Corinthian Democracy

Democratic Discourse in 1 Corinthians

Miller

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498270649
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In this innovative study, Anna Miller challenges prevailing New Testament scholarship that has largely dismissed the democratic civic assembly--the ekkl?sia--as an institution that retained real authority in the first century CE. Using an interdisciplinary approach, she examines a range of classical and early imperial sources to demonstrate that ekkl?sia democracy continued to saturate the eastern Roman Empire, widely impacting debates over authority, gender, and speech. In the first letter to the Corinthians, she demonstrates that Paul's persuasive rhetoric is itself shaped and constrained by the democratic discourse he shares with his Corinthian audience. Miller argues that these first-century Corinthians understood their community as an authoritative democratic assembly in which leadership and "citizenship" cohered with the public speech and discernment open to each. This Corinthian identity illuminates struggles and debates throughout the letter, including those centered on leadership, community dynamics, and gender. Ultimately, Miller's study offers new insights into the tensions that inform Paul's letter. In turn, these insights have critical implications for the dialogue between early Judaism and Hellenism, the study of ancient politics and early Christianity, and the place of gender in ancient political discourse.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Ekklēsia in Greek Education
• Chapter 2: The First-Century Ekklēsia in the Writings of Dio and Plutarch
• Chapter 3: Moses in the Ekklēsia: Josephus’ Use of Democratic Discourse
• Chapter 4: Speech and Wisdom of the Corinthian Ekklēsia
• Chapter 5: The Gendering of Democratic Participation
• Chapter 6: “As in all the Ekklēsiai of the Saints”: 1 Cor 12–14
• Conclusion
• Bibliography