The Great Amen in First Corinthians

Abstract

The late John A.T. Robinson claimed to have identified in St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (16:22) “the remains of the earliest Christian liturgical sequence we possess”. While assessing his thesis, I also continue with my own parallel investigation into another possible liturgical sequence in chapter fourteen of First Corinthians. This second sequence has previously been overlooked for two reasons: first, because of the ambiguity in the meaning of the word eucharistia, and, second, because Paul's focus in the passage is on glossolalia, leaving the liturgical import of it somewhat opaque.