Paul's Table of Sacrifice in 1 Corinthians

Abstract

Early Christian meal making practices have received considerable attention in recent decades, especially considering recent sociological discoveries around the Greco-Roman Banquet structure in first century Mediterranean cultures. Biblical meal making, such as St. Paul's account of the Lord's Supper in 1 Cor 11:23-35, have garnered new attention considering these insights. In current scholarship, the dominant model for analyzing meal practices - such as the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians - is through the sociological model which reads Christian meals almost exclusively in conversation with this Greco-Roman banquet culture. Paul's meaning and understanding of the meal is understood through what would be intelligible within this wider first century meal making culture. Too often, Paul's Jewish background is not given propper attention in explicating his meaning of the Lord's Supper. This thesis argues that it is Paul's Jewish background and theological worldview that are the primary sites of meaning to discern his understanding of the Lord's Supper. Thus, the methodology best suited to "decode" Paul's meaning is the theory intertexuality, especially as developed by Richard Hays. Using this methodology of intertextuality, this thesis reads Paul's language in 1 Cor 10-11 through the conversation that develops from these OT echoes. What is heard, regarding the Lord's Supper, is that Paul understands it to be a cultic act of worship and sacrifice. As a cultic act, the elements of the meal - the bread and wine - are sacred in themselves and mediate the divine presence to the community. The community themselves shares in the divine presence through the meal, and thus the Lord's Supper ought to be understood as an act of cultic theosis in Paul's Corinthian Community.