Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Vol

59, Pt 1, April 2008

T H E ROOTS O F A ' L I B E R T I N E ' SLOGAN IN C O R I N T H I A N S 6:18

Abstract Taking as its starting point Jerome Murphy-O'Connor's thesis that 1 Cor. 6:18b ('every sin that a person commits is outside the body') represents a Corinthian slogan, this essay suggests that a social, cultural, and religious matrix existed at Corinth from which the Corinthians could easily have constructed a slogan similar to that which Murphy-O'Connor envisages. Available evidence suggests that this slogan was developed, in part, by the convergence of at least two major tributaries: (a) a non-Christian or Hellenistic-Roman stream (including popular philosophy and incipient Gnosticism), and (b) a Christian or Jesuanic current, flowing most probably from Paul.

I N 1852 in their classic work o n P a u l , W. J. C o n y b e a r e and J. S. H o w s o n were t h e first to p r o p o s e t h a t 1 Cor. 6:18 contained a slogan of 'the C o r i n t h i a n freethinkers', w h o used it to justify sexual immorality. T h e i r suggestion lay d o r m a n t u n t i l 1953, w h e n C. F. D. M o u l e w o n d e r e d if t h e n o t o r i o u s crux of v. 18 m i g h t be solved by seeing v. 18b as a ' C o r i n t h i a n " l i b e r t i n e " slogan' a n d p a r t of an implied dialogue or diatribe: Paul: Corinthians: Paul: 'Flee from sexual immorality' (v. 18a).

'Every sin that a person commits is outside the body' (v. 18b). 'But the one who commits sexual against his own body' (v. 18c). immorality sins

I would like to express my gratitude to the participants of the seminar, 'Social World of the New Testament' (chaired by D. G. Horrell and P. Oakes) at the British New Testament Conference, Liverpool, 2005, for their help in refining this essay, which is dedicated to Dr. Harold W. Hoehner on the occassion of his seventieth birthday. The Life and Epistles of St. Paul (repr. Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, n.dO, p. 392, n. 5. C. F. D. Moule, Idiom Book of New Testament Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953), pp. 196-7. A similar and apparently independent assessment was made by R. M. Grant, 'Hellenistic Elements in 1 Corinthians', in A. Wikgren (ed.), Early Christian Origins: Studies in Honor of Harold R. Willoughby (Chicago: Quadrangle, 1961), p. 64, n. 19.
The Author 2007 Published by Oxford University Press All rights reserved For Permissions, please email journals permissions@oxfordjournals org doi 10 1093/jts/flml41 Advance Access publication 6 December 2007

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I n t h e n e x t few years a n u m b e r of scholars flirted w i t h M o u l e ' s suggestion, b u t it was n o t u n t i l 1978 t h a t J e r o m e M u r p h y O ' C o n n o r gave this 'slogan' view its m o s t t h o r o u g h g o i n g defence a n d fullest expression: Paul: Corinthians: 'Flee from sexual immorality' (v. 18a). 'The body has nothing to do with sin. T h e physical body is morally irrelevant, for sin takes place on an entirely different level of one's being' (v. 18b). 'Not so! T h e one who commits sexual immorality does in fact sin against his own body' (v. 18c). That is to say, the body is not morally irrelevant, 'for the body is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and is God's rightful possession (v. 19)'. 5

Paul:

T h e r e c e p t i o n of M u r p h y - O ' C o n n o r ' s p r o p o s a l a m o n g t h e c o m m e n t a t o r s has b e e n mixed. O n t h e o n e h a n d , D a v i d G a r l a n d , A n d r e a s L i n d e m a n n , Wolfgang S c h r g e , C h r i s t o p h e Senft, a n d C h r i s t i a n Wolff are n o t p e r s u a d e d . O n t h e other 'Corinthian Slogans in 1 Cor 6:1220', CBQ 40 (1978), pp. 3916. According to Murphy-O'Connor, the sentiment expressed in v. 18b that 'the physical body is morally irrelevant* is decidedly unpauline (p. 393) and yet fits perfectly the 'Corinthian attitude', expressed in v. i3a-b, that the physical body is 'irrelevant' (p. 395). For those tempted by Moule's suggestion, see e.g. C. K. Barrett, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (BNTC 7; London: A. & C. Black, 1968), p. 150; L. Morris, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians ( T N T C ; Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 1958), p. 103; M. E. Thrall, The First and Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians (CBC; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), p. 49. Murphy-O'Connor calls this 'the most natural meaning of v. 18b' ('Corinthian Slogans', p. 393). For a similar understanding of v. 18b, see R. F. Collins, First Corinthians (SP 7; Collegeville, M N : Liturgical, 1999), p. 248; Grant, 'Hellenistic Elements', p. 64, n. 19. As Louw and Nida (89.121) point out, KTS is not understood strictly in a spatial sense but as a 'marker of dissociation in the sense of being "independent from'". They render the line: 'Every sin which a person does is independent of the body.' Cf. Joseph H. Thayer, who renders aveu as 'does not pertain to the body' (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament [4th edn., Edinburgh: & Clark, 1896], p. 200). For in this sense, see Aeschylus, Prom. 332; Herodotus, Hist. 4.133; Plato, Gorg. 523B; Resp. 498C; Sophocles, Phil. 504; Judg. 20:17; Prov. 24:22a; 2 Mace. 11:25; Diogn. 10:5; cf. also Judg. 8:26; 20:15; 3 Kgdms. 2:46e; 5:3; 2 Chr. 17:19; Isa. 26:13; Dan. ^11:4; Bel. ^ 9 ; 2 Cor. 12:2: 'whether in the body or out of the body', i.e. freed from or independent of the body. I have, at this point, augmented Murphy-O'Connor's analysis in response to B. Byrne's criticism ('Sinning against One's Own Body: Paul's Understanding of the Sexual Relationship in 1 Corinthians 6:18', CBQ 45 [1983], PP. 609-10).

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hand, Raymond Collins, Richard Hays, Richard Horsley, J Paul Sampley, Charles Talbert, and Anthony Thiselton consider it the most satisfactory solution to date Somewhere in between are C Barrett, Gordon Fee, and Marion Soards, who find the proposal attractive but in the end remain unconvinced My goal here is not to render a final verdict on MurphyO'Connor's interpretation Instead, I intend to show that a number of features from the social, cultural, and religious milieu of the Corinthian community have a definite affinity with Murphy-O'Connor's reconstruction of Cor 6 18 Thus, I am proposing that a social, cultural, and religious matrix existed from which the Corinthians could easily have developed a slogan similar to that which Murphy-O'Connor envisages for i8b In this way, I hope to increase the likelihood of MurphyO'Connor's interpretation Before continuing, several cautions need to be sounded First, the dates of many (but not all) of the primary sources used in constructing this matrix are post-Pauline In fact, several of them might even depend on a gnostic or Stoic exegesis of Paul Nevertheless, both the diversity and the abundance of this evidence suggest that at least some of the sources preserve

Thiselton's assessment is a bit enigmatic In his overview of vv 12-20, he indicates that 'Paul dissociates himself from three Corinthian slogans' and then proceeds to identify i8b as one of those slogans (The First Epistle to the Corinthians [ N I G T C , Grand Rapids, M I Eerdmans, 2000], 459) Yet, in his discussion of 18, he is non-committal (pp 471-4) See also C Keener, who indicates that i8b 'may be another quotation from an objector' (1-2 Corinthians [New CBC, Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2005], 58) 7 Barrett's commentary was written before Murphy-O'Connor's essay However, Barrett is aware of Moule's discussion 8 I am not arguing for any direct, immediate influence upon the Corinthians from any single source R McL Wilson, commenting on the Colossian heresy, wisely suggests that 'it may be that the proper path to a true understanding is not by way of trying to identify the one significant influence, but by building up as complete a picture as possible We have to think of people who were subject to these manifold influences, shared these ideas, and built them together into syntheses of their own' (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Colossians and Philemon [ICC, London & Clark, 2005], PP 56-7) See also R F Collins, who is correct to point out that 'religious syncretism was a fact of life for the Corinthian Christians' (First Corinthians, 557) Likewise, J D G Dunn refers to a 'melting pot of religious ideas and philosophies' at Corinth ('Reconstructions of Corinthian Christianity', in E Adams and D G Horrell [eds ], Christianity at Corinth [Louisville, KY Westminster John Knox, 2004], 300) See further D G Horrell and E Adams, 'The Scholarly Quest for Paul's Church at Corinth A Critical Survey', ibid , pp 16-23

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traditions that are ultimately derived from a milieu contempor ary with (or antecedent to) and independent of Paul. Second, so-called libertine Gnosticism is an important consideration in my analysis, yet the nature and extent of libertinism within Gnosticismand even the very existence of Gnosticism as a meaningful scholarly construct are debated and remain open questions. Nevertheless, extreme scepticism
By 'diversity' I am referring to diversity in genre, provenance, authorship, audience, etc., not diversity in viewpoint or perspective expressed by the evidence, which is more or less consistent. On the use of parallels in the study of the New Testament, see, among others, T. L. Donaldson, 'Parallels: Use, Misuse and Limitations', EvQ 55 (1983), pp. 193-210; L. M. White and J. T. Fitzgerald, 'Quod Est Comparandum: T h e Problem of Parallels', in J. T. Fitzgerald, T. H. Olbricht, and L. M. White (eds.), Early Christianity and Classical Culture: Comparative Studies in Honor of Abraham J. Malherbe (NovTSup n o ; Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 13-39. Note esp. F. G. Downing, who discusses the impact of a parallel's 'date', 'place', and 'social level' on its relevance for understanding the New Testament ('A bas les aristos: The Relevance of Higher Literature for the Understanding of the Earliest Christian Writings', NovT 30 [1988], pp. 21230). See also J. J. Meggitt, who stresses the importance of 'ancient popular culture' ('Sources: Use, Abuse, Neglect: T h e Importance of Ancient Popular Culture', in Adams and Horrell [eds.], Christianity at Corinth, pp. 241-53). 10 Not only has Gnosticism fallen out of favour with scholars as an explanation of the Corinthians' outlook (see further at note 39 below), but 'Gnosticism', as a scholarly construct, has come under heavy fire from both M. A. Williams and K. L. King (Rethinking 'Gnosticism': An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category [Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996] and What is Gnosticism? [Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003] respectively; see also T. E. Klutz, 'Re-Reading 1 Corinthians after Rethinking 'Gnosticism", JSNT 26 [2003], pp. 193-216). However, definitions that emphasize a spectrum of religious phenomena and that stress both salvation through gnosis and an element of cosmological dualism still seem serviceable. See concisely E. M. Yamauchi, 'Gnosticism', in Dictionary of New Testament Background, ed. C. A. Evans and S. E. Porter (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000), pp. 414-18; and similarly C. Markschies, Gnosis: An Introduction (London: & Clark, 2003), pp. 13-17; B. A. Pearson, 'Is Gnosticism a Religion?' in The Notion of 'Religion' in Comparative Research: Selected Proceedings of the 16th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Rome, 3-8 September, IQ90, ed. U. Bianchi (Storia delle religioni, 8; Rome: 'L'Erma' di Bretschneider, 1994), pp. 105-14; id., 'Gnosticism as a Religion', in A. Marjanen (ed.), Was There a Gnostic Religioni (Publications of the Finnish Exegetical Society, 87; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005), pp. 82-101; C. B. Smith II, No Longer Jews: The Search for Gnostic Origins (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004), 7-18; Robert McL. Wilson, "Gnosticism," in D. Cohn-Sherbok and J. M. Court (eds.), Religious Diversity in the Graeco-Roman World: A Survey of Recent Scholarship (The Biblical Seminar 79; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 177-78. 11 For a brief summary of research on libertine Gnosticism, see E. M. Yamauchi, Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A Survey of Proposed Evidences (2nd edn.;
9

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r e g a r d i n g the heresiologists' r e p o r t s seems u n w a r r a n t e d A historical core seems to persist even after allowance is made 13 for the polemical n a t u r e of their work Moreover, such a historical core is consistent with the N e w T e s t a m e n t evidence for the Grand Rapids, MI Baker, 1983), pp 200-1 See further S Benko, 'The Libertine Gnostic Sect of the Phibionites according to Epiphanius', VC 21 (1967), pp 103-19, G Filoramo, A History of Gnosticism (Oxford Basil Blackwell, 1990), pp 183-9, S Gero, 'With Walter Bauer on the Tigris Encratite Orthodoxy and Libertine Heresy in Syro-Mesopotamian Christianity', in C W Hedrick and R Hodgson, Jr (eds ), Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism, and Early Christianity (Peabody, MA Hendrickson, 1986), pp 287307, H A Green, The Economic and Social Origins of Gnosticism (SBLDS 77, Atlanta, GA Scholars Press, 1982), pp 218-28, Koschorke, Die Polemik der Gnostiker gegen das kirchliche Christentum Unter besonderer Bercksichtigung der Nag-Hammadi-Traktate 'Apokalypse des Petrus' (NHC VII,3) und 'Testimonium Ventatis' (NHC IX,3) (NHS 12, Leiden Brill, 1978), pp 116-27, Williams, Rethinking 'Gnosticismi pp 164-88, R McL Wilson, 'Ethics and the Gnostics', in W Schrge (ed ), Studien zum Text und zur Ethik des Neuen Testaments Festschrift zum 80 Geburtstag von Heinrich Greeven (Berlin W de Gruyter, 1986), pp 440-9, F Wisse, 'Die Sextus-Spruche und das Problem der gnostischen Ethik', in A Bohlig and F Wisse (eds), Zum Hellenismus in den Schriften von Nag Hammadi (Gottinger Orientforschungen, VI Reihe, Band 2, Wiesbaden Harrassowitz, 1975), pp 55-86, id , 'Gnosticism, Ethics of, in J F Childress and J Macquarrie (eds ), The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics, (Philadelphia Westminster, 1986), 250 12 See R van den Broek, 'The Present State of Gnostic Studies', VC 37 I ( 9^3), pp 49-50, J J Buckley, 'Libertines or Not Fruit, Bread, Semen and Other Body Fluids in Gnosticism', JECS 2 (1994), i6, M A Donovan, 'The Question of Irenaeus's Reliability', in One Right Reading? A Guide to Irenaeus (Collegeville, M N Liturgical, 1997), pp 175-7, J E Goehnng, 'Libertine or Liberated Women in the So-called Libertine Gnostic Communities', in L King (ed ), Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism (SAC, Philadelphia Fortress, 1988), pp 337-9, R M Grant, review of M A Williams, Rethinking 'Gnosticism' An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category, in JR 81 (2001), 646, Henry, 'Why is Contemporary Scholarship so Enamored of Ancient Heretics ? ', in Studia Patristica, ed E A Livingstone, vol 17, part 1 (Oxford Pergamon, 1982), pp 1236, G W MacRae, 'Why the Church Rejected Gnosticism', in Sanders (ed ), The Shaping of Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries (vol 1 of Jewish and Christian S elf-Definition, London SCM, 1980), pp 128-9, R McL Wilson, 'Twenty Years After', in Colloque international sur les textes de Nag Hammadi {Quebec, 22-2$ aot iy8), ed Bare (Bibliothque Copte de Nag Hammadi, 'Etudes' , Quebec The Presses of the University of Laval, 1981), 6i Cf -J Klauck's balanced perspective 'We must be cautious with the accusation of libertinism, and here again a further distinction is necessary between Epiphanius, who lacks subtlety and is overenthusiastic, and Irenaeus, who is much more prudent and who may have judged correctly in much of this area In numerical terms, it was not the extreme positions that dominated' (The Religious Context of Early Christianity A Guide to Greco-Roman Religions [Edinburgh & Clark, 2000], 499) See also Rudolph,

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existence of a libertine tradition within early Christianity. In addition, a real possibility exists, contrary to a number of assessments, that the Nag Hammadi library does in fact contain material that reflects a libertine outlook or encourages such an outlook.15 Third, the milieu from which the Corinthians may have developed a slogan or belief similar to that expressed in v. 18b is complex, and I do not intend to suggest that I have completely accounted for the origin of this alleged slogan or have exhausted the available evidence. However, I hope to identify several factors, functioning either independently or in unison, that contribute to a plausible, even probable, reconstruction. These cautions rightly temper enthusiasm for my proposal. Nevertheless, I intend to argue that the available evidence suggests that an element of the Corinthians' theology that finds
Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism, ed. R. McL. Wilson (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1987), pp. 2535. For overviews of New Testament evidence, see C. B. Puskas, An Introduction to the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1989), pp. 230-2; M. Smith, Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), pp. 254-63; J. L. Sumney, 'Adversaries', DLNT, pp. 24-34. See below for a further discussion. For now it is enough to note that claims such as Filoramo's that 'not a single Gnostic Nag Hammadi text contains any hint of immoral behavior, or even worse, any incitement to immoral behaviour', although widely accepted, may be overstated (Gnosticism, p. 185; for assessments similar to Filoramo's, see King, What is Gnosticism?, p. 203; Rudolph, Gnosis, p. 254). In The Gospel of Philip 53.14-23; 66.10-13 and The Thunder: Perfect Mind 14.15-15.1; 19.15-20 'good' and 'evil' appear to be radically relativized, prompting MacRae to observe: O n e could hardly expect to find Gnostic documents openly advocating libertinism, but in statements like these we may have examples of Gnostic authors' own formulations of a principle underlying such conduct' ('Why the Church Rejected Gnosticism', p. 129). See also Gos. Mary 7.13-16, which seems to have a similar perspective (this text is discussed below). 16 Influence from the hedonistic Cyrenaics makes for an attractive hypothesis, but such influence is difficult to establish with any degree of certainty (for some ties with Corinth, see Athenaeus, Deipn. 12.544B-D; 13.588C, 13.599B; Diogenes Laertius 2.71, 75, 102). However, the Cyrenaic philosopher Theodorus' argument for immorality'he who uses anything for the purpose for which it is useful does no wrong' (so Diogenes Laertius 2.100)sounds very much like the argument from design reflected in the Corinthian slogan used to justify sexual immorality: 'food for the stomach and the stomach for food' (1 Cor. 6:13). For a brief overview of the Cyrenaics, see J. Annas, The Morality of Happiness (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 227-36; W. Barclay, 'Hellenistic Thought in the New Testament. The Cyrenaics: The Way of Pleasure', ExpTim 28 (i960), pp. 28-31; H. D. Rankin, Sophists, Socratics, and Cynics (London: Croom Helm, 1983), pp. 196-206.

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expression m 18b was formed, m p a r t , by t h e convergence of at least two major t r i b u t a r i e s (a) a n o n - C h r i s t i a n or H e l l e n i s t i c - R o m a n s t r e a m , a n d (b) a C h r i s t i a n or Jesuanic current, transmitted most probably by Paul HELLENISTIC-ROMAN Popular Philosophy ROOTS

R e c u r r e n t t h e m e s in t h e p o p u l a r p h i l o s o p h y of t h e HellenisticR o m a n p e r i o d , especially Stoicism, suggest t h a t t h e philosophical c u r r e n t s of t h e day created a climate c o n d u c i v e to t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a slogan similar to 8b ' E v e r y sin t h a t a p e r s o n c o m m i t s is outside t h e b o d y ' I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e philosophical 'raw materials' were p r e s e n t for t h e C o r i n t h i a n s to c o n s t r u c t a slogan that m a i n t a i n e d ' T h e b o d y has n o t h i n g to d o w i t h sin T h e physical b o d y is morally irrelevant for sin takes place on an entirely different level of o n e ' s b e i n g ' I n short, t h e t i m e was ripe for a slogan t h a t claimed 'Motives, n o t actions, are i m p o r t a n t ' Conceptual Parallels I n s u g g e s t i n g t h a t bodily actions are morally irrelevant a n d t h a t only m o t i v e s and i n t e n t i o n s matter, 18b seems to reflect an ethic f o u n d in Stoic philosophy A c c o r d i n g to F S a n d b a c h , t h e later Stoics 'seem to have s u p p o s e d t h a t t h e individual action p e r f o r m e d by an o r d i n a r y
17 Paul's own teaching on 'freedom' (cf Cor 3 21-22, 8 8, 9 1 , 21, 11 26, 30) might have been another major tributary that contributed directly to the Corinthians' point of view (see David Wenham, 'Whatever Went Wrong in Corinth'*', ExpTim 108 [1997], pp 138-9) S Petrement points out that 'some of the Corinthian Christians seem to wish to exaggerate the freedom he himself had preached to them' {A Separate God The Christian Origins of Gnosticism [San Francisco HarperSanFrancisco, 1990], 247) Cf J Hurley, who notes statement of freedom from the Law could, in one step, be converted to a claim to the right to do all things' ('Man and Woman in 1 Corinthians' [Ph D thesis, Cambridge University, 1973], 89) Ideas similar to those expressed in Rom 1420, 1 T i m 4 4 , and Titus 1 15 could also have been used by the Corinthians to justify sexual immorality However, an investigation into these possible connections requires separate treatment 18 Murphy-O'Connor, 'Slogans', 393 Elsewhere Murphy-O'Connor adds, 'This is not to say that the Corinthians denied the possibility of sin Sin was possible but only on the level of motive and intention, and they refused to concede that these could be evaluated on the basis of actions in which they were embodied Were they asked what sort of thing they considered a sin, they would have replied, "A negative spiritual act, like denying the existence of God or attributing evil to God or believing in the existence of idols" ' (emphasis mine) ( J Corinthians [ N T M 10, Collegeville, M N Liturgical, 1979], 5i, J Corinthians [DBC, New York Doubleday, 1998], 54) 19 Grant, 'Hellenistic Elements', 64, 19 Cf E Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent (New York Random House, 1988),

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m a n was neither good n o r bad, whereas strictly speaking w h a t was morally indifferent was the content of the action, n o t the mental processes that w e n t with it I t was basic to Stoicism t h a t intention was everything and achievement nothing,' T h u s , the Stoic p h i l o s o p h e r Epictetus could affirm: ' T h e essence of the good is a certain kind of moral p u r p o s e , a n d t h a t of the evil is a certain k i n d of moral p u r p o s e . What, then, are the external things? T h e y are materials for the m o r a l p u r p o s e ' (Diatr. i.29.i2 [Oldfather, L C L ] ) . L a t e r he reaffirms his position even m o r e pointedly: O u t s i d e the sphere of moral p u r p o s e t h e r e is n o t h i n g either good or b a d ' (Diatr. 3.10.18). Similarly, Cicero, although n o t strictly identified with Stoicism, m a i n t a i n e d that morality was a m a t t e r of intention, not results: Whereas in conduct, when we speak of an act as 'wise', the term is applied with full correctness from the first inception of the act The passions of fear, grief and lust are sins, even when no extraneous result ensues. The latter are sins not in their subsequent effects, but immediately upon their inception; similarly, actions springing from virtue are to be judged right from their first inception, and not in their successful completion. (Fin. 3.9.32 [Rackham, LCL]) As it relates specifically to t h e body, this Stoic view of virtue a n d morality is s u m m a r i z e d by E. V. A r n o l d u n d e r the h e a d i n g 'Virtue lies in i n t e n t i o n ' : 'Virtue is a state of the m i n d , a disposition of t h e soul; it is n o t an act. H e n c e the b e n t of the m i n d , its aim, its desire is everything; the performance through the organs of the body is nothing.' T h u s M a r c u s Aurelius could maintain: consist of body a n d soul. T o t h e b o d y indeed all things are indifferent' () (Meditations 6.32
20 The Stoics (2nd edn; Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1989), pp. 48, 52 (emphasis mine). Similarly, J. C. Thorn, 'Stoicism', in Dictionary of New Testament Background, p. 1141. Diatr. 2.10.25 is similar: ' F o r . . . t h e good lies in moral purpose, and the evil likewise in moral purpose' (Oldfather's translation of Epictetus is used throughout this essay). Clement of Alexandria seems to follow the same line of thinking, Offenses which are not deliberately compounded are not counted' {Strom. 2.66.1 [trans. J. Ferguson; FC 85; Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1991; Ferguson's translation of Stromata is used throughout this essay). See also Strom. 4.113.6; Sextus Empiricus, Pyr. 3.178; codex Bezae (D) after Luke 6:4. Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.34.2; Plato, Phileb. 35C-D; Seneca, Ben. 2.31.1; Ep. 95.57. 22 Roman Stoicism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911), p. 286 (emphasis mine). Similarly, H. Rackham, introduction to De finibus, by Cicero (2nd edn.; LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931), pp. xxv-vi; and also p. 251; R. W. Sharpies, Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics: An Introduction to Hellenistic Philosophy (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 103-7.

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[Haines, L C L ] ) . Similarly, Stobaeus could report that m e m b e r s of the Stoic school affirmed t h a t 'bodily m a t t e r s and external things are indifferent (), we [also] say that they are indifferent () w i t h respect to living a beautifully ordered 23 life' (2.80.9-11). Even m o r e telling is his observation t h a t the Stoics claimed 'Sexual activity j u s t by itself is an indifferent ()' (2.66.910). With Stobaeus, t h e n , we see this ethic concerning t h e moral irrelevance of t h e b o d y extended to include the realm of sexual behaviour. Origen, in rehearsing t h e Stoic doctrine of 'indifferent things' (), also makes this connection with sexual behaviour and at the same t i m e r e p r o d u c e s t h e t h o u g h t of v. 18b w i t h startling similarity: The Greeks have examined the nature of actions, good, bad, and indifferent. Those who are successful in this hold that it is only the motive which determines whether actions are good or bad; and they maintain that all actions proved to have been done without a motive are, strictly speaking, indifferent, and that the motive is laudable when the actions are rightly performed, but blameworthy when they are not. Concerning things indifferent they say, therefore, that strictly speaking it is a matter of moral indifference to have intercourse with one's daughters, although one ought not to do such a thing in civilized society. (Cels. 4.45) 2 5 Sextus E m p i r i c u s echoes a similar t h o u g h t : 'We see t h e Stoics also declaring t h a t it is not amiss to keep c o m p a n y with a p r o s t i t u t e or to live on t h e profits of p r o s t i t u t i o n . . . some philosophers, too, declare t h a t intercourse with the wife of another is indifferent' () (Pyr. 3.201-9 [Bury, L C L ] ) .
23 T h e translation is by B. Inwood and L. P. Gerson, Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings (2nd edn.; Indianapolis, I N : Hackett, 1997), p. 213. Stobaeus is cited by volume, page, and line from Ioannis Stobaei Anthologium, ed. C. Wachsmuth and O. Hense (5 vols.; Berlin: Weidmann, 1884-1923). Inwood and Gerson's translation of Stobaeus is used throughout this essay. 24 Cf. Marcus Aurelius, who, after 'he laid it bare, observed its triviality, and stripped it of the cloak of verbiage that dignifies it', found that sexual intercourse was a meaningless, morally irrelevant act: 'copulation is friction of the members and an ejaculatory discharge' (Meditations 6.13 [Staniforth, Penguin Classics]). 25 Origen, Contra Celsum, trans. H. Chadwick (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), pp. 220-1. Chadwick's translation of Contra Celsum is used throughout this essay. For the Greek text, see Origen, Contra Celsum: Libri Vili, ed. M. Marcovich (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 54; Leiden: Brill, 2001). 26 Sextus also points out that some Ordinary folk' regard fornication

{\yvViv) as 'good' (Pyr. 3.180). Both Sextus (Pyr. 1.160) and Diogenes

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E. S M I T H

A n d finally, Origen, in response t o Celsus' claim t h a t C h r i s t i a n s are ' w o r m s assembling in some filthy c o r n e r ' , finds t h e s a m e line of r e a s o n i n g in t h e Stoics' justification of b e h a v i o u r t h a t echoes C o r i n t h i a n belief a n d practice f o u n d in Cor. 6:12-20: 'Are n o t t h e w o r m s in t h e filth t h o s e . . . w h o live w i t h h a r l o t s as t h o u g h it w e r e a m a t t e r of indifference (?), even t e a c h i n g t h a t this is n o t at all c o n t r a r y to any m o r a l principle V (Cels. 4.23-26). Verbal or Near Verbal Parallels. N o t only are a n u m b e r of texts t h a t reflect t h e 'philosophical' milieu of t h e day parallel t o t h e t h o u g h t a n d rationale of t h e alleged slogan in v. 18b, b u t several texts also appear t o exhibit verbal similarity w i t h t h e C o r i n t h i a n s ' position, particularly as it is reflected in t h e C o r i n t h i a n slogans e m b e d d e d in 1 Cor. 6:12-20. T h e s e parallels a n d the extent to which t h e y betray Stoic influence o n t h e C o r i n t h i a n s ' viewpoint expressed in 6:12-20 are best seen in tabular form: D i o g e n e s L a e r t i u s 7.121-5: ' T h e Stoics say t h a t t h e wise m a n ( )... alone is free ()... freedom () being p o w e r () of indep e n d e n t a c t i o n . . . n o t only are t h e wise free ( ), they are also kings ();... Furthermore, the wise are sinless (), not being liable to sin () Also everything () belongs t o t h e wise. F o r t h e law, t h e y say, h a s conferred upon them a perfect right () t o all t h i n g s . ' 2 7 1 Cor. 6:12: P a u l cites a C o r i n t h i a n slogan in which t h e C o r i n t h i a n s claim t o have t h e freedom, power, or authority t o engage in sexual immorality: 'All things () are lawful () for m e . '

Laertius (7.188) indicate that the Stoic Chrysippus permits incest because it is 'a thing indifferent' (). See also Pyr. 3.200, 205, which present similar ideas. R. G. Bury's text and translation of Outlines of Pyrrhonism in the L C L are used throughout this essay. 27 T h e translation is a slight adaptation of that by R. D. Hicks in L C L . This text contains a number of important contacts with 1 Corinthians, notably: (a) a wisdom-foolishness theme, (b) parallels with 1 Cor. 3:21-2 ('all things belong to you...all belong to you'), and (c) parallels with 1 Cor. 4:8 ('you have become kings'). T h e use of and , as in 1 Cor. 6:18, is also significant. Finally, Paul's statement in v. 18c that the fornicator 'sins against his own body' looks as if it is modelled after the Stoic claim in 7.123 that the wise 'do no h u r t . . . t o themselves'.

THE ROOTS OF LIBERTINE' SLOGAN 73 Philo, Prob 59 1 C o r i n t h i a n s (more broadly) T h e wise m a n (6 ) 'will The concepts of freedom have t h e p o w e r () to do ( C o r 10 29, 2 Cor anything (), a n d to live as 3 17, 1 C o r 7 2 1 , 22, he wishes, a n d h e w h o has this 39, 9 1 , 19, 12 13) and power or power () m u s t b e free a u t h o r i t y ( C o r 7 37, ()' 8 9 , 9 4 , 5, 6, i2ab, 18, 11 10, D i o C h r y s o s t o m , Or 14 17 15 24, 2 Cor 10 8, 13 10, ' T h e r e f o r e , the wise ( ) Cor 6 1 2 , 7 4ab, are p e r m i t t e d () to do Cor 6 I 2 a b , 10 23ab, anything whatsoever they 2 C o r 1 2 4 ) seem to have been wish the wise are free integral to t h e theology of the () and are allowed Corinthians 2 9 () t o act as t h e y wish '

The translation is by F Colson in L C L Philo is clearly indebted to Stoicism in this work, which Colson calls 'a specimen of Stoic dialectic' (introduction to Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit, by Philo Judaeus [LCL, Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1941], 3) See F S Jones, 'Freiheit' in den Briefen des Apostels Paulus Eine historische, exegetische und rehgionsgeschichthche Studie (GTA 34, Gottingen Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987), pp 57-61 The translation is by J W Cohoon in LCL This text and the immediately preceding sections (14 1516) also contain a number of important parallels with 1 Corinthians and especially 6 12-20, namely (a) a wisdomfoohshness theme, (b) the use of and (cf 6 12), (c) the notion that the one who sins sexually injures his own body (cf 6 18c), (d) the exact same wording ( ) to express this idea, and (e) the use of to describe the 'price' paid for a person (cf 6 20) The discussions of Diogenes Laertius, Philo, and Dio Chrysostom are not a defence of libertinism and are presented in an anti-libertine context However, these statements could easily be appropriated in a libertine fashion (see note 38 below) Additionally, see Diogenes Laertius 2 99-100, Epictetus, Diatr 4 1 1-5, and Philo, Prob 41-2, which contain a number of verbal and conceptual parallels to these texts

74 JAY E. S M I T H 1 Cor. 6:13: Epictetus, Diatr. 1.6.6-9: P a u l cites a C o r i n t h i a n slogan E p i c t e t u s employs an analogy used to argue t h a t indiscriminate similar to t h e C o r i n t h i a n s ' argu sexual activity is justified by m e n t from design: ' W h o is it that design and is as n a t u r a l as has fitted t h e sword to t h e scab eating: ' F o o d for the s t o m a c h b a r d , a n d t h e scabbard to the and t h e s t o m a c h for food.' s w o r d ? . . . A n d t h e male a n d t h e female, a n d the passion of each for intercourse w i t h t h e other, a n d . . . t h e organs w h i c h have b e e n con structed for this p u r p o s e ? ' Origen, Cels. 4.26: I n his response to Celsus, Origen relates p r o s t i t u t i o n to classic Stoic d o c t r i n e : 'Are n o t the worms in the filth those w h o . . . live with harlots () as t h o u g h it were a matter of indifference (), even teaching that this is n o t at all c o n t r a r y to any moral principle?' Sextus E m p i r i c u s , Pyr. 3.201: 'We see t h e Stoics also declaring t h a t it is not amiss to keep company with a prostitute () or to live o n t h e profits of p r o s t i t u t i o n {iraipas)'22 1 Cor. 6:12, 15-16: Paul's citation of a C o r i n t h i a n slogan, coupled with his own rhetorical questions, reveals t h e C o r i n t h i a n position (prostitution is a m a t t e r of indifference): All things are lawful for m e Shall I . . . m a k e t h e m m e m b e r s of a harlot ()?... D o you not k n o w t h a t the one w h o joins himself to a harlot () is one body w i t h h e r ? '

31 This argument from design seems to have been widely employed throughout the Greco-Roman world, and especially in Cynic-Stoic circles (so Grant, 'Hellenistic Elements in 1 Corinthians', p. 62; id., Paul in the Roman World: The Conflict at Corinth [Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001], p. 123; J. Dupont, Gnosis: La connaissance religieuse dans les pures de Saint Paul [2nd edn.; Universitas Catholica Lovaniensis Dissertation Series 2/40; Paris: Gabalda, i960], pp. 303-5). See e.g. Aristotle, Eth. Nie. 3.11.1; Athenaeus, Deipn. 4.158F; 6.270B-C; cf. 12.545B-C; Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.9-3.10.; 3.41.5; Dio Chrysostom, Or. 6.16-20; Diogenes, Epistle 42; Diogenes Laertius 6.46, 69-73; cf 2.99-100; Homer, II. 24.128-30; Irenaeus, Haer. 1.24.5; Plutarch, Mor. 756E; 1044B; Sextus Empiricus, Pyr. 3.206. This argument from design has a close conceptual affinity with the fundamental Stoic principle of living in accordance with nature (cf. the following note). 32 Although the sexual ethics of the later Stoics generally marked an advance in the Hellenistic-Roman world (see F. Hauck and S. Schulz, ' .\ TDNT 6:583-4), many Stoics appear to have tolerated, if not approved of, prostitution. See Cicero, Cael. 20.48-9; Diogenes Laertius 6.4; Epictetus, Ench. 33.8; Musonius Rufus, frg. 12; cf. Diogenes Laertius 7.33-4, 131, 188; Origen, Cels. 4.45; Plutarch, Mor. 1044F-1045A; Seneca, Ben. 7.20.3; Sextus Empiricus, Pyr. 1.160; 3.190-2, 200, 205-6, 245-6; Stobaeus, Eel. 2.66.9-10; Theophilus, Autol. 3.6; R. M. Grant, 'Charges of Immorality

T H E R O O T S OF A ' L I B E R T I N E '

SLOGAN

75

P a u l ' s claim t h a t ' t h e one w h o c o m m i t s sexual i m m o r a l i t y sins against his own b o d y ' (v. i8c) also finds repeated parallel w i t h i n Stoic t h o u g h t . Again, t h e parallels can b e neatly s u m m a r i z e d in tabular form: Paul, Cor. 6:i8c: 'But the one who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.' 8i els . Musonius Rufus, frg. 12: 'Everyone who sins ( ) and does wrong, even if it affects none of the people about h i m . . . is worse and less honourable/ Plutarch, Stoic, rep. 1041D: 'And every one who sins, sins against himself.' eavrov . Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.26: 'Does a man do wrong? He does wrong to himself.'
> / * ~ e / 35

; . Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.4: 'Whoever does wrong, wrongs himself.' .

against Various Religious Groups in Antiquity', in R. van den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren (eds.), Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions: Presented to Gilles Quispel on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday (EPRO 91; Leiden: Brill, 1981), p. 166 n. 25. In his notes to the L C L edition of Sextus Empiricus, R. G. Bury points out that 'the repellent features of Stoic ethical theory... are passed over in most expositions of Stoicism The dictum "Live according to Nature" might be taken to mean "Disregard conventional morals", "Cease to repress your natural instincts'" (vol. 1, pp. 460-1, note f). Cf. Rufus of Ephesus, who argued that since sexual activity was a natural act, it was not harmful in itself: 'The sexual act is a natural act. None of the natural things are harmful' (Frag. 60 [ilepl ] lines 1-2; my trans, of the text in Oeuvres de Rufus d'phse, ed. C. Daremberg and C. E. Ruelle (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1879], p. 318). In fact, according to Galen, some people become ill from a lack of sexual activity (De loe. ff 6.5 [Khn 8:417-18]). 33 For the text and translation, see C. E. Lutz, 'Musonius Rufus: "The Roman Socrates"', YCS 10 (1947), pp. 86-7, lines 24-7. 34 For the translation, see Plutarch's Morals, ed. W. W. Goodwin (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1871). The Greek text is from the LCL edition by Harold Cherniss. 35 For the text and translation of Marcus Aurelius, see The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, ed. A. S. L. Farquharson (2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1944).

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C l e m e n t of Alexandria, Paed. 2.10.100: 'Anyone w h o does sin ( Se ), for example b y fornication (]), w r o n g s . . . himself by t h e very act of fornicating ().'

Verse 18c, then, looks like an appeal to Stoic ethics. As such, and in the light of the evidence of Stoic influence on the Corinthians, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Paul has deliberately drawn from the Stoics in a tour de force to counter the 'Stoic' position of the Corinthians expressed in v. 18b. 37 All of this suggests that aspects of Stoicism have deeply influenced the Corinthians and their theology. It is thus quite possible that the Corinthians used Stoic ideas to formulate a slogan that ultimately finds expression in v. 18b. In short,
For the translation and text, see Clement of Alexandria, Christ the Educator, trans. S. P. Wood (FC 23; New York: Fathers of Church, 1954); Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, ed. O. Sthlin and U. Treu (3rd edn.; GCS; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1972). For further parallels to 1 Cor. 6:18c, see Epictetus, Diatr. 2.10.26; 4.5.10; Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.55. 7 For Stoic influence on the Corinthians, see T. Paige, 'Stoicism, and Community at Corinth', in M. J. Wilkins and T. Paige (eds.), Worship, Theology and Ministry in the Early Church: Essays in Honor of Ralph P. Martin (JSNTSup 87; Sheffield: JSOT, 1992), pp. 180-93; the standard commentaries on e.g. 3:22; 4:8-13; 6:9-10; 7:1-40; 8:6-7; 11:14; and note 63 below. See also T. Irwin, who calls attention to Stoicism's wide appeal in the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire (Classical Thought [A History of Western Philosophy, 1; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989], pp. 180-1). Similarly, Sandbach, Stoics, p. 16; Sharpies, Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics, p. 8. Accordingly, H. Conzelmann points out that popular philosophy 'could be picked up on the streets' (1 Corinthians [Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 975]> l5)' Thus, Thiselton seems justified in suggesting that 'to speak of the influence of Stoic terms and ideas in the popular mind does not imply the mistake of imagining that most Greeks were "philosophers'" (First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 261). See further Downing, bas les aristos', pp. 212-30. 3 Whether the Corinthians were accurate and faithful interpreters of the Stoics (or any other tradition for that matter) is quite beside the point. The Corinthians were quite capable of taking Stoic language and thought and developing them in their own direction. As Conzelmann points out, we must distinguish between Stoic sources and the Corinthian understanding of them (1 Corinthians, pp. 108-9). Similarly, Downing, bas les aristos', p. 230; Meggitt, 'Sources: Use, Abuse, Neglect', pp. 250-1; R. McL. Wilson, 'Gnosis at Corinth', in M. D. Hooker and S. G. Wilson (eds.), Paul and Paulinism: Essays in Honour of C. K. Barrett (London: SPCK, 1982), pp. 109-11. Regarding the direction in which the Corinthians might have taken Stoic language and thought, it is perhaps significant to note with A. H. Armstrong that 'on the strict principles of the physical theology, Stoic morality should be thoroughly permissive, accepting with a rather indiscriminate delight all the beauties and enjoyments of the world' ('Gnosis and Greek Philosophy', in B. Aland (ed.), Gnosis: Festschrift fr Hans Jonas [Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1978], p. 94). See further note 32 above.

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77

the Corinthians' belief that sexual intercourse had no objective significance apart from motive and intention, which were not necessarily tied to the actions in which they were embodied, was thoroughly at home in the popular thought of Paul's day
INCIPIENT GNOSTICISM

As with the popular philosophy of the Hellenistic-Roman period, recurrent emphases in the literature of libertine Gnosticism suggest that this religious complex (or its incipient forms) also produced 'raw materials' from which the Corinthians could easily create a slogan similar to that proposed for Cor 6 i8b 3 9
I still see the evidence pointing in the direction of the existence of incipient Gnosticism at Corinth despite the 'sharp decline in the use of the term "Gnostic" or "proto-Gnostic" with reference to the Corinthians' (Horrell and Adams, 'The Scholarly Quest for Paul's Church at Corinth', pp 19-20) See esp R McL Wilson, 'How Gnostic were the Corinthians?', NTS 19 (1972), pp 65-74, esp pp 704, id , 'Gnosis at Corinth', pp 10214, who notes 'the presence of trends and tendencies in a gnostic direction' (p 103, emphasis mine) Cf A D Nock's memorable expression 'a Gnostic way of thinking' ('Gnosticism', HTR 57 [1964], 278) See also S Arai, 'Die Gegner des Paulus im I Konntherbrief und das Problem der Gnosis', NTS 19 (1973), pp 430-7, O Guenther, 'Gnosticism in Corinth'*', in H McLean (ed ), Origins and Method Towards a New Understanding of Judaism and Christianity Essays in Honour of John C Hurd (JSNTSup 86, Sheffield Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), pp 44-81, esp pp 45-6, 71, 76, 78, 80-1, MacRae, 'Why the Church Rejected Gnosticism', 128, Petrement, A Separate God, pp 7-8, 218, 247 Cf Rudolph, who in an updated note in his third edition of Die Gnosis still finds Walter Schmithals's thesis in Gnosticism in Corinth 'most probable' (Die Gnosis Wesen und Geschichte einer spatantiken Religion [3rd edn , Gottingen Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994], 419, 131) Contra Smith, who overstates his case m arguing that Paul did not 'seem to encounter gnostic trends' (No Longer Jews, 158), as does Klutz in maintaining that this proto-gnostic hypothesis 'has passed its sell-by date' ('Re-Readmg 1 Corinthians after Rethinking 'Gnosticism", 197) Thiselton aptly expresses the view of Guenther, MacRae, Wilson et al 'In Paul's day a process was probably in motion which would end as developed gnosticism, and traces of this trend can be found in embryonic form m the theology of some at Corinth' (First Epistle to the Corinthians, 268, similarly C Barrett, 'Christianity at Corinth', BJRL 46 [1964], 283) Hardly new, Robert Law expressed nearly the same view a century ago in a classic turn of phrase 'This Epistle [1 Corinthians], it is true, exhibits no trace of anything that can be distinctively called Gnosticism, but it does reveal into how congenial a soil the seeds of Gnosticism were about to fall' (The Tests of Life A Study of the First Epistle of St John [3rd edn , Edinburgh & Clark, 1914], 28) J Lightfoot proposed a similar analogy 'Elementary conceptions of this tendency of thought' were 'held in solution' only to be 'crystallized around the facts of the Gospel' (St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon [London Macmillan, 1875], 113)

78 JAY E. SMITH Conceptual Parallels Some branches of Gnosticism, like Stoicism, also seem to have advocated the moral irrelevance of the body. According to Irenaeus, the Valentinian Gnostics maintained that 'the spiritual... cannot take on corruption, regardless of what practices they may have engaged in\ These also claimed 'neither [to] suffer harm nor lose their spiritual substance regardless of what material practices they may be engaged in'. Consequently, 'because of this doctrine, the most perfect among them shamelessly do all the forbidden things' (Haer. 1.6.2-3).41 Later, Irenaeus indicates that Basilides taught 'One should consider use of... all kinds of pleasure as matters of indifference' (Haer. 1.24.5).42 Still further, Irenaeus points out that 'the Nicolaitans . . . live promiscuously They teach that fornication is a matter of indifference' (Haer. 1.26.3).43 Similarly, Clement of Alexandria maintained that 'a reprehensible way of living [was] a matter of moral indifference' () for the gnostic (Strom. 3.41.4). 44 Epiphanius, in describing Simon Magus, is even more
Lightfoot's imagery is later echoed by both Nock and A. Richardson ('Gnosticism', p. 278; A. Richardson, An Introduction to the Theology of the New Testament [New York: Harper & Row, 1958], p. 42). For the contribution of wisdom speculation in Hellenistic Judaism to gnostic trends and tendencies at Corinth, see esp. R. A. Horsley, 'Gnosis in Corinth: 1 Corinthians 8:6', NTS 27 (1980), pp. 32-51; B. A. Pearson, Thilo, Gnosis, and the New Testament', in Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity (SAC; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990), pp. 165-82; and also G. W. MacRae, 'Nag Hammadi and the New Testament', in Aland (ed.), Gnosis: Festschrift fr Hans Jonas, p. 150; Ptrement, A Separate God, pp. 247-70, esp. pp. 263-4; G. Seilin, 'Das "Geheimnis" der Weisheit und das Rtsel der "Christuspartei" (zu 1 Kor 1-4)', ZNW 73 (1982), pp. 69-96, esp. pp. 70-1; R. McL. Wilson, 'Nag Hammadi and the New Testament', NTS 28 (1982), p. 297. 40 See . Jonas, The Gnostic Religion (3rd edn.; Boston: Beacon, 2001), pp. 266-73. 41 Irenaeus, Against the Heresies: Book 1, trans. D. J. Unger and J. J. Dillon (ACW 55; New York: Paulist, 1992; emphasis mine). See also Epiphanius, Pan. 31.20.8-9. Unger's translation of Adversus haereses is used throughout this essay. 42 T h e translation is from B. Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. 424. 43 T h e translation is from R. M. Grant (ed.), Gnosticism: A Source Book of Heretical Writings from the Early Christian Period (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961), p. 43. For a similar understanding, see Irne de Lyon: Contre les hrsies: Livre J, d. A. Rousseau and L. Doutreleau (SC 264; Paris: Cerf, 1979), P 349 44 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata: Books I-VI, ed. O. Sthlin et al. (4th edn.; GCS; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1985). Sthlin's text of the Stromata is used throughout this essay.

THE ROOTS OF A ' L I B E R T I N E ' SLOGAN 79 to the point: 'He taught that an unnatural act, sexual congress for the purpose of polluting women, is a matter of moral indifference* () (Pan. Anacephalaeosis 1.2.i). 45 Finally, Plotinus indicates that the Gnostic 'puts forward the pleasure of the body as the e n d . . . and abolishes self-control... for nothing here is of value for them*, and he is characterized by 'indifference to virtue' (Enn. 2.9.15 [Armstrong, LCL]). 4 6 Outside the polemical literature of the Christian heresiologists and Plotinus, several Nag Hammadi texts suggest a relativity regarding ethical and moral categories and thus seem to justify an indifference to ethical behaviour. The Gospel of Philip 66.10-13 seems to point in this direction: 'In this world

The translation is from F. Williams, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I, Sects 1-46 (NHS; Leiden: Brill, 1987), p. 55. For the Greek text, see Epiphanius I-III, ed. . Holl (3 vols.; G C S ; Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs; 1915-33; 2nd rev. edn. of vols. 2-3; ed. J. Dummer; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1980-5). T h e citation is from book 1 of the Panarion, Anacephalaeosis 2, paragraph 1 (p. 234 of Holl's text). Holl and Dummer's text and Williams's translation of the Panarion are used throughout this essay. Epiphanius's seven Anacephalaeoses are probably not authentic; however, their antiquity is beyond doubt since Augustine made use of them in De haeresibus (see The De Haeresibus of Saint Augustine: A Translation with an Introduction and Commentary, trans. L. G. Mller [The Catholic University of America Patristic Studies, 90; Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, IQ 56], pp. 22-5). For a brief discussion of this text, see Jonas, Gnostic Religion, pp. 267, 270; and also M. J. Edwards, "Neglected Texts in the Study of Gnosticism', JTS, NS 41 (1990), pp. 2650. For additional 'gnostic' parallels concerning the moral irrelevance of the body, see Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.25.7; Epiphanius, Pan. Anacephalaeosis 3.1.7 (Holl-Dummer, vol. 3, p. 232); Pan. 64.70.5-17 (see Apocryphon of Ezekiel in OTP 1, pp. 492-4); Herrn. Sim. 5.7.2-4 (60.2-4); cf. 9.22.1-4 (99.1-4); Hippolytus, Haer. 6.19.5-8; 6.41.1; Irenaeus, Haer. 1.23.3; 1.25.4-5; 1.28.2; Tertullian, An. 35.1. See G. W. MacRae, 'Discourses of the Gnostic Revealer', in Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Gnosticism, d. G. Widengren (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1973), pp. 111-22, esp. p. 122; id., 'Why the Church Rejected Gnosticism', p. 129; and also J. J. Buckley, 'Thunder, Perfect Mind, The', ABD 6:546; Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, p. 71; and esp. B. A. Pearson, response to George MacRae, 'The Thunder: Perfect Mind', in Protocol of the Colloquy of the Center for Hermeneutical Studies in Hellenistic and Modern Culture, ed. W Wuellner (Colloquy 5; Berkeley, CA: The Center for Hermeneutical Studies in Hellenistic and Modern Culture, 1975), pp. 12-13; and the comments by the classicist J. M. Dillon in the minutes of the same colloquy (p. 35). Contra P. Perkins, 'Gnostic Christologies and the New Testament', CBQ 43 (1981), p. 600, n. 38, who dismisses MacRae. Although the Nag Hammadi texts regularly present an ascetic ethic, it is not solely or exclusively an ascetic ethic.

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there is good and evil. Its good things are not good, and its evil things n o t evil. >4 The Thunder: Perfect Mind 19.15-20 is similar: I am sinless, and the root of sin derives for me. I am lust in (outward) appearance, and interior self-control exists within me. Along t h e same lines, The Gospel of Mary 7.13-16 appears to maintain that sin is not a moral or ethical category: ' T h e r e is no sin, b u t it is you who make sin w h e n you do things that are like the n a t u r e of adultery, which is called " s i n " . ' Instead, in keeping with the doctrines taught by the Saviour in 7.1-8, sin is a cosmological p h e n o m e n o n t h e result of mixing the material with the spiritual. 5 0 A n ethic of indifference similar to that found in the N a g H a m m a d i library m a y also be expressed in the Corpus hermeticum. I n Corp. herm. 9.4, H e r m e s indicates that since 'the godfearing p e r s o n . . . is aware of knowledge . . . all things are good to such a person, even things that others find e v i l . . . . H e alone makes evil into good.' Verbal or Near Verbal Parallels. As with the 'philosophical' texts, not only are a n u m b e r of texts that reflect the 'gnostic' milieu of the day parallel to the t h o u g h t and rationale of the slogan t h a t is proposed for v. 18b, b u t several texts also appear to exhibit verbal similarity with the Corinthians' viewpoint, particularly as it is seen in the Corinthian slogans e m b e d d e d in 1 Cor. 6:12-20. Again, these parallels and the extent to which

See also Gos. Phil. 53.14-23. All translations of the Nag Hammadi Codices are taken from the series Nag Hammadi Studies. 49 See also Thund. 14.15 - 15.1; 21.20-8 (for 21.20-8, cf. the ref. to Pearson and Dillon in note 47 above). Although the religious tradition represented by Thunder is 'difficult to classify' (G. W. MacRae, 'Introduction to The Thunder: Perfect Mind', NHL, p. 295), it seems to exhibit an affinity with gnostic themes (Layton, Gnostic Scriptures, p. 77; see further Buckley, 'Thunder', 6:545-6). 50 See A. Pasquier, L'vangile selon Marie (BG 1): Texte tabli et prsent (Bibliothque Copte de Nag Hammadi, 'Textes', 10; Quebec: The Presses of the University of Laval, 1983), pp. 14-15; and also K. L. King, introduction to 'The Gospel of Mary' in NHL, p. 523. 51 The translation is from B. P. Copenhaver, Hermtica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 28. Although Hermeticism should be distinguished from Gnosticism, a number of the hermetic tractates 'have a gnostic character' (Rudolph, Gnosis, p. 26).

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they betray 'gnostic' influence on t h e Corinthian viewpoint expressed in 6:12-20 are best seen in tabular form:
Irenaeus, Haer. 1.25.4: According to Irenaeus, C a r p o c r a t e s a n d his disciples 'boast of having in their power and of practising every k i n d of impious a n d godless deed'. Hippolytus, Haer. 6.19.7; 1 Cor. 6:12: P a u l cites a C o r i n t h i a n slogan in w h i c h t h e C o r i n t h i a n s claim to have t h e freedom, power, or authority to engage in sexual immorality: 'All things () are lawful () for m e . ' 1 C o r i n t h i a n s (more broadly): The concepts of freedom ( Cor. 10:29; 2 Cor. 3:17; Cor. 7:21, 22, 39; 9:1, 19; 12:13) a n d power or a u t h o r i t y ( Cor. 7:37; 8:9; 9:4, 5, 6, i2ab, 18; 11:10; 15:24; 2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10; Cor. 6:12; 7:4ab; Cor. 6:i2ab; io:23ab; 2 Cor. 12:4) seem to have been integral to t h e theology of t h e Corinthians.

6.41.1/2
H i p p o l y t u s indicates t h a t t h e disciples of S i m o n M a g u s 'do w h a t t h e y will as being free ()'. Hippolytus also points o u t that M a r c u s t a u g h t his disciples 'to be indifferent to sin as free from d a n g e r (to t h e m ) t h r o u g h their belonging to t h e Perfect P o w e r ( ) and partakers of the Inconceivable Authority ( )1. C l e m e n t of Alexandria, Strom. 3-3-3; 3.3: C l e m e n t argues t h a t t h e fol lowers of Basilides 'do n o t lead u p r i g h t lives, claiming t h a t they have t h e a u t h o r i t y () actually to commit sin'. C l e m e n t also indicates t h a t t h e followers of P r o d i c u s use their 'freedom () to live as they will', claiming t h a t ' t h e r e is no w r i t t e n l a w ' . 5 3

52 Hippolytus, Philosophumena or the Refutation of All Heresies, trans. F. Legge (2 vols.; London: SPCK, 1921); Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium haeresium, ed. M. Marcovich (PTS 25; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1986). Marcovich's text and Legge's translation of Refutatio omnium haeresium are used throughout this essay. 53 For further parallels to 1 Cor. 6:12, see Irenaeus, Haer. 1.13.6; 1.23.3, 5; 1.24.4; 1-25.3, 55 Hippolytus, Haer. 6.19.5, 8; Epiphanius, Pan. 34.3.5-6; Tertullian, Praescr. 43.3; and cf. MacRae, 'Why the Church Rejected Gnosticism', pp. 129-30. In a context discussing sexual relations, Tacitus indicates that for the Jews 'nothing is unlawful' (Hist. 5.5 [Moore, LCL]). One wonders if Tacitus had knowledge of some Jewish group with gnostic tendencies or has somehow confused Gnosticism with Judaism (cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.7.10-11).

82 JAY E . Irenaeus, Haer. 1.6.3: I r e n a e u s cites a gnostic 'slogan' used to justify immorality: 'Carnal things, they say, m u s t b e given to carnal, a n d spiritual to t h e spiritual.' 5 5 H i p p o l y t u s , Haer. 6.19.5: H i p p o l y t u s cites a slogan used b y the disciples of S i m o n M a g u s to justify immorality: 'All earth is earth a n d it m a t t e r s not w h e r e one sows, so long as one sows.' Irenaeus, Haer. 1.23.3: Irenaeus indicates that S i m o n M a g u s ' p r o m i s e d that the world w o u l d be destroyed' so t h a t his disciples m i g h t b e freed from the enslaving p r e c e p t s of the biblical prophets.5

SMITH 1 Cor. 6:13: Paul cites a Corinthian slogan used to argue that indiscriminate sexual activity is as natural as eating: ' F o o d for the s t o m a c h and the stomach for food.' 6

1 Cor. 6:13: Paul cites a Corinthian slogan that expresses t h e transience of the material world and t h u s was used to justify immorality: ' G o d will destroy b o t h the one (stomach) a n d t h e other (food).'

Conclusion The conceptual parallels from Hellenistic-Roman culture and the Nag Hammadi library suggest that the origin of 1 Cor. 6:18b may lie in a mixture of Stoicism, popular philosophy, and 'gnostic' thought. 59 That such is indeed the case seems all the more likely given: (a) the Corinthians' fascination with the wisdom and rhetoric of the Hellenistic-Roman world; 60
54 E. H. Pagels points out that the gnostic teachers repeatedly emphasized their freedom from the demiurge's authority with its restrictions on sexual activity (The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975], pp. 66-7). 55 See Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.9.3 - 3.10.1 and Diogenes Laertius 6.69 for similar maxims used to justify immorality. 56 Similarly, Epiphanius, Pan. 31.21.3. 57 See note 31 above. 58 See also Irenaeus, Haer. 1.7.1; 1.24.5; Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.89.3-4; 2 Clem. 9.1-5; Gos. Mary 7.1-9; Gos. Phil. 53.14-23; Hippolytus, Haer. 6.19.8; Herrn. Sim. 5.7.2 (60.2); Treat. Res. (NHC \,4) 45.39 - 46.2; 47.38 - 48.1. 59 Cf. R. M. Grant, who notes that 'a kind of incipient... Gnosticism, tinged with philosophy, may have existed at Corinth in the middle of the first century' (Paul in the Roman World, p. 52). 60 See esp. 1 Cor. 1:17 - 3:4; 3:18-23 and the monographs by S. M. Pogoloff (Logos and Sophia: The Rhetorical Situation of 1 Corinthians [SBLDS 134; Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1992]) and B. W. Winter (Philo and Paul among the Sophists [2nd edn.; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002]). Thiselton indicates that such enlightened rhetoric 'was most highly prized at Corinth' (The First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 14).

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83 use the

(b) the p r e s e n c e of incipient G n o s t i c i s m at C o r i n t h or, to among the Corinthians;61 (c) the non-Pauline nature of

A. D. N o c k ' s apt expression, at least c a G n o s t i c way of t h i n k i n g ' v i e w p o i n t expressed by v. i 8 b ; 6 2 (d) t h e fact t h a t t h e origin of the C o r i n t h i a n slogan JLOL be and found m Cynic-Stoic texts exhibit popular verbal in Cor. 6:12 philosophy63 with is p r o b a b l y to or possibly Stoic other the

incipient G n o s t i c i s m ; 6 4 and (e) t h e fact t h a t a n u m b e r of gnostic parallelism C o r i n t h i a n slogans e m b e d d e d m 1 Cor. 6:12-20.

Nock, 'Gnosticism', 278 Cf note 39 above See S Stowers, A "Debate" over Freedom 1 Corinthians 6 12-20', in E Ferguson (ed ), Christian Teaching Studies in Honor of LeMoine G Lewis (Abilene, T X Abilene Christian University Book Store, 1981), 6i If i8b represents Paul's own position rather than a Corinthian slogan, Paul is apparently drawing a distinction in 18 between (which is 'against the body') and all other sins (which are 'outside the body') In other words, Paul seems to be arguing that sexual immorality is qualitatively different from all other sins However, Paul nowhere else draws such a distinction In fact, Paul repeatedly groups nopveia with numerous other sins, suggesting that is not to be differentiated from them in any special or unique way (See Rom 13 13, 1 Cor 5 9-11, 6 9-10, 2 Cor 12 20-1, Gal 5 19-21, cf Eph 5 3-5, Col 3 5-9, 1 T i m 1 9-10 Although sexual sin often heads these vice lists, this probably reflects the fact that it was the besetting sin of the Gentile world rather than any significant distinction between and other sins ) This, of course, could be the lone instance of Paul making such a distinction However, that commentators have been baffled by it for two millennia suggests that perhaps Paul was not, in fact, drawing such a distinction and that i8b represents a Corinthian point of view, which is not shared by Paul For a CynicStoic background, see W Deming, 'The Unity of 1 Corinthians 5-6', JBL 115 (1996), pp 299-309, Dupont, Gnosis, pp 305-8, M A Plunkett, 'Sexual Ethics and the Christian Life A Study of 1 Corinthians 6 127 7' (Ph D diss , Princeton Theological Seminary, 1988), pp 167-238, Stowers, "Debate" over Freedom', pp 62-8, and esp Dio Chrysostom, Or 310, 14 15-17, 622-4, Epictetus, Diatr 1 1 21-2, 4 1 158, Libanius, Or 50 19, Musomus Rufus, frg 31 Differences between Cynic and Stoic traditions should not be obscured, as A J Malherbe has cautioned {The Cynic Epistles A Study Edition [SBLSBS 12, Atlanta, GA Scholars Press, I I977]> PP 2 , Paul and the Popular Philosophers [Minneapolis Augsburg, IQ 89], 5) Nevertheless, Malherbe himself points out that On the level of popular moral instruction, Cynicism was gradually absorbed into Stoicism' ('Cynics', IDBSup 202) Cf D Martin, who argues that a more general, popular eclecticismthough with roots m Cynic and Stoic traditionsforms the background to the Corinthian slogans (The Corinthian Body [New Haven Yale University Press, 1995], pp 70-2, 264) For a gnostic background, see R Bultmann, '', TDNT 1 709, E Guttgemanns, Der leidende Apostel und sein Herr (FRLANT 90, Gottingen Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1966), pp 226-8, Rudolph, Gnosis, pp 300-1, W Schmithals, Gnosticism in Corinth An Investigation of the Letters to the Corinthians (Nashville, T N Abingdon, 1971), pp 230-3, 385-6

JAY E. SMITH In sum, these connections seem too extensive to be accounted for by coincidence or by common subject-matter. Rather, they suggest that the Corinthians have fallen under the influences of Stoic philosophy and 'a Gnostic way of thinking' and have, to some extent, used these ideas to craft the slogan of v. i8b.
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Despite his claim in Cor. 2:1-5 that he knew 'nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified' it is quite likely that Paul, on his initial visit to Corinth, shared a number of the sayings of Jesus with the Corinthians. In fact, several observations make this claim virtually certain: 1. At numerous points in 1 Corinthians Paul refers to the 'commands of the Lord'. In 7:10 he writes: 'To the married I
Although a scholarly consensus has not yet emerged on the question of the relationship between Paul's ethic and Jesus' preaching, the position represented by R. Bultmann's claim that 'the teaching of the historical Jesus plays no role, or practically none, in Paul' is exaggerated and hardly a 'sure result of research' (Theology of the New Testament [2 vols.; New York: Scribner, 1951, 1955], vol. 1, p. 35; cf. pp. 188-9, 2 93~4; id., 'Jesus and Paul', in Existence and Faith: Shorter Writings of Rudolf Bultmann, ed. S. M. Ogden [Cleveland, OH: World, i960], p. 185). On the contrary, it is increasingly being argued that Paul knew and commonly appropriated the Jesus tradition. In addition to the early work of W. D. Davies (Paul and Rabbinic Judaism [London: SPCK, 1948], pp. 136-46), see now D. Wenham, Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? (Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 1995), and still more recently R. Reisner, 'Paulus und die Jesus-berlieferung', in J. Adna, S. J. Hafemann, and O. Hofius (eds.), Evangelium Schriftsauslegung Kirche: Festschrift fr Peter Stuhlmacher zum 65. Geburtstag (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997), pp. 347-65. To be sure, less optimistic assessments of Paul's knowledge and use of the Jesus tradition remain, and as late as 1984 S. G. Wilson could claim that 'few would now deny that Paul's interest in the person and teaching of Jesus is minimal' ('From Jesus to Paul: Contours and Consequences', in P. Richardson and J. C. Hurd [eds.], From Jesus to Paul: Studies in Honour of Francis Wright Beare [Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1984], pp. 6-7). For this 'minimalist' perspective, see also F. Neirynck, 'Paul and the Sayings of Jesus', in A. Vanhoye (ed.), L'Aptre Paul: Personnalit, style et conception du ministre (BETL 63; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1986), pp. 265-321; . Walter, 'Paul and the Early Christian Jesus-Tradition', in A. J. M. Wedderburn (ed.), Paul and Jesus (JSNTSup 37; Sheffield: JSOT, 1989), pp. 51-80. 66 For possible allusions to Jesus' teaching in 1 Corinthians, see the minimalist reading of F. Neirynck, 'The Sayings of Jesus in 1 Corinthians', in R. Bieringer (ed.), The Corinthian Correspondence (BETL 125; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1996), pp. 14176; the maximalist readings of S. Kim, 'Jesus, Sayings of, DPL, pp. 480-2; Wenham, Follower or Founder, passim; and the mediating positions of D. C. Allison, Jr., 'The Pauline Epistles and the Synoptic Gospels: The Pattern of the Parallels', NTS 28 (1982), pp. 1-32, esp.
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give this commandnot I but the Lordthat the wife should not separate from her husband.' In v. 12 an indirect reference to 'the commands of the Lord' follows. 'To the rest I sayI and not the Lordthat if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.' And again in 1 Cor. 9 14 he writes 'In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should earn their living from the gospel ' These references to the 'commands of the Lord' are important for at least two reasons. First, they indicate Paul's willingness to utilize the Jesus tradition with the Corinthians. Second, and more important, they seem to presuppose that the Corinthians had some knowledge of Jesus' teaching. As Earle Ellis points out, 'The[se] fleeting references to Jesus' teachings.. are hardly meaningful unless a broader knowledge of them by the congregations is presupposed.' Similarly, Dale Allison notes, 'Paul does not
pp 1020, Richardson and Gooch, 'Logia of Jesus in 1 Corinthians' in D Wenham (ed ), The Jesus Tradition Outside the Gospels (Gospel Perspectives, 5, Sheffield JSOT, 1985), PP 39~62, esp pp 45-50, 57 67 1 Cor 14 37 also refers to 'a command of the Lord' This is usually thought to refer to the words of the Lord that Paul conveys by virtue of his apostolic-prophetic role and not, as BDAG suggest, to 'the precepts of Jesus' (BDAG, 340SV 2 b ) See esp Richardson and Gooch, 'Logia of Jesus in 1 Corinthians', 45 Yet the issue is not entirely clear cut, complicated as it is by contextual questions (C Dodd, ' , in J Sevenster and W C van Unnik (eds ), Studia Paulina in honorem Johannis de Zwaan [Haarlem Bohn, 1953], 105, ) and textual uncertainty ( M Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament [New York UBS, 1971], 566)so much so that J Tomson revives A Resch's suggestion that Paul refers to an agraphon of Jesus ('La Premiere Eptre aux Corinthiens comme document de la tradition apostolique de halakha', in R Biennger ([ed], The Corinthian Correspondence [BETL 125, Leuven Leuven University Press, 1996], 466, Resch, Der Pauhnismus und die Logia Jesu [TU N S 12, Leipzig J C Hmrichs, 1904], pp 153, 459, 463) Similarly, Gerhardsson, Memory and Manuscript Oral Tradition and Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity (ASNU 22, Lund C W Gleerup, 1961), 306 Cf D H Akenson, who suggests that Paul preseives a number of Jesus' sayings 'which were not picked up by the authoreditors of the Gospels' {Saint Paul A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus [Oxford Oxford University Press, 2000], 224) He calls 'disinterring such buried treasures the big job confronting the next generation of Yeshuaquestors' (pp 223-4) 68 'Gospel Criticism A Perspective on the State of the Art', in Stuhlmacher (ed ), The Gospel and the Gospels (Grand Rapids, M I Eerdmans, 1991), 44, io2 Similarly, D L Dungan, The Sayings of Jesus in the Churches of Paul The Use of the Synoptic Tradition in the Regulation of Early Church Life [Philadelphia Fortress, 1971], pp 80, 133, 146-50, Wenham, Follower or Founder, pp 393, 4027

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quote the apposite dominical words but only alludes to t h e m apparently assuming that the recipients of the letter will know full well to what he is referring.' 6 9 Moreover, that Paul's statement in 7:25 ('concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion') is given in response to the Corinthians' letter to him (1 Cor. 7:1) suggests that the Corinthians questioned Paul not only for his views but also for those of Jesus. 7 0 All of this seems to indicate that the Corinthians were aware of some of the teachings of Jesus and that Paul was the source of at least some of those traditions. 2. Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians Paul refers to his previous transmission of tradition to the Corinthians. In 1 Cor. 11:2 he praises the Corinthians for ' m a i n t a i n i n g ] the traditions () just as I handed them on to you'. Then in 11:23 and 15:3 he uses the technical terms for the reception and
'Pauline Epistles and Synoptic Gospels', p. 21. That Paul alludes to the teachings of Jesus in 1 Cor. 13:2-3 rather than citing them verbatim suggests that the Corinthians were also familiar with that tradition in some detail. Otherwise, such an allusion would seem to be lost on them. So C. L. Blomberg, Making Sense of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, M I : Baker, 2004), p. 81; C. Marshall, 'Paul and Jesus: Continuity or Discontinuity?', Stimulus 5 (1997), p. 36, who point out that an allusion, as a communication strategy, presupposes shared or common knowledge. Otherwise, V. P. Furnish, who argues that 'whether Paul's readers would have recognized such allusions has to be left as an open question' {Jesus According to Paul [Understanding Jesus Today; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993], p. 64). Perhaps, but, as J. D. G. Dunn points out, allusions belong to 'the language of community discourse' by which, among other things, a religious community is bonded together. Thus, Paul's readers must have recognized them, for 'recognition of the allusion/echo is what attests effective membership of the group' ('Jesus Tradition in Paul', in B. Chilton and C. A. Evans [eds.], Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research [ N T T S 19; Leiden: Brill, 1994], p. 177; cf. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle [Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 1998], pp. 651-3). Cf. . Fjrstedt {Synoptic Tradition in 1 Corinthians: Themes and Clusters of Theme Words in 1 Corinthians 1-4 and 9 [Uppsala: Teologiska Institutionen, 1974]), who advances the questionable thesis that Paul's style in 1 Corinthians is so allusive that the Corinthians would not have fully grasped his argument unless they knew the traditions to which he alludes. 70 . E. Ellis, 'Traditions in 1 Corinthians', NTS 32 (1986), pp. 486-7. Similarly, G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( N I C N T ; Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 1987), p. 327, n. 23; Wenham, Follower or Founder, p. 246; cf. 1 Cor. 7:12, 40. However, R. Bultmann suggests that Paul's statement simply betrays his ignorance, not a query from the Corinthians ('The Significance of the Historical Jesus for the Theology of Paul', in R. W. Funk [ed.], Faith and Understanding [London: SCM, 1969], p. 222). 71 According to Dunn, for it to be otherwise 'would be utterly astonishing' ('Jesus Tradition in Paul', p. 173; cf. Dunn, The Theology of Paul, p. 187).
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transmission of tradition, a n d / (reflective of the rabbinic t e r m s v2p and 0?3), as he recounts his earlier instruction on the L o r d ' s S u p p e r and Christ's saving death and resurrection. A l t h o u g h this material contains an early creedal formula (15:3-5), it does in fact include t h e teachings of Jesus, as Paul's rehearsal of t h e words of institution of the L o r d ' s S u p p e r in 11:24-5 indicates. 2 Finally, P a u l ' s appeal to imitate his behaviour as it is modelled o n C h r i s t ' s example (1 Cor. 4:16-17; 11:1) seems to suggest not only Paul's d e p e n d e n c e on Jesus tradition b u t also presupposes the C o r i n t h i a n s ' knowledge of that tradition, and thus, in all likelihood, Paul's transmission of it to t h e m . N o t only were t h e C o r i n t h i a n s privy to some of t h e teachings of Jesus b u t , given their notions of spirituality, it would also not be surprising if they m i s u n d e r s t o o d some of this tradition t h a t Paul had t r a n s m i t t e d , or, claiming a higher wisdom, misappropriated it to suit their o w n ends. I n d e e d , similar moves are not without precedent. I n a parenthetical c o m m e n t in R o m . 3:8 ('as we are slanderously r e p o r t e d as saying a n d as some claim that we say') Paul indicates t h a t he has b e e n misrepresented and his views twisted. Even m o r e significant is 1 Cor. 5:9-11, in which Paul clarifies a m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g from his previous letter: wrote to you in m y l e t t e r . . . not at all m e a n i n g . . . '. 3 Evidence for t h e misuse of specific sayings of Jesus by the Corinthians is n o t lacking. 4 T h e verbal links between Paul's
Walter maintains that Paul knew 1 Cor 11 23-5 only as liturgical tradition and not as the words of Jesus ('Paul and the Early Christian JesusTradition', pp 62-3, 78, cf Furnish, Jesus According to Paul, pp 51, 64) However, as Dunn points out, such a conclusion is 'odd' given the fact that 'such traditions were remembered as explicitly attributable to Jesus' ('Jesus Tradition in Paul', 173, cf 175) See also Wenham, who likewise argues that Paul's transmission of tradition as specifically the 'teaching of Jesus' reveals his own conscious dependence on the historical Jesus {Follower or Founder, pp 395-6) Similarly, R Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids, MI Eerdmans, 2006), pp 267-8 See further Kim, 'Jesus, Sayings of, 475 Finally, it should be observed with C Barrett that 'it should not simply be assumed (though this is often done) that the words that follow (in verses 23 ff) were already in liturgical use at the celebration of the Lord's Supper' (The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 264) Similarly, Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 267, 15 On the misunderstanding or distortion of instruction or doctrine, cf John 21 23, 2 Cor 5 13 (Moffatt, TNIV), 1 Tim 6 3-4, Heb 5 11, 2 Pet 3 16, Pol Phil 7 1 First Corinthians 5 911 might point to a deliberate misrepresenta tion by Corinthians who felt that Paul's directives were unrealistic or undesirable So Fee, 1 Corinthians, pp 222-3 Cf C M Tuckett, who notes that 'there is a strong case to be made for the belief that the use of Jesus tradition was a critical issue at Corinth and

