PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

Marion L. Soards correctly captures the fundamentality, from Paul’s perspective, of the
problem of boasting in Corinth:
Throughout this letter Paul criticizes the particular actions of the Corinthians, but
above all he denounces the will to boast. The will to be superior and to brag
about it was the fundamental problem that generated the other symptomatic
problems in Corinth. 179
My contention here is that this boasting was, in Paul’s view, (unwittingly 180 ) theological,
because it implied confidence outside of God, claiming in the present the manifest wisdom
and spirituality that can only really be found hidden in Christ, awaiting manifestation at
his future revelation.
It is significant that this understanding of “boasting” in 1 Corinthians – as being not
merely factionalistic, but theological – resonates strongly with Simon Gathercole’s
findings regarding “boasting” in Romans 1–5. 181 Basil of Caesarea had, long before,
linked the boasting of 1 Corinthians to a presumptuous pursuit of self-generated
righteousness. 182 It may be that throughout the Pauline Corpus, “boasting” carries highly
theological overtones, drawing on prophetic language and representing on the one hand
misplaced human confidence before God, and on the other, appropriate dependence on
179 Marion L. Soards, “1 Corinthians,” in Mercer Commentary on the New Testament (ed.
Watson E. Mills and Richard F. Wilson; Macon Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2003; repr.
from Mercer Commentary on the Bible; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1995),
1163-1190; 1164.
180 Munck encapsulates this well: “They did not realize that by the very use of that wisdom
terminology they were betraying the message that was their wealth, and that the feeling of
being up on the pinnacle and pitying the others was a betrayal of Christ and his apostles”.
Johannes Munck, “The Church without Factions: Studies in I Corinthians 1-4” in
Christianity at Corinth: The Quest for the Pauline Church (eds. E. Adams and D. G.
Horrell; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2004), 61-70; 70.
181 Simon J. Gathercole, Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul’s
Response in Romans 1-5 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2003). According to
Gathercole, the boasting that Paul counters implies a confidence outside of “God’s action
in Christ” 262.
182 See Basil of Caesarea, Homily 20, PG 31, in which Basil reads 1 Corinthians 1:30-31
as undermining the pride of self-sought righteousness, and insisting upon the
righteousness that comes from God through faith.
180