Wisdom and Spiritual Transcendence at Corinth

Studies in First Corinthians

Richard A. Horsley

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9781498210447
• eBook ISBN: 9781498270526
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Examining each of the major sections of 1 Corinthians, Horsley probes the disagreement Paul had with those claiming special spiritual status. The conflicts over what constitute wisdom, knowledge, and spirituality cut to the core of what Paul was trying to accomplish in his communities. Horsley moves the debate from the history of religions background to the Hellenistic Jewish religiosity of the Wisdom of Solomon and Philo of Alexandria.

1

Spiritual Status among the Corinthians

In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is attempting to straighten out some people in his newly founded community who, by virtue of their possession of wisdom, were claiming a special spiritual status. Apparently they designated themselves as πνευματικοί (pneumatikoi) in contrast with the ψυχικοί (psychikoi), or those of lesser religious achievement. By a careful reading of Paul’s arguments in 1 Corinthians we can discern some of their key religious terminology and principles.1 On the basis of pertinent parallels to these terms and principles, especially in Hellenistic philosophical sources and Hellenistic-Jewish texts, it is then possible to draw certain conclusions regarding the religious viewpoint of these Corinthians.2

With regard to the pneumatikos/psychikos terminology, however, we are in an awkward situation. This is perhaps the most distinctive part of the language of these Corinthians. The pneumatikos/psychikos terminology runs like a red thread through most of the main sections of Paul’s argument directed at the Corinthians (i.e., in the major sections of the letter: chapters 1–4; 8­–10; 12–14; 15). In 1 Cor 2:13–15, pneumatikoi refers to those capable of possessing special spiritual revelation or wisdom, in contrast to the psychikoi who do not have this ability. The same terms in 15:46–47 seem to refer to two different human beings or types of humanity which are respectively also “heavenly” (ἐπουράνιοϚ) and “earthly” (χοικόϚ), the former having some sort of priority over the latter. In chapters 12–14 the pneumatika are clearly the special spiritual gifts such as glossolalia and ecstatic prophecy, and pneumatikos refers to the special standing of one who enjoys such spiritual gifts (14:37). In 10:1–4 the same term refers to the spiritual nourishment and benefits derived from key soteriological scriptural symbols spiritually understood. For this distinctive language so important for understanding the Corinthian situation, however, there is no convincing terminological parallel whatsoever in contemporary comparative material. Hence it has been difficult to determine the background of this language and its meaning for the Corinthians’ self-understanding.

Previous Hypotheses

The presence of the pneumatikos/psychikos terminology in 1 Cor 2 and 15 has been one of the main bases for arguing the Gnostic character of the “opponents” (or of Paul himself) in 1 Corinthians. Wilckens, following the lead of Reitzenstein, made such a case with the aid of Hermetic and Valentinian material.3 But the terms pneumatikos and psychikos do not even occur in the Poimandres. Nor does this “Gnostic” document maintain any anthropological distinction between “mind” (νοῦϚ; or “spirit” πνεῦμα) and “soul” (ψυχή) on the basis of which the adjectival usage could have developed. Indeed, “mind” and “soul” stand more in a parallel relationship than in a superior–inferior one.4

Pearson has recently revived a proposal made previously by Dupont, namely that the pneumatic/psychic distinction developed out of the interpretation of Gen 2:7 in Hellenistic Judaism.5 Pearson’s form of the proposal finds in this Hellenistic-Jewish interpretation of Gen 2:7 both the origins of the pneumatikos/psychikos terminology and the theological background and context for this basic contrast found in 1 Cor 2:13–15 and 15:44–50. This argument, however, is based on some questionable contentions.

The specific terminology, the pneumatikos/psychikos contrast, does not occur in Philo or other Hellenistic-Jewish writings.6 Similarly, neither Philo nor the Wisdom of Solomon makes any fundamental anthropological distinction between the “soul” (ψυχή) and the “spirit” (πνεῦμα), as the higher part of the soul, on the basis of which the adjectival usage might have developed.7 Nor is there any evidence in Philo and Wisdom that there is among Hellenistic Jews a preference for the term “spirit” (πνεῦμα) instead of “mind” (νοῦϚ) for the higher, rational part of the soul.8 Actually the terms “soul” (ψυχή), “spirit” (πνεῦμα), “mind” (νοῦϚ or διάνοια), “rational soul” (λογικὴ ψυχή), etc. are largely parallel or interchangeable in Philo and Wisdom.

In Wis 15:11 (cf. 15:8 and 16) “soul” and “spirit” are parallel, without distinction in meaning. In 2:22—3:1 it is “soul,” not “spirit,” used in reference to man as created for incorruption, as an “image” (εἰκών) of God’s own eternity. In 9:15 psychē and pneuma are parallel, synonymous terms for the soul that the corruptible, earthly body weighs down. There is no indication in Wisdom of any distinction between these terms in use and meaning, let alone between higher and lower parts of the soul expressed in these terms. In Wisdom the basic anthropological and soteriological divisions lie between the soul and the body, and between the wise, righteous souls and the foolish, unrighteous souls.

Philo’s treatises display the same interchangeability of terms. In certain contexts he distinguishes between the “mind” in the soul, its dominant part, and the soul as a whole. But in Op. 135; Leg. 3.161; Som. 1.34,9 and other interpretations of Gen 2:7, the basic division lies between body and soul, while the terms “soul” and “mind” (νοῦϚ or διάνοια) are used virtually interchangeably. In these texts the “divine spirit” (θεῖον πνεῦμα) or the “spirit of life” (πνεῦμα ζωῆϚ) is the su...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Spiritual Status among the Corinthians
• Chapter 2: Wisdom of Word and Words of Wisdom
• Chapter 3: Spiritual Marriage with Sophia
• Chapter 4: Gnosis in Corinth
• Chapter 5: The Confessional Formula in 1 Corinthians 8:6
• Chapter 6: Consciousness and Freedom
• Chapter 7: Ecstatic Prophecy in Corinth
• Chapter 8: No Resurrection of the Dead?
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography