The Fading crown: Divine honour and the early Christians

Journal of Theological Studies

Volumn 54, Issue 2, 2003, Pages 493-529

  Harrison, J R ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 63849254894     PISSN: 00225185     EISSN: 14774607     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jts/54.2.493     Document Type: Article

References (158)

1. See B. J. Malina, The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology (Atlanta, 1980)
2. B. J. Malina and J. H. Neyrey, 'Honor and Shame in Luke-Acts: Pivotal Values of the Mediterranean World', in id. (eds.), The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation (Peabody 1991), pp. 25-65
3. B. J. Malina, and J. H. Neyrey, Portraits of Paul: An Archaeology of Ancient Personality (Louisville, 1996)
4. J. H. Neyrey, Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew (Louisville, 1998)
5. H. Moxnes, 'Honor, Shame, and the Outside World in Paul's Letter to the Romans', in J. Neusner et al. (eds.), The Social World of Formative Christianity and Judaism: Essays in Tribute to Hotvard clark Kee (Philadelphia, 1988), pp. 207-18
6. id., 'Honor and Shame', BTB 23/4 (1993), pp. 167-76
7. id., 'The Quest for Honour and the Unity of the Community in Romans 12 and in the Orations of Dio Chrysostom', in T. Engberg-Pedersen (ed.), Paul in His Hellenistic Context (Edinburgh, 1994), pp. 203-30
8. id., '"He saw that the city was full of idols" (Acts 17:6)', in D. Hellholm et al. (eds.), Mighty Minorities? Minorities in Early Christianity - Positions and Strategies (Oslo, 1995), pp. 107-31
9. For the classic readings on honour in the sociological literature, see the references to J. Pitt-Rivers and J. G. Peristiany in H. Moxnes, 'Honour' (1993)
10. For criticism of recent honour studies, see R G. Downing, ' "Honor" among Exegetes', CBQ 61/1 (1999), pp. 53-73
11. D. A. deSilva, 'Investigating Honor Discourse: Guidelines from Classical Rhetoricians', SBL 1997 Seminar Papers (Atlanta, 1997), pp. 491-525
12. E.g. D. A. deSilva, 'The Noble Contest: Honor, Shame, and the Rhetorical Strategy of 4 Maccabees', JSP 13 (1995), pp. 31-57
13. id., 'The Wisdom of Ben Sira: Honor, Shame, and the Maintenance of the Values of a Minority Culture', CBQ 58/3 (1996), pp. 433-55
14. See, however, B. W. Winter, 'Civic Honours for Christian Benefactors: Romans 13:3-4 and 1 Peter 2:14-15', in id., Seek the Welfare of the City: Christians as Benefactors and Citizens (Grand Rapids, 1994), pp. 25-40
15. Much neglected is the discussion of honour, focused on Roman and non-Roman exempla, found in Valerius Maximus, Memorable Doings and Sayings 8.15
16. On the inadequacy of terminologically driven approaches to honour in Revelation, see D. A. deSilva, 'Honor Discourse and the Rhetorical Strategy of the Apocalypse of John', JSNT 71 (1998), pp. 87-8, n. 19
17. B. J. Malina, New Testament World, pp. 37-9
18. For discussion of the decree, see G. M. Rogers, The Sacred Identity of Ephesos: Foundation Myths of a Roman City (London, 1991)
19. D, A. deSilva, 'Apocalypse of John', p. 87, n. 19
20. Note the comment of J. Pitt-Rivers speaking of rituals such as the crowning of the monarch ('Honour and Social Status', in J. G. Peristiany [ed.], Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society [Chicago, 1966], p. 25): 'We should start by noting the intimate relation between honour and the physical person'
21. G. M. Stevenson, 'Conceptual Background to the Golden Crown Imagery in the Apocalypse of John (4:4, 10; 14:14)', JBL 114/2 (1995), pp. 257-72
22. See the discussion of M. Guarducci ('Corone d'oro', Epigraphiea 35/1-2 (1973), pp. 7-23, esp. pp. 12, 23) on the presence of sepulchral golden crowns at Priene and Smyrna (Rev. 2:10)
23. Cf. Cicero, Pro Flacco 31
24. Correctly, P J. Marshall, 'The Enigmatic Apostle: Paul and Social Change, Did Paul Seek to Transform GraecoRoman Society?', in T. W. Hillard et al. (eds.), Ancient History in a Modern University. Volume II: Early Christianity, Late Antiquity, and Beyond (Grand Rapids, 1998), p. 154
25. D. A. deSilva ('The Construction and Social Function of a Counter-Cosmos in the Revelation of John', Forum 9/1-2 [1993], pp. 47-61) argues that in the 'counter-cosmos' of John the majority honour God and the Lamb (Rev. 4:4-11; 5:5-14; 7:9-12; 14:1-3) as opposed to the minority of idol worshippers who did not
26. On Greco-Roman crowns, see W. F. Boyd, 'Crown', in J. Hastings (ed.), Dictionary of the Apostolic Church (Edinburgh, 1915), p. 269
27. Regling, 'Kranz', PW 11/2, pp. 1588-1607
28. L. Deubner, 'Die Bedeutung des Kranzes im klassischen Altertum', ARW 30 (1933), pp. 70-104
29. K. Baus, Der Kranz in Antike und Christentum (Bonn, 1940)
30. O. Broneer, 'The Isthmian Victory Crown', AJA 66/3 (1962), pp. 259-63
31. G. R. Watson, 'Crowns and Wreaths', OCD (Oxford, 1970), p. 300
32. W. Grundmann, in G. Kittel and G. Friedrich (eds.), trans. G. W. Bromily, TDNT, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, 1971), pp. 615-36
33. C. J. Hcmer, in C. Brown (ed.), DNTT, vol. 1 (Exeter, 1975), pp. 405-6
34. F. W. Danker, Benefactor: Epigraphic Study of a Graeco-Roman and New Testament Semantic Field (St Louis, 1982), pp. 467-71
35. G. H. R. Horsley (ed.), 'Funerary Practice in Hellenistic and Roman Rhodes', in id. (ed.), New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, vol. 2 (Macquarie University, 1982), p. 50
36. D. Janes, God and Gold in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 126-8
37. G. M. Stevenson, 'Golden Crown Imagery'
38. Other public honours accorded the benefactor were the painted, bronze, gold, or marble image (e.g. SIG3 800
39. I Priene 112-113
40. I. Mylassa 110), as were the statues of his children (A. R. Hands, Charities and Social Aid in Greece and Rome [London, 1968], §D69)
41. C. Veligianni, 'Ein hellenistiches Ehrendekret aus Gazoros (Ostmakedonien)', ZPE 51 (1983), pp. 105-14
42. For a translation and discussion of the decree, see J. R. Harrison, 'Benefaction Ideology and Christian Responsibility for Widows', in S. R. Llewelyn (ed.), New Documents, pp. 106-16
43. E.g. OGIS 248, 339
44. I. Mylasa 106, 110
45. J. Benedum, 'Griechische Arztinschriften aus Kos', ZPE 25 (1977), PP 265-76, §4
46. On olive-crowned Minerva and the reward of military service with olive crowns, see Tertullian, De Cor. 12
47. On the New Testament and the cults generally, see J. R. Harrison, 'Paul's House Churches and the Cultic Associations', RTR 58/1 (1999), pp. 31-47
48. S. M. Burstein, The Hellenistic Age from the Battle of Ipsos to the Death of Kleopatra VII (Cambridge, 1985), §4
49. Lucian, Anacharsis 9)
50. E. A. Judge ('The Teacher as Moral Exemplar in Paul and in the Inscriptions of Ephcsus', in D. Peterson and J. Pryor [eds.], In the Fullness of Time: Biblical Studies in Honour of Archbishop Donald Robinson [Homebush, Sydney, 1992], p. 187) pithily sums up the situation: 'The money has purchased merit'. At times the inscriptions emphasize the fact that benefactions, not just moral excellence, are being rewarded with the crown: (Michel 1011: 'on account of merit and beneficence')
51. J. Benedum, 'Arztinschriften aus Kos', §4. ('piety'): Michel 985. ('goodness'): Michel 998
52. ID 4.1519. ('love of honour'): I. Mylasa 106, 110
53. Michel 982; cf SEG 28.20, 21.419
54. Respectively, Michel 550
55. Michel 147 (second half of the fourth century BC)
56. For Ctesiphon's provisional decree and Aeschines' subsequent indictment, see respectively Dem. De Cor., 118 and 54-5
57. L'Année Epìgraphique (1991), §1031. Undated
58. G. M. A. Hanfmann and N. H. Ramage, Sculpture from Sardis: The Finds through 1975 (Cambridge, Mass., and London, 1978), §245
59. For additional examples of engraved pictorial crowns, see G. H. R. Horsley (ed.), 'Posthumous Honours for Civic and Domestic Virtues', in id. (ed.), New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, vol. 2 (Macquarie University, 1982), pp. 58-60
60. P. F Foucart, Des associations religieuses chez les Grecs: thiases, éranes, orgéons (New York, 1975: French orig. Paris, 1873), §§3, 25, 39, 43, 52, 60, 64
61. L. Robert, 'Les Inscriptions', in J. des Gagniers et al. (eds.), Laodicée du Lycos: Le Nymphée (Paris-Québec, 1969), pp. 325-7
62. A priestess of the Dionysiac cult in Thessalonica bequeaths funds for unspecified objects - probably crowns of roses - to be burned in a commemoratory sacrifice, with the proviso that 'the mystae, each and every one, are to bear a crown of roses at the ceremony. The mystes who does not bear such a crown is to have no share in the income from my bequest'. A Macedonian bequest, found at Neos Skopos, stipulates that the testator's grave be annually crowned For both inscriptions, see C. Edson, 'Cults of Thessalonica', HTR 41/3 (1948), pp. 165-75
63. For discussion, see J. Plevnik, Paul and the Paronsia: An Exegetical and Theological Investigation (Peabody, 1997), pp. 13-16
64. B. W. Winter, 'Civic Honours', passim
65. See R. Strelan, Paul, Arrtemis and the Jews in Ephesus (Berlin/New York, 1996), P 107
66. Martyrdom: Rev. 2:10 (cf. vv. 9-11)
67. On the victory and martyr crown in Christianity, see K. Baus, Der Krunz, pp. 170-80 and 180-90 respectively
68. id., 'The Endangered Benefactor in Luke - Acts', in H. K. Richards (ed.), Society of Biblical Literature 1981 Seminar Papers (Atlanta, 1986), pp. 39-48
69. The posthumous crowning of Christ (Heb. 2:9) stands in contrast to accounts of soldiers who were crowned after risking their life in battle. For example, Agesilaus was crowned and then fined a thousand drachmas for daring 'to hazard his life in battle without armour' (Plutarch, Ages. 34.8)
70. On the honour-shame dynamic in Hebrews, see D. A. deSilva, Despising Shame: The Social Function of the Rhetoric of Honor and Dishonour in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Atlanta, 1993)
71. For an excellent discussion of the variant, (Heb. 2:9), see P. E. Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, 1977), pp. 94-7
72. 2 [Stuttgart, 1994], p. 594) considers that the variant arose either as 'a scribal lapse... or, more probably, as a marginal gloss'
73. For another overlap, see G. H. R. Horsley, 'Funerary Practice', who refers to a comedian's epitaph as background to Jas. 1:12 (IG 14.441)
74. See the excellent discussion of L. Goppelt, A Commentary on I Peter (Grand Rapids, 1993), P. 349, n. 32
75. See C. J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting (Sheffield, 1986), pp. 70-6
76. K. Baus, Der Kranz in Antike, p. 167 refers to Phil. 4:1 as a parallel to the Mithras episode. Circermus, the Olympian pancratiast, dropped his palm to the ground and took off his wreath in deference to Diogenes' superior wisdom (Pseudo-Diogenes, Epistles 31)
77. See P. A. Harland, 'Honours and Worship: Emperors, Imperial Cults and Associations at Ephesus (First to Third Centuries C.E.)', SR 25/3 (1996), pp. 319-34
78. See, too, I. Pergamon 2.374 (AD 117-138: M Beard et al. (eds.), Religions of Rome Volume 2: A Sourcebook [Cambridge, 1998], §10.5b)
79. The emphasis on (Rev 4:9) may have recalled the 55 thanksgivings to the gods, decreed by the Senate, in honour of Augustus' military victories and those of his legates (Res Gestae 4.2)
80. See R. Bauckham, God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1998), pp. 53-4
81. For the arguments on dating, see J. A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia, 1976), pp. 221-53
82. D. A. deSilva, 'The Social Setting of the Revelation to John: Conflicts Within, Fears Without', WTJ 54 (1992), pp. 273-302
83. J. C. Wilson, 'The Problem of the Domitianic Date of Revelation', NTS 39/4 (1993), PP 587-605
84. For Augustus, see R. K. Sherk (ed.), The Roman Empire: Augustus to Hadrian (Cambridge, 1988), §1F
85. D. Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West: Studies in the Ruler Cult of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire, vol 2.1 (Leiden, 1991), pp. 562, 566
86. On Jewish responses to the imperial theology of victor)', see P. F. Esler, 'God's Honour and Rome's Triumph: Responses to the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE in Three Jewish Apocalypses', in id., Modelling Early Christianity: Social Scientific Studies of the New Testament in Its Context (London and New York), pp. 239-58
87. Claudius: H. Mattingly, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (London, 1965), vol. 1, §196
88. See P. Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor, 1988), p. 231, Fig. 182
89. L. J. Kreitzer, Striking New Images: Roman Imperial Coinage and the New Testament (Sheffield, 1996), pp. 79-80, §6
90. Zanker, The Power of Images, p. 303, Fig. 235
91. A. L. Kuttner, Dynasty and Empire in the Age of Augustus: The Case of the Boscoreale Cups (Berkeley/Los Angeles/Oxford), Plate 2. J. W. Rich and J. H. C. Williams ('Leges et Ivra P. R. Restitvit: A New Aureus of Octavian and the Settlement of 28-27 BC', Numismatic Chronicle 159 [1999], p. 179) points to a remarkably similar denarius as a parallel to this vignette from the Boscoreale cup
92. The scene on the coin (C. H. V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage Volume 1: 31BC-AD 69 [London, 1984], §270) shows the togate Octavian seated on a curule chair with Victory in his right hand
93. 2 , trans. L. R. M. Strachan (1927; repr. Grand Rapids, 1978), pp. 342-78
94. E. Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars: Historical Sketches (London, 1955), pp. 147-91
95. P. W. Barnett, 'Polemical Parallelism: Some Further Reflections on the Apocalypse', JSNT 35 (1989), pp. 111-20
96. For a relief of Augustus with the Pharaonic crown, see E. Simon, Augustus: Kunst und Leben in Rom um die Zeitenwende (München, 1986), Fig. 276
97. Among the fulsome Egyptian titles of Augustus is 'Lord of the diadems' (P. Wendland, Die hellenistisch-römische Kultur in ihren Beziehungen zu Judentum und Christentum [Tübingen, 1907], p. 102, §7)
98. Dio Cassius, Roman History 63.20.1-3, 21.1-2)
99. On John as an itinerant circuit prophet, see D. A. deSilva, 'The Social Setting', p. 286
100. S. R. F. Price's comment (Rituals and Power: The Imperial Cult in Asia Minor [Cambridge, 1984], pp. 247-8) regarding the importance of local élites in the imperial cult is helpful in this regard: 'The imperial cult, like the cults of the traditional gods, created a relationship of power between subject and ruler. It also enhanced the dominance of local elites over the populace, of cities over cities, and of Greek over indigenous cultures. That is, the cult was a major part of the web of power that formed the fabric of society.'
101. S. Friesen, 'The Cult of the Roman Emperors in Ephesos: Temple Wardens, City Titles, and the Interpretation of the Revelation of John', in H. Koestcr (cd.), Ephesos: Metropolis of Asia. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Its Archaeology, Religion, and Culture (Valley Forge, 1995), p. 250
102. Note the insightful comment of J. N. Kraybill (Imperial Cult and Commerce in John's Apocalypse [Sheffield, 1996], pp. 221-2): 'Jesus made his people into a kingdom, into "priests serving our God" (5:10) - an answer to Emperors who conferred kingdoms and authorized the Augustales'
103. Sherk, The Roman Empire, §32 (AD 15; Gythcion): the agoranomos 'shall conduct a procession from the temple of Asklepios and Health, including in it ephebes and young men and other citizens wearing garlands of hay leaves, and in white clothing'
104. Graf, 'An Oracle against Pestilence from a Western Anatolian Town', ZPE 92 (1992), pp. 267-79, esp. p. 268
105. On this theme, see J. R. Harrison, 'Paul and the Imperial Gospel at Thessalonikì', JSNT 25/1 (2002), pp. 71-96, esp. pp. 87-8
106. On this theme, see J. R. Harrison, 'Paul, Eschatology, and the Augustan Age of Grace', TynBul 50/1 (1999), pp. 79-91
107. See Tertullian, De Corona, passim
108. For a similar representation at Corinth, see N. Papahatzis, Ancient Corinth: The Museums of Corinth, Isthmia and Sicyon (Athens, 1994), p. 91
109. Regarding the relation of the imperial cult to Artemis, numismatic evidence reveals that a shrine and altar of Augustus was placed in the sacred precinct of the goddess. See W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches (London, 1904), p. 231, Fig, 17
110. For further discussion, see R. Strelan, Artemis, p. 101
111. See also Dion. Hal., Ant. Rom. 14.9.6: '[a] most distinguished crown ... and a splendid and imperishable renown
