Sacrilege and temple imagery in 1 Corinthians

Abstract

Most scholars read Paul’s application of temple imagery to human beings within a Jewish context, which sometimes means dichotomising Jewish and Greco-Roman data. This leads to approaches that overlook signs of potential resonance between 1 Cor 3:16–17 and 1 Cor 6:19 and discussions of sacrilege in ancient literature. In this thesis, I will contend that Paul’s use of temple imagery in these two passages demonstrates coherence with a pattern common to ancient literature, and that recognizing this coherence clarifies the way the temple should be understood to function in its rhetorical context. I argue that a system of “major metaphysical pollution” lies beneath ancient discussions of sacrilege and I outline the causes, effects, terminology, and means of resolution associated with this system of pollution. I note distinctions between this system and discussions of moral pollution in the OT and consider how one would determine whether Paul’s temple imagery coheres with one system or the other. I also ask whether the logic of major metaphysical pollution is discernible in Josephus and Philo in order to determine whether this system is invoked by other first-century Jews and to understand how these Jews might use it. I then exegete both 1 Cor 3:16–17 and 1 Cor 6:19. In both cases, I attend to the position of the temple in its rhetorical context and compare Paul’s use of the temple with the logic of sacrilege and major metaphysical pollution. I show that the cause, effect, and resolution of threats against the temple in these passages from 1 Corinthians follow the logic of this pollution system. I then offer a new understanding of the temple in its context, based on these conclusions. I suggest that the appeal to the temple in these passages draws on major metaphysical pollution in order to warn the Corinthians to desist problematic behaviours by recasting them as sacrilegious.

Date of Award	16 Jun 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	N.T. Wright (Supervisor)