A Tribute to Courage on Tax Day

Fell upon this cartoon, and thought that I would share it. It is a tribute to an undervalued virtue in today's world: courage!

credit: www.studentnewsdaily.com

In the Roman world, ἀνδρεία was the word for courage in Greek, and one of four cardinal virtues which characterized the educated citizen. There was a unity among these virtues so that they informed one another. Courage (ἀνδρεία), for example, was the power to do what was just and right (δικαιοσύνη) with wisdom (φρόνησις) and self-control (σωφροσύνη). So courage was not so much wrestling with alligators (where is the wisdom there?!), or doing our taxes (where is the justice?), but having the moral resolve to do what is right, and see it through to the very end. May we all have more courage to do what is right in God's eyes throughout the daily challenges of life, and somehow get our taxes done in the process! Happy Tax Day! 

Why Matthew Henry Is Not a Good Go-To Commentary for Theology Students

As I am neck-deep with papers to read this entire week, I thought I would make a short remark on the commentaries that seminarians sometimes use as resources for their papers. Taken from an advertisement of the interdisciplinary conference focused on the writings and ministry of Rev. Matthew Henry by the University of Chester, England (July 14-16, 2014), here is a following description on the scope of Rev. Henry's life and work: 

Matthew Henry (1662–1714) is remembered today by two major groups of scholars: by historians as a leading figure among early eighteenth century dissenters, and brother of the diarist, Sarah Savage; and by theologians and biblical scholars for his Exposition of the Old and New Testaments. This monumental work, which had already been published in 25 different editions by 1855, is used widely even today in print and online versions. Yet Henry’s famous commentary is by no means the only expression of his engagement with the Scriptures. Amongst his 30 further publications, most of which were published in the final years of his life (and many of which were later republished with extracts from his letters and diaries by Sir John Bickerton Williams), his many sermons and works on Christian Piety (including the still popular Method for Prayer, 1710) are saturated with Henry’s peculiarly practical approach to the Bible.

Did you catch the date? Matthew Henry was a pastor in the 18th century. This fact alone should raise up some red flags for those using his commentaries on the Old and New Testament for research papers in a seminary or Bible college classroom setting. 

In my NT2 class, I often remind the students that while there might be a plain logic and meaning to Scripture, the (post-)modern reader does not necessarily have immediate access to them. We always have to "mind the gap" between the ancient author and the interpreter of the Bible today, that is, the historical-temporal, cultural, lexical, rhetorical, and experiential gap that a good historian attempts to bridge so the radical edge of the gospel does not get lost on our current generation of Christ followers. 
    Rev. Matthew Henry was a wonderful English Presbyterian pastor for his time, and certainly his insights on the word of God continue to inspire many pastors in our day and age. However, as a resource for exegetical papers, his commentaries fall short. They are simply uninformed of the many archaeological and textual break-through's which have change the way we view the New Testament world, let alone, how we interpret the New Testament text. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls alone (beginning in 1946) and how the library at Qumran changed the way we describe 2nd Temple Judaism should give us enough pause to consider sources which take this information and apply it towards reading Paul's letters and our New Testament books more precisely in their ancient contexts. 
   So always check the date for your sources, and know who your commentators are, before depending on them for your work and preaching. 

The Presence of Christ at the Lord's Supper and Pagan Sacramentalism

Sorry for the delay between posts, but I have been scrambling now with the indices to the Seyoon Kim Festschrift and my taxes (the first a joy; the 2nd a real pain). But back to idol food. 
   Continuing from my last post on the topic ("Idol Food Is No Idle Business at Corinth"), I want to begin this post with the following photo of a relief (ca. 1st century AD) taken at the National Museum in Athens during the winter Greece trip in January. It illustrates well the real presence or epiphany of daemons and gods at the meal: 

