Читать книгу 1 Corinthians - Luise Schottroff - Страница 20

This letter is the earliest Pauline letter in the New Testament.²⁶ In his introduction to the letter Paul characterizes the senders only briefly, the addressees more extensively: the messianic assembly in Corinth.

1:1 Paul says about himself that he has been called to be an apostle by Jesus the Messiah in accord with the will of God. He speaks of his call in 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8–10; Gal 1:1, 13–17. Acts narrates the event in a legendary manner as a vision of Christ (Acts 9:1–22; cf. 26:12–18 and 22:6–16). In the interpretive tradition the call is often construed as a »conversion,« in the sense of a renunciation of Judaism.²⁷ Paul himself understands his call as God’s call to bring the gospel to the nations, that is, to the new exodus in the name of the Messiah raised by God. Thereby he turns away from his work against the messianic congregations, but he does not turn away from Judaism. Now he works for a Jewish-messianic movement to which people from the nations are added. This work happens on God’s behalf, and he acts as God’s representative/apostle. The view that Paul had understood his apostolic office in the sense of the later ecclesiastical offices is inappropriate. Paul understands himself to be in continuity with the prophets in Israel (see Gal 1:15; Isa 49:1).

Right in the first line of his letter Paul mentions the Messiah/Christ Jesus. Christos is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word mashiach/anointed one, and Messiah is the Graecized form of the Hebrew word. Paul uses the word with and without the additional use of the proper name »Jesus« (see, for example, 1:6). Paul does not use the word Christos as a proper name, but it refers to the anointing, and thereby to a commissioning, by God. The anointed one embodies what God is doing to liberate the people. The word Christos is not a title that confers on people a super-human or divine quality that distinguishes them from all other people. The word Christos in Pauline usage should be translated by »anointed one« or »Messiah« and not exclusively by »Christ,« since in contemporary Christianity this word is frequently understood as an exclusive title und proper name of this one Messiah Jesus.

The word draws on Jewish tradition.²⁸ It plays a central role for Paul, as the nine-fold use of the term in the first nine verses demonstrates right from the start. »The anointing of Jesus is an important key to understanding that in his majesty as Messiah/Christ he is part of a community that supports him.«²⁹ Paul can also say that God anoints the congregation (2 Cor 1:21). Paul clearly presupposes that God installs the Messiah as king. For Paul, the royal power of the Risen One is present and reaches into the future (see especially 15:20–28 and the discussion of 15:24). For Paul and the congregation, Jesus’ messiahship attains a central significance because it is the Messiah’s power that overcomes all other authorities and powers in the world (see on 8:5).

Paul mentions Sosthenes as a co-author. In his letters Paul consistently understands himself as an »author in the plural.«³⁰ Even though in 1:4 he mentions himself in the singular as the author, as he often does in 1 Corinthians, it is not right to understand him as the head of a »team of authors« or as an individual author. Instead, he understands himself to be part of a community of brothers and sisters. He calls Sosthenes brother, and, in the same way, he addresses the congregation as brothers and sisters (in 1:10, for example). This relationship as brothers and sisters is characterized by »mutual responsibility and solidarity.«³¹ It continues the biblical and post-biblical tradition according to which the members of the people of Israel understand themselves as brothers and sisters because of their connection to Israel’s one God.³² This relationship as brothers and sisters connects the people of non-Jewish origin not only with one another but also with the people of Israel. It opens up for them an alternative to the patriarchal family. Relationships in the patriarchal family are as a rule asymmetrical; those in the congregation are not. Whether the authority of the men and women apostles, teachers and prophets establishes an asymmetrical relationship will need to be discussed (see on 3:11).

1:2 The congregation in Corinth is characterized in four ways by Paul. He calls it an »assembly/ekklēsia of God.« The word still has its secular meaning: an assembly at a concrete place—as in Corinth or also in other places (16:1, 19). To some extent, these local assemblies have active contacts with each other. And yet Paul does not yet have in mind a »church« in the comprehensive sense. For him the word signifies each individual assembly of the people of God with faith in the Messiah in this place.³³ It does not become Israel’s successor, but enters into solidarity with her. The word ekklēsia is linked not only with its secular meaning but also with God’s history with Israel in the Old Testament.³⁴ Kahal Adonai is also translated in the LXX by ekklēsia of God and designates, for example, the full assembly of Israel at Sinai (Deut 4:10) or the worshiping congregation (Ps 35:18). The word synagogē can be used in the same sense. A juxtaposition or opposition of ecclesia as a Christian church and »the« synagogue as Judaism does not yet exist at this time. In the city of Corinth there was room for large gatherings for varied political purposes (see, for example, Acts 18:12–17). Such assemblies are what people envisioned when they heard the word ekklēsia. Therefore, the word had an evident political ambiguity: God’s assembly is an alternative to the assembly of the city’s inhabitants in which those in power at any given time present and implement the things in which they are interested. Thus, the congregation, as an »alternative society, … is rooted in the history of Israel, in opposition to the pax Romana.«³⁵

