Power through Weakness: Paul's Understanding of the Christian Ministry in 2 Corinthians: 86 (Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series, Series Number 86) - Hardcover

Savage, Timothy B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521496403 ISBN 13: 9780521496407

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Dr Savage seeks to understand the apostle Paul's apparently contradictory description of his ministry in 2 Corinthians as one in which power is manifested through weakness: 'When I am weak, then I am strong!' This paradox becomes intelligible when it is understood that Paul's critics were influenced by a perspective which was the exact opposite of his: they imbibed the self-exalting outlook of their contemporary world, while he embraced the self-emptying gospel of Christ. Drawing from archaeological data on first-century Corinth, this study is unique in establishing both the secular underpinnings of Paul's paradoxical language and the devastating critique which that language offers on the general outlook of the first century. Paul emerges as a radical foil to the spirit of the age.

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From the Back Cover

Power through weakness examines one of the most profound pictures of Christian life ever presented - the apostle Paul's cryptic self-portrait in 2 Corinthians: 'When I am weak, then I am strong!' The key to understanding this tantalising paradox, Dr Savage suggests, is to take note of the very secular outlook permeating the church at Corinth. In an extensive enquiry into the thought-world of Roman Corinth, drawing insights from first-century inscriptions, coins and archaeology, he demonstrates that the Corinthians were evaluating Paul according to the social standards of their day. Because those standards represented the exact antithesis of his own perspective, which was rooted in the cross of Christ, Paul had little choice but to defend himself with the brush strokes of paradox. This is the first major study to marshal evidence from the general social atmosphere of antiquity to interpret Paul's paradoxical teaching. The result is stunning: the cross-centred outlook of Paul emerges as a radical foil to the spirit of the age.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0521496403
• ISBN 13: 9780521496407
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 268