Biola University B.A. Biblical Studies – NTS320: Advanced Epistolary Literature: 1st Corinthians – Fall 1980

In 1980 I submitted the following paper for NTS320: Advanced Epistolary Literature: 1st Corinthians, one of my upper division undergraduate courses at Biola University for my Biblical Studies degree, continuing to press the edges of my analytical skills writing about another controversial doctrinal topic. At the bottom of this post is a downloadable PDF version of the original submission and footnotes. Enjoy.

Pray, then, in this way; “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9,10

He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For, behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.

Luke 17: 20b-211

As Jesus walked out of the pages of the Old Testament and onto the New Testament scene Israel’s promised Messiah presented some concepts that His first century audience found hard to grasp. They expected a leader that would usher them into a new age, into the age of the Latter Times.2 But the Day of the Lord proved not to be a momentary shift from the Present Times to the Last Times, and to this many in His audience could not adjust to.

It seemed to be in the Will of God to overlap this present evil age3 and the age to come, or the Eschaton.4 With inception of the Church5 and the beginning of the Eschaton,1 at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the believers in Israel’s Messiah found themselves in a unique and unexpected position, on one side surrounded by world and its troubles and on the other side the kingdom (though invisible for the present moment) and its promises, (see Diagram. A)

Thiselton insists that when addressing the phenomenon of the first letter to the Corinthian assembly one must interpret it with this presupposition in mind: the present overlapping of “Ages,”6 Though I may differ on the amount of weight given this presupposition throughout the book (the system tends to weaken when dealing with the spiritual gifts controversy)7 it does throw a considerable amount of light on many of the passages once referred to as answers to Gnostic questions.

The traditional Eschatological passages are found in the fifteenth chapter and parts of chapters two and three. The fact is that many of the commentaries do not deal with First Corinthians eschatologically except in these areas,8

Thiselton and Vos tend to use first Corinthian 4:8 as a proof-text to the Corinthian belief in a realized eschatology.9 It’s a good verse but a bit too weak to support an entire interpretive systems. I would be more inclined to appeal to Jesus’ (and Paul’s) consistently two-fold description of the kingdom.10

Vos writes regarding this view of Pauline theology:

The eschatology, without losing touch with history, nevertheless, owing to the large sweep of its historical reach, becomes philosphico-theological. It no longer forms one item in the sum-total of revealed teaching, but draws within its circle as a correlated and eschatologically-complexioned parts practically all of the fundamental tenets of Pauline Christianity.

11

Consequently, when dealing with various, moral/problematic questions, as in Paul’s question/answer-report/reply sections,12 if understood in the proper sitz em leben can easily be illuminated. An example is the Corinthian’s arrogant attitude to an individual co-habiting (to use current parlance) with his father’s wife.13 Thiselton explains:

I have examined this section in detail elsewhere, and underlined the importance if the point that Paul’s censure relates not primarily to the man in question, but to the fact that the community seemed pleased with the situation. “You are arrogant (pephusiomenoi este). Ought you not rather to mourn?”…. The self-styled “spiritual” men at Corinth (not perhaps without some mixture of motives) wished to parade their new-found freedom as a bold testimony to their eschatological status.

14

The Corinthians were a church, as most churches, that had a problem maintaining a balance in view of its position in the kingdom. Often waivering toward an “over-realized” eschatology and thereby abandoning social etiquette (and an understandable witness to the world)15 or at times crashing into partisan cliques and thereby violating Christ’s Eschatological Rule:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another

16

Finally, regarding the traditional eschatological sections (i.e., chapters 2,3 and 15) most commentators have used these sections to erect a good portion of their eschatological understanding (particularly chapter 15). It will be noted however these chapters (especially 15) are not designed to present new material, but to re-establish accepted fact.17 Thiselton notes that some of the Corinthians denial of a resurrection may be due to their belief that they were experiencing the completion or the fulness of the kingdom/resurrection age.5

If the church is to be understood as living in the Eschaton then the book of first Corinthians must be under stood as a guideline for the churches present experience in the Eschaton.

The Church in the Eschaton - Diagram A
The Church in the Eschaton – Diagram A


BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Grosheide, F. W,, Th.D. “Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians.” The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing Company, 1953. pp. 355-370.
  • Horsley, Richard A. “‘How Can some of you say that there is no Resurrection of the Dead?’ Spiritual Elitism in Corinth.” Novum Testamentum. 20 (1977-1978), pp. 203-231.
  • Orr, William F, and James Arthur Walther. “1 Corinthians.”‘ The Anchor.Bible. 32. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1976. pp. 323-343.
  • Thiselton, Anthony C. “Realized Eschatology at Corinth.” New Testament Studies. 24 (1978), pp. 510-526.
  • William Baird “Pauline Eschatology in Hermeneutical Perspective.” New Testament Studies. 17 (1970- 1971), pp. 314-327.
  • Vos, Geerhardus, Ph.D.,D.D. The Pauline Eschatology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972. pp. 1-93, 136-214.

The Church in the Eschaton

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  1. Dr. Morosco, Eschatology Class Notes, 1980.[↩][↩]
  2. Dr. Morosco, Eschatology Syllabus, p.7.[↩]
  3. Matthew 11:16[↩]
  4. Acts of the Apostles 2: 16 – 17[↩]
  5. ibid.[↩][↩]
  6. Anthony C. Thiselton. “Realized Eschatology at Corinth” New Testament Studies. 17 (1970-1971).[↩]
  7. Ibid, pp. 522-523[↩]
  8. F. W. Grosheide. “Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians.” The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1953. and William Orr and James Arthur Walther. “1 Corinthians.” The Anchor Bible. 32. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1976.[↩]
  9. Geerhardus Vos. The Pauline Eschatology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1972, p.26 and Thiselton, p. 510.[↩]
  10. Matthew.3:2; 4:17; 6:10; 16:28; Luke.l7:20,21; Colossians 1:13[↩]
  11. Vos, p.11[↩]
  12. 1 Cor 4-8,12,15,16.[↩]
  13. 1 Cor 5:1ff[↩]
  14. Vos, pp.515-516.[↩]
  15. 1 Cor 14:34[↩]
  16. John 13: 34-35[↩]
  17. Thiselton, p524[↩]