSCVRNGWHRRCHY
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-04T21:06:55Z

About Timothy A. Brookins

Timothy A. Brookins is associate professor of classics at Houston Baptist University. He is also the author of Corinthian Wisdom, Stoic Philosophy, and the Ancient Economy (2014), among other books on the Pauline epistles.