Читать книгу 1 Corinthians - Luise Schottroff - Страница 22

The concepts of time in the ancient world and in the Bible must be understood from their context. They cannot without further ado be identified with modern concepts of time. To begin with, an important difference arises from the fact that today time is normally understood as objectively measurable and as linear—from a no longer identifiable beginning into an unending future, a time that keeps on going just that way. In the ancient world there were no clocks like ours that keep on running uniformly day and night. They are a presupposition for today’s concepts of time.

In the Pauline letters the biblical concepts of time are presupposed: time is shaped and divided by what God does. Creation and exodus are divine activities that belong in the past, about which the people of the present can learn. The future is also determined by its relationship to God: it is the »future« (ta mellonta, 3:22), it brings »the end«/telos (1:8; 10:11; 15:24). And yet with the end, an end of time is not expected but the end of humanity’s suffering. In 15:24 the end is described: God deprives every authority, rule and might of their power. This is also what is thought about in 10:11. The present-day congregation is the fellowship of those »on whom the end of the ages has come,« that is, the end of the »ages of this world.« This phrase does not denote a time period but a sphere of influence, in which ruling powers act in the interest of a force hostile to life (2:7, 8; 1:20; 3:18). This »end« is longed for; it signifies the end of violence and suffering and thus the time in which »God is all in all« (15:28). The German word Ewigkeit (»eternity«) attempts to reproduce this concept of a comprehensive peace with God. This disempowerment of forces hostile to life has begun with the resurrection of the Messiah. Therefore, their destruction is already under way (2:7), and the congregation already experiences their »end« (10:11; cf. 3:22). Thus, Paul can also say, »The present time/kairos is pressing in on us, things are out of joint« (7:29). After all, God’s future is near, and it already now changes how the believers live (cf. Rom 13:11). The present is the time of our relationship to God and to divine action in present, past and future. God’s future activity includes the just judgment of all humanity and the consummation (15:24). Therefore, believers are those who wait (1:7). They await the final revelation, the coming of the Messiah (1:7). The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of salvation; the Messiah is present, and he is the one to come. »As long as ideological and dogmatic concepts sealed off from experience do not come from these statements, it remains natural to have an interweaving of what is expected and what is present.«⁴⁴ In the present believers await the consummation (15:24), but they also await God’s just judgment (on this see 3:13–17; 4:5 and more often). The »day« of judgment (1:8; 3:13; 5:5) takes up the Old Testament concept of the day of Adonai. Paul also calls it the day of the deliverer, Jesus Christ (1:8; see also 5:5 in parts of the manuscript tradition). In this context it remains an open question whether Paul thinks of the Messiah as the judge at the end time.⁴⁵

There are primarily two patterns of interpretation that have characterized the perception of this concept of time since about 1970: 1. The concept of near eschatology/delay of the parousia; 2. The concept of a non-dualistic eschatology. The first concept was predominant from the end of the 19^th century until the closing days of the 20^th. It interpreted the eschatology of Jesus and Paul as a near-expectation that awaited the coming of the reign of God in years rather than in decades. The »nearness« of God’s reign is thus construed in linear time. Since the reign of God did not come, the disappointment about the near-expectation led believers to adapt themselves to being in the world for the long haul.⁴⁶ Through the concept of a reign of God at the end of time and history, there arose a dualism of history and eternity, this side and the other side.

A second, fundamentally different interpretive pattern arose primarily among liberation theologies. Here the relevance of future expectations for the present is emphasized, and time is interpreted as time in relation to God. The statement that »the reign of God has drawn near« in this case speaks of God’s nearness in the present, from which hope for the future emerges.⁴⁷ This concept incorporates into the interpretation the life situation of the people who have their say in the biblical texts. For 1 Corinthians that means that the life situation of Paul and his addressees in the Roman Empire is to be taken into account. Here people who long for an end of violence in their daily lives wait for the revelation of the Messiah (1:7).

In summary, it can be said of Paul’s eschatology that it is an interpretation of the present out of one’s relationship to God.

1:7–8 Gifts given by the Spirit and public testimony to the Messiah also maintain their strength through the expectation that the Messiah will come, in order to put an end to the power of the forces hostile to God (1:8; cf. 15:24). The congregation is strengthened by Christ (or God) on the difficult path through their social reality, so that the believers gain the ability to live in accord with the Torah (see on 7:19). 1 Corinthians often speaks of these difficulties, for example, the difficulties of belonging only to one God in a city that imposes on people a multiplicity of religious claims (Chapters 8–10). The believers’ deepening fellowship with the Messiah will protect them and preserve them in the face of accusations at God’s judgment. On judgment day the Messiah will see his work of strengthening the congregation reach its goal. They will not be charged, and thus the day of judgment will become the day of liberation.⁴⁸

1:9 While Paul up to now has spoken about his prayer of thanksgiving (1:4), and thereby about the congregation and to the congregation, he here speaks a different language, that of consolation: he assures the congregation about God’s faithfulness, which they have already experienced in their fellowship with the Messiah. As von der Osten-Sacken rightly emphasizes, mutual love/agapē as fulfillment of the law is the »paramount manifestation … of God’s faithfulness«⁴⁹ and relates to the concrete relationships within the congregation. The continuation of the letter shows that as well.