LHIM Classes

11. Money and Benefaction in 1 Corinthians

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1 Corinthians 8:9-13; 9:1-27

Paul’s Example

  • 1 Corinthians 8:9-13  Rather than eating idol food and bragging about it, the strong in the church should consider how their freedom affects the weak.
  • 1 Corinthians 9:1-17 Paul turns the attention to his own privileges as a bonafide apostle. He could bring a wife along with him; he could get paid for his work. But he has given up those privileges.

    • Arguments to Pay Ministers

    • (1) Soldiers get their expenses paid for. (9:7)
    • (2) Vineyard farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor. (9:7)
    • (3) Shepherds get the milk from their flock. (9:7)
    • (4) Plowing oxen are not muzzled so they can graze. (9:8-10)
    • (5) Those who work in the temple service get their food from the sacrifices. (9:13)
    • Conclusion 1: We who have sown spiritual things among you should harvest material things. (9:11)
    • Conclusion 2: The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (9:14)
    • And yet Paul said, “I would rather die than that”. (9:15)

      • Benefaction in Cities

      • Aristotle: “The magistracies of the highest rank, which ought to be in the hands of the governing body, should have expensive duties attached to them, and then the people will not desire them and will take no offense at the privileges of their rulers when they see that they pay a heavy fine for their dignity. It is fitting also that the magistrates on entering office should offer magnificent sacrifices or erect some public edifice, and then the people who participate in the entertainments, and see the city decorated with votive offerings and buildings, will not desire an alteration in the government, and the notables will have memorials of their munificence.”1 (Aristotle, Politics 6.7.31-40)
      • Arjan Zuiderhoek: “Hierarchies, however, are never self-evident, but have to be persuasively presented as such. Elites have to convince both themselves and those below them that their domination is not arbitrary, but that the existing order is somehow the natural state of things.  The social hierarchy has to be shown to be morally justified in the sense that it accords with broadly shared beliefs about what is good and just. …The more privileged the position of the governing elite became, the more individual members had to give evidence of their moral superiority, and they had to do so in hard cash.”2
      • Apuleius: “His name was Thiasus and he came from Corinth, the capital of the province of Achaea. As one would expect of a man of his birth and rank, he had passed through the different graces of office to the quinquennial magistracy; and to honour the occasion in a suitably brilliant manner and by way of displaying his munificence to the full he had undertaken to provide a three-day gladiatorial show. So eager indeed was he for popularity that he had been as far afield as Thessaly to procure wild beasts and celebrated gladiators, and now that he had acquired and arranged all he needed he was preparing to return to Corinth.”3 (Apulius, The Golden Ass12)

        • Patron-Client Relationship

        • The patron was the superior who provided for his or her clients money, legal help, protection from someone, political support, business connections, or even just food. In return, clients were expected to provide loyalty, public recognition, voting support, and protection of the patron’s reputation in the city.
        • 1 Corinthians 9:16-18  Here Paul sounds like his policy is never to take money from anyone so he can always offer the gospel without any payment.
        • Philippians 4:10-20  The church at Philippi repeatedly supported Paul financially, and he was quite happy to receive their help.

          • Junia Theodora of Corinth

          • Junia inscription (lines 22-31): “The people of Patara have decreed: Since Iunia Theodora, a Roman, living in Corinth, a woman of the greatest honour, living modestly, who is a friend of the Lycians, and has dedicated her life to earning the gratitude of all the Lycians, has bestowed numerous benefits also on many of our citizens; and, revealing the generosity of her nature, she does not cease, because of her goodwill, from offering hospitality to all the Lycians and receiving them in her own house and she continues particularly to act on behalf of our citizens in regard to any favour asked—so that the majority of our citizens have come before the Assembly to give testimony about her.”4
          • Junia inscription (lines 72-77): “Since Junia Theodora, a Roman, a benefactress of the greatest loyalty to the Lycian federation and our city has accomplished numerous . . . benefits for the federation and our city, and dwelling in the city of the Corinthians welcomes in her own house Lycian travellers and our citizens, . . . supplying them with everything . . . ; displaying her patronage [προστασια, prostasia] of those who are present….”5
          • Jerome Murphy-O’Connor: “Junia Theodora may have helped individuals financially, but her principal service to her fellow Lycians was twofold: she offered them hospitality and she facilitated relations with the administration “by assuring the friendship of the authorities” (line 52). Exports from Lycia had to go by sea, and it is no coincidence that the cities that honor Junia Theodora are the principal ports of western Lycia.”6

            • Phoebe of Cenchreae

            • Romans 16:1-2 Paul called Phoebe “our sister,” “deacon of the church at Cenchreae,” and “a benefactor [προστάτις, prostatis] of many and of myself.”
            • Jerome Murphy-O’Connor: “Phoebe was a benefactress on a less international scale than Junia Theodora, but her activities would have been very similar. The title given to her by Paul, prostatis (Rom 16:2), is a cognate of prostasia, which is used to describe the contribution of Junia Theodora (line 77). Phoebe hosted the assembly of the believers at Cenchreae. Her house would have been open to traveling Christians, whom she would help with advice, contacts, and, if necessary, intervention.”7
            • Paul received Phoebe’s benefaction, possibly even while he was living in Corinth. However, he couldn’t bring himself to receive money from the Corinthian élite.

              • Not Taking Money for Himself But…

              • 2 Corinthians 11:7-9  Reflecting back on his time in Corinth, Paul noted that he did receive financial assistance from other churches.
              • He never tells the Corinthians specifically why he wouldn’t take their money. He certainly didn’t want to take on the traditional obligations of a client to any specific wealthy individual. He also may have perceived that receiving from one person would enable divisiveness as other elite Christians competed.
              • 1 Corinthians 16:1-4  Still, Paul did want their money. He’s fully planning to go and pick it up and then bring it to Jerusalem for the poor there. Notice how far away chapters 9 and 16 are from each other. Paul didn’t want there to be a shred of doubt that this money was not for him.

                • Athletic Metaphors and the Isthmian Games

                • 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 Paul revealed his modus operandi (mode of operating). He was always willing to give up privileges and inconvenience himself if it meant he could win people over in evangelism.
                • Paul employed the illustration of runners, athletes in training, and boxers. Such language must have resonated with the Corinthians who attended the Isthmian Games every two years.
                • Events included foot races, discus and javelin throwing, wrestling, boxing, pankration, chariot racing, horse racing, as well as competitions for musicians, poets, and orators.
                  • Bibliography

                  Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Translated by E. J. Kenney. London, England: Penguin, 2004.

                  Aristotle. The Complete Works of Aristotle. Edited by Jonathan Barnes. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Vol. 2. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.

                  Kearsley, R. A. “Women in Public Life in the Roman East: Iunia Theodora, Claudia Metrodora and Phoebe, Benefactress of Paul.” Tyndale Bulletin 50, no. 2 (Nov 1, 1999: 189-211.

                  Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archeology. 3rd ed. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002.

                  Zuiderhoek, Arjan. The Politics of Munificence in the Roman Empire: Citizens, Elites and Benefactors in Asia Minor. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

                  1. Aristotle, The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Jonathan Barnes, trans. Benjamin Jowett, vol. 2 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), 2097.
                  2. Arjan Zuiderhoek, The Politics of Munificence in the Roman Empire: Citizens, Elites and Benefactors in Asia Minor (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 116, 31.
                  3. Apuleius, The Golden Ass, trans. E. J. Kenney (London, England: Penguin, 2004), 289-90.
                  4. R. A Kearsley, “Women in Public Life in the Roman East: Iunia Theodora, Claudia Metrodora and Phoebe, Benefactress of Paul,” Tyndale Bulletin 50, no. 2 (Nov 1, 1999: 205.
                  5. Kearsley 207-8.
                  6. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archeology, 3rd ed. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), 83.
                  7. Murphy-O’Connor, 84.
                  The post 11. Money and Benefaction in 1 Corinthians first appeared on Living Hope.
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