Your Body Belongs to the Lord (may contain ancient erotica and nudity)

In order to understand perceptions of the body and pleasure in Paul and in Roman Corinth, it may be helpful to begin with Plato:

Republic, IV, 439d: We shall think that these things are twofold and different to one another: The one which reasons in the soul we call rationality; and the other which loves and hungers and thirsts, and concerning the other desires [epithumias] feels disturbance , we call the irrational [alogiston] and appetitive [epithumētikon], companion of various fulfilments and pleasures [hēdonōn].

Plato’s distinction between reason and appetites/passions proved to be very influential.  But it was not that the body itself (or the part of the soul devoted to its interests) was evil; rather it needed to be in harmony and submission to that part of the soul which was entrusted with reason.  So Demosthenes was able to write to a male friend, praising his bodily beauty, because it was in harmony with (perhaps the expression of) a beautiful soul.  This praise of a fellow male’s beauty was, according to Demosthenes, emphatically not to be considered as homosexual passion, but rather as “pure and self-disciplined” love:

61.6 “Erotic Essay”: Therefore I have been all the more moved to write this message [logon], not wanting to miss out on directing toward two goods.  For, beginning to describe to you your good qualities, I hope at the same time to demonstrate both that you are desirable [zēlōton], and that, being thus, I am not senseless if I love [agapō] you.  And in offering this most pressing advice, I will show my own goodwill and provide a basis for our common friendship.

61.8: All will agree with me that for those of such an age as yours it is most pressing to have beauty of appearance, and prudence [sōphrosunēn] of soul, and manliness [andreian] with regard to both of these, and consistently to have gracefulness of speech.

 

So the beauty of the human body was celebrated in the Greco-Roman world, without necessarily implying “sensual passion”.  It is in this light that Greek “pederasty” should be understood: This was a relationship in which a boy on his way to respectable adulthood was to be given an education by an older man, whose reward  would be to enjoy the youth’s beauty, as seen especially in his athletic pursuits.  As the object was to develop the boy into a respectable man, there would be no sexual penetration (as this was considered feminising and degrading to the recipient), but at times there was sexual involvement of other kinds.  This was not automatically considered to be obscene, and certainly wasn’t considered as a mutual sexual relationship… but of course, Jewish onlookers found this detestable (so Philo, On the Decalogue, XXXII).

This is also the light in which to consider presentations of Aphrodite: She is presented as, at one and the same time, one who incites erotic desire, and one whose beauty represents a purer sort of love.  She continues to be presented in this way into the Roman period.  Notice her shyness, and her rejection of Pan’s sexual advances (she’s ready to whack him with a well-aimed sandal).  The final picture is from Corinth:

Interestingly, Hellenistic Jewish presentations of ethics often seem to attempt to present the ideals of the Torah in a way that appeals to the values of Greek philosophy – viewing “passions”/”appetites” as being the basest expression of idolatry.  Thus, “sexual immorality” is generally presented as the most fundamental vice:

IV Maccabees 1:1: Godly reason [eusebēs logismos] is master of the passions [pathōn].

Sibylline Oracles, Book III, 762-6: But enliven your thinking in your breasts, Flee unlawful worship [latreias], worship the living one.  Guard against adultery [moicheias] and homosexual intercourse [arsenos akriton eunēn].  Nourish and do not murder [phoneue] the children you have borne.  For the immortal one will become angry at the one who sins in these things.

Psalms of Solomon 2:11-13: They [i.e. the Gentiles] held up the sons of Jerusalem to ridicule, on account of the prostitutes [or fornications: pornōn] among her.  Every passer-by entered in the view of the sun [i.e. daylight].  They mocked their lawless ways compared to their own doings.  In the view of the sun they displayed their evil deeds [adikias].  And the daughters of Jerusalem are polluted according to your judgement.  For they defiled [emiaiōsan] themselves  in promiscuous disorder.

Pseudo-Phocylides, Sentences 3-8: Do not commit adultery [gamoklopeein], nor stir homosexual passion [arsena Kupron].  Do not sew together deceit, nor defile [miainein] your hands with blood.  Do not become wealthy [ploutein] unjustly, but live from honourable means.  Be content with your possessions and abstain from those of another.  Do not tell lies, but always speak truth.  First honour God; and thereafter your parents.

Philo, On the Decalogue XXIV, 121-123: In writing the other set [i.e. the second table of the Decalogue], concerning prohibitions related to humans, he begins with adultery [moicheias], taking this to be the greatest of crimes.  For firstly it springs from the love of pleasure [philedonian], which both enfeebles the bodies of those it holds, and loosens the tendons of the soul and destroys the very existence, consuming all that it touches as an unquenchable fire, leaving nothing safe in human life.

This logic can also be seen in the epistles of Paul, including 1 Corinthians, in which the ethical section of chs.5-14 begins with the problems of “porneia”, “moicheia” and the “body”: Perhaps what we see in Paul is a “Christologisation” of the ethics of Hellenistic Judaism.

Tomorrow: Meat Sacrificed to Idols

Those Appointed to Die

1 Corinthians 4:9: For it seems to me that God has made a demonstration of us apostles as those who are last, those appointed to die – because we have become a spectacle [theatron] to the world and to angels and to humans.

Here Paul uses a picture of what we might think of as “taking up one’s cross”: Condemned losers at the end of a Roman procession.

Here is a first century base for a bronze tripod, the prize for a victory in the theatre (from Athens):

The two theatres of Ancient Corinth represented a fairly significant part of the city, each being larger than the largest temple.  This is the Odeion (with Acrocorinth in the background of the first picture):

And here is the larger, lower theatre (mostly destroyed by those bleedin’ barbarians):

From the Scene-Building of the Theatre:

Tomorrow: Your Body Belongs to the Lord

So Then, No More Boasting in Humans

Paul perceives that the chief problem in Corinth is boasting in humans – a problem that has a variety of manifestations.  In chapters 1-4, these manifestations are squabbles and strife over devotion to different leaders, including bragging about their dispensing of baptism and wisdom.

Dio Chrysostom reflects on the squabbling of rival disciples in Corinth/Isthmia about 30 years later (Orations 8.9):

And there at this time, around the temple of Poseidon, one could hear many of the wicked Sophists [sophistōn], crying out [boōntōn] and reviling [loidoroumenōn] one another, and their so-called disciples [mathētōn] fighting one another

Strabo (writing before Paul’s time) recounts that Roman Corinth had plenty of springs and wells providing water.  The fountains were generally devoted to gods, presumably making them unfit for Christian baptism.  Here is the fountain of Glauke:

…But there were plenty of other sources of water, as Strabo says:

Tomorrow: Those Appointed to Die

I Came to You in Fear and Trembling: Roman Empire in Corinth

The Greek city of Corinth, according to the ancient geographer/historian Strabo, “was razed [by the Romans] and then raised up again”.  The resurrected Corinth was Roman… but this should not be taken as absolute: For example, the Romans retained the Greek name Korinthos (unlike their destruction & repopulation of Jerusalem, for example, where they changed the name).  Thus one could perhaps say that Corinth in the time of Paul was a Roman city with a Greek memory…

    ^23-24 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.
       Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. 

Here in Romans 16 Paul mentions the Corinthian politician Erastus.  In Ancient Corinth, one can see the “Erastus Pavement”, a first century pavement with the Latin inscription: “Erastus Pro Aedile S.P. Stravit” – meaning that Erastus had provided the pavement at his own expense in return for his election as aedile.  The pavement is in front of the large theatre:

Emperor Nero, circa. 60 CE, found in the Julian Basilica in Corinth:

Corinthian Grave Stele of Roman officer C. Valerius Valens, with Latin inscription, from end of 1st Century:

Tomorrow: “So Then, No More Boasting in Humans”.  [We are working our way through the themes of 1 Corinthians, seeing what illumination might come from the locations and artifacts of Greece]

I Came to You in Fear and Trembling: From Athens to Corinth Part III

Acts 18:1-11

 ¹ After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. ⁴ Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

    ⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. ⁶ But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

    ⁷ Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

    ⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

The gulf of Corinth:

The “diolkos”, which was built in order that boats could be hauled over the strip of land that divided two seas at Corinth:

A close up of the diolkos, showing the groove worn by the “holkos neon”, the vehicle that carried boats across the isthmus:

The Lechaion Road, which leads from the port into Ancient Corinth itself:

The Temple of Apollo, central to Ancient Corinth:

The pathway up to Acro-Corinth, about half a kilometre above Ancient Corinth itself.  Acro-Corinth housed the temple of Aphrodite and was protected by Roman fortifications:

The site of Ancient Corinth.  About a third of the way in from the left is the Temple of Apollo; about a third of the way in from the right is the Lechaion Road; in between and toward the front of the picture is the agora:

Tomorrow: Roman Empire in Corinth

I Came to You in Fear and Trembling: From Athens to Corinth Part II

Moving from Athens to Corinth, Paul would have passed through Eleusis, which was the centre of Greek religion at the time.  The Eleusinian mysteries involved male and female initiates in transcendental spiritual experiences and the hope of personal immortality.

