PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

attested in their religious beliefs and behaviours. 74 Thiselton captures the theological
coherence of (Luther and) Barth’s reading:
If resurrection entails an act of new creation which lies entirely beyond the
capacities of the human self to achieve, there emerges a clear and a close parallel
between the grace of God which bestows new life out of nothing, and the grace
of God which bestows a new relationship or “putting to rights in righteousness”
which transcends all human capacity or competency to achieve. 75
That is, the flow of 1 Corinthians is directed by Paul’s concern to pit the grace of God in
Christ against the theologically problematic human confidence that is evidenced in the
Corinthians’ communal life.
Ackerman argues that Paul’s theological conception of Corinthian problems is best
thought of as “spiritual immaturity”, and that Paul’s centrally theological response can be
fruitfully summed up as “Christ-ideology”:
This Christ-ideology stands behind Paul’s rhetoric in 1 Corinthians. Paul builds
his arguments upon the revelation of the cross and the victory over death in
Christ’s resurrection (chs 1-2, 15). His Christ-ideology also serves as his primary
conceptual tool to motivate the Corinthians to live according to his example. In
other words, the past and future provide the means and motivation for fellowship
with Christ in the present. Paul criticizes the Corinthians because they had not
74 Karl Barth, The Resurrection of the Dead (Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf & Stock, 2003); repr. of
The Resurrection of the Dead (trans. H. J. Stenning; London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1933); trans. of Auferstehung der Toten (Munich: Kaiser, 1924).
75 Anthony C. Thiselton, “God will be All in All: Luther and Barth on 1 Corinthians 15:
Six Theses for Theology in Relation to Recent Interpretation,” in Thiselton on
Hermeneutics: Collected Works with New Essays (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2006)
767-792; 772; repr. p 258-289 in The Bible, the Reformation and the Church: Essays in
honour of James Atkinson. (JSNT Supplement series 105; ed. W. P. Stephens; Sheffield:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1995).
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