Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Publication Title
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Abstract
This article challenges the use o f I Corinthians as the starting point of a popular devolutionary narrative whereby the charismatic historical Paul gave way over time to the ecclesiastical “Paul” of the canonical tradition. I draw attention to the numerous ways in which the Paul of 1 Corinthians appeals to tradition and to wider ecclesial practices as a way of constraining the practices and beliefs of the Corinthians, and I argue that this devolutionary narrative is being undergirded not by a close reading of the primary sources, or by a careful application of Max Weber’s nuanced work on authority, but by the theologically tendentious Protestant framework established in Rudolph Sohrn’s Kirchenrecht.
Recommended Citation
White, Benjamin L., "The Traditional and Ecclesiastical Paul of 1 Corinthians" (2017). Publications. 34.
https://open.clemson.edu/phil_pubs/34