Article Series - Unveiling Paul’s Glory |
Question: If we are to accept the insertion of 1st Corinthians 11:3-16, then who did the inserting?
Hypothesis: It was most likely the Weak faction in the Corinthian Church because it most closely identifies with their worldview, both metaphysical and ideological.
Reasoning: If we are to accept the interpolation of 1st Corinthians 11:3-16; then who were these redactors? The answer lies within Martin’s argument: it most likely was the Weak at Corinth who interjected their own solutions to questions they were having at Corinth. We know from an analysis of Paul’s letters to Corinth that the community was in upheaval and the divisions among members were threatening the very existence of the assembly there. [1] While many have tried to reconstruct the various factions, I follow Martin in imaging the conflict in terms of the Strong and Weak, as detailed above. Under my hypothesis, Martin is correct in his interpretation of verses 3-16, but he is incorrect as to who is writing.
The Corinthian correspondence is not a naked reproduction of Paul’s letters, but the end result of a publication process which represents final editing and processing of Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthians. Adopting such a view of 1st and 2nd Corinthians detracts from pristine Pauline authorship, correcting an idealistic view of the texts. The voice of the Corinthian community resides in the two letters as we have them today, if only by virtue of the letter’s existence.
We have to remember that the “Publisher” of these letters was the Assembly at Corinth, not the Apostle Paul
If this is correct, then the lack of direct manuscript evidence of the insertion of verses 3-16 actually bolsters this view. The manuscripts must have been edited very early and very completely because there are no surviving manuscripts that are absent 11:3-16. [2] If the Corinthian community itself did the editing, then we would expect this to be the case. By reading the surviving pieces of the letters that comprise 2nd Corinthians, which were also edited together very early, we can tell that the situation improved. However, not all of the differences between the Weak and the Strong were negotiated by Paul; as such we can expect that they did some negotiating on their own. One could not hope to have a single man smooth out and declare the synthesis of the two opposing views. One can see that Paul acted as a mediator, but not dictator in dialogue between the two groups.
I want to suggest that what one finds in verses 3-16 is another piece of that negotiation apart from Paul, one that happened under the guidance of, but not directed by Paul. Thus, the Weak’s views on the body, angels, and ontological views of gender show up in the interpolation. We should expect the Weak’s views on these matters so shine through this section of text, for they were the more numerous group in Corinth. Throughout the letter, Paul philosophically agrees with the Strong, but advocated the Weak’s position. Here, however, the opposite happens. The philosophical positions of the Weak are assumed, but the hierarchical positions common to the Strong are aspired to. This hypothesis can only be sketched out here, but needs more careful consideration.
Up next: If someone else, who was in opposition to Paul, wrote this section, what do we, as Canonical Christians, do with the text?
- Calvin J Roetzel, The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context, 4th ed (Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 83-95. [↩]
- Walker, “1 Corinthians 11,” 98. [↩]
