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Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians: Paul, Stoicism, and Spiritual Hierarchy
A bold new reading of 1 Corinthians in light of Greco-Roman philosophy
The First Letter to the Corinthians begins with an admonishment of the church over their internal division and reliance on human wisdom. What exactly occasioned Paul’s advice has perennially troubled New Testament scholars. Many scholars have asserted that Paul disapproved of the Corinthians’ infatuation with rhetoric. Yet careful exegesis of the epistle problematizes this consensus.
Timothy A. Brookins unsettles common assumptions about the Corinthian conflict in this innovative monograph. His close reading of 1 Corinthians 1–4 presents evidence that the Corinthian problem had roots in Stoicism. The wisdom Paul alludes to is not sophistry, but a Stoic-inspired understanding of natural hierarchy, in which the wise put themselves above believers they considered spiritually underdeveloped. Moreover, Paul’s followers saw themselves as a philosophical school in rivalry with other Christians, engendering divisions in the church.
Combining scriptural exegesis and investigation of Greco-Roman philosophical culture, Brookins reconstructs the social sphere of Corinth that Paul addresses in his letter. His masterful analysis provides much needed clarity on the context of a major epistle and on Pauline theology more broadly.
The First Letter to the Corinthians begins with an admonishment of the church over their internal division and reliance on human wisdom. What exactly occasioned Paul’s advice has perennially troubled New Testament scholars. Many scholars have asserted that Paul disapproved of the Corinthians’ infatuation with rhetoric. Yet careful exegesis of the epistle problematizes this consensus.
Timothy A. Brookins unsettles common assumptions about the Corinthian conflict in this innovative monograph. His close reading of 1 Corinthians 1–4 presents evidence that the Corinthian problem had roots in Stoicism. The wisdom Paul alludes to is not sophistry, but a Stoic-inspired understanding of natural hierarchy, in which the wise put themselves above believers they considered spiritually underdeveloped. Moreover, Paul’s followers saw themselves as a philosophical school in rivalry with other Christians, engendering divisions in the church.
Combining scriptural exegesis and investigation of Greco-Roman philosophical culture, Brookins reconstructs the social sphere of Corinth that Paul addresses in his letter. His masterful analysis provides much needed clarity on the context of a major epistle and on Pauline theology more broadly.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2024
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December 30, 2025
This is a fine book, a detailed exegetical study of 1 Corinthians 1-4. Brookins pushes against the scholarly consensus of the past 40 years that Paul was responding to the rhetorical excesses of the Second Sophistic movement. He argues instead that the Corinthians were heavily influenced by Stoicism and so misinterpreted key elements of their Christian faith along Stoic lines. Brookins argues that Paul was in fact not opposed to rhetoric, since he used it so well, but that he was quite concerned to correct the ways that Stoicism had skewed the message of the gospel in the minds of the "wise" at Corinth. This is a technical book, so non-specialists will find it daunting, but scholars of Paul's letters should not ignore Brookins's arguments.
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