1 cor 3.1-3 - as babes in christ

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    JSNT 7 (1980) 41-60 41

    "As babes in Christ" - Some proposals regarding 1 Corinthians

    3fl-3.

    Rev. Dr. J. Francis,

    Division of Religion and Philosophy,

    Sunderland Polytechnic/

    Tyne and Wear

    The purpose of this study is to enquire how the image of

    the child is used at 1 Cor.3.Iff in the context of Paul's

    argument. That it occurs in a context of criticism is clear,

    but we must examine how it functions within that criticism and

    serves Paul's argument at that point.

    Paul in 1 Corinthians is dealing with a problem that had

    arisen in the handing on of the gospel; that is to say, the

    gospel had been preached and had been accepted, and yet in the

    understanding and assimilation of its meaning the Corinthians

    had gone astray. His question at 4.7 is crucial - "what have

    you that you have not received? And if you have received it

    why boast as if you had not?" He is vexed at their failureto understand and interpret what he had imparted to them, a

    failure that is amply shown by the way in which their grasp of

    the gospel is reflected in their lives. Moreover Paul is faced

    with the problem that some at least within the congregation were

    calling in question his authority as an apostle in the first

    place (1.1, 2.Iff, 4.18 cf 2 Cor.10.10, 9.Iff.).(It is noteworthy

    that his concern for the unity of the congregation is such that

    he condemns even those who would support himself in a factional

    way, 1.12ff, 3.4ff, 3.22.) Whatever be the precise nature of

    the trouble at Corinth/l/,the Corinthians seem to have gone

    beyond or over interpreted what Paul had said, allowing such

    spiritual enthusiasm both to disrupt the congregation and to call

    in question Paul's authority as an apostle. Paul for his part

    it would seem, is wrestling with a paradox that his readers as

    those who had been baptised and had received the Spirit (1.13ff,

    10.2ff cf 2.12) were yet behaving in an unspiritual manner/2/.

    We may however advance further than this to see that Paul is in

    fact, especially in chapters one to three, putting forward the

    nature of life in the Spirit over against a false spirituality,since his opponents would claim to be very much "in the Spirit"

    through their enthusiasm and their exulting in the more

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    42 JSNT 7 (1980)

    spectacular gifts of the Spirit (1.5 cf 4.8).

    As an essential part of his task, Paul sums up the gospel

    he had imparted to them as Christ crucified (1.17ff, 2.2 cf 1.23

    /3/). The gospel centred on the Cross provides Paul with the

    means of making a contrast at a fundamental level between God's

    wisdom and the foolishness of the Corinthians. The foolishness

    of the Cross puts an end to all human endeavour at self-made

    ways of salvation. In so far as the Corinthians were boasting

    in their own wisdom they were setting up their own standard of

    salvation and thus displacing the wisdom of God. They were

    in fact boasting in the flesh and setting at naught God's grace

    and truth revealed in the Cross. In keeping with such enthus

    iasm the Corinthians admired those who could proclaim their"knowledge" in rhetorically pleasing and persuasive manner (1.5).

    Paul in contrast rejoices in his lack of rhetorical skill simply

    because it allows the truth and strength of the gospel to appear

    the more effective (2.4).

    If this brief summary of the situation is accurate, one

    wonders whether that interpretation of 3.Iff which regards the

    function of the child image in Paul's criticism as "failure to

    progress" is accurate. Thus it is argued/4/ that Paul here

    is requiring the Corinthians to press on from an initial and

    elementary grasp of the faith to a more mature knowledge in the

    deeper things of the gospel (cf Hebrews 5.Uff, 6.Iff). Having

    been brought into the sphere of faith they have learned the

    rudiments of the gospel, chiefly the Word of the Cross, but now

    they must advance to the mature wisdomthat Paul himself knows

    and which he can only impart to the mature (2.6ff). Paul there

    fore is criticising them not for being babes but for remaining

    so, and for not progressing to deeper understanding.

    Certainly support for such an interpretation may be found

    in Stoic thought/5/. Pythagoras is said to have divided his

    pupils into two groups, babes (vifauou) and mature ();

    Epictetus asks "are you like children still unwilling to be

    weaned from mother's milk and to reach out for stronger food?"

    Discourses ii.16.39; and Philo remarks that "milk is food for

    babes () but wheaten cakes are for the mature (*)"

    De Agrie.9. It is clear that Paul with his imagery of babes

    (vifauou) and the distinction in diet is moving in the same

    general orbit of ideas, and hence it could be argued that grades

    of instruction will correspond to stages of growth and advancement

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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 4

    He therefore chides his readers for not being advanced enough to

    move on to maturity and to receive higher instruction reserved

    for the (2.6). He himself is their teacher (v 2 "I fed

    you" hinting at a note of authority through the fleeting image of

    the nurse cf Gal.4.19), their father in the gospel (4.15 cf Rom.

    2.20 ), but his pupils have become stunted in

    their growth.

    One wonders, however, if this intepretation is wholly sat

    isfactory, and if in fact it does justice to the severity of

    Paul's argument at this point and to the gravity of the problem

    which he is confronting. In so far as Paul is prepared to agree

    that the Corinthians had been enriched in every way, lacking in

    nothing (1.5,7, 4.8), this makes any idea of "failure to advance"difficult. Would Paul indeed have praised them thus if it was

    a matter of being stunted in their growth? Again, the idea that

    Paul is urging his readers to press on to deeper knowledge is

    difficult since they with their enthusiasm and thirst for wisdom

    were no doubt claiming to have done precisely that! He would

    scarcely urge them to do what they were so adept at doing, with

    unfortunate consequences.

