Paulus und die christliche Gemeinde in

The contributions in this volume address the cultural context of the Christian community in Corinth in the 1st century AD and Paul’s response to contextually conditioned tensions. Benjamin Schliesser utilizes a wealth of recent studies on ancient Corinth to explore the socio-cultural situation of the community. Harald Seubert convincingly argues that a number of Paul’s polemical statements in the Corinthian letters relate to phenomena that exhibit close parallels with the Second Sophistic. Jacob Thiessen demonstrates that the manner in which the Corinthians practice "speaking in tongues," criticized by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14, shows striking parallels to the cult of Dionysus. Christian Stettler points out that Paul’s discourse on the "powerlessness" and "foolishness" of God challenges the cultural standards prevalent in Corinth and counters them with true power and wisdom. Jörg Frey analyzes the strategy with which Paul contends for the unity of the Corinthian community in the arguments of the first letter to the Corinthians and derives recommendations for analogous contemporary situations in the church.