PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

2:1-5: κηρύσσομεν Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον) and of being “condemned to death” (4:8-13: τοὺς
ἀποστόλους ἐσχάτους ἀπέδειξεν ὡς ἐπιθανατίους). In both parts of the letter the imagery of
the arena is adopted to picture the apostolic example 62 (4:9: ὅτι θέατρον ἐγενήθημεν τῷ
κόσμῳ καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις; 15:32: εἰ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐθηριομάχησα). Both wisdom-
boasters in chapters 1–4 and resurrection-deniers in chapter 15 are expected to feel “shame”
(4:14; 15:34) at the incongruity that this apostolic example illuminates in relation to their own
conduct. They are depicted in a similar way to the “ungodly” in the Wisdom of Solomon,
whose lack of faith in divine reversal leads them to treat the present as a time for satisfied
indulgence rather than dependent hope. 63
15:35-49
Like the mother who reminds her dying son of the creative power of God to bring about
eschatological reversal in 2 Maccabees, 64 Paul labours God’s creative power and initiative with
regard to resurrection and spirituality in chapter 15 (15:38,46: θεὸς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ σῶμα καθὼς
ἠθέλησεν/ ἀλλʼ οὐ πρῶτον τὸ πνευματικὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ ψυχικόν, ἔπειτα τὸ πνευματικόν).
Similarly in chapters 1–4 Paul insists that God chose “the things that are not” in order to
reduce to nothing “the things that are” (1:26-31: τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ἵνα τὰ ὄντα καταργήσῃ). He
emphasises that God is the source of the Corinthians’ life (1:30: ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν
Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ), and that God alone is able to grant and interpret that which is “spiritual” (2:10-
them – leaders who are, according to Paul’s irony, pursuing a vocation of death. Murphy-
O’Connor likewise notices the relation of apostolic suffering to the mention of “the dead”:
“Verse 30 gives the impression of being a transition which suggests that there is, in Paul’s
mind, some intrinsic relationship between vv. 29 and 31-2”. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor,
“‘Baptized for the Dead’ (1 Cor 15:29): A Corinthian Slogan?” in Keys to First Corinthians:
Revisiting the Major Issues (rev. and enl.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 242-256;
243.
62 V. Henry T. Nguyen hints at a link between 4:9 and 15:32: V.H.T. Nguyen, “The
Identification of Paul’s Spectacle of Death Metaphor in 1 Corinthians 4.9,” NTS 53/4 (2007):
489-501; 496.
63 Wisdom of Solomon 2: see above.
64 2 Maccabees 7:28-9: “I beg you, child: Look up to heaven and to the earth, and see
everything that is in them, and know that God did not create them out of existing things – and
so it is also with the human race. Do not fear this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers
in also accepting death, in order that in His mercy, I might receive you back along with your
brothers”.
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