    As an alternative interpretation, we shall argue that Paul

    is rebuking his readers not because they are babes still, and

    had not progressed further, but because they were in fact being

    childish, a condition contrary to being spiritual. The image of

    the child points therefore not to an early stage of growth in the

    faith to be left behind as one progresses to deeper things, but

    to a state of immaturity incompatible with that of spiritual

    understanding. Paul's criticism is not about failure of pro

    gression but failure of comprehension. Thus the contrast between

    "babes" and "spiritual men" is not so much that the readers should

    press on to a higher understanding, reserved for the mature, overagainst an initial elementary knowledge, but rather that the

    readers as Christians andas recipients of the Spirit should

    realise the fulness of what they have received and so learn to

    live mature spiritual lives.

    In Paul's writings, the child as an image of insight and

    understanding seems to occur in two forms. Firstly, the des

    cription of babe () is invariably pejorative in tone and

    thus echoes the prevailing opinion of the Ancient World. Thus1 Cor.13.11 describes the contrast between this life and the life

    of the world to come as different as the world of the child is

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    44 JSNT 7 (1980)

    from the one to the other but of contrast, just as v9-10 is not

    the gradual filling out of the partial to the complete but the

    contrast between what is imperfect and temporal and what is per

    fect and eternal. 1 Cor.14.20 shows Paul's irony that if theCorinthians insist on being childish then at least let them be so

    in matters of evil. The description used is that of child

    (, only here) rather than babe, but the meaning is the same

    as v20b "being a babe" () signifies. By contrast the

    true Christian (like the good Stoic) is one who is mature in

    understanding. At Gal.4.2ff the babe image is used to depict

    man under bondage to the principalities and powers. The opposite

    here is sonship and freedom through the gift of the Spirit. In

    Christ one is no longer in a state of (cf Col.2.20).

    At Ephes.4.14 there is again a contrast rather than continuitybetween being as a child and growing to mature manhood in Christ.

    Children (vifauou) are those who are fickle and unstable, easily

    led astray, whereas the mature Christian grows into the fulness

    of Christ through the knowledge of the truth in love. Rom.2.20

    briefly describes the teacher as "teacher of babes" and here

    "babes" is equated with the foolish, those in darkness, and as

    being a guide to the blind. 1 Thess.2.7 is uncertain. If vtfuuou

    is read, then it recalls Paul's first preaching of the gospel to

    the Thessalonians when they were but babes in their ignorance ofthe truth of Christ, and he is here as it were identifying him

    self with them (cf 1 Cor.9.19). If "gentle" be the preferred

    reading, then it enhances the special care Paul feels for them,

    expressed in the images of the nurse (2.7) and father (2.11).

    For Paul, therefore, it would seemthat the description of "babe"

    (vfauos) means generally "unskilled", "untutored", the opposite

    of having mature understanding of the faith.

    Mention of Paul as nurse or father, however, brings us

    secondly to the other form of the child image used in his

    writings. Here the word * is invariably used, and Paul

    sees himself as his readers' father in the gospel or as their

    nurse whom he feeds and nourishes (1 Cor.4.14ff, 2 Cor.6.13,

    Gal.4.19, 1 Thess.2.7, 11, Phil.2.22, Phil.10). Characteris

    tically such imagery denotes the special care and affection which

    Paul feels, and occurs only in those letters to churches that he

    himself had founded. The background to such imagery is to be

    found at least in part in the widespread use of milk as signifying

    instruction and education, and in the idea that a teacher may bethought of as a father who begets children through instruction/6/.

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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 45

    We shall now in what follows examine the relation between

    these two forms of the child image in 1 Cor.3.Iff - in so far as

    Paul says that he "fed" them (v2), the image of the nurse is here

    implied, and he refers to his role as father explicitly at 4.14ff.How indeed are the Corinthians thought of in terms of their being

    both "babes" and "children", and how is Paul's authority under

    stood accordingly?

    The phrase "as babes in Christ" (3.1) has been variously

    understood both in terms of its constituent words and its func

    tion in the verse as a whole. What in fact is .the relationship

    between "babes" and "in Christ", and how is the description

    related to the preceding argument through the particle "as" ()?

    For those who would argue here for a gradation of teaching, of

    basic instruction for beginners and a more advanced wisdom for

    the mature, "babes in Christ" refers to the readers as beginners

    in the faith in the sense of newly baptised Christians. W.

    Grundmann/7/interprets "babes" here in light of the 'newly be

    gotten babes"( "* *) of 1 Peter 2.2, and the des

    cription therefore is of Christians who have failed to advance

    beyond a basic knowledge and have in fact "become stuck". Thus

    "wahrend 1. Petr. das Wort der Milch vergleicht, die Wachstum

    schafft, hat das Bild der Milch hier die Bedeutung der Anfangsgrunde des christlichen Glaubens, denen in der 'Weisheit Gottes

    im Geheimnis unter den Volkommenen' die feste Speise gegenbers

    teht, die den Vollkommenen entsprechend ist."/8/ With reference

    to the "babe" image in Paul generally, "er zeigt die Gefahr des

    Zurckbleibens, die Gefahr der ausbleibenden Reife an."/9/

    Whether 1 Peter is in fact based on a baptismal homily is dis

    puted,/10/nor is it certain that 1 Peter 2.2 must refer to newly

    baptised Christians. However, from our survey of the use of

    vifauo in Paul, vtfuuos at least would seem to indicate not so

    much a "foundation stage" as it were of authentic existence, but

    a state incompatible with proper and mature understanding, akin

    to being untutored and ignorant (cf Hebrews 5.13 and the des

    cription of vifauos as ).

