PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

7. An Application of Kerygmatic Rhetoric
The Problem of Boasting and the Solution of the Cross
I have suggested above that the chief solution to the Corinthian problems, as interpreted
by Chrysostom, is the divine “contrary” of the cross. Although conceptions of the
Corinthian problems vary greatly, there is little doubt that the cross provides Paul’s ironic
solution to these problems.
Thus in the cross there is revaluation of all things in this reality in a lasting and
binding way, because the crucified One makes known once and for all only the
God who in the depths, in the deathly misery, in lostness and nothingness intends
to be God and Savior. 196
The fact of the cross as God’s means of salvation opposes the core pastoral-theological
problem of boastful autonomy by undermining human optimism theologically:
The word of the cross can only have negative value, in the sense that it opens up
a radical contestation of all the images of God that man is prone to make…. The
theology of the cross functions exclusively as a critical instance on all discourse
on God. 197
It is the fact that God must be known through his self-presentation in the shame of the
cross that makes human boasting theoretically nonsensical, and thus reins in “unrestrained
human vitality” in the theologically fundamental area of knowledge of God. 198
196 Jürgen Becker, Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles (trans. O.C. Dean, Jr.; Louisville, Ky.:
Westminster John Knox Press, 1993), 208; trans of Paulus. Der Apostel der Völker
(Tübingen: Mohr, 1989).
197 Guilhen Antier, “Entre Resurrection et Croix: Nommer L’Événement Selon Paul (1
Corinthiens 15),” ETRel 79/4 (2004): 477-492; 489; translated from the original French.
198 Wolff makes this point well: “Paul discloses: The loveless, zealous, quarrelsome
behaviour of the Corinthians (1:11, 3:3f; 4:6; 13:4) shows that for them it is finally all
about self attestation for the fulfilment of their own religious expectations and ideals and
thus about “human wisdom” (2:5, 13; 1:20), not however about the true wisdom of God.
187