“Cleanse out the Old Leaven, that you may be a New Lump”: A Rhetorical Analysis of 1 Cor 5-11:1 in Light of the Social Lives of the Corinthians

This study offers a new interpretation of 1 Cor 5—11:1 from a social identity approach. The goal is to investigate and analyse the inner logic of Paul in these six chapters from the ears of the Corinthian correspondence. It takes into account the Jewish tradition inherited from Paul and daily social lives of the audience. Through the analysis of the literary structure of 1 Cor 5-11:1, research on social implications of Satanic language in ancient Jewish literature, rhetorical analysis of intertextual echoes of Scripture and Christ language in 1 Cor 5-11:1 in light of the social values prevalent in the urban city of Roman Corinth, