David Anthony Basham argues that Paul and the Corinthians share a "system of associated commonplaces" about the Jerusalem temple. Basham proposes that when Paul applies temple language to the Corinthians by calling them naos theou ("God's temple"), he sparks a creative process of interaction between the temple and the Corinthian assembly-a process of selecting, emphasizing, and organizing information from the source domain (temple) to see the target domain (the Corinthians) in a new light. Basham suggests that, in understanding Paul's fraught relationship with certain institutions of Second Temple Judaism and his conception of gentile inclusion, we can appreciate the creative ways in which he employs cultic imagery to describe his ministry and the ritual life of early gentile believers. By exploring the construction of metaphor, the depiction of the Jerusalem temple in Paul's letters, and Judaean religion among gentiles, Basham demonstrates that Paul's temple metaphor speaks to a new cultic reality for gentiles-in-Christ that is linked to Israel's worship, though detached from its actual expression in Jerusalem.

David Anthony Basham argues that his deity's temple in Jerusalem informs Paul's metaphor when he refers to the Corinthian believers as naos theou ("God's temple").

About the Author
David Anthony Basham is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio, USA.


Book Information
ISBN 9780567718327
Author Dr. David Anthony Basham
Format Hardback
Page Count 184
Imprint T.& T.Clark Ltd
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC