Civil Litigation In Secular Corinth and the Church

Abstract

Paul's teaching about the attitude of the Christian towards the state is well known in Rom 13. There the rulers are God's vicegerents, God's deacons for the praising of those who do good and for the punishing of evil-doers. All are to be subject to them in order to avoid God's wrath and to maintain a good conscience. They are deserving of financial support as God'a λειτουργο and are to be shown honour and respect. Does Paul espouse a contradictory view of the state in 1 Cor 6? Here they are not God's λειτουργο, but οἱἄδικοι, the unrighteous, v. 1. They are those least esteemed in the κκλησα, v. 4, and appearing before them is plainly wrong for Christians, v. 6. The Corinthians were not called upon to honour them by Paul in 1 Cor 6, if they are indeed the same persons mentioned in Rom 13.

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