The apistoi and idiotes in 1 Corinthians 14:20–25: The Ancient Context and Missiological Meaning

Abstract

‘Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers’ (1 Cor 14:22). In the course of his extended instructions concerning public worship and order at Corinth, Paul refers to the presence, among the worshipping community, of those who are described as apistoi and idiotes (most commonly translated as ‘unbelievers’ and ‘uninitiated’ or ‘outsiders’). Whilst some have understood this to be a rhetorical device, there is good evidence for assuming that the conduct of early Christian worship at Corinth was accessible, in some way, to such persons, to the extent that they may be roughly analogous perhaps to the Gentile ‘god fearers’ who frequented Temple and Synagogue worship. If so, there are, here, some potentially fruitful missiological insights and imperatives for the 21st-century church, both in the conduct of its public rites, and especially in the manner in which it engages with those in its midst who may be unbelievers, baptised but ‘non-practising’, or among those commonly referred to today as ‘seekers.’