The Pauline concept of 'weakness' in 1 Corinthians and its usage within the context of Paul's resolution of the opposition between the strong and the weak in 1 Cor 8:7-13

In 1 Corinthians, the unity of the Corinthian church is in jeopardy. The letter confronts serious problems facing the Corinthian community. One of the strategies Paul uses to address these problems is found in the use of the adjective ;To analyze the role of the "weakness" language in Paul's argumentation, we employ criticism based upon both the old and the new rhetoric. The former is employed to determine the rhetorical genre and structure of the letter, while the latter helps analyze the thought processes that underlie Paul's argumentation. The identification of the rhetorical genre of the letter as "deliberative" illuminates Paul's purpose, namely, his appeal for the unity of the community. Paul's deliberative rhetoric works both to dissuade the Corinthians from their divisive forms of behavior and to persuade them to adopt the optimal course of action in the present situation. The determination of the structure provides an overall perspective from which to view the function of the "weakness" vocabulary. The structure reveals that the "weakness" word group is used only in the probatio, which provides proofs for the truth of the thesis. To analyze the role of the "weakness" vocabulary completely, it is also necessary to view his argumentative methods in light of the new rhetoric developed by Perelman. This examination shows how this vocabulary is intended to persuade the Corinthians to embrace behaviors associated with those values.;This dissertation concludes that the vocabulary of weakness is used as a rhetorical device in Paul's deliberative rhetoric in order to nurture a cohesiveness among the members. Each instance of this vocabulary is employed with an eye to what is advantageous, harmful, expedient, or inexpedient (that is, to the purposes proper to deliberative discourse).