The symbolism of evil power in 1 and 2 Corinthians: Power, wisdom, and community

The present study is prompted by the convergence of two discrete sets of interest: the issue of evil powers and Paul the controversial apostle. It is motivated by the intersection of the subject of popular religiosity, which arises from the perennial question of evil powers, and Paul's texts which are infamous, not only for their use in relation with misogyny, anti-Judaism, and slavery, but also for their effect which promotes the Christian contempt of the indigenous religions and cultures of the "others.";The usual "modern" picture of Paul, with its Christo-centric exclusivism, has been nourished by the neo-orthodox image of Paul restrictively as a theologian of proclamation, who takes residence only in the privileged realm of "revelation," insulated from people's experiential reality of "culture" and "religion." In such a scheme, Paul's formulation of "justification by faith" is elevated to the doctrinal throne as the center of his thought, to the detriment of other possible readings of his textual suggestions.;This study intends to destabilize the hegemonic modern portrait of Paul by constructing another one which is strange to modern sensitivity. Our intention is partly betrayed in the attempt to reorganize Paul's thought along the line of cosmology, demonology, political undercurrents, and apocalyptic anthropology. All of these subjects have been ignored by Bultmann, the master of "modern" biblical scholarship who conjoined neo-orthodox theology and historical critical methodology.;The mythological language of "evil powers" is appropriated at three levels in 1 and 2 Corinthians: first, in the construction of cosmology (Chap. 3); second, in the formation of apostolic authority (Chap. 4); and third, in the building of Corinthian community (Chap. 5). Paul's interaction with Hellenistic popular religiosity is delineated in terms of magic, oracle, and wisdom, as the background for our analysis (Chap. 2). Paul is cast as a "charismatic sage" who "discerns" the ambivalence of reality and "knows" the ultimate destiny of evil powers, and is thus qualified to offer an educational personal example in terms of dealing with the felt-threat of evil powers. Throughout this study, Paul is presented as the "apostle of power."...