New Testament scholarship has long sought to recount the religious situation in Corinth as addressed by the Apostle Paul in his letters to the Corinthians. The most tantalizing question is whether or not the Corinthians were Gnostics, proto-gnostics, or something related to Jewish Hellenism. It is now certain that the Corinthians definitely were not Gnostics like Valentinus, Basilides, or Marcion of the second and third centuries. However, many scholars are still maintaining that the Corinthians were proto-gnostics or the forerunners of Gnosticism; possibly influenced by the Jewish Hellenistic school located in Alexandria. This paper shall attempt to show the true nature behind the uses of sophia (wisdom) and gnosis (knowledge) in the Pauline corpus as innocent references to secular wisdom in general; not just an exclusive avenue of Hellenistic thought. Furthermore, we shall investigate the extent of Jewish influences, namely that of Philo and the possible link with Apollos of Alexandria. It is hoped that through a historical, geographical, and exegetical approach; a more clear understanding of the Corinthian religious situation, as a random phenomenon of Roman environmental circumstances, can be established.

I The Spiritual Search of the Pagan World

The world of Paul and the Corinthians was a period of spiritual, political, and
cultural fluctuation. Ideas were moving freely across the Empire thanks to a Roman policy of tolerance. This process set the stage for Christianity as eloquently stated by Starr:

A major element in the spread of Christianity was the fact that the pagan world
was already moving, though blindly, in the direction that Christian thought
was to take more consciously. Neither a Roman poet like Virgil nor a
Greek philosopher like Epictetus would have understood the statement that
he was a forerunner of Christianity, yet it is true that many thinkers and
artists of the Empire reflect the contemporary spiritual uneasiness and
the search for meaning in a vast, materialistic world.1

Starr’s comments are not only an accurate assessment, but they also hint as to what was going on at Corinth. The Corinthians were experiencing new ideas (Christianity being the primary item), but the residue of old ideas may have not been entirely effaced from the Corinthian minds. We shall come back to this very important point later on in our investigation.

As we have just seen, the whole drive of imperial culture was in the direction of new concepts 2 of man and of the divine.3 Roman hegemony tended to alienate the people across the Empire; causing them to seek after things pertaining to identity, purpose, and security. Roman authority, being supreme and supra-national, meant exile in one’s own country; therefore, religion and philosophy became outlets for unsatisfied faith and lost pride–otherwise filled by the love of one’s nation. Quite simply, the Roman age was a time not only of uncontrolled blood lust, but of pessimism and nerve failure regarding the powers of man to work out his own future.4 This was a world dominated by Fortune, Fate, and daemons.5 It is no wonder that the Corinthians were looking for something substantive (gnosis) here and now, rather than waiting for the return of Christ or undergoing a process of sanctification. Salvivic knowledge of any kind was desperately sought.

Where did one find such knowledge? The choices were limitless and all vying for the attention of anyone interested. During this time, we find a significant respect for oracles, miracle-workers, and a host of emotional, personal mystery faiths.6 From Egypt came the Hellenized cult of Isis the mother of all, from Persia came Mithras with its Babylonian astrology, Cybele (the Great Mother) was worshipped since 204 B.C., and of course Rome introduced emperor worship to accompany the old pantheon of gods of Classical Greece.7

Religion was not the only way to fill the spiritual void. Philosophy was yet another option available to the first century seeker of truth and knowledge. It offered more immediate results than a promise of the after-life. Some philosophic schools were interested in a way of living more than salvation. Epicureans and Stoics were examples of this. They offered a code of conduct rather than a faith. Epicureans preached contentment through a pursuit of non-excessive pleasures. Stoics emphasized the acceptance of being only an insignificant part of the cosmos where all one must do is simply fulfill the role nature has assigned. Seneca sums it up nicely:

Our motto, as everyone knows, is to live in conformity with nature: it is
quite contrary to nature to torture one’s body, to reject simple standards
of cleanliness and make a point of being dirty, to adopt a diet that is not
just plain but hideous and revolting… Philosophy calls for simple living, not
for doing penance, and the simple way of life need not be a crude one.8

