The Review of Biblical Literature has recently posted two reviews of books published in 2013 related to 1 and 2 Corinthians.

The first review by Matthew Malcolm of Cryptotheology, reviews Yung Suk Kim (ed.), 1 and 2 Corinthians: Texts @ Contexts, Minneapolis 2013: Fortress Press. The Fortress Press page describes the book this way: “The Texts @ Contexts series gathers scholarly voices from diverse contexts and social locations to bring new or unfamiliar facets of biblical texts to light. In 1 and 2 Corinthians, scholars from a variety of cultural and social locations shed new light on themes and dynamics in Paul’s most intriguing letters to a complex church. Subjects include race, identity, and privilege; ritual, food, and power; community, culture, and love. These essays de-center the often homogeneous first-world orientation of much biblical scholarship and open up new possibilities for discovery.”

The second review, by S. Aaron Son, examines Yulin Liu’s Temple Purity in 1-2 Corinthians, Tübingen 2013: Mohr Siebeck. The book description from Mohr Siebeck: “Paul’s view of the church as the temple and his concern about its purity in 1-2 Corinthians has traditionally been interpreted from the perspective of a Jewish background. However, Yulin Liu reveals that the pagans were very aware of temple purity when visiting some temples in the Greco-Roman world, and the purification concerns of three pagan temples in Corinth are documented in his work. The author affirms that the Gentile believers among the Corinthian community were able to grasp Paul’s message because of it. Also, Liu investigates Paul’s use of temple purity to address the necessity of unity, holiness and faithfulness of the Corinthian Christians in an eschatological sense. Moral and faithful purity needed to be practiced and maintained by the community so that the community could be sanctified as the dwelling place of God. The separation of God’s people from profane matters actually points to a new exodus and a progressive consummation of the construction of the eschatological temple-community.”
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