The fact that those who believe in the Messiah are designated as called and saints once again makes their relationship to the God of Israel central. God called them in the same way that God called the apostle (1:1). This call (7:17 for example) or election (1:28) has fundamentally altered their life. They now live, in keeping with their divine commission, in accord with the Torah (7:17; see there). The designation »saints« is tied to the holiness of the people of Israel (Lev 19–20). The holiness of the congregation is strongly emphasized in 1 Corinthians. The congregation is the place where God is present (3:16), and it is the body of Christ (12:12, 27).

Paul concludes his detailed theological appreciation for the congregation in the letter’s salutation by incorporating this congregation into the broader fellowship of all those who call upon the name of our kyrios Jesus Christ.

The expression is definitely to be taken literally: the believers openly proclaim, »Jesus is our Liberator«/kyrios Jesus (see 12:3). The name that is invoked is the name »Jesus.« Jesus is a common name for Jewish men (Joshua, Jeshua). In early Christianity, this common name is given theological significance as a proper name for this Messiah, who was crucified by Rome and raised by God.³⁶ Jesus receives this name from God, so that in this name the knees of the »heavenly, earthly and subterranean« powers should bend (Phil 2:10). These powers designate forces that enslave the earth and humanity (see 3:22; 15:24; see a more extensive explanation at 15:24). The name Jesus embodies the liberation brought about by God, for Jesus’ fate was based on his humiliation. God put an end to his death and his humiliation. He was exalted by God. A further theological reflection on Jesus’ name is found in Matt 1:21, 23. When people call on the name of Jesus, they put themselves in fellowship with the Jewish man liberated by God from violence and death. In this way he becomes their kyrios/Lord, their Liberator.

The word kyrios is also a word taken from everyday life at the time of the Roman Empire. It designates common relationships of rule and hierarchy: those of master and slave, of dependents (on the pater familias) within the family, the oikos/household, and political power relationships. The emperor in Rome is kyrios/dominus of the people in the Imperium Romanum. In this context, when people declare that for them Jesus is the only kyrios (see 8:6), all other power relationships in which every woman and man lives are at least qualified and called into question. Thus, the use of this word changes the relationships in which the individuals live. In the Christian manuscripts of the LXX and in New Testament quotations of Scripture, the word kyrios is used as a substitute for the divine name.³⁷ There is, therefore, discussion about whether the kyrios designation puts Jesus on a level with the God of Israel. This conclusion takes no account of the common use of the word. Moreover, it is problematic in the light of Jewish monotheism. It is more likely to assume that the word kyrios can be used for Jesus through its common use for power relationships without sensing an identification with the substitute word for the Tetragrammaton. It gets this meaning through its contrast with everyday power relationships.

1:3 Grace and Peace—In Paul, both words have a full theological resonance, while, at the same time, in this salutation he is also making use of the letter form and the Jewish greeting of Shalom.³⁸ God’s favor (grace/charis) becomes effective through the actions of its recipients.³⁹ The peace that comes from God contrasts with the peace-propaganda for the Roman peace, the Pax Romana. The peace of the Pax Romana is achieved with subject nations through military and non-military (legal and administrative) use of force. Emperor Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE) says in his testament that under his leadership his goal—which he repeatedly achieved—»was a peace consolidated through victories by land and by sea in the entire domain of the Roman people.«⁴⁰ According to the biblical tradition, the peace of God has an entirely different quality: it signifies a comprehensive communal well-being and happiness for people, for entire cities, for a nation—shalom. Thus, this peace is oriented toward good life for the people, not the interests of those with political control. Through Jesus the Messiah, God has turned toward humanity and made peace accessible even for the people in Corinth.