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sarcastic criticism of t h e C o r i n t h i a n s in 4:8 ('Already you are filled []\ A l r e a d y y o u have b e c o m e r i c h []] W i t h o u t u s you have b e c o m e kings [iaaLAcvaareJV) a n d t h e b e a t i t u d e s in M a t t . 5:3, 6 (par. L u k e 6:20-1), w h e r e t h e h u n g r y will be filled () a n d t h e poor ( ) possess t h e k i n g d o m ( aoiXeia), suggest t h a t t h e C o r i n t h i a n s m a y have b e e n m i s u s i n g t h e s e sayings of J e s u s . 7 5 M o r e telling is t h e allusion in 1 Cor. 13:2 ('if I have all faith, so as t o r e m o v e m o u n t a i n s ' ) to M a t t . 17:20 ('if y o u have faith like a m u s t a r d seed, you will say to this m o u n t a i n , " M o v e from h e r e to t h e r e " , a n d it will m o v e ' ) . 7 T h a t P a u l c a n w r i t e d i s p a r a g i n g l y of t h e 'faith t h a t can m o v e m o u n t a i n s ' , seems to suggest t h a t t h e C o r i n t h i a n s were m i s u s i n g this saying of Jesus. In the end, Jerome M u r p h y - O ' C o n n o r ' s assessment t h a t t h e C o r i n t h i a n s displayed 'a positive genius . . . for that the Corinthians were at times appealing to Jesus tradition to legitimate their views' ('Paul and Jesus Tradition: T h e Evidence of 1 Corinthians 2:9 and the Gospel of Thomas 17', in T. J. Burke arid J. K. Elliott [eds.], Paul and the Corinthians: Studies on a Community in Conflict. Essays in Honour of Margaret Thrall [NovTSup 109; Leiden: Brill, 2003], p. 66). 75 J. M. Robinson suggests that 1 Cor. 4:8 'could well be Paul's response to a distorting use of the beatitudes' ('Kerygma and History in the New Testament', in J. M. Robinson and H. Koester [ed.], Trajectories through Early Christianity [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971], pp. 43~4) For a similar understanding, see D. C. Allison, Jr., The Jesus Tradition in Q (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997), p. 55, n. 244; R. M. Grant, Augustine to Constantine: The Emergence of Christianity in the Roman World (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), pp. 71-2. 76 Cf. the parallels Luke 17:6 and Matt. 2i:2i/Mark 11:22-3. For the possibility of additional allusions in 1 Cor. 13:2-3 to the sayings of Jesus, see Wenham, Follower or Founder, pp. 81-5. 77 See Robinson, 'Kerygma and History in the New Testament', pp. 40-1; cf. Dunn, 'Jesus Tradition in Paul', p. 163; H.-W. Kuhn, 'Der irdische Jesus bei Paulus als traditionsgeschichtliches und theologisches Problem', ZTK 67 (1970), pp. 313-14; Wenham, Follower or Founder, pp. 82-3. C. M. Tuckett suggests that Cor 4:8 and 13:2 seem to provide the strongest evidence that Jesus-traditions were being [mis-]used by the Corinthians' ( Corinthians and Q', JBL 102 [1983], p. 619). Additionally, D. L. Balch argues that the Corinthians were misusing the so-called ascetic sayings of the Lord (Luke 14:20, 26; 17:27; 18:29-30; 20:34-5 and their parallels) to support the practice of remaining unmarried ('Backgrounds of I Cor. VII: Sayings of the Lord in Q; Moses as an Ascetic ANHP in II Cor. I I P , NTS 18 [1971-2], pp. 352-8). Cf. J. P. Brown, who suggests that 'in some of the cases we see Paul defending himself against what he considers a misinterpretation of Q' ('Synoptic Parallels in the Epistles and Form-History', NTS 10 [1963-4], p. 47); and P. Richardson, who argues that 'some of the problems of which we have evidence in 1 Corinthians are caused by differences of opinion over the interpretation of sayings of Jesus circulating... in Corinth, a collection more or less like Q' ('Gospel Traditions in the Church in Corinth: With Apologies to . H. Streeter', in G. F. Hawthorne with O. Betz [eds.], Tradition and

THE ROOTS OF A ' L I B E R T I N E ' SLOGAN 89 misunderstanding him [Paul]' and that Virtually every statement he made took root in their minds in a slightly distorted form, and from this defective seed flowered bizarre approaches to different aspects of the Christian life' may not be too wide of the mark 7 8 It is therefore virtually certain that the Corinthians knew some of the sayings of Jesus and quite likely that some of Corinthians did in fact misuse one or more of these sayings Given this and the arrogant triumphahsm of the Corinthian community, it would not be surprising to find that the Corinthians had, in fact, twisted numerous teachings of Jesus to legitimate their views Indeed, a number of similarities exist between Cor 6 12-20 and Mark 7 14-23 (par Matt 15 10-20), which could suggest that much of 1 Cor 6 12-20 bears the imprint of a mishandling of those sayings of Jesus that were eventually recorded in Mark 7 14-23 7 9 Ultimately, then, the origin of much of 1 Cor 6 12-20, and in particular i8b, may he in the Corinthians' misuse of the tradition preserved in Mark 7 14-23
Interpretation in the New Testament Essays in Honor of E Earle Ellis [Grand Rapids, M I Eerdmans, 1987], pp 303-4) Paul A Critical Life (Oxford Oxford University Press, 1996), 252 Similarly, Nock, 'Gnosticism', 278, Wenham, 'Whatever Went Wrong in Corinth?', pp 138-41 Contra W L Knox, who thinks that in 1 Corinthians Paul confronts 'a perfectly logical interpretation of his own teaching' (St Paul [New York Appleton, 1932], 92) Cf J C Hurd, who argues that shifts in Paul's thought, rather than Corinthian misunderstanding, were responsible for the conflict between Paul and the Corinthians (The Origin of I Corinthians [new edn , Macon, GA Mercer University Press, 1983]) As early as 1852 Conybeare and Howson, in commenting on 1 Cor 6 18, noted 'The Corinthian freethinkers perhaps availed themselves of our Lord's words, Mark 7 18 "whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile'" (Paul, 392, 5) For similar analyses, see W Klassen, 'Foundations for Pauline Sexual Ethics as seen m I Thess 4 i-8', in Society of Biblical Literature IJ8 Seminar Papers, Vol 2, ed Achtemeier (Missoula, M T Scholars Press, 1978), pp 164-5, A C Thiselton, 'Realized Eschatology at Corinth', NTS 24 (1978), 517, Wenham, Follower or Founder, pp 95-6 Although widely accepted, the authenticity of Mark 7 15 is occasionally challenged (see e g Raisanen, 'Jesus and the Food Laws Reflections on Mark 7 15', in Jesus, Paul and Torah [JSNTSup 43 Sheffield J S O T Press, I 992], PP 127-48, repr in an expanded form from J SN 16 [1982], Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus [New York Penguin, 1993], Pp 218-23) For careful defence of the authenticity of this logion, as well as the pencope as a whole, see R Gundry, Mark A Commentary on his Apology for the Cross (Grand Rapids, M I Eerdmans, 1993), pp 357-71, M Thompson, Clothed with Christ The Example and Teaching of Jesus in Romans I2 i~i5i3 (JSNTSup 59, Sheffield JSOT, 1991), pp 188-93, Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis Fortress, 1996), pp 396-8 In a slightly different tack, J D G Dunn questions the priority of the Markan version and suggests that the Matthean account (15 11) more faithfully

90

JAY E. SMITH

At least four major parallels between Mark 7:14-23 and 1 Cor. 6:12-20 hint at the possibility that much of what is reflected in 1 Cor. 6:12-20 is dependent on the misuse of the sayings preserved in Mark 7:i4-23: 8 1 1. Both passages use a form of the argument from transience to establish either the moral irrelevancy of food (Mark 7) or the moral irrelevancy of the body (1 Corinthians 6). In Mark 7 the causal on that links vv. 18 and 19 makes this clear: 'Whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, since (ort) it e n t e r s . . . his stomach and goes out into the sewer/ 8 2 In 1 Corinthians, the belief, expressed in the Corinthian slogan proposed for 6:18b, that the body is morally irrelevant, seems to

preserves the original form of Jesus' saying ('Jesus and Ritual Purity: A Study of the Tradition-History of Mark 7:15', in Jesus, Paul and the Law [Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1990], pp. 37-60, esp. p. 51). Thus Dunn pits Matthew against Mark so that Jesus did not 'speak clearly and decisively on the subject' of food laws {Jesus Remembered [Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 2003], p. 574). However, as R. T. France points out, social and cultural realities blunt the driving force behind Dunn's conclusion {The Gospel of Mark [ N I G T C ; Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 2002], pp. 278-9; similarly D. A. Carson, Matthew [The Expositor's Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, M I : Zondervan, 1984], p. 352; Gundry, Mark, pp. 370-1). Note also the further critiques of Dunn by France, Mark, p. 290; Gundry, Mark, pp. 364-5; and see B. Lindars, who agrees with Dunn's conclusion that Jesus did not speak clearly and decisively on the subject of food laws but still maintains the priority of Mark ('All Foods Clean: Thoughts on Jesus and the Law', in id. [ed.], Law and Religion: Essays on the Place of the Law in Israel and Early Christianity [Cambridge: James Clark, 1988], pp. 61-71, 167-70). 81 T h e allusions elsewhere in Paul to the Matthew is//Mark 7 tradition, e.g. Rom 14:14-20; Col. 2:21-2 (see Wenham, Follower or Founder, pp. 92-7), suggest its common currency in the Pauline churches. T h e similarities between the vice lists in Rom. 1:29-31 and in Mark 7:21-2 may also point to Paul's use of the tradition of Matthew i5//Mark 7. On this possibility, see Wenham, Follower or Founder, p. 97, n. 136; Ellis, 'Traditions in 1 Corinthians', p. 483; cf. C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel according to Saint Mark (rev. edn., C G T C ; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), pp. 242-3; V. Taylor, The Gospel according to Mark (2nd edn.; London: Macmillan, 1966), pp. 346-7. For other possible allusions to the Matthew i5//Mark 7 tradition, see Acts 10:9-16; 1 Cor. 8:8; Gal. 2:12; Gos. Thorn. 14:5. While it is true that in Mark 7:18-19 the primary implication seems to be that food does not defile because it does not enter one's heart { LGTTopvraL... ), the fact that food is ultimately eliminated in the latrine (els ) not only reinforces this point but also suggests that its final destiny renders it morally irrelevant. Matthew (15:17), in omitting Mark's reference to 'not entering the heart', seems to accent this, i.e. the transitory nature of food. Cf. U. Luz, Matthew 8-20 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), pp. 3334.

THE ROOTS OF A ' L I B E R T I N E ' SLOGAN 91 be based upon the view, common among the Corinthians, that the body is transientnot destined for resurrection but for destruction This they affirmed m another of their slogans (6 13b) 'God will destroy both the one (stomach) and the other (food) , 8 4 2 T h e Corinthians' overarching belief that the body is morally irrelevant (6 12-13, 18, 15 32) looks like a misunderstanding, distortion, or exaggeration of Jesus' message that the true source of defilement is an impure heart, not mere external contact (1 e bodily activities) 8 5 Moreover, the wording of Mark 7 18-19 ('Whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and goes out into the sewer') could easily be construed to mean that external, bodily contact is morally irrelevant and that only 'intentions' ( , 2 i ) or t h e ' h e a r t ' of a p e r s o n (K , 2) really matter 3 Individual verses in 1 Cor 6 1220, which are commonly identified as Corinthian slogans, seem to distort sections of

A similar connection between moral irrelevancy and transience is seen in 1 Cor 7 2931, 15 32, Col 2 212, cf 1 Cor 9 25 See also 2 Cor 5 10, where Paul makes it clear that 'things done while in the body' are not morally irrelevant (cf also Rom 2 6-8, 16, 14 10-12, Gal 6 7-9, Eph 6 8, Col 3 23-5) For this intent behind the slogan, cf 1 Cor 15 12b and see Byrne, 'Eschatologies of Resurrection and Destruction The Ethical Significance of Paul's Dispute with the Corinthians', DRev 104 (1986), pp 289-92, MurphyO'Connor, 'Slogans', 395, S Rosner, Paul, Scripture, and Ethics A Study of 1 Corinthians 5-j (AGJU 22, Leiden Brill, 1994), 129 Cf also Thiselton, who ties this Corinthian slogan in 6 13 to Mark 7 14-19 ('Realized Eschatology', 517) On Jesus' message, as recorded in Mark 7 15-23, see J R Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark (Pillar N T Commentary, Grand Rapids, MI Eerdmans, 2002), pp 212, 214, France, Mark, pp 288, 292, Gundry, Mark, 365 T h e Corinthians apparently interpreted Jesus to mean 'defilement is not a matter of outward, bodily actionsperiod 1 ' rather than 'defilement is not merely or only a matter of outward actions but is also a matter of the heart' Gundry rightly points out that 'we must guard against over interpreting 15 to mean that dispositions determine the moral character of all actions, as though a right disposition would launder murder (to take an extreme case)' It seems that the Corinthians failed to heed Gundry's warning at this point and thought that illicit sexual relations () could be so laundered They failed to recognize that inward dispositions and outward actions cannot be so incongruous As Gundry puts it 'Dispositions generate actions corresponding to them ' 86 Note the similar line of thought in Mark 7 15, 20, 23, Matt 15 17-20, and cf note 38 above

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M a r k 7:1423. T h e s e distortions or conceptual 'parallels' are best seen in t a b u l a r form: C o n c e p t u a l Parallels: 1 Cor. 6:12-20 a n d M a r k 7:14-23 Mark 'He declared all foods clean' (7:19) 'Everything that enters... the stomach ... goes out into the sewer' (7:1819) 'There is nothing outside the person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of the person are what defile him What ever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him' (7:15, 18b; cf. vv. 20, 23) Corinthian Slogans 'All things are lawful' (6:12; cf. 6:13a) 'God will destroy both the one [sto mach] and the other [food]' (6:13b) 'Every sin that a person commits is outside the body' (6:18b) Basic Common Idea All external things/ matters are permis sible/indifferent Food (the physical/ material) is transient

Sin is an internal matter of motives and intentions, not a matter related to external things or bodily contact

4. B o t h passages share a significant n u m b e r of c o m m o n expressionsa cluster of 'precise' parallels. I n fact, t h e verbal parallels are extensive and suggest m o r e t h a n m e r e coincidence or simply c o m m o n subject matter. Again, these parallels can best be seen in tabular form: Verbal/Terminological Parallels: 1 Cor. 6:12-20 a n d M a r k 7:14-23 Common Expressions /^
87

Corinthians \x (6:12 [3*], 18)

Mark Sx (7:14, 15, 18, 19, 23)

2X (6:13)

* (7:19)

Brown suggests that parallels between the vice lists in Mark 7:21-2 and in 1 Cor. 6:9-10 also hint at a relationship between Mark 7 and 1 Corinthians 6 ('Synoptic Parallels', pp. 43-4). Note the related terms in the two vice lists: 17TopVai\ ; / ; / ', / .

T H E R O O T S OF A ' L I B E R T I N E ' S L O G A N
ori vostre ori 'KTOS [ ] ls 2 (6:13) 2 ( 6 : 3 , 18) 3 ( 6 : 5 , 6 , i g )
: ( 7 : 8 ) ; ( 6 : 8 ) : ( 7 : 8 )

93

; (7:19) : (7^2)

(7:23) ( 6 : 8 )
: ( 6 : 8 ) (7:5, 8) 8:

( 7 : 5 [3*], 8 , 20 [], 2 1 , 23)

( 6 : 8 ) SX ( 7 : 5 [2tf], 18, 20, 23)

Although certainty is not possible, these four major parallels, both conceptual and verbal (terminological), in conjunction with the fact that the general subject-matter of the two passages concerns purity, suggest that the Corinthians had distorted these sayings of Jesus, 8 9 which Paul had probably communicated to them in explaining that they were free from the law and not bound by Jewish scruples concerning clean and unclean food. In other words, the Corinthians had extended Jesus' logic about nothing from the outside defiling a person in order to justify their sexual behaviour. 91 The point is clarified nicely by William Klassen: 'While the primary reference there (Mark 7:15) is to food, surely it is not too much to suggest that the early Christians also applied this to sex and believed that in the sexual act you cannot be defiled by what enters your body. In fact, they
Cf. (j:I5, 2); (7:2l); & (7:21, 23). Perhaps, the words of Jesus expressed in Mark 7:18b (or a conflation of 7:15a and 7:18b) lie directly behind 1 Cor. 6:18b, as the convergence of both terminological and conceptual similarities suggests: 7 : i 8b: . 'Everything that enters into the man from outside is not able to defile him' = Defilement is not a matter of outward, bodily actions. 6:18b: o iv ) . 'Every sin that a man commits is outside the body' = Sin has nothing to do with outward, bodily actions. Wenham, Follower or Founder, p. 95. See Wenham (ibid., 95-6), whose wording has been adopted here. Similarly, A. H. McNeile, The Gospel according to St. Matthew (London: Macmillan, 1915), p. 229.
9

94 JAY E. SMITH seemed to have applied it so thoroughly that in Corinth... being 92 joined to a harlot (i Cor. 6) [was] condoned.' Thus in this extension of logic, the alleged slogan 'Every sin that a person commits is outside the body' (i Cor. 6:18), with its belief that bodily actions are morally irrelevant, could be formulated. Moreover, the recurrent analogy drawn in the Greco-Roman world between the eating of food and sexual intercourse suggests that such a move by the Corinthians would have been virtually
93

intuitive. Two additional observations further support the proposal that the Corinthians misused the Jesus traditions preserved in Mark 7:14-23. First, the recurring debate within the early church over clean and unclean food (Acts 10:14-15; 11:8-9; 15:20, 28-9; 21:25; Rom. 14:14-20; Gal. 2:11-14; Col. 2:16, 20-3; 1 Tim. 4:3-5; Titus 1:15), as well as the problem at Corinth of food offered to idols (8:1-11:1), provide just the kind of setting in which the teachings of Jesus preserved in Mark 7:14-23 would find common currency. 4 That such was the case is made even more likely by the Markan addition in v. 19b ('he declared all foods clean'), which emphasizes the narrative's application to the issue of food. Second, the symmetrical arrangement of the vice list in Mark 7:20-3, in which o ('evil intentions') introduces two sets of six terms each, suggests 'the influence of catechetical interests on its form'. This in turn raises the possibility that Christian missionaries, Paul included, made repeated use of this material, along with the rest of the tradition preserved in Mark 7:14-23. 9 6 Again, the Markan addition in v. 19b seems to support these suspicions since it explicitly spells out the
'Foundations for Pauline Sexual Ethics', p. 165. Similarly, Luz notes that Matthew 15 'contains a potential meaning that is directed against any ascetical-legal religious regulations that touch a person only externally' {Matthew, p. 335). An application to the sphere of sexual relations is not unprecedented, for, as Luz points out, John Chrysostom applied Matthew 15 to regulations concerning sexual abstinence (Homily 51.5; NPNF1 vol. 10, o ? I 9 ) For this analogy, see note 31 above. 94 Cf. note 81 above. 95 Cranfield, Mark, p. 240. Similarly, W. L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark ( N I C N T ; Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 1974), p. 256; Taylor, Mark, p. 347. 96 For a similar understanding, see C. H. Dodd, 'The "Primitive Catechism" and the Sayings of Jesus', in More New Testament Studies (Grand Rapids, M I : Eerdmans, 1968), pp. 25-6; and also M. Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel (New York: Scribner, 1935), p. 242; Ellis, 'Traditions in 1 Corinthians', pp. 486-7.

T H E R O O T S OF A ' L I B E R T I N E ' SLOGAN

95

significance of Jesus' teaching, which would be particularly relevant for new converts familiar with Judaism.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The Corinthians were caught between at least two worlds. Like the great Colossus of Rhodes they had one foot firmly planted in the Hellenistic-Roman world and the other in the competing culture of their new-found faith, Christianity. In this social, cultural, and religious matrix, the notion that the body was morally irrelevantthat sin was an internal matter of motives and intentions and not an external matter related to the bodywas commonplace. Popular philosophy, incipient Gnosticism, and even the teachings of Jesus, wrongly understood, echoed the belief. It was in this environment that the slogan 'Every sin that a person commits is outside the body', with its belief that bodily actions were morally irrelevant, could come to expression. All discussions of Cor. 6:18 must wind down a path that ultimately takes them past Jerome Murphy-O'Connor's essay. I find his analysis convincing. I hope that I have furthered it by sketching part of the social, cultural, and religious matrix that provided some of the craw materials' from which the Corinthians were able to construct the slogan of v. 18b.
JAY E. SMITH

Dallas Theological Seminary jsmith@dts.edu

Numerous analyses not withstanding. See e.g. Byrne 'Sinning against One's Own Body', pp. 608-16; G. Dautzenberg, ( rropveav ( Kor 6, 18): Eine Fallstudie zur paulinischen Sexualethik in ihrem Verhltnis zur Sexualethik des Frhjudentums', in H. Merklein (ed.), Neues Testament und Ethik: Fr Rudolf Schnackenburg (Freiburg: Herder, 1989), pp. 271-98, esp. P 2 73; J. D. M. Derrett, 'Right and Wrong Sticking ( Cor 6:18)', EstBib 55 (1997), 98-106; . . Fisk, (7TopvvLv as Body Violation: The Unique Nature of Sexual Sin in 1 Cor 6 : i 8 \ NTS 42 (1996), pp. 540-58; A. S. May, 'The Lord for the Body': Sex and Identity in 1 Corinthians $~y (London: & Clark, 2004), pp. 123-4. Cf. M. D. Goulder, 'Libertines? (1 Cor. 5-6)', NovT 41 (1999), pp. 334-48; and B. W. Winter, 'Gluttony and Immorality at Elitist Banquets: T h e Background of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20', jfian Dao 7 ( 997), pp. 77-90, who cite Fisk with approval.

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