The Warning-Assurance Relationship in 1 Corinthians

Download or read book The Warning-Assurance Relationship in 1 Corinthians written by Andrew J. Wilson and published by Mohr Siebeck. This book was released on 2017-10-27 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul's first letter to the Corinthians contains both emphatic warnings and strong statements of assurance, and the relationship between them has often puzzled interpreters. At times, it sounds as if Paul is warning the Corinthians lest they forfeit their eschatological salvation; at others, it sounds like he is assuring them that they will not. Attempts to harmonise the two stances have often ended up nullifying the warnings, or the assurances, or both. In this fresh analysis of all the relevant texts, Andrew J. Wilson demonstrates that Paul's warnings and assurances stand in tension with each other, and suggests that this tension is both coherent, and, in actual fact, deliberate on Paul's part. Discussions of perseverance and apostasy in Paul, grace and works, and the relationship between divine and human agency, will all now need to reckon with this important contribution.