Day 5/Exegesis

I was able to write my own brand of exegesis. I didn't notice it but my paper balooned to five pages, single spaced. It was then that I realized that I was getting the hang of exegeting. Believe me, its hard for me not to put some funny (offensive) stuff in there because whenever I feel I'm not getting somehing out of the text, humor seeps in.

I was used to reading the Bible at the textual level, I never bother to search for what is inside, behind, above or below the text, but with the discussions in he class I'm beginning to realize that there's something more to the Bible than theologizing (and philosophising, permit me to add)...

I can't find the word but when the professor is discussing, its like the feeling one gets when one is preached upon...hmmm...beautifully.

Corinthians is an emotional book. There was a discussion on emotional manipulation. And, just like the careless me, I asked the stupid question: "So, how do you share the gospel without emotional manipulation?
There's silence; killed the discussion right there and then. How careless of me.

Here is the conclusion of my exegesis paper. Maybe not be much, but I spent hours on it. I'll do this more often. (Pray...pray...)

My grammar didn't kill the professor...praise the dictionary!

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Exegetical Paper on 1 Corinthians 10:23 ff.

III.Conclusion
“All things are lawful—but not everything is…”

This is Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians when he was rebuking them for sexual immorality. (6:12 ff) Paul is telling the Corinthians that body is not meant for sexual immorality. But these same words became the Corinthians slogan to justify their conduct. “Possibly they have derived (the Corinthians) it from Paul’s teachings when he was with them.” (Tyndale, p.99) Thus, Paul is forced to qualify “what is probably a misinterpretation of his teachings on Jewish laws.” (Ruef, 103)

How Paul did correct this misinterpretation?

1. By equating freedom with the welfare of the others and the self; and, by putting the welfare of the others above the self. “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”(10:24) The Corinthians are known for their hedonism; a legacy of their pagan background and the product of the diversity in their society. Hence, their immediate interpretation of Paul’s word is that it abrogated the law; granted them freedom to engage in the “Corinthian ideal”.

In the word of Dobschutz:

The ideal of the Corinthian was the reckless development of the individual. The merchant who made his gain by all and every means, the man of pleasure surrendering himself to every lust, the athlete steeled to every bodily exercise and proud in his physical strength, are the true Corinthian types: in a word the man who recognized no superior and no law but his own desire.

2. By saying that freedom should build up or should be edifying. Although stated negatively, Paul is reminding the Corinthians that freedom is “wrong” freedom when it does not contribute to the welfare of an individual or of the church. One is enjoined to built up others, to continually bring them closer to Christ “…do not...for the sake of the other man” (v 28), Paul admonished the Corinthians; “Do not cause anyone to stumble”. Freedom should build up the church by continually edifying others to come to Christ by being Christlike. “For I am not seeking my own good but of the many so that they maybe saved.” (v. 33)“Follow my example as I follow Christ.” (11:1)


Paul’s point is that freedom is not predicated upon what is lawful (Patterson, p 170) but freedom should be governed by selflessness the way Christ showed it, it is freedom that is freedom from and that it is not a freedom that is freedom to…

This is what the Corinthians missed and this is what Paul stressed.
Eat anything for “The earth is the Lord’s…but whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of the Lord.” "Follow me as I follow Christ".

Bibliography
1. Leon Morris, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Tyndale, 1958
2. J. Stanley Glen, Pastoral Problems in 1st Corinthians,Westminster Pres, 1964
3. John Ruef, Paul’s First Letter to Corinth, Pelican, 1971
4. Charles Hodge,An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians,C.C. Armstrong and Sons, 1894
5. Paige Patterson, The Troubled Triumphant Church, Criswell Publication, 1983