Purity, Pollution, and Temple Imagery in 1 Corinthians

Ethan Johnson argues for recognition and understanding of the similarities and difference between Paul’s approach to temple purity and other, non-Jewish systems of purity and pollution. By analysing discussions of purity in the Hebrew Bible, comparing them to other Greco-Roman literature and considering how these discussions contrast, blend, and change over time and across authors, he aims to clarify how Paul applies and transforms concepts of temple purity for the Corinthian community, while also contributing to the broader discussion of Paul as a Jewish Christ-follower in the Greco-Roman world.Johnson first compares and contrasts differing concepts of purity and pollution in distinct text corpora, before considering how Jewish discussions of purity evolve throughout the Second-Temple period in ways that both align with and deviate from the Hebrew Bible, and in ways that suggest interaction with other ancient discussions of purity. He then turns to 1 Corinthians 3 and 6 to reconsider precisely where, how, and to what extent Paul’s logic of temple purity in these passages aligns with or else deviates from other ancient purity frameworks; suggesting that the logic behind Paul’s temple imagery reveals significant overlap with Hebrew Bible texts, but also that his approach deviates from the Hebrew Bible in favour of patterns seen in the Greco-Roman world more broadly. Johnson concludes that similarities between Paul and pagan Greco-Roman writers do not make Paul “Greco-Roman” as opposed to “Jewish,” nor do these similarities force us to dismiss the particular innovations of the Pauline texts. Instead, positioning Paul in this context highlights ways that the earliest Christ-followers navigated their pluralistic world and made sense of their experience of God’s pneuma in their community.