Der Erste Brief an die Korinther (1 Kor 11, 17-14, 40)

Abstract

Der Erste Brief an die Korinther (1 Kor 11, 17-14, 40), by Wolfgang Schrage. EKKNT 7/3. Zurich/Dusseldorf. Benziger Verlag; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1999. Pp. xiii + 501. DM 148.00. This is the third volume of what was originally supposed to be a two-volume, and now looks like it will be a four-volume, commentary on 1 Corinthians. Schrage continues the format followed in the earlier two volumes. Four major sections cover two basic themes: (1) the proper celebration of the Lord's Supper in 11:17-34 and (2) the charismatic community in 12:1-14:40. latter is subdivided into 12:1-3, Presuppositions and Criteria; 12:4-11, Unity and Distinction in the Spiritual Gifts; and 12:12-31a, The as the Body of Christ. This is followed by The Way of Love (12:31b-13:13). Thereafter follows Community Worship (14:1-40), which is subdivided into 14:1-25, Prophecy and Glossolalia; 14:26-33, 36-40, The Order of Worship; and 14:34-35, An Insertion: Command to Silence for the Women of the Community. Each section follows a pattern. After the bibliography, one finds an analysis, identifying the problems in the text, an examination of the passage's structure, an interpretation, a brief summary, and a detailed history of interpretation and importance. All contribute to a comprehensive commentary on three and one-half chapters of 1 Corinthians. analysis of 1 Corinthians 11:17-21 situates well the sociohistorical context of Paul's teaching on the Lord's Supper. Schrage notes that Paul is not instructing the communities in Corinth on the Lord's Supper per se, but is rather addressing the ecclesiological and ethical consequences of the particular aberrations in the Corinthian practice. Drawing on the extensive analyses of the social situation in Corinth and favoring the temporal sense of prolambanein, Schrage concludes that the problem that sparked Paul's instruction was a meal, held before the Lord's Supper by upper status Christians, and from which the lower status Christians were excluded. One factor contributing to the exclusion of lower status Christians was a delay in their arrival, due to their work obligations. Upper status Christians, then, took advantage of the delay and enjoyed a meal without them. Schrage makes judicious choices in showing that Paul's overall intent was to reaffirm the integrity of the Lord's Supper. All Christians should have equal access to the food and celebration and should not be discriminated against because of status. Regarding the spiritual gifts (12:4-11), Schrage confirms the standard interpretation: all spiritual gifts (1) have the same divine source, (2) are given in an abundance, which Paul lists in a catalogue as exemplary, inclusive, and nonhierarchical, and (3) are given for the use of the community. Paul's point is to counter rivalry, competition, claims of superiority, and feelings of dissatisfaction that arise from a misunderstanding of such lifts. Schrage sees Paul's teaching on the body of Christ (12:12-31a) as metaphoric and parenetic. metaphor's obviousness does not devalue the ecclesiological and christological. significance. Its ambivalence is also noteworthy, since it may be directed, on the one hand, to those Corinthians who assume themselves spiritually to be subordinate and unworthy and, on the other hand, to those Corinthians who aggrandize themselves and look down on others. …