Seneca’s call for a simple and realistic life is a practical approach in an age of anxiety filled with so many pathways to heaven. Seneca’s dry remark on penance is just one example felt by many that religion can be a torture which thwarts happiness in the present world. The mentality is: “why must we wait for heaven to come down to us, or us to ascend to heaven, when we can live out our salvation now?” No doubt Paul deals with a similar mentality in Corinth.
The brief sketch of the Roman world is necessary for our argument because it explains to us that nature of the surroundings Paul had to work within. But what about Corinth itself? Raymond Brown, in his commentary, reminds us that the Corinth Paul visited was not continuous with the ancient city that was destroyed by the Roman consul, Lucius Mummius in 146 B.C.9 Julius Caesar began its restoration in 44 B.C., enticing Jews, Greeks, Romans, and Orientals to gravitate to the city because it was a mighty commercial sea port ranking with Alexandria, Ephesus, and Rome itself as one of the most important cities in the Empire.10 Corinth was thus a melting pot of cultures that mixed their ideas as well as their commerce.

It is highly probable that Gnostic ideas from Alexandria made their way across the Mediterranean to Corinth as a by-product of commercial trade, but does Paul necessarily deal with it in his letters to the Corinthians? Rudolph Bultmann thought Gnosticism crept into Corinth via Alexandria and its Hellenistic Jewish contingency through a syncretistic process, as did Schmithals and Wilckens who found a Gnostic Christology among the opponents of Paul in 1 Corinthians.11 Brown, however, correctly states that gnosticizing tendencies are not sufficient to substantiate a developed system or theology–furthermore, Corinth as a melting pot, would never have been an ideal place for one to develop.12 Of course, we still have to deal with the lingering scholarly consensus that they were proto-gnostics influenced by Alexandrian Jewish Hellenism, but we must first turn our attention to Paul before we can.

Now that we have discounted the possibility of an organized Gnostic “system” at Corinth, let us recount Paul and his visit to the city. We know from the Acts of the Apostles that Paul came to Corinth after his missionary venture in Athens (18:1 NKJV). He met Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who had recently arrived in Corinth because of the expulsion from Rome ordered by Claudius (18:2). Acts also tells us that Paul was in Corinth during the proconsulship of Gallio (18:12). Hans Conzelmann dates Gallio’s proconsulship between 51 A.D. to as late as 53 A.D.13 Paul, therefore, remained in Corinth sometime during these years–a lengthy enough time for the Corinthians to fully understand his teachings. Paul stayed on this long as the founder of a new church, probably organizing leaders and teaching them so that they could continue on without him for it is likely he knew he would be moving on. Paul’s lengthy stay is important because, even in spite of it, the Corinthians deviate from his teachings soon after he leaves. Many scholars believe that Jewish Hellenism from Alexandria moved into the Corinthian church at this time; possibly derived from the Jewish writer Philo.

In Alexandria arose the greatest Jewish scholar of the Diaspora, Philo (c. 30 B.C.–45 A.D.), who essayed to reconcile Plato and the Bible, while giving priority in invention to Moses, and developed an allegorical method of interpreting the Old Testament for that purpose.14 In Philo’s writings, he shows a profound personal intimacy with the heavenly Sophia (feminine personification of wisdom).15 Lady Wisdom or Sophia is the central character of Hellenistic Jewish wisdom literature. She has been a literary figure used even in the Bible.16 Richard Horsley maintains that it is this view that the Corinthians have in mind with their usage of sophia in 1 Corinthians 1-4.17 Of course we have to remember that it is Paul who writes the term, and not the Corinthians; therefore, we must understand his usage of it. But for Philo, Sophia was the giver of wisdom and knowledge (gnosis), usually “knowledge of God” or “knowledge of truth.”18 Gnosis thus becomes the religious theological content of sophia; an expression or one manifestation of it.19 The recipients thereby have a special religious status, as “wise” or “righteous” or “perfect.”20 Since it is through Paul’s context we must proceed, let us look briefly at the literary characteristics of 1 Corinthians. By analyzing the structure of 1 Corinthians, we can better understand who and what Paul is addressing, and whether or not Jewish Hellenism is the culprit of the ideas he is attacking. Read the rest of this entry »