Paul, the fool of Christ : a study of 1 Corinthians 1-4 in the comic-philosophic tradition

Author(s)

• Welborn, L. L.

Bibliographic Information

Paul, the fool of Christ : a study of 1 Corinthians 1-4 in the comic-philosophic tradition

L.L. Welborn

（Journal for the study of the New Testament : supplement series, 293 . Early Christianity in context）

T&T Clark International, c2005

• hbk
• pbk.

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [254]-285) and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

hbk ISBN 9780567030412

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Traditional Interpretations
• Chapter 2: The Provenance of the Concept
• Chapter 3: The Generic Meaning
• Chapter 4: Confirmation and Clarification
• Chapter 5: Appropriation of the Role
• Chapter 6: Evaluation of the Role
• Chapter 7: Acceptance of the Role
• Bibliography
• Index of References
• General Index.

Volume

pbk. ISBN 9780567030429

Description

Welborn argues that Paul's acceptance of the role of a 'fool', and his evaluation of the message of the cross as 'foolishness', are best understood against the background of the popular theatre and the fool's role in the mime. Welborn's investigation demonstrates that the term 'folly' (moria) was generally understood as a designation of the attitude and behaviour of a particular social type - the lower class buffoon. As a source of amusement, these lower class types were widely represented on the stage in the vulgar and realistic comedy known as the mime. Paul's acceptance of the role of the fool mirrors the strategy of a number of intellectuals in the early Empire who exploited the paradoxical freedom that the role permitted for the utterance of a dangerous truth. Welborn locates Paul's exposition of the 'folly' of the message about the cross in a submerged intellectual tradition that connects Cynic philosophy, satire, and the mime. In this tradition, the world is viewed from the perspective of the poor, the dishonoured, and the outsiders. The hero of this tradition is the 'wise fool,' who, in grotesque disguise, is allowed to utter critical truths about authority. The book demonstrates that Paul participates fully in this tradition in his discourse about the folly of the word of the cross. The major components of Paul's argument in "1 Corinthians 1-4" find their closest analogies in the tradition that valorizes Socrates, Aesop, and the mimic fool.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction. Chapter 1: Traditional Interpretations
• Chapter 2: The Provenance of the Concept
• Chapter 3: The Generic Meaning
• Chapter 4: Confirmation and Clarification
• Chapter 5: Appropriation of the Role
• Chapter 6: Evaluation of the Role
• Chapter 7: Acceptance of the Role
• Bibliography
• Index of References
• General Index.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA73759870
• ISBN:
  • 0567030415
  • 0567030423
• LCCN: 2005041867
• Country Code: uk
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: London
• Pages/Volumes: xiv, 322 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : BS2675.52
  • DC22 : 227/.206
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Bible. N.T. Corinthians, 1st, I-IV -- Language, style
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA04401947