112. For a fragmentary victors' list of the Isthmian games, see J. H. Kent, Corinth: Volume VIII, Part III. The Inscriptions 1926-1950 (Princeton, 1950), §228
113. For translations of Xenophanes and Euripides, see S. G. Miller, Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources (Berkeley/Los Angeles/Oxford, 1991), pp. 184-5
114. For additional examples, see Diog. Laert. Vita 1.56
115. On Corinthian sophistry, see S. M. Pogoloff, LOGOS and SOPHIA: The Rhetorical Situation of 1 Corinthians (Atlanta, 1992)
116. D. Litfin, St Paul's Theology of Proclamation: 1 Corinthians 1-4 and Greco-Roman Rhetoric (Cambridge, 1994)
117. B. W. Winter, Philo and Paul among the Sophists (Cambridge, 1997)
118. B. K. Peterson, Eloquence and the Proclamation of the Gospel in Corinth (Atlanta, 1998)
119. D. B. Martin, Slavery as Salvation: The Metaphor of Slavery in Pauline Christianity (New Haven, 1990)
120. L. Moretti, Inscrizioni agonistiche greche (Rome, 1953), §64
121. Cited in T. Mcasham ct. al. (eds.), 1000 Years of the Olympic Games: Treasure of Ancient Greece (Sydney, 2000), p. 132
122. As regards the achaeological evidence, see the picture (C. Alexander, Greek Athletics [New York, 1925], p. 31) from a psykter showing a victorious athlete receiving a crown of wild olive
123. The athlete holds in his hand some of the branches showered on the victor by the spectators. Similarly, see the Attic votif relief (c.460 BC) of a naked victorious athlete, head shown in profile and body turned three quarters, placing a wreath on his head with his right hand (T. Measham, loc. cit,). Finally, athletes wear crowns of vegetation in a detail of a fifth century BC red-figure drinking cup (D. Sansone, Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport [Berkcley/Los Angeles/London, 1988], Fig. 8)
124. O. Broneer, 'The Isthmian Victory Crown'. At the museum of Isthmia there is a fine Roman marble head of an young athlete wearing a celery crown (N. Papahatzis, Ancient Corinth, p. 104)
125. J. Murphy-O'Connor, 'Corinth', in D. N. Freedman et al. (eds.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary Volume 1 A-C (New York, 1992), p. 1138
126. Quod Omn. Prob. 26
127. For a discussion of Philonic athletic imagery and coronal metaphors, see V. K. Robhins, The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse: Rhetoric, Society and Ideology (London and New York, 1996), pp. 130-1
128. Note the perceptive comment of S. Freyne ('Early Christianity and the Greek Athletic Ideal', Concilium 5/205 [1989], p. 96): 'The philosophic tradition had transferred the notion of the true contest (agon) to the sphere of the ethical struggle in which those who sought to live the good life were engaged, and the victor's crown was seen as properly belonging to the philosopher/sage'
129. See also V, C. Pfitzner, Paul and the Agon Motif. Traditional Athletic Imagery in the Pauline Literature (Leiden, 1967)
130. R. Garrison, 'Paul's Use of the Athlete Metaphor in 1 Corinthians 9', in idem The Graeco-Roman Context of Early Christian Literature (Sheffield, 1997), pp. 95-104
131. A. Papathomas, 'Das agonistische Motiv 1 Kor 9.24ff. im Spiegel zcitgenössischer dokumentarischer Quellen', NTS 43/2 (1997), pp. 223-41
132. N. Clayton Croy, Endurance in Suffering: Hebrews 12: 1-13 in Its Rhetorical, Religious and Philosophical Context (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 40-76
133. R. F. Collins, First Corinthians (Collegeville, 1999), pp. 357-63
134. A. C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Carlisle, 2000), pp. 712-13
135. id., Encheridion 29, 51)
136. For a comparison of Paul's slavery discourse with the slavery imagery of Philo and Epietetus, see V. K. Robbins, Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse, pp. 132-7
137. On the 'body' as synonymous for 'myself in 1 Cor. 9:27, see G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, 1987), p. 439
138. Correctly, R. H. Gundry, SOMA in Biblical Theology with Emphasis on Pauline Anthropology (Cambridge, 1976), p. 196
