Drenth, Erik
(2018)
Ten Thousand Words: Ecstatic Speech in the Corinthian Ekklesia/ An Exegesis of 1 Corinthians 14:19.
Master thesis, Master Theologie.
Abstract
Much is unknown about the first decades of Christianity. Few sources are available that tell
about the emerge of a new religion that would be the largest religion two millennia later. One
of the sources that can be used for the study of the earliest Christians is the work of Paul. The
information that he gives about the daily problems of early Christianity are priceless for the
research of early Christianity. I have chosen a single verse from the work of Paul as the
subject of this thesis, in which many parts of Pauline theology come together. To provide a
good exegesis of 1 Corinthians 14: 19, the verse that I choose, it will be necessary to study the
way Paul looked at the human being (anthropology), the Divine Spirit (pneumatology), the
Christian congregation (ecclesiology) and to study how Paul incorporates Greek and Jewish
elements in all these aspects. I will study the writings of Paul with an eye in the works of his
contemporaries to find the parallels that lead to an insight in the roots of Pauline thought.
In 1 Cor. 14:19, Paul gives his thoughts about glossolalia ("speaking in tongues").
Glossolalia was an issue in early Christian Corinth, as it still is so today in Pentecostal and
evangelical churches. In will only focus on the way Paul handles glossolalia in one of his
churches, and will not discuss practices of Pentecostal churches the twenty-first century.
However, the issues of our day will be lingering when I will argue that recommendations and
instructions given to the church in Corinth were not just a temporary solution to a specific
problem, as can often be heart in Pentecostal and evangelical circles, but that Paul's
recommendations fit in his vision of the church and theology.
This thesis will focus on four subjects that are important for the exegesis of 1 Cor
14:19. Firstly, I will give an overview of the direct context of this verse, that is the first letter
to the Corinthians, to make clear how the verse is embedded in Paul's addressing of the issues
in Corinth. Secondly, I will give an overview of Pauline anthropology, to give insight in the
way Paul's concepts spirit and mind, both used in the 1 Cor. 14:19, should be understood.
Thirdly, I will discuss divine inspired ecstatic speech in Corinth in comparison to ecstatic
speech in Greek religion, and the last part will discuss the place in society Paul gives to the
church in a study of the usage of the word ekklesia, the name that Paul uses for the church in
1 Cor. 14:19, but also throughout the first letter to the Corinthians and other parts of his work.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Kooten, G.H. van | G.H.van.Kooten@rug.nl | | | | Bremmer, J.N. | J.N.Bremmer@rug.nl | | | | Roig Lanzillotta, F.L. | F.L.Roig.Lanzillotta@rug.nl | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Theologie |
| Date of delivery: |
07 Dec 2018 |
| Last modified: |
07 Dec 2018 10:52 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/446 |
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