Building a temple of God: Paul's metaphor of the community as a temple in its Roman Corinthian context

This dissertation examines the role that the temple/community image in 1 Cor 3:16-17 plays in Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians. It suggests that, rather than inviting the Corinthians to understand themselves as a new temple replacing the one in Jerusalem, Paul uses a metaphor that both Gentile and Jew could understand to introduce the motif of community upbuilding that runs throughout the letter.;Through the presentation of historical and archaeological material, I demonstrate in Chapter Two that the letter is written to people living in a thriving Roman port that was a center of diversity and economic activity, including a great deal of building construction.;In Chapter Three, I turn to 1 Corinthians, and discern through structural and rhetorical analysis that Paul's stated purpose is to address what he sees as the problem of dissension within the community.;In 1 Cor 3:16-17, Paul alludes to a temple in the context of building imagery. In Chapter Four, I examine in detail the use of construction language in 1 Corinthians. This chapter contains a rhetorical analysis of the structure of the letter, and concludes that the language of construction is critical to Paul's argument in favor of building up the community.;In Chapter One, I examine previous interpretations of this text, and find the work done to date wanting in several respects. I propose that Paul's temple reference speaks to Jew and Gentile alike, and that the image of the temple functions as part of a wider argument against dissension within the community.;With the significance of construction language established, Chapter Five turns to the phenomenon of ancient temples. It demonstrates that in each of three major religious traditions present in first-century Corinth (Jewish, Greek, and Roman), certain temples (called herein "state temples") play a similar function as "centering images" that link people together and function as emblems of identity to those within specific groups.;Chapter Six focuses upon 1 Cor 3:16-17 and its context, demonstrating that, with the temple allusion, the verses present an active visual image that anchors and enriches the more primary images of the community as a building and a body.;The study concludes with an epilogue, reflecting upon how what has been discovered might be applied to a modern Christian community.