Helmut Koester believes 1 Corinthians is Paul’s upset response to the mesmerising effects of “mystery religions” on the Corinthian church.  This is a somewhat eccentric view, given that “mystery religions” in general don’t seem to have been widely influential in this early period.  But Eleusis itself, 50km away from Corinth, may have had some impact on expectations of “spirituality” in Corinth…

Eleusinian wall relief: Demeter (left) bids farewell to Triptolemus, king of Eleusis, who is about to teach the people of Eleusis how to cultivate the land.  Demeter’s daughter, Kore/Persephone, is on the right.  These figures are crucial in the Eleusinian mysteries.

Similar depictions of the mysteries:

Seating added in the Roman era, in order that the faithful could watch other mystery rituals being performed:

Partial remains of the Telesterion, where the mysteries were performed:

A re-creation of the Telesterion in action:

A Mithraion at Eleusis, a centre for the cult of Mithras:

Eschara, used for sacrifices to Persephone (who was kept in Hades for most of the year), built in Roman times:

Tomorrow: “I Came to You in Fear and Trembling: From Athens to Corinth Part III” – Paul Reaches Corinth

I Came to You in Fear and Trembling: From Athens to Corinth Part I

Paul came to Athens and was incensed at the idols he saw as he walked about…  He was invited to the Areopagus to speak about his ideas.

The Ancient Agora:

 

Propylaia (Entrance to the Acropolis):

Views from the Acropolis:

The Areopagus:

Tomorrow: “I Came to You in Fear and Trembling: From Athens to Corinth Part II” – The Road to Corinth: Passing through Eleusis

Greece: Initial Reflections

We’re back from Greece, safe n’ sound.  I’ll post some things about it in the coming days, but here are some initial reflections:

Greek archaeological sites: A tip for Ancient Korinthos: If you do go, be sure not to stick to the enclosed site: If you go over the road, you’ll find the ancient theatre and odeum… There’s nothing stopping you from going and investigating, although there are no signs or information.  I even stumbled across the famous Erastus Pavement: An inscription about the Corinthian politician, named by Paul in Romans 16.

Greek language: Modern Greek is much closer to New Testament Greek than I had realised – meaning that it’s very easy to get by in Greece with a knowledge of NT Greek: From newspapers to menus, much is understandable.  I also found myself even more convinced of the value of learning a language by immersion: Just staying in Greece for a few days and having to use a few phrases helped me to feel more at home in Greek – and I’m more interested than ever in thinking about including a degree of verbal immersion in teaching NT Greek in the future.

Greek people: The people in Greece were overwhelmingly friendly and helpful.  After our car accident, one bypasser looked after us, made sure we could convey our information to the police properly, helped us find our hotel, checked on us the next day, and insisted we call on him for any further help we needed.  People were very accommodating and ready to chat.

Greek driving: Hmmm… well see my previous post… and see below for Greek parking style: When they’re not double parking, they’re accomplishing quite creative feats of space-efficiency…

Our Hell-enic Trip

Our trip to Greece began on an adventurous note:

1. Left wallet on plane (recovered)
2. Pouring with rain & late at night
3. GPS in rental car refused to work properly
4. Over-the-limit driver behind us as we attempted to turn around to find our hotel
5. Major car accident, leaving us perched over a cliff – see below for a picture I later took of the other guy’s car (ours had been towed away, with our passports still in it – now recovered)

Despite this, we are all well, apart from a couple of little cuts & bruises – and the other driver was fine too…  We’ve been enjoying the archaeological sites at Corinth, Acro-Corinth, Nemea, Isthmia and Elefsina… and today we’re off to see the sights in Athens – so keep the comments coming in and you’ll be in with a chance for the afore-mentioned coins!

Greece-Inspired Cash Giveaway

Tomorrow I’m off to Corinth, Elefsina, and Athens for 8 days, where I’ll be searching out the ancient sites.  Just this morning, I was on the phone to the hotel, engaging in a real live conversation in real live modern Greek… kinda…  Anyway, in the meantime, in order to stop people from forgetting about my blog, I’m doing a CASH GIVEAWAY!!!

Interlocutor: “But Matthew, didn’t you just do a post indicating that money is an idol?  How does that fit with you running a shameless cash giveaway simply to get people to go to your blog?”

Matthew: Shush

Interlocutor: “But I thought you said…”

Matthew: “HUSH!”

Anyway, the cash is in the form of six 2,000 year old Jewish coins, of rather poor quality.  All you have to do to be in with a chance is leave a comment (on any post) while I’m in Greece.  When I return, I shall announce the winner and post them off.  And here’s the cash…