    Again C. Morrison/11/traces a connection between 3.1 and the

    sayings of Jesus about children in the Gospels. For him the

    difference between "babes" here and Matt.11.25/Luke 10.21 is due

    not to a different understanding of the child derived from dif

    ferent sources and influences, but to a different situation andresponsibility. Whereas for Jesus childhood status and rep

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    46 JSNT 7 (1980)

    children must now grow and mature. Thus it is argued that "while

    Jesus offered children as a standard of repentance, Paul appears

    to lament now and again that certain Christians are not yet grown

    up."/12/ In similar terms but from another perspective and under

    standing, J.M. Robinson hints/13/that the description of "babes"

    in the Q logion was known to the Corinthians and was being used

    by them in some way. It is uncertain however, how well Paul was

    acquainted with Jesus' view of the child, and more particularly

    whether such a saying as Matt.11.25 was known to the Corinthians

    or to Paul. Certainly the Q saying and 1 Cor.1.9 (quoting Is.

    29.14) both mention and ?, and Paul's idea of God's

    wisdom revealed in foolishness is broadly in keeping with the

    context of the Q saying of the secret of God's Kingdom revealed

    to the lowly. Yet despite the similarities, Paul's thought seemsto be controlled very much by Stoic categories in the interaction

    between childhood and maturity, and he correspondingly operates

    with a different understanding of .

    In examining the phrase "as babes in Christ" care must be

    taken to distinguish between baptismal (divine) regeneration,

    begetting through instruction (4.15) and the image of the child

    ( 3.1) as an image of understanding. The first need not

    concern us here; Paul does not make use of this terminology butprefers the more orthodox rabbinic description of recreation,

    and in any case, in view of 1.14ff, it would seemthat he is not

    concerned with baptism as such but rather with the understanding

    of the gospel as reflected in the true baptismal life of the

    believer (1.26ff cf 6.11). Again, 1.17 would seem to showthat

    the description of the readers as "babes" at 3.1 has to do not

    with being born again at baptism but with the understanding of

    the gospel as Paul proclaimed it.

    Moreover, we should distinguish between 3.1-2 and 4.15;

    "as babes I gave you milk to drink" and "I begat you through the

    gospel". In both phrases we are dealing with Paul's authority.

    3.1, as we have seen, hints at the image of the nurse, but this

    need not mean that Paul "begets" his readers so that they become

    babes in Christ whom he feeds on elementary teaching (the Cross)

    and subsequently when capable on more advanced matters. Rather

    at 4.15 with reference to the image of begetting through instruc

    tion and of imitating it is that Paul uses. It is in

    fact preferable to take the image of the child and the nurse at3.1 and that of the child and the father at 4.15 as parallel.

    The one perhaps deals as we shall see with an attack on his

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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 47

    authority, the other with his right to assert it. Thus the

    images are related in this way that by being Paul's true children

    (?) in the gospel they cease to be babes (vifauot) in worldly

    ways. There is no hint at all that the readers ever cease to

    be his children or that he ever relinquishes his special care forthem as their "father". At 4.8 Paul is not so much declaring

    that they do not need him any more (indeed he seems to be poking

    fun at their independent endeavours) as expressing a wish that

    they would come to share, along with him, true understanding of

    the gospel he had preached.

    J. Weiss in his commentary/14/noted that the contrast with

    "babes" (3.1) is not "mature", as we might at first expect, but

    "spiritual". U. Wilckens, who supports the interpretation ofstages of knowledge in the dietary distinction, that

    can only be understood by the Christian who has

    advanced toward maturity, agrees that the correlate to *

    is (2.6 cf 2.10ff). However the widespread contrast

    between "mature" (*) and "juvenile" (vifauog) is briefly

    made behind the primary antithesis of "spiritual/fleshly

    (). Thus "babes in Christ" are those who have not

    progressed sufficiently beyond the rudiments for Paul to be able

    to tell them of more advanced insights in the gospel.

    It would seem however, that at 2.6ff Paul is not dealing

    as yet with the "intra-church" trouble at Corinth, but having

    raised the matter at l.lOff, prefaces all he wants to say with

    a general contrast between the gospel and the world, between the

    way of God revealed in the Cross and the way of man who boasts in

    his own esteem./15/ The content of 2.6ff (cf 2.13) is linked to

    3.1 through the common -, but talk of God's wisdom for the

    mature is not the mention of "higher" teaching, but the same

    message of the gospel considered under another aspect. IndeedPaul has prepared for this other perspective at 1.24 and 1.30.

    Thus it is Christ Crucified who is God's wisdom. This suggests

    then that the mature, in the context of Paul's argument at 2.6ff,

    refer to all Christians. So Schnackenburg says "It does not

    refer to any tiny elite group of "initiates" (even if this term

    in this verse does echo the language of the 'gnosis'); rather

    it envisages all Christians, in so far as they show themselves

    to be 'teleioi', i.e., in so far as they allow the divine Spirit

    to operate and become effective in them"./16/ And Weiss remarks

    " sind alle Christen in denen der Geist lebt"./17/ In

    2.10-16 the various mentions of "we" therefore include all

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    48 JSNT 7 (1980)

    as all have received the Spirit and are able to discern what God

    has given them in the gospel. Opposed to the "we" are the rulers

    of the age (v8) and psychic or natural men (vl4) who have no under

    standing of God's wisdom. This idea of the Spirit indwelling inthe person and so making him mature recalls at least in part the

