Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting location:San Francisco, CA date:19-22 November 2011
Paul’s story of the non-praiseworthy celebration of the Lord’s Supper at Corinth (1 Cor 11:17-34) demonstrates to the church at Corinth their own un-ethical and loveless celebration of the Lord’s Supper (ouk epaino, 11:17, 22 and anaxios, 11:27) in relation to the other (have-nots). Using the narrative-critical and sociological methodology of Norman Petersen, this paper will explore Paul’s strategies to address the issue. It will examine how Paul implicitly taps into the different social relationships that he has with the Corinthians (apostle–church of God; founder/teacher–founded community; father/mother–children) to initially correct the situation. However, for the practical implementation of the changes that needs to be done to redress the situation intra-ecclesially (within the Corinthian church), Paul explicitly relies on siblingship, i.e., both his own sibling relationship with the Corinthians and their own sibling relationship with each other (adelphoi mou( 11:33). However, Paul also employs extra-ecclesial (non-Corinthian Christians) pressure with the same move of maximally using the implicit and explicit social relationships between himself and the Corinthians as well as the relationship of siblingship among Christians. Evidence of this is found in Paul’s self-presentation as somebody who is both inside and outside the Corinthian ekklesia (cf. the promise or warning of his coming visit, 11:34) and in the re-consideration of the often neglected reference to the additional addressees of the letter ( “with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,” 1:2). Hence, with the combination of intra- and extra-ecclesial pressure Paul expects the Corinthians to correct their conduct at the Lord’s Supper so that it will be celebrated in an ethical and loving manner.