The Tenor of Toughness: The Interpersonal Metafunction in 1 Corinthians 1-4

Abstract

This study offers a linguistic-critical reading of 1 Corinthians 1-4. Rather than pursuing the concerns of traditional historical-critical approaches such as classical rhetorical criticism, this study approaches the text from the modem sociolinguistic paradigm known as Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL). More specifically, the reading offered in this study is an application of Appraisal Theory. This implementation of SFL theory is concerned primarily with the interpersonal meanings that get encoded in text, especially as they pertain to the social action that Meeks calls '"resocialization." In other words, Tenor ofToughness is a study of the apostle Paul's use of language for the purpose of bringing the letter's putative readers into alignment with the ideology (theology) and values with which Paul expects all believers in Christ in every place to align. Methodologically, the model offered in the present study directs its attention to the linguistics of appraisal evident in Paul's language comprising 1 Cor 1-4. That is, it analyzes the text and identifies Paul's use of language for the purpose of positively or negatively evaluating the entities or propositions about which he is writing. It is argued that positive appraisals allow one to see what value positions Paul believes should be taken up by believers in Christ, while negative appraisals indicate those value positions that should be rejected. Thus, for example, Paul's urging of the implied readers to ··say the same'' (1 Cor 1:1 0) indicates a positive stance toward unity and negative stance toward division/discord. Additionally, Appraisal Theory analyzes the various linguistic engagement strategies Paul employs in 1 Cor 1-4, for these, too, are indicative of what value positions Paul believes ought to be taken up or rejected by believers. For example. Paul might concede some point in his argument, but immediately offer a counter point that supplants the conceded proposition. Care is taken to interpret the appraisals and the social values they reveal in light of first-century Greco-Roman cultural context. Values such as humility. pride, loyalty/faithfulness, or friendship are different in many ways from the values of the twenty-first century Western North American social location of the present writer. For this reason, the interpretation ofthese values (or anything related to ideology) are carefully weighed against the scholarship of social historians and Social-Scientific Criticism.