PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

Firstly he denounces the puffed up pride [φύσημα] of the man, seeing as the sin
was made up of two parts working together: sexual immorality; and that which is
worse than sexual immorality, the refusal to grieve over the sin that has been
committed. For it is not so much that the sin has been committed that troubles
him, but that the sin has been committed without repentance. 56
Since, then, this is what the one who committed sexual immorality was like,
having made his soul so reckless and inflexible through his sin, it was necessary
to rebuke his pride [προκαταβάλλει τὸν τῦφον]. 57
The issue of lawsuits in chapter 6 is said to arise from the same sort of bold spirit:
And here again he makes his accusation on commonly acknowledged grounds.
For in the former place he says, “It is actually reported that there is sexual
immorality among you”; and here he says, “Do any of you dare?” Right from the
beginning he shows his emotion and indicates that the matter arises from being
daring and lawless.
Chrysostom’s discussion of the problem of idol meat in chapter 8 similarly draws
attention to the problem of pride: many are “swollen with pride” about their “perfect
knowledge”, and so end up injuring themselves and others:
And first he nullifies their pride [τὸν τῦφον αὐτῶν], declaring that the possession
of perfect knowledge, which they thought set themselves apart, was common to
all. 58
See how he pulls down their puffed up pride [τὸ φύσημα]! 59
56 Homily 11; PG 61.90.
57 Homily 11; PG 61.91.
58 Homily 20; PG 61.160.
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