PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

statements in I,1–4, it is simply inconceivable that both attitudes toward disputes
could come from the same epistle. 102
Yeo likewise calls this a “contradiction” that necessitates theories of partition. 103 The
tension would appear to be twofold. Firstly, it seems odd that ten chapters after
responding at length to a testimony about significant division, Paul suddenly recounts a
less clear report of division, as if this issue had not already been on the agenda. Secondly,
in the former passage Paul is utterly opposed to the reported divisions, while in the latter,
he appears to be resigned or even positive about them.
In relation to the first tension, Hurd suggests that whereas the divisions in chapters 1–4 are
general, the divisions in chapter 11 relate specifically to the issue of the Lord’s Supper. 104
Schmithals utterly rejects this possibility, although it is not entirely clear on what basis he
does so. 105 Schrage appears equally certain that the two passages must be seen as
envisaging different situations. 106
Thiselton is convincing here:
There is a fundamental difference between 1:10-12 and the point here [11:18],
however. In 1:10-12 the splits seem to reflect tensions between different ethos of
different house groups. The splits are “external” to given groups, although
internal to the whole church of Corinth. Here, however, the very house meeting
itself reflects splits between the socially advantaged and the socially
102 Schmithals, Gnosticism, 90. Schmithals’ numbering system consists of a capital
Roman numeral that represents the letter (i.e. I = 1 Corinthians), followed by the chapter
and/or verses.
103 Yeo, Rhetorical Interaction, 80.
104 John C. Hurd, The Origin of 1 Corinthians (London: SPCK, 1965), 81.
105 Schmithals says that such a possibility is “completely ruled out”: Gnosticism, 90.
106 “Nun darf man aber die σχίσματα in 11,18f nicht einfach mit den in Kap.1-4
angesprochenen Parteiungen identifizieren. Die σχίσματα in 11,18f sind vielmehr auf die
Mißstände und „Spaltungen“ zwischen Armen und Reichen beim Herrenmahl zu
beziehen”. Schrage, Der erste Brief an die Korinther (1 Kor1,1-6,11), 67.
101