Photo taken by Max Lee at the Athens Museum © 2014

In the above photo, the god Dionysios (outlined in yellow) along with his entourage (i.e., satyrs outlined in orange) epiphany before a young man (a poet; center) along with his consort (left) while he is reclining at the dinner table. The idea that daemons and gods could appear before their followers and join them in the cultic feasting which took place at the religious festivals, or even perhaps simply around the symposium or banquet, is clearly pictorialized here in this relief.
    In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul addresses three such possible settings (i.e., banquet halls of the temple, the temple cult, and homes) where a believer might encounter idol meat and gives a different set of admonitions for each occasion. However, it is important to note that while the superstitious believed that gods like Dionysios could epiphany in any of the above settings, Paul did not. Paul thinks there is a danger of the real presence of demons in only one of the settings which the Corinthians might find themselves participating within. And Paul is arguing against an elitist group at Corinth who thinks demons do not exist at all, who argue that any setting is fine to eat idol food, and that worrying about demons betrays ignorance not wisdom. 
    In 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (and 10:23-30), Paul agrees with these elitist members of the congregation (known as “the Corinthian  wise” or “the  strong”)  that “an  idol is nothing” (8:4). He agrees with the strong that they have the freedom to eat meat sacrificed in a pagan temple as long as they are doing so in the banquet halls (which is something like the cafeteria in a church building) and not before an actual idol in the inner sanctuary as a part of a worship service. In the latter liturgical setting (see 10:1-22), Paul is quite clear that no Christian should eat idol food as part of pagan veneration because “you cannot participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (10:21). There are real demonic and spiritual forces at work in a cultic act of pagan worship, and the believer is urged to flee every form of idolatry (10:14). Citing the folly of the Israelites during their wilderness journey and reflecting upon those Old Testament  texts that narrate their apostasy (Exod 32:7; Num 11:4; 21:4-9; 25:1-9), Paul warns against a communion with demons that can cause the whole church to stumble. 
   [The third situation that Paul addresses is the case of idol meat sold in the marketplace and served in people's home (1 Corinthians 10:25-30). This was already discussed in the previous post].
   If there is a real presence of a demon or deity at pagan worship (10:20-21), the demon is not present in the material that is being sacrificed; otherwise even if it switches location to the marketplace, Paul would still prohibit it. It's the same material wherever it goes. In other words, to use Christian theological categories, Paul would still have a problem with idol food sold in the market if it was somehow "transubstantiated" (= the meat was ontologically changed/tranformed) by being offered to an idol at the temple. But since Paul has no qualms about idol food in either the banquet halls (8:1-13) or meat sold in the marketplace and brought home (10:25-30), it is in the social and cultic setting of the temple liturgy, among the pagan worshippers, that the real presence of a demon/deity is experienced. Not in the elements themselves.
   This does seem to have implications for the Lord's Supper, against which Paul draws a contrast: “you cannot participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (οὐ δύνασθε τραπέζης κυρίου μετέχειν καὶ τραπέζης δαιμονίων; 10:21). If the real presence of the demons acts as a theological foil against the real presence of Christ in which believers participate (μετέχειν) at the Lord's table, then we have the one text in the New Testament that might possibly point to a sacramental understanding of the Lord's supper. Having always thought of communion as an ordinance, not a sacrament, I have to say that this is somewhat disconcerting and steps on my Baptist sensibilities (in a good way). I'm not saying I have changed my mind on sacramentalism but if there was a text that could change it, this would be it! 
   However, if the Lord's supper is a sacrament in the sense that Christ is present at the communion table, then the real presence is not from the elements themselves, but following Calvin, in the worship and fellowship of Christian believers as we participate in the act of breaking bread and drinking of the wine. The Spirit of the Lord is present among the body of believers. Can the presence of Christ be with the elements (i.e., consubstantiation) vs. in the elements (i.e., transubstantiation)? Hmmmm... I'm going to have to think about consubstantiation some more. No comment for now. But there is one more theological trump card Paul plays concerning idol food. But this will have to wait until the next post. 

Postscript 06/13/14: Exegetical Exercise: 1) Read the above post. [Note: while I focused on sacramentalism, this exercise will have a different focus] 2) Now go to the bible dictionaries/encyclopedias in the reference section of the university library and learn more about pagan cultic practices/offerings in a pagan Greco-Roman temple. 3) Interpret 1 Cor 10:14-22 drawing insight from your background study. In other words: what did eating part of food sacrificed to idols symbolize for the pagan worshipper? Why would Paul find such a practice objectionable? How does understanding how pagan temples operate give you insight into Paul's own message/exhortations in 1 Cor 10:14-22? 4) Be sure to consult at least one academic commentary on your biblical text from the reference section.

Why Missions and Ministry Look like Movements

This post might seem like a complete non-sequitur, but I just came back from seeing the opening debut of the Cesar Chavez movie with my Ethnic American Biblical Interpretation class. Wow! What a powerful movie! In my EABI class, we just finished reading through Gonzalez's Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States (2009) which has a short chapter on the Cesar Chavez and the Mexican American struggle to unionize for fair wages in California's grape industry. And while I understand that Hollywood probably exercised some artistic license, nevertheless this film powerfully dramaticizes the kind of perseverance and sacrifice that is required for social change. I want to bring my sons to see this film. 

Image Credit: Lionsgate Films

If I might offer a few brief reflections about the movie, I would highlight 3 comparisons one can make between the farmer workers labor movement lead by Chavez and the call to Christian missions/ministry. 

   First, compassion. The film starts by Chavez quitting his previous position with the CSO (Community Service Organization) to live among Latino/a American farm workers, work with them in their back-breaking conditions, and encourage them to seek more for their families than the camp-like conditions in which they lived.  We can't share the gospel unless we walk with people in their sufferings.

   Second, sacrifice, fasting, proclamation, unity, courage, and creative wisdom are stronger weapons in the war against evil than violence. Here I would say: watch the film! See the kind of sacrifices that Chavez made, even straining his relationships with his wife and children (especially with his eldest son), his 25-day fast (and as a Christian, it's not enough to starve but I would add that prayer must accompany fasting), and his perseverance through some major disappointments over a long, painful 5-year strike. When you do, it is quite a challenge to the church to exercise the same moral courage and even go beyond this. Fear paralyzes, but faith can overcome fear.

   Third, humility. Every leader needs to be able to take corporate responsibility for what his group or church does. There is a climatic moment in the film when Chavez addresses his closest followers and makes this confession: "I failed you as a leader." On the heels when some of his closest followers let the rage get the best of them and they resorted to violence, Chavez felt responsibility for what they did. Pastors need to be able to say: "I failed you" when our congregation sins, but also encourage them: "But let's repent together." 

    Cesar Chavez was not a perfect person in any sense of the word, nor does the film try to portray him as one. His very real broken relationship with his eldest son makes it all so clear how fragile human beings can be. But I don't think any missionary or pastor can ignore the moment (and the knife in one's heart) when Chavez's son shows how angry he is over his father's unavailability and absence. Chavez was just so busy with the mission at hand, he could not help his son when Fernando was viciously bullied at school for his father's work. Ministry, like movements, involves putting our families through tough situations. We see them suffer at times because of our callings. This film brings out vividly some of those moments. It made me theologically reflect on my call to ministry and ask what sacrifices I and my family have had to go through so we can all be faithful to the Lord and his people. 

    Hope you have a chance to see the film! It's well worth the effort to catch it in its limited engagement at the theaters.

Idol Food Is No Idle Business at Corinth

Whew! Just turned in the proof's for the Seyoon Kim Festschrift yesterday. That was brutal. I went through several pots of coffee and about a half-bottle of Advil to get this done... and all this with the help of a TA (Thanks Kerry!) who did fantastic work. But back to where I left off.
   Pardon the pun, but idol food was no idle business in the Roman Corinth of Paul's day. To the contrary, it was a thriving enterprise that produced a high-quality item in mass quantities with amazing efficiency at an affordable price. While we are not sure of the exact location of the butcher shop which took left-over food sacrificed to idols and prepared it to be sold in the marketplace before it could spoil, historically we have three competing locations based on the recovery of inscription fragments found around the area of the Corinthian agora. These have been mapped out below (in burgandy, green and blue): 

Map of Ancient Corinth (credit: www.planetware.com)

(1) The least likely location was once argued by Broneer who later retracted his initial assertion that based on the discovery of an inscription at the crypto-porticus near the South Basilica (dotted burgandy rectangle on the map), the shops of the south forum was where the macellum was situated. But this location was based on an earlier (mis)conjecture that the fragment read: ΛΟΥKIOC  ΛAN[IO]C ("Loukios the but[che]r"). But it was later determined that the better reconstruction was ΛΟΥKIOC  ΚAN[IO]C ("Loukios Kan[io]s") where the second word is not "butcher" but the nomen "Kanios" [See the discussion by David Gill in his "The Meat Market at Corinth (1 Cor 10:25)," Tyndale Bulletin 43.2 (1992) 391-92; cf. O. Broneer, "Studies in the topography of Corinth at the time of St. Paul," Archaiologike Ephemeris (1937) 125-133].

(2) Bruce Winter mentions the possibility of its location at the basilica near the Lechaion Road where the Roman market existed (green circle; see his After Paul Left Corinth, 294). 

(3) But the most likely location remains the Peribolos of Apollo where a series of shops built by the Romans are located, and these and the Peribolos are built on top of the former location of the old Greek meat market (mentioned by Pausanias in his Description of Greece 2.3.2-2.3.3; see blue circle on the map). Fotopoulos gives a detailed summary for why the Peribolos is the most likely location based on how other macella (e.g., the macellum at Pompeii) are similarly constructed near a water source so live fish can be kept and then butchered on order (see his Food Offered to Idols in Roman Corinth, 139-42).  

(4) Perhaps the safest estimation is by Gill who simply says that the location of the butcher shop, though unspecified, nevertheless was likely near the Lechaion Road. 

   The point, however, is that the butcher was close by the temples. From the Temple of Apollo, it was roughly 15-20 yards away from the Roman market place (green circle) and 25-30 yards away from the Peribolos (blue circle). Or, as I like to say, the butcher shop was just two "first down's" on the football field away from the temple. Not far at all. The food was quickly butchered and sold immediately before it spoiled. It met a real need after major festivals and religious holidays by providing high-quality food at an inexpensive price to the common person off the street. 

   And Paul, against his Jewish instincts, appears to have no qualms about eating idol food sold in the macellum (ἐν μακέλλῳ; 1 Cor 10:25). Much good discussion has already been made about a theology of creation (based on Paul's quotation of Psalm 24:1 LXX  [= 23:1 LXX] in 1 Cor 10:26) which informs Paul's permissibility. But what I find intriguing is the non-sacramental view Paul has towards idol food when it comes to the elements (or meat) themselves. What makes idol food idolatrous (and possibly sacramental) is not the elements or food, but the cultic setting in which pagan worship and fellowship took place. I believe this foil has enormous theological implications for the Lord's Supper in 1 Cor 10:12-24. But more on this next time.

Proof that the Life of a Scholar Is in the Mundane Details

Well, in case anyone is wondering why I have not posted a follow up yet on idol food at Corinth, here is the reason why: 

I just received the proof's for the Seyoon Kim Festschrift. All 312 pages (not including the front matter or indices). Wow! This is painstaking detailed work. Pardon the pun, but checking proof's is proof that the life of the scholar means doing the mundane well. I can't tell you how many odd breaks I'm finding between lines, sentences, paragraphs, and pages. Arghh! I have not focused this intensely on minutia since I spent a college summer working in an entomology lab counting spider mites on grape leaves for a U.C. Berkeley professor. 
    In any case, until the proof's are sent to Wipf and Stock, I won't be posting on idol food. But my TA and I are almost done. It's well worth the effort. Just need to dig deep for the final 100 yard dash!

The Mystery of the Missing Fragment from the Butcher Shop Inscription at Corinth

[Warning: Going turbo nerd here!] Besides the Gallio inscription at Delphi and the Erastus inscription near the theater at Corinth, another inscription that drew my attention during the Greece trip was the dedication of the butcher shop by the family of Cornelii (Murphy-O'Connor, St. Paul's Corinth, p. 30). Paul, in his discussion of idol food (1 Cor 10:25) instructs that any idol meat sold ἐν μακέλλῳ ("in the market") is permissible to eat, although he was willing to relinquish this right for the sake of his brother and sister. 
    The Greek word μάκελλος is a Hellenized transliteration of the Latin macellum. The inscription dedicating the macellum (meat market) and macellum piscarum (fish market) is supposed to be on display at the Museum on site in ancient Corinth. When I went there, this is what I found (next 4 photos taken by Max Lee at the Corinth Museum © 2014): 

Outdoor display at the Museum in Corinth

Close up (right-bottom of the display): description/date of the inscription

Close-up (left top of the display):
Q CORNELIV

Close-up (right top of the display):

NDVS                         ET

Q CORNELIV

Q L CLEO...ENIS

SCARIO E...... 
...NIB(P?)V...                     

And that's it. Two fragments (one of which is a composite cemented back together) and the display description, and no other fragments. I looked. There was no sign saying that some of the fragments were going to be displayed later and are being prepared (which I hope is still the case because so much is missing!). So my question is: where's the rest?
   In David Gill's article "The Meat Market at Corinth (1 Cor 10:25)," Tyndale Bulletin 43.2 (1992) 391, he reports and transcribes the fragmentary marble inscription uncovered in 1898. What I have tried to do is take Gill's transcription and match, to the best of my ability, what I found on display at the Corinthian museum:

Q(uintus) Co[r]nelius [.] f(ilius) [A]em(ilia) Secundus [et]      

Maec[ia Q(uintus)] f(ilia) vxor [eius] [.] [Cornelius Secundus      

M]a[e]cianus f(ilius) Q(uintus) Corn[elius]                                  

Secu[nd]us f [Co]rn[elia Secunda f eius vxor Q(uintus) M]a[e]ci

Q(uintus) l(ibertus) Cleogen[is]                                                     

macellu[m--- cum----] et pi[scario ----]                                    

Key: [brackets] indicates missing letters conjectured to be there; (parentheses) indicated the spelled out word that the initial letter abbreviates; the red color font indicates what fragments of the inscription are on display at the Museum of Corinth at the time when I took these photos on 1/10/2014; the black color font indicates parts of the inscription that are missing from the display but have been published by Gill (see also Cadbury 1934), and especially missing is the crucial MACELLV (market) shown in bold.
    The English translation by Gill of the butcher shop inscription is as follows (again parts of the inscription on display in red, with the missing fragments not display in black):

Quintus Cornelius Secundus, son of [---], of the tribe Aemilia, and

his wife Maecianus, daughter of [Quintus], his son [--- Cornelius         

Secundus] Maecianus, his son Quintus Cornelius Secundus, his         

[daughter] Cornelia [Secunda, who is the wife of Quintus] Maecius        

Cleogenes the freedman of Quintus (Maecius) [built (?)] the                 

meatmarket [---] along with [---] and facilities for fish [-----]         

There are several odd things when you compare the museum display with Gill's transcription. 
   1) Some of the inscription that are conjectured by Gill [in brackets] actually appear quite clearly in the display fragments: notably, the family name Cornelius. Where Gill transcribes only CORN---, in both the fragments I saw at the museum, it clearly shows more letters: CORNELIV... Another example is the word for fish (piscarius). Gill transcribes only PI... and conjectures the rest PI[SCARIO]. My photos instead show the PI to be missing and shows alternatively [PI]SCARIO. 
   2) Secondly, everything in black and especially the crucial word for "meat market" (= the Latin MACELLV[M]) is missing from the museum display. By comparison, the parts of the inscription that are displayed at the museum are shown in red, and even here I'm just guessing. 
   3) Lastly, the last illegible line of the displayed fragment ..NIB(P?)V... is simply not mentioned at all by Gill and omitted from his transcription.

    Did someone make a mistake? Am I even looking at the same fragments that Gill writes about? Did the museum lose some of the fragments? Where is the rest of the inscription? Are the missing fragments stored somewhere? ... A million questions were darting through my mind since the one fragment with the word "meat market" was absent from the display. 

    For the record, the missing fragment with the word MACELLV[M] has been published and a black-white photo of it can be seen in Henry Cadbury's famous 1934 article "The Macellum of Corinth,"JBL 53/2 (1934), 134-41. If you search the web, in the public domain, this photo (credit: Ferrell Jenkins) can be found of the exact same fragment that Cadbury shows: 

Q CO

MAEC

SECV

MACELLV

INEA LOC

To my disappointment, I did not see the above fragment anywhere in the museum display at Corinth. I hope they did not lose it, and it's in the museum basement somewhere, ready to be "rediscovered" and put back on display. At least, we know that the fragment exists and is not a hoax. 
   Well, if anyone who is reading this post happens to be visiting ancient Corinth any time soon, could you please visit the museum on site and see if you can find the above missing MACELLV fragment? Ask the procurator of the museum if they have this fragment on display anywhere or if it is possibly in storage. If you happen to find it, I would be in your debt if you could take a fresh digital photo of it (high res) and kindly send me a copy via email. Many thanks to anyone who can make this happen!
   That said, in my next post, I'm going to talk about the proximity of the butcher shop to the temple cult (of Apollo) at Corinth and its relevance for Paul's teaching on idol food. But it sure is a mystery as to what happened to the missing MACELLV fragment!