Temple of the Living God

The Influence of Hellenistic Philosophy on Paul's Figurative Temple Language Applied to the Corinthians

Philip N. Richardson

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781532641695
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

When writing to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul used figurative temple language repeatedly to shape the identity of his audience ("Temple of God," "Temple of the Holy Spirit," and "Temple of the Living God"). While other scholars have identified the place of the Jerusalem temple in Paul's thinking or the impact of temples in the life of Corinth, there has been no comprehensive study of the way that figurative temple language in philosophy could have influenced the Corinthians' worldview. Hellenistic philosophy was pervasive in the first century and provided theological guidance for faith and practice to Paul's Gentile audience before their conversion.Philip N. Richardson provides a comprehensive survey of figurative temple language in Hellenistic philosophy, shedding light on the way that the kinds of philosophical thought known in cities like Corinth may have influenced the Corinthians to think about figurative temple language. This study throws into sharp relief the similarities and differences between Paul's use of temple language and that of philosophy, and illuminates Paul's setting of this language in the wider framework of 1-2 Corinthians and his purpose for its use in the argument of the letters.

1

Introduction and History of Research

1.1 The Focus of the Book

In three places in the Corinthian correspondence the apostle Paul uses figurative temple language to define the identity of his readers. Although when people thought about temples they normally thought about humanly constructed buildings of materials such as stone or wood, Paul and others also used a figurative or symbolic extension of that conventional image.1 In 1 Cor 3:16 and 6:19 the readers are described as a temple in which God’s Spirit dwells and in 2 Cor 6:16 Paul includes himself with his readers as “the temple of the living God.”2 While Paul uses cultic language figuratively in a number of his letters,3 Paul only uses figurative temple language repeatedly to shape the identity of his audience when writing to the Corinthians.4 For Paul, a former Pharisee (Phil 3:5; cf. Acts 23:6; 26:5), the image of the temple had primary reference to the temple in Jerusalem: the place where God had promised to dwell, where worshippers longed to meet with God and where his glory had dwelt (1 Kgs 9:3; 2 Chr 5:14; 7:1; Pss 26:8; 43:3) and one day might dwell again (Ezek 43–48).

However, Paul’s audience came from a very different context. There are clear indicators that the majority of the readers were Gentiles (1 Cor 6:9–11; 8:7; 12:2), although according to Acts 18:1–11, the church had its origins in the synagogue,5 so it very likely had a Diaspora Jewish component as well.6 As residents of a very cosmopolitan and pluralistic city, Corinth, they would have been exposed to a variety of religious, cultural and philosophical influences, such as Roman temples to various gods and the feasts held there on various social and religious occasions, the presence of the Imperial cult, the bi-annual Isthmian games, the customs of Roman law, and the behavior of sophists and their followers, among others.7 While Paul clearly had no hesitation in using OT traditions and expecting his audience to understand his allusions (e.g., 1 Cor 5:7–8 and 10:1–13), how would such temple language have spoken to them in the context of Corinth itself? Charles H. Talbert, drawing on the work of literary critic Peter J. T. Rabinowitz, enagages with “audience-oriented criticism” in his own studies of Luke-Acts to speak of an “authorial audience” presupposed by the text, stating “To read as authorial audience is to attempt to answer the question: ‘If the literary work fell into the hands of an audience that closely matched the author’s target audience in terms of knowledge brought to the text, how would they have understood the work?’”8 Talbert notes that it is important to reconstruct the conceptual world used in the creation and original reception of the text. Material from the milieu can be used as data for reconstructing the reader who might have heard the text in a certain way. Talbert is not claiming that ancient readers would be consciously aware of these actual texts but “Rather these texts help to establish the most likely conceptual world of the readers, the authorial audience.”9

Of all Paul’s letters, only 1 Corinthians contains a lengthy discussion of the temptations posed by idol food, especially the prospect of eating in or around local temples (8:1—11:1, especially 8:10; 10:14). This fact, at the very least, suggests that Paul’s figurative temple language would have pointedly contrasted with the reality of Corinth with its many temples.10 How would this language have compared with the Corinthians’ understanding of temples prior to their conversion? What would have been the chief influences on the thinking of the Corinthians when they read Paul’s figurative temple language?11 The evidence of 1 Cor 8:1—11:1 draws our attention to the religious influences in Corinth and the many opportunities to consume idol food in temple settings. This is clearly an important factor in understanding the social and cultural context of the audience and relates to 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19 and 2 Cor 6:16. However, 1 Cor 8:1—11:1 does not use figurative temple language and because this context to Paul’s discussion has been covered so extensively in numerous articles and published monographs, particularly in the last twenty years, it will not be the focus of this book.12

It has long been recognized that in order to interpret Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, scholars ne...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction and History of Research
• Chapter 2: Figurative Temple Language in Hellenistic Philosophy
• Chapter 3: Figurative Temple Language in Philo of Alexandria
• Chapter 4: Figurative Temple Language in 1 Corinthians
• Chapter 5: Figurative Temple Language in 2 Corinthians
• Chapter 6: Conclusions
• Bibliography