Re: 1 Cor 14:27--number agreement

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Wed Jun 24 1998 - 05:48:34 EDT


At 10:24 PM -0400 6/23/98, David L. Moore wrote:
>
> Since one of Paul's major concerns in this section is for an orderly
>worship service, we should understand KATA DUO H TO PLEISTON TREIS not as
>of groups of two or three speaking at once but as two or three (at most)
>messages in tongues in any single meeting. Note hOTAN SUNERCHSQE in v. 26
>with the following enumeration of possible contributions to the worship.
>The specifics on tongues in v. 27 come as a further explanation of what may
>take place in the meeting with special reference to this gift and should be
>understood with the context of v. 26. The KAI ANA MEROS which follows
>KATA...TREIS also instructs along these lines calling for an orderly
>presentation of any messages. The hEIS of KAI hEIS DIERMHNEUETO is most
>probably the indefinite "someone" rather than instructions that there be
>only one interpreter.

I don't really agree with the above interpretation, but I think it is a
plausible reading of the Greek with one exception: I don't believe that
hEIS could function as TIS does for an "indefinite 'someone'."

> I realize that my experience of worship services which contain elements
>corresponding to the ones named here probably influence my understanding of
>this passage, but I offer my observations on the text for whatever help
>they may be.

I appreciate this, David. I think that all of us who seriously study 1 Cor
12-14 bring our own experience and theological presuppositions to bear upon
it; perhaps it is impossible for us to read it directly in the spirit in
which it was originally written or read, although I think it's something we
should always ENDEAVOR to do.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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