Monday, October 17, 2005

Corinthians and Eschatology

When I first took an exegesis class on 1 Corinthians I was told that the problem was an over-realized eschatology, i.e. the belief that the eschaton had already dawned in its fullness. This accounted for the belief that there was no resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 since it had already happened in some 'spiritual sense'. This over-realized eschatology view is expounded classically by Thiselton in his NIGTC commentary and in a few earlier studies. However, Richard Hays in his 1 Cor commentary argues that the problem was the exact opposite - the Corinthians did not have enough eschatology. Scholars mistakenly read into 1 Cor 15 the over-realized eschatology countered in the Pastoral epistles?

So, was the problem at Corinth an over-realized eschatology or not enough eschatology? This a Ph.D thesis for some brave soul!

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