THE CORINTHIAN PROBLEM OF 1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-8

JAMES BENEDICT

Paul's Corinthian correspondence contains several passages that are difficult to interpret. Certainly among the most difficult is 1 Corinthians 5:1-8. Of it, Eduard Schweizer writes, "[it] is not wholly clear."1 C. K. Barrett calls the passage "difficult" and notes that, "There are many possible variations in translation; the precise significance of some of Paul's simplest words is in dispute; and the bearing of the whole on Paul's understanding of Christian life and communal discipline calls for evaluation."2 In light of the assessment of these and other scholars, it is only with caution that one proceeds to attempt an interpretation of this scripture. The caution is doubled when that interpretation is in some ways novel. Still, it is the intention of this article to take a fresh look at the difficult text and offer some considerations that might ease the task of interpretation. As a letter, rather than a literary epistle, 1 Corinthians confronts the exegete with the special problems of determining the full meaning of remarks made in response to the largely unknown circumstances and events in the lives of the addresses. Inferences drawn from Paul's response and from other knowledge of the Corinthian situation serve to fuel the speculation necessary for significant interpretation. On the basis of such inferences, it is the prevailing speculative opinion that the church at Corinth was subject to the influence of what might be called "incipient Gnosticism."3 Sharing the dualistic view of matter and spirit with the more developed Gnosticism of the 2nd century, the "incipient Gnosticism" of 1 st-century Corinth also shared the tendency of later Gnosticism to develop in two distinct directions. On the one hand, a belief in the temporality of matter, as opposed to the eternal existence of the spirit, led some of the Corinthians to attach no moral value to the body's appetites (1 Corinthians 6:12 ff.). On the other hand and perhaps in reaction to the libertine excesses of others in the church, some Corinthians "embraced a cult of severity to the body,"4 believing it to be necessary to mortify the evil that existed in it as matter (1 Corinthians 7: 1 ff.). In an analysis of 1 Corinthians 5, an understanding of the former party plays a large role. It is apparent that some of the Corinthians had misunderstood the Christian gospel as a declaration of the temporality and insignificance of matter which nullified all law pertaining to material things, especially dietary laws and laws concerning sexual conduct. If one assumes that the circumstances addressed in 1 Corinthians 5 were the product of such a
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gnostic misinterpretation of the message of grace, one may view the immorality in a new light. Rather than simple immorality, the act of the man who "has his father's wife" can be understood as a special act of faith in the gospel which has freed one from the bonds of the law concerning material things. Such a theory receives support from two elements within the text. The first element is the apparent pride of some of the Corinthians concerning the situation (verses 2,6). Others in the church are proud of this man's level of spiritual maturity which allows him to disregard Hebrew law and Greek convention alike in order to exercise his new freedom. The second element in support of the theory is a translational variation cited by Orr and Walther for verses 3 and 4.5 It is possible to read in such a way that the clause, "in the name of our Lord Jesus" follows the phrase, "him who has committed this." That is to say, the act of the man was done "in the name of our Lord Jesus" asa positive declaration of gospel freedom. The man, then, is not an incidental reprobate whose excesses are being benignly overlooked, but a spiritual champion and leader of sorts for at least some of the Corinthian Christians. It is from within such a framework of understanding that one may proceed to verse 5, arguably the most difficult verse of this particular text to interpret. Here instructions are given for the resolution of the problem. The man is to be delivered "to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."6 It is important to ask, first, what it means to "deliver such a one to Satan." Many commentators consider this to be an instruction to lay a curse on the man.7 Others, however, allow for the possibility that Paul had no such supernatural invocation of evil in mind, but simply intended for the man to be turned out from the church into the world, which was controlled by "the god of this world" (i.e., Satan. Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4).8 For the sake of the argument to follow, the latter option is preferred. The second important question that must be asked about verse 5 is what is meant by the "destruction of the flesh." Two determinations must be made in this regard. The first is whether the Greek term sarx refers to the collection of tissues that make up a physical human body, or to a more figurative meaning. Pauline usage contains numerous instances in which sarx is to be understood figuratively; so it is by no means necessary to hold that "the flesh" refers to a physical body or bodies made up of blood, muscle, and bone. In fact, where Paul sets flesh and "spirit" in antithetical parallelism, as he does here, flesh never refers simply to the physical body.9 It is instead, "the norm sarx, by which a man directs his life" and that which "becomes a power which shapes him."1 It is that flesh whose deeds are detailed in Galatians 5:19-21. In short, flesh in this setting denotes the strictly human motivations, efforts, and appetites capable of producing such immoral circumstances as are under review in 1 Corinthians 5. The second determination to be made is to whom this flesh belongs. Traditionally, it has been held that the flesh is that of the individual man who is committing the immoral act with his father's wife.11A literal translation of the text ("the flesh," not "his flesh") leaves open the additional possibility that Paul
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is referring to the flesh of the faction of which this man is a leader. Their fleshly attitudes would naturally be cut to the quick when the man, as a symbol of their supposed maturity and knowledge, was delivered to Satan (i.e., expelled). In this interpretation, Satan does not destroy the flesh, but the flesh is destroyed when the man is delivered to Satan. To its credit, such a rendering of the text is consonant with Paul's primary concern within the passage, which is a concern for the congregation as a whole. In this, one must disagree with Barrett 12 and acknowledge verses 2 and 6 as a kind oiinclusio signaling the reader to the true significance of the verses they bracket. The third and final question to be asked about verse 5 is what is meant by "that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." The term, "the day of the Lord," refers to the eschatological end of time, allowing one to paraphrase it as, "that the spirit may be saved ultimately." But again the determination must be made concerning to whom this spirit belongs. As in the case of "the flesh," it is also literally "the spirit" (not "his spirit"). The idea of saving an individual's spirit is exceedingly rare in the New Testament, if it exists there at all. Further, since 1 Corinthians 5:5 appears to be a parallel usage of flesh and spirit, it is more prudent to assign both to the same object. If we assume "the spirit" to be the spirit of the group of Corinthian Christians being addressed, then it is the spirit from God which exists between the members of the group and enables them to function together as the body of Christ. In that case, it becomes clear that "the spirit" of the group is ultimately preserved (an alternative translation for "saved") as "the flesh" of its members is destroyed. The destruction of "the flesh" and the saving of "the spirit" are essentially two descriptions of a single movement. In conclusion, it is agreed that this text contains Paul's exhortation to a group of Corinthian Christians to exercise church discipline. Previously, this has been narrowly understood to be a case in which the church, as subject, is directed to exer cise discipline on the individual man, as object. What the above interpretive scheme offers is the possibility that in Paul's exhortation, he intended the whole group to be both subject and object in the exercise of discipline. This removes the awkwardness of putting into the mind of Paul the thought of anyone being saved through the mortification of literal flesh, rather than "by grace . . . through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). It also is more consistent with Paul's concern over communitarian (rather than individual) problems in Corinth. It is impossible, of course, to recover the thoughts of Paul which could con firm or deny this interpretive scheme. It is a tentative offering of inference and speculation upon a very difficult passage. It is hoped that it enlightens, rather than obscures, the Corinthian problem of 1 Corinthians 5:1-8.
FOOTNOTES 1. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 6,1968, s.v. ", ," by Eduard Schweizer. 2. C. . Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Harper s New Testament Commentaries (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), p. 123. 3. F. F. Bruce, / and 2 Corinthians, The New Century Bible Commentaries (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1980; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1980), p. 21. 4. Ibid., p. 22. 5. W. F. Orr and J. A. Walther, 1 Corinthians, The Anchor Bible, vol. 32, (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co.,

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6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

1976), p. 186. My translation. Cf. Kins James Version. TDNT, vol. 5, 1967, S.V. 8," by Johannes Schneider. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians, p. 55. See Romans 7 and 8, Galatians 3 and 5. TDNT, vol. 7,1971, s.v. "," by Eduard Schweizer. Barrett and Bruce interpret the passage this way. Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Phillips Modern English, Jerusalem Bible, and the New International Version all translate in such a way to clearly indicate that it is either AM spirit or both A w spirit and A wflesh.The New English Bible, Phillips Modern English, and the Jerusalem Bible go so far as to translate "," as "body," a further interpretation which seems unjustified. 12. Barrett, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 127.

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