Paul and Sacrifice in Corinth: Rethinking Paul's Views on Gentile Cults in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10

Abstract

This thesis argues that (1) Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 are coherent and consistent, and (2) that the apostle’s instructions does not express his departure from Judaism. For many years, scholars working on 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 have struggled to explain how these two chapters are connected and what Paul’s instructions within the two chapters are. I present a new reading of 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 where I argue that these chapters are connected in a coherent way and that Paul deals with two separate, yet connected, contexts in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. In 1 Corinthians 8, he instructs the Corinthian Christ followers that they can take part in the dinners that often followed an animal sacrifice in antiquity, as long as it does not present an issue to another Christ followers. The key reason for this is the social capital at stake, would they not partake in these dinners. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells the Christ followers that they cannot participate at the altar when animals are sacrificed. Doing so would be a violation against their exclusive relationship with the god of Israel and Jesus Christ. Many have read 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 as evidence for Paul’s departure from Judaism. I push back against this understanding by placing Paul’s instructions in the wider web of Jewish literature from the Second Temple period and the early rabbinic period. By comparing Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 to texts from these time periods, it becomes clear that Paul is part of an ongoing Jewish conversation about how someone could remain faithful to the god of Israel while living in a gentile society.