The language of belonging: A rhetorical analysis of kinship language in First Corinthians

In Chapter One Paul's use of household and familial kinship language and imagery was explored across 1 Corinthians 3–6 to ascertain if his use of this language and imagery reflected something deeper and more perduring in his rhetoric than a change of image or word for the sake of maintaining his audience's attention. At the close of this initial exegesis it was determined that Paul had employed images and language of household and familial kinship throughout these four chapters in a coherent and consistent fashion. He used these kinship terms and figures across different situations. Such usage appeared to be part of his rhetorical strategy to correct the Corinthian Christian community's movement into division.; After having determined that his use of these images and language was more than happenstance, questions were raised about the source of this language and imagery. To answer those questions in Chapter Two a broad sampling of Jewish literature written between 200 B.C.E. and 68 C.E. was examined for any occurrence of kinship or household language and how that occurrence might compare or contrast with Paul's own usage of the same in 1 Corinthians 3–6. Possible ties were then explored between Paul's rhetoric, specifically his use of familial and household kinship language, and the rhetoric practiced by rhetoricians and moralists contemporary with him. It was found that both of Paul's cultural contexts, Jewish and Greco-Roman, offered him substantial traditions of familial and household kinship material on which to draw as he shaped the content and form of his letter to the Corinthians.; In Chapter Three it was determined that Paul continued the same language and imagery in chap. 14 that he had employed in chaps. 3, 4, 5, and 6 as he argued for unity and against thoughts, words, or actions that would divide. This research demonstrated that the language and imagery of kinship provides a new interpretive lens through which to read 1 Corinthians.