Paulus und die christliche Gemeinde in

The articles in this volume deal with the cultural context of the Christian community in Corinth in the 1st century AD and with Paul's reaction to contextual tensions. Benjamin Schliesser utilises a wealth of recent studies on ancient Corinth to answer the question of the socio-cultural situation of the community. Harald Seubert makes it plausible that a number of Paul's polemical statements in the letters to the Corinthians refer to phenomena that have close parallels with the Second Sophistic. Jacob Thiessen explains that the way in which the Corinthians practise "speaking in tongues", which Paul criticises in 1 Corinthians 14, shows striking parallels with the cult of Dionysus. Christian Stettler shows that Paul's talk of the "powerlessness" and "foolishness" of God goes against the cultural standards commonly used in Corinth and counteracts these with true power and wisdom. Jörg Frey analyses the strategy with which Paul struggles for the unity of the Corinthian church in the arguments of 1 Corinthians and derives recommendations for analogous situations in the church today.