    Stoic viewthat maturity is a matter of orientation toward the

    goal or that is set. Over against the child who is fickle

    and unstable is the mature man who is making progress, given

    wholly to the pursuit of philosophy and the call to a noble and

    coherent life/18/. Correspondingly for Paul, the Christian

    orientated toward the goal of Christ should allow the word of the

    Cross to rule within him through the Spirit and so live a mature

    life. The contrast therefore of "babes" at 3.1 not with "mature"

    but with "spiritual" is of some significance. Here Paul takes

    all that he has said about the contrast between God's way and the

    world's and applies it to the Corinthian situation when first he

    came to them (3.1-2 cf 2.Iff). At that time when first he spoke

    to them they knew nothing of the gospel or of God's purpose in

    Christ. But Paul's lament is not that, but now having listened

    to and accepted that gospel they had failed to understand it, and

    by adhering still to worldly ways they had not allowed the Spirit

    to work within them. The Corinthians of course claimed to be

    very much spiritually minded, but for Paul the Cross is the standard of God's wisdom and signals the end of all boasting in one

    self. Exulting in spiritual prowess is for Paul a misunderstand

    ing of the Spirit's power governed as it is by the gospel and the

    message of the Cross. At 14.20 childishness and maturity are

    here brought into direct contrast. Over against 3.1 Paul is

    not rehearsing the situation when first he came to them, but is

    proposing to treat them as those who fully understand the worth

    of all that he has been saying - let them therefore realise what

    has been given to them and what they now have and so be mature,

    and if they must be childish (and one senses Paul's irony here)

    let them be so concerning the ways of worldly thought and conduct

    (cf 3.18).

    We must now ask (a) how the description of the readers as

    is related to their being called "fleshly",/19/and (b)

    how their childishness is related to their being .

    (a) It is possible to take the description of babes in Christ as

    a lessening of the censure that Paul could not address them asspiritual but only as fleshly people. Thus Prof. Barrett remarks

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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 49

    'fleshly' is to imply that they are completely outside the Christ

    ian way and this is to go too far .,. Mature the Corinthians

    certainly are not, but they may be described as babes in Christ:

    that is they are not heathen, but Christian: but they have onlyjust made a beginning in the Christian life"./20/ So also W.

    Grundmann remarks "d.h. er spricht ihnen das Christsein nicht ab,

    tadelt sie aber wegen des Fehlens des pneumatischen Wachstums.n/2l/

    Paul however is still rehearsing the situation when first he came

    to Corinth, dealing with the state of affairs at that point, and

    his criticism as such does not begin until v2b. The gravity of

    his criticism is that the Corinthians still persist in worldly

    ways. Thus H. Preisker aptly remarks ", ,

    (1 Cor.3.Iff, 14.10) entsprechen einander... Wie unmndige, wieKinder kommen die Korinther vor, die ungetauft und darum ohne

    Pneuma sind"./22/ Childishness is for Paul a state outwith the

    gospel, a state ruled by the wisdom of the world and not the wis

    dom of God revealed in the Cross.

    Does this mean therefore that Paul is denying the Corin

    thians' Christian existence and calling them simply pagans? No,

    indeed, for this would be to deny all the work that he had done

    with Apollos and others, and it would be to deny his authority as

    an apostle having preached the gospel, then to care and look after

    them. The severity of Paul's criticism and the dilemma in which

    he stands is seen in that if the Corinthians persist in their

    errors, then they are making all that had been done amongst and

    for them of no avail, and are in grave danger of calling in

    question their whole existence in Christ. As Schnackenburg puts

    it "that is the paradox of his remarks, a paradox we are not

    allowed to resolve: they are pneumatics and yet they are not;

    they can and ought to recognise God's wisdom and yet they grasp it

    not, for the precise reason that they fancy themselves in possession of wisdom and boast of it"./23/ Paul however, for all their

    immaturity does not deny their Christian status but on the con

    trary expects them to realise what he is saying and the profound

    importance of it. If is not a softening of

    then

    (b) how are we therefore to understand and interpret the s

    as being ? Perhaps one could translate "babes

    although in Christ" or "immature despite their fellowship in Christ

    but this is difficult in view of the fact that they have obviouslybeen blessed in Christ (1.5ff). If we may recall here the image

    of the teacher at Rom 2 20 as "teacher of babes" we may suggest

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    50 JSNT 7 (1980)

    the gospel (1.13ff, 2.1), and furthermore he may be countering a

    charge of weakness on his own part (1.17, 2.Iff cf2Cor.10.10).

    At that time when first he came amongst them they were but men of

    the world, so to speak, whom in the nature of the case he could

    not call spiritual. Happily they had believed his preaching

    and has accepted the gospel. Now he calls them to a fresh real

    isation of what they had received so that they might indeed live

    in effect as mature men turned towards God's goal or in

    Christ.

    We may accordingly follow J. Weiss/24/and take "in Christ"

    here not in its deep mystical sense but in a more neutral or loose

    fashion. Thus the phrase can in places become simply "Christian"

    (Rom.16.3, 16.9-10, 1 Cor.4.10 cf 2 Cor.5.13, Gal.1.22, Col.1.4)in a way similar to that in which the phrase "in the Lord" can be

    used (Rom.16.8, 11, Col.3.18, 20, 1 Cor.7.39 though the phrase

    there could equally refer to an exhortation to remember the Lord's

    will whatever one does). Accordingly it would be possible to

    translate "immature, Christianly speaking" or "immature from the

    Christian ( ) point of view". The phrase itself sums up

    the situation when Paul first came and passes over into paradox

    and focusses Paul's criticism when the Corinthians having accepted

    Christ continue to live i.e. when they continue tobehave in a fleshly manner despite having received the Spirit.

    The distinction in diet therefore between milk and solid

    food should find its context not so much in the readers' intel

    lectual progress, as if it were a matter of failure to grow from

    a basic to an advanced level, as in Paul's authority and the

    ability of the Corinthians to accept the implications of what he

    had already imparted to them. Thus the fleeting mention of Paul

    as "nurse" refers, as we have seen, to the particularly close

    relationship which Paul feels as an apostle toward those whom he

    has personally evangelised, a point that recurs at 4.20 in the

    description of himself as their father. The problem of the dis

    tinction in diet at 3.Iff hinges on the fact that if, as we have

    argued, wisdom is essentially the same as the word of the Cross

    and this is what Paul had given to the Corinthians at the begin

    ning (1.17ff, 2.Iff), nevertheless wisdom is not suitable for

    beginners. In seeking a solution to this dietary distinction we

    may attempt to explain it in one of three ways: (a) in terms of

    an actual distinction in the teaching content (b) in terms of Paul'own understanding of himself and his teaching (c) in terms of the

    C i hi d di f l d hi hi

    http://2cor.10.10/http://2cor.10.10/
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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 51

    (a) Certainly in Stoic thought, as we have seen, a distinction

    may be found between milk as elementary teaching and solid food

    as weightier matters for the mature. However, a simple compar

    ison may not fit easily into the context of Paul's argument here:

    1) In Stoic thought, it would seem that the contrast between

    babes and mature is weighted very much toward the latter/2^ i.e.

    the whole emphasis is not so much upon elementary matters as a

    necessary foundation but on the acquisition of the true virtues,

    to which the former (babes/milk) act as but a foil. Moreover,

    it would seem that the child and mature man are related far more

    in terms of contrast that of continuity, and correspondingly in

    exhortations to live a mature life the diet of milk is not the

    first step, so to speak, on the road to mature matters, but a foilto emphasise the solid nourishment of real knowledge. In view,

    however, of the centrality of the Cross for Paul as the end of all

    human wisdom in the sense of man-made ways of achieving salvation,

    it would seem very difficult to say that it is "mere milk" in the

    sense of its being but the prelude to or contrast with more impor

    tant matters.

    Prof. Barrett remarks that wisdom "rests on the word of the

    Cross but is a development of this, of such a kind that in it the

    essential message of the simple preaching of the Cross might be

    misused or perverted by the inexperienced. Essentially it dif

    fers in form rather than content, as meat and milk are both food,

    though differently constituted."/26/ This certainly allows one

    to maintain a distinction and yet connection between the elements

    of the diet and to the way in which the hearing of the gospel is

    then elaborated and developed in experience. Yet one wonders if

    this does justice to what Paul is saying here, for this is pre

    cisely what the Corinthians had themselves done, having through

    the elaboration of the first preaching perverted the message ofthe Cross. The argument however would not seem to be how a

    simple message can be developed in more elaborate understanding,

    as solid food from milk, but rather about an assessment of Paul's

    message when first he came to them and about its relevance still

    for them. This would seem to be confirmed by the image of the

    building (3.9-15) to which he turns via the image of gardening

    (3.6-9)./27/ The point is not one of growth and development

    which are both necessary and inevitable but of how such growth is

    consonant with the foundation that had been laid.

    2) It would seem strange that Paul in trying to demolish

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    52 JSNT 7 (1980)

    the faith. He is not of course denying progress in the faith, as

    the gardening and building images show, but for him maturity is a

    matter not of quantitative nor of secret knowledge but of orien

    tation in the Spirit toward the goal or of Christ. In thisregard the Christian who is ruled by the Spirit through the gospel

    (summed up in the Cross) is acting maturely.

    3) The passage in 2.6ff as we have seen, does not deal with

    higher teaching for the mature but with the contrast between God's

    way and that of the world. It is not until 3.1 that Paul returns

    (from 1.26ff) to face the intra-church situation, having outlined

    as a basis for what he is about to say the contrast between God's

    wisdom and the world's.

    4) Paul as an apostle knows of no other teaching than

    "Christ crucified", summing up from the tradition (15.Iff) the way

    of God's dealing with men. Certainly he is aware of varieties

    of teaching in 3.12ff, but all are to be related to and judged by

    the foundation message. Thus there is no higher wisdom than this

    and this is both the content of the gospel through which he "begat

    them and in which as their "father" he urges them to imitate him

    (4.14ff cf 11.1). Arguments that would suggest that of course

    Paul could not give them higher wisdom because his readers arestill obviously immature are not convincing since (14.20 cfl.4ff,

    4.8ff) he treats his readers as mature and responsible people in

    his letter. He does not rehearse what they already know, but

    applies what they know from their experience as Christians to the

    present circumstances so that they can see for themselves how the

    gospel they had received then is valid and relevant for the

    present.

    (b) Alternatively we may turn to Paul himself and locate themeaning of the dietary distinction here. Some time ago, W.L.

    Knox argued in an influential way that Paul's experience at Athens

    led him to reassess his gospel in the sense of adapting it more

    suitably to the subtleties of Greek argument./28/ On his first

    visit to Corinth what he had given them had been milk, an ele

    mentary version, albeit one that matched his abilities at that

    time. The solid food was in fact a better adapted gospel, born

    of greater experience in the niceties of philosophical thought.

    A full critique of this particular perspective would take us too

    far afield from our subject, but it does not seem to provide a

    satisfactory solution here. It is doubtful if this interpre

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    Fr an ci s: "As babes in Ch ri st " 53

    argues that the censure is to be explained in terms of the Corin

    thians' pride in their gifts whereas Paul is reminding them that

    what he had first preached to them had been elementary (as seen

    through his subsequent fuller understanding of Greek rhetoric).Yet equally one could argue that his condemnation of wisdom in

    human terms was a complete reaction against the subtleties of

    Greek philosophy as a result of the Areopagus experience. What

    ever be the exact influence on Paul of that experience, the crux

    of the matter in 1 Corinthians would seem to be not a change of

    perspective in Paul himself so much as the way in which his read

    ers had changed the gospel he had given them through fleshly

    behaviour.

    Another solution is advanced by A. Robertson/29^who argues

    that while there is indeed a distinction in diet, the answer lies

    in Paul himself. As a good teacher he gives a little instruction

    at a time according to the readers' abilities - "the wise teacher

    proves himself to be such by his ability to impart what is

    simple and yet gives insight into the full instruction that is to

    follow". This again however weights the distinction in favour of

    stages of knowledge and of content of teaching. It also runs

    counter to the way in which the word of the Cross is basic not as

    a first step in instruction but as the controlling factor in all

    understanding.

    (c) We may however tentatively suggest a third answer to this

    issue. In so far as the context of 3.Iff deals at least in part

    with the understanding of Paul's authority, a solution will involve

    something of Paul's own self understanding but also the Corin

    thians themselves. Paul at 1.17 and 2.4 seems to be countering a

    charge that he was a poor orator and that his message was corres

    pondingly weak, and we may therefore take 3.1 with 2.Iff as partof his defence. Certainly it would seem that the Corinthians'

    love of wisdom operated at the level both of admiration of ora

    torical skill and of the evaluation of the gospel according to

    worldly standards. Indeed it was part of Paul's concern that

    their emphasis on rhetoric showed how much they valued the gospel

    in a worldly fashion. Paul for his part is glad that the power

    of the gospel does not depend on the skill of the preacher, since

    it allows the decisiveness of his message to be imparted the more

    fully (1.17, 2.5 cf 1.31, 4.9ff, 2 Cor.11.6, 13.3ff). Again, the

    "we" of 2.16b has an emphasis as if Paul was making a firm reply

    to something his opponents were claiming for themselves; and

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    54 JSNT 7 (1980)

    connected (cf 1.1, 2 Cor.1.1), the "we" would refer both to him

    self and to those who in obedience to him follow or ought to

    follow him.

    Much of the imagery of chapters three and four are concerned

    with Paul's authority as an apostle. On the one hand he is proud

    of his having been the one to evangelise them, and consequently he

    feels a strong personal care for them (4.14ff, 2 Cor.10.8ff, 15ff,

    11.Iff), but on the other hand he will not tolerate misunderstand

    ing of that authority by its being reduced to mere human compar

    ison, whether it be unfavourable or favourable (1.12ff, 3.4, 21).

    These chapters, beginning with the image of the nurse (3.1) and

    concluding with that of the father (4.14ff) deal with the delicate

    relationship between the gospel and his commission as an apostle,

    and with how that relationship is to be understood. Again, the

    mention of the factions twice in Chapter 3, at v4 andv22, seems

    to bind the imagery of the chapter together, linking it through

    the summary of wisdom and folly (vl8ff) to the whole of the pre

    ceding discussion.

    The images in these chapters seem to move in a curve. Paul'

    authority and his special care for the Corinthians is hinted at

    in the fleeting reference to the nurse (3.2). However thatauthority had been misunderstood (3.4). He and those who worked

    with him are really servants. This would seem to have the force

    on the one hand of showing that he was in the employ of someone

    else and consequently his authority is not self derived, and on

    the other that he has no independent importance of his own.

    The thought is then continued through the image of gardening (cf

    2 Cor. 10.15ff) where the power of God working through the person

    is emphasised, together with the fact that it is the same power

    of God that is at work through people and therefore they cannot be

    set at variance with one another. Here again in this image the

    emphasis is on the apostle's having no importance of his own, but

    the fact that he and others are employed (v9) would suggest also

    that they have a responsibility in the exercise of their duties.

    The mention of being God's fellow workers would again further the

    ideas of being servants together with fellowship and not rivalry

    in that service (taking v9a as fellow workers in the service of

    God rather than fellow workers with God).

    The theme of Paul's authority but an authority which is notself-made continues in the image of the building. Here Paul is

    http://cor.10.8ff/http://cor.10.8ff/
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    Prancis: "As babes in Christ" 55

    was he who laid the foundation remains of importance to him (3.10

    cf 1.1, 4.15, 2 Cor.1014, 11.2ff) and yet what matters is the

    relationship of the building to the foundation whatever be the

    pattern and texture of its growth. As in the note of reward inthe gardening image at v9, so here the emphasis would again be on

    responsibility in the fulfilment of one's task, together with the

    idea that what matters is one's relationship to the foundation

    rather than to others in the building process. Hence Paul and

    others have a responsibility to God for the Corinthians, and it

    is a common responsibility which makes the setting up of factions

    not only irrelevant but false. From the building image the dis-

    cussion then moves to a reminder that as God's building they are

    His Temple, and then through a summary of the contrast between

    wisdom and foolishness to the further denial that human com-

    parison amounts to anything (3.22). In Chapter four, the dis-

    cussion continues on the theme of authority, clarifying the

    servant image of 3.5 ( changed to ) in terms of

    Paul's being not man's but God's servant and stressing the hard-

    ships endured in that service in contrast to the Corinthians'

    self satisfied state. Finally at 4.14ff Paul mentions the image

    of the father which again, as in the image of the nurse, empha-

    sises his special concern for them and the exercise of his

    authority in the work of the gospel.

    If we are correct in assuming that 3.1-2a deals with the

    situation when Paul first came to them, turning to actual criti-

    cism in 3.2bff, then we may suggest a solution to 3.Iff arising

    out of a difference in context and circumstance between Paul's

    first visit and his present writing to them, together with a

    criticism of his message and authority on the part of some of the

    Corinthians which had built up. We may surmise that his approach

    must have been different certainly between his first coming toCorinth and his subsequent dealings with the Corinthians. When

    first he came, the situation would have been quite "new", as it

    were, and without precedent. Then later he could and did look

    back to discuss matters in relation to the warmth of the Christian

    life that had sprung up as a result of their having believed the

    gospel he had preached. Paul of course can remain aware of the

    former background of the Corinthians (6.11) contrasting it with

    the experience of the Christian life they had received and urging

    them to live accordingly (cf4.7). Thus the diet would refer in

    reality to the same event but looked at from different perspectivesin terms of attitude and approach. Paul when first he came

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    56 JSNT 7 (1980)

    acceptance of his message. In contrast to the first occasion

    (milk) there was a warmth and texture (solid food) attaching now

    to their relationship, even though Paul would wish it to be truly

    realised in their hearts and lives that he might share the gospel

    in all its fullness with them ( 3.1/\5 3.3cf 1.4

    /4.8 ). Consequently the dietary distinc-

    tion does not turn upon a difference in teaching content but a

    difference in experience between ignorance of the gospel's exis-

    tence and the hearing of it and belief in it. In this sense

    Paul's first preaching was not an elementary instruction but of

    necessity did not have the warmth of mutual fellowship which

    could only follow upon believing acceptance of the message he was

    proclaiming. Paul is not concerned that they have failed to

    progress in knowledge, indeed it would seemthat they had gone toofar, but had failed to understand the gospel in relation to their

    life together within the church. It is to this basic awareness

    that Paul would recall them, as their nurse/father, in terms of

    their having believed the gospel and their having entered into

    the experience of fellowship in Christ. Throughout the letter

    generally, Paul seems to be confronting those who claimed special

    knowledge of God, interpreting this in an enthusiastic manner to

    the detriment of the church (1.5, 8.1, 13.2, 8, 15.34 cf 6.12,

    10.23). That Paul says he could not give them solid food wouldthen be an attack not simply on their pride in knowledge but on

    their enthusiastic experiences attendant upon such knowledge,

    since for him the gospel rightly understood is creative of the

    true experience of fellowship throughout the church. In so far

    as there would be a difference in situation between Paul's first

    coming and subsequent dealings with the Corinthians, the issue at

    3.Iff would seem to be not a gradation of teaching, nor even the

    gradation of teaching appropriate to different stages of exper-

    ience, but of how true understanding of the gospel can be rooted

    in its intended purpose in the life and experience of the believer

    The Corinthians from their point of view, looking back and

    relating what Paul had given them to their own thirst for know-

    ledge and enthusiastic experiences, saw his gospel as very weak and

    watery. In this sense also their subsequent experience of the

    Christian message as they had come to understand and interpret it

    informed their appreciation of Paul and his proclamation. What

    Paul had said together with the manner in which he said it and

    hence his authority as an apostle had all been questioned. Tothis extent Paul seems at first to agree with them in that he

    d it t f di th ilk H th t i ll

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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 57

    judgement on themselves. Paul could not,when first he came and

    evangelised them, speak within a prior context of Christian

    understanding and experience, that was for them to discover and

    enter into on acceptance of his message, but that they still seehis message as milk is proof of the wordliness and weakness of

    their own spiritual experience. That Prful can appear to agree

    with his opponents' view only to criticise or qualify it is a

    technique used at various points in the letter e.g. 1.17, 2.1,

    6.12, 10.23. Therefore if his gospel seemed weak then the fault

    lay in the Corinthians themselves who were being very immature in

    adhering to worldly wisdom. It was obvious that they had not

    grasped the gospel as Paul had intended it, since in their eyes

    as in the world's it was simply foolishness.

    Conclusion

    We have been seeking to understand what Paul means by his

    contrast between "babes" and "mature" in 1 Cor.3, Iff. We have

    suggested that an interpretation along the lines of "failure to

    progress" does not do justice to the situation at Corinth nor to

    the severity of Paul's criticism of his readers. Paul is faced

    with the paradox that the Corinthians having believed and accepted his gospel yet behave in an unspiritual manner. The issue

    is not whether the Christian develops and progresses from the

    initial context of faith, but of how he does so, and how the

    content of faith given to him and appreciated by him then can

    continue to illumine and direct his experience. So Paul chides

    his readers not for failure to advance their understanding (some

    were exceedingly proud of their knowledge), but for failing to

    allow what they had known and realised to be true to inform their

    on-going Christian life. So great was this failure that it wascalling in question their very existence in Christ. What there

    fore is at stake is not a failure of progression but a failure of

    basic comprehension. Maturity is possible for every Christian

    who has received the Spirit, and Paul is urging the Corinthians

    to grow in the sense of realising afresh what they have received.

    Thus the word of the Cross, at the heart of the message he had

    preached to them, should continue to inform their Christian

    experience, signifying as it does the end of all boasting in

    oneself and the preferrment of one another in love.

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    58 JSNT 7 (1980)

    1. For a discussion see N.A. Dahl "Paul and the Church at Corinth

    according to 1 Cor.1-4" in Christian History and Interpre

    tation Studies for J. Knox, Cambridge 1967, pp.313-335. Also

    W.G. Kummel Introduction to the New Testament London 1966,p.202ff; A.C. Thiseleton "Realised Eschatology at Corinth"

    N.T.S. 24 (1977-78) 510-526.

    2. So R. Schnackenburg "Christian Adulthood according to Paul"

    C.B.Q. 25 (1963), 354-370, esp. p.359.

    3. Dahl "Paul and the Church at Corinth" p.332; G. Bornkamm "On

    the Understanding of Christian Worship" in Early Christian

    Experience London 1969, pp.161-179, esp. p.166.

    4. So many commentators ad loc. See also W. Grundmann "Die

    0 in der urchristlichen Parnese" N.T.S. 5 (1958-59),

    188-205.

    5. For examples see J. Weiss Erster Korintherbrief Gottingen 1925,

    p.xviiiff, p.72ff; T.D.N.T. 1 p.646 "" (Schlier); cf J.

    Dupont Gnosis Louvain 1949 pp. 151-152; W.L. Knox St. Paul

    and the Church of the Gentiles Cambridge 1939 p.111. For the

    use of the imagery in Philo see R.A. Horsley "How can some ofyou say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Spiritual

    elitism at Corinth" NftYUm TEflt^B*wtiaM

    volxx fase.3, 203-231.

    6. . Sanh. 19b, cf 99b; Quintillian Institutio Oratoria Book 2

    ix.iff. See also generally T.D.N.T. 1 p.646ff, C. Montefiore

    and H. Loewe A Rabbinic Anthology London 1938, ppl63-164, 180-

    190; cf Odes of Solomon xix.lff. At Qumran we find the image

    of nurse and father combined where the Teacher (presumably)

    regards himself as father and nurse and the community as hischildren, 1QH 7.20-21.

    7. "Die 0" p.190.

    8. "Die 0" p.191.

    9. "Die 0" p.201.

    10. See particularly R.P. Martin "The Composition of 1 Peter in

    recent study" Vox Evangelica 1962, 29-42; J.. Elliott "The

    Rehabilitation of an Exegetical Step child: 1 Peter in recent

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    Francis: "As babes in Christ" 5

    11. "Baptism and Maturity" Interpretation 17 (1963), 387-401.

    12. "Baptism and Maturity" p.396.

    13. Trajectories through Early Christianity Philadelphia 1971,p. 40.

    14. Erster Korintherbrief p.74

    15. See Schnackenburg "Christian Adulthood" p.356ff.

    16. "Christian Adulthood" .357; see also P.J. du Plessis TlelosKampen 1959, p.184.

    17 Erster Korintherbrief p.71

    18. See J.N. Sevenster Paul and Seneca Leiden 1961, p.l44ff.

    19. It is doubtful if a firm distinction can be maintained herebetween (vi) and (v3). See CK. BarrettFirst Corinthians (2nd edition) London 1971, p.79, H. Conzel-

    mann Erster Korintherbrief Gottingen 1969, p.89. J.B.

    Lightfoot remarks that " implies more of a rebuke

    though the less strong word in itself". Notes on the Epistleof St. Paul London 1895, .185. Thus Paul in moving from his

    description at the time of evangelisation refers to the

    current situation in v3ff and hence is a heightening

    of . Contrast J. Weiss Erster Korintherbrief p. 89-

    90.

    20. First Corinthians p.34; see also H. Conzelmann Erster

    Korintherbrief p.89-90.

    21. "Die 0" p.191.

    22. Das Ethos des Urchristentums Gtersloh 1949, .132.

    23. "Christian Adulthood" p.358.

    24. Erster Korintherbrief p.72; "Paulinische Probleme ii" T.S..69 (1896) 7-33, esp. pp.14-15; The History of PrimitiveChristianity London 1937, ii, pp. 468-469. Equally at 4.17

    "in the Lord" with reference to Timothy as Paul's child couldalso be used in "non mystical" fashion, but as we have argued

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    60 JSNT 7 (1980

    24. contd. "babe".

    25. cf Epictetus Discourses II xvi, 25 "Children indeed when they

    cry a little because their nurse has left forget their troub

    les as soon as they get a biscuit. Would you have _us_ resemble children? No, by heaven! For I claim we should be

    influenced in this way not by a biscuit but by true judge

    ments"; Discourses III xix, 1 " For it is being a child

    to be unmusical in things musical, to be unlettered in things

    literary, to be uneducated in life."

    26. FirstCorinthians p.81.

    27. Play on "beget"/"build" is common in Jewish literature. See

    T.D.N.T. iv "" (Jeremas), p.270; J.M. Ford "Thou art

    'Abraham' and upon this Rock " Heythrop Journal 6 (1965)

    289-301, esp. p.296ff; J.D.M. Derret "The stone the builders

    rejected" Stud. Evang. 4, 180-186.

    28. St. Paul and the Church of the Gentiles Cambridge 1939, p.Ill

    ff.

    29. A. Robertson and A. Plummer First Epistle to the Corinthians

    Edinburgh 1911, p.52ff. Quintilian in keeping with his viewof the necessity of a sound education criticises any tendency

    to "wean" a pupil too early - "Nay, I would urge teachers too

    like nurses to be careful to provide softer food for still

    undeveloped minds and to suffer them to take their fill of the

    milk of more attractive studies." Institutio Oratoria

    Book 2, iv.5).

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    ^ s

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