Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor (Paul in Critical Contexts) [Hardcover]

Yung Suk Kim (Author)

Book Description

Series: Paul in Critical Contexts | Publication Date: August 1, 2008

Yung Suk Kim takes up the language of "body" that infuses 1 Corinthians, Paul's most complicated letter, and the letter that provides us the most information, and poses the sharpest questions, about social realities in the early church. Kim argues against the view that in speaking of the church as Christ's body Paul seeks to emphasize unity and the social boundary. Against the conventional rhetoric of the "body politic" in Greco-Roman philosophy, Kim argues that Paul seeks rather to nourish the vitality of a diverse community and to criticize the ideology of a powerful in-group in Corinth, a message of particular importance for contemporary global Christianity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Although much has been written on the Pauline notion of the "body of Christ," this contribution by Presbyterian scholar Kim offers a thoughtful and provocative insight worth considering.  --Donald Senior, The Bible Today (added by author)

From the Author

The interpretation of the "body of Christ" in 1 Corinthians is a pressing concern in the present context of a diversified global church because its predominant interpretation as an ecclesiological organism characterized by unity and homonoia (concord) serves as a boundary marker that tends to exclude the voices of marginality and diversity. This traditional reading, while plausible, ignores a deeper, ethical meaning of "body of Christ" as Christ's body that questions an ideology of hegemonic power in both the Corinthian context and today. From the perspective of a different conception of community and of soma christou in the image of Christ crucified, this metaphor of soma christou becomes a metaphor for "living" through which the Corinthian community is expected to live as a Christic body, identifying Christ's body with the most vulnerable and broken bodies in the community and in the world--an urgent issue for Christians in marginalized communities and today's fragmented society. Read this way, Paul's theology continues the legacy of Jesus tradition in terms of deconstruction (critique of religion and culture) and reconstruction (advocacy of the beloved community for all). Paul's theology should be reclaimed as such so that we might truly appreciate what he lived for. That is why I wrote this book.

This book will be useful for textbook for Pauline studies and 1 Corinthians, in particular. This book deals with major aspects of Pauline theology and hermeneutics, taking a critical look at Paul's background along with the historical context of the Corinthian community.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Press (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800662857
• ISBN-13: 978-0800662851
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #432,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Yung Suk Kim is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Virginia. He is the author of "Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor" (2008) and "A Theological Introduction to Paul's Letters" (2011). He is editor of the Journal of Bible and Human Transformation. For more information, visit http://www.youaregood.com