To Repoliticize Paul

Abstract It is the thesis of this essay that in 1 Corinthians 11:19 Paul is invoking an unorthodox principle of Greek political thought on the necessity of taking a side, of joining a faction, in order to be a participant in communal life. The principle goes back to the sixth-century BCE legislator Solon, who sought to reform Athenian society and to shield it from destructive conflicts. But the principle was also applied to disputations between philosophical schools, and even to contentious relations between brothers and friends. Because the principle seems counterintuitive, it is crucial to examine a number of instances in which it comes to expression, including the comments of upper-class authors who found the idea unreasonable, and even scandalous.