The relevance of rhetoric in 1 Corinthians 14. A critique of views on the oral and conceptual analysis of this Pauline text

Abstract

The import of 1 Corinthians 14 can be understood without detailed knowledge of Paul's mentality and the literary techniques he employs. Nevertheless, it is the subtle and intricate reasons which give rise to the text, as well as its immediate and less immediate contexts, that are most intriguing and, ultimately, highly revealing. What seems to be a rather uncomplicated text proves to hide within it a number of remarkable elements which could easily go unnoticed to the unskilled reader. Even a Corinthian Christian living in the middle of the first century may not have been able to grasp the complexity of Paul's structured rhetorical strategy that has become increasingly brought to light by scholars in the last decades.