139. Similarly, A. C. Thiselton, Corinthians, p. 715: 'He actively enslaves his life to larger apostolic purposes'
140. For discussion, see N. Clayton Croy, Endurance, pp. 53-5
141. See especially the discussion of B. W. Winter, Philo, pp. 165-70
142. In endorsing Winter's interpretation, I am not denying that Paul may be interacting more generally with Cynic-Stoic understandings of freedom ('Determinism and Free Will in Paul: The Argument in 1 Corinthians 8 and 9', in T. Engberg-Pederscn [ed.], Paul in His Hellenistic Context [Edinburgh, 1994], pp. 231-55)
143. However, on the basis of the internal evidence of 1 Corinthians, Paul seems to be countering the Corinthian overestimation of sophistic eloquence. Further, it is almost a scholarly axiom that 1 Cor. 4:8 represents Paul's ironic dismissal of a Corinthian 'over-realised esehatology'. Thus 1 Cor. 9:25 is viewed as another rebuttal of this theological error (e.g. G. D. Fee, Corinthians, p. 437
144. A. C. Thiselton, 'Realised Eschatology at Corinth', NTS 24 [1978], pp. 510-26)
145. But, in my opinion, the over-realized eschatologieal viewpoint theologically misinterprets a Cynic-Stoic commonplace employed by Paul in 1 Cor. 4:8
146. For discussion, see J. T. Fitzgerald, Cracks in an Earthen Vessel: An Examination of the Catalogue of Hardships in the Corinthian Correspondence (Atlanta, 1988), pp. 135-6
147. W. Meeks, The Origins of Christian Morality: The First Two Centuries (New Haven and London, 1993), p. 63
148. Note the comment of R. K Collins, Corinthians, p. 359: Although Hellenistic moralists were not disinclined to note the ephemeral quality of the victors, the contrast they set forth was with virtues and values (peace, serenity, etc.)'
149. In the context, 'the weak' (1 Cor. 9:22: 01) are probably Gentile converts, including some 'god-fearers'. As S. C. Barton argues ('Paul as Relativist', Interchange 19 [1976], p. 172), 'Paul describes them as "weak" because of a continuing naiveté in relation to their idolatrous background (cf. 1 Cor. 8:7, 10), which gave rise to unjustified scruples of conscience on the basis of what amounted to a new legalism'
150. Equally, Paul may well be alluding to the pastoral language of the popular philosophers which characterized the 'tender' student of the philosophical school as 'weak'. See C. E. Glad, Paul and Philodemus: Adaptability in Epicurean and Early Christian Psyehagogy (Leiden/New York/Köln, 1995), esp. pp. 249-77. Given the complex social, theological, and pastoral mix of the Corinthian church, we should not discount the possibility that Paul is choosing terminology which would resonate with several audiences
151. See especially the discussion of S. C. Barton, "'All Things to All People": Paul and the Law in the Light of 1 Corinthians 9:19-23', in J. D. G. Dunn (ed.), Paul and the Mosaic Law (Tübingen, 1996), pp. 271-85
152. More recently, J. L. Sumncy, 'The Place of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 in Paul's Argument', JBL 119/2 (2000), pp. 329-33
153. On factionalism, see M. M. Mitchell, Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation: An Exegetieal Investigation of the Language and Composition of 1 Corinthians (Tübingen, 1992)
154. B, F. Witherington (Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians [Carlisle, 1995], P 214) sums up 1 Cor. 9:24-27 in this way: 'It is quite clear that Paul considers it possible for him and his audience to lose the crown if they do not follow the law of Christ. Paul cuts a peculiar figure. His life has a cruciform shape; its rejection of status is what he wishes his converts to exemplify'
155. Suetonius, Galba 18; Vitelline 9
156. A. D. Nock, Conversion: The Old and the New in Religion from Alexander The Great to Augustine of Hippo (Oxford, 1933), p. 212
157. The self-assertion of small people can also be seen in the honorific inscriptions. The decrees of small clubs and associations aped the honorific productions of the hellenistic poleis. See F. W. Danker, 'On Stones and Benefactors', CurTM 8/6 (1981), p. 352
158. W. Peek, 'Grabepigramm aus Aegyptcn', ZPE 21 (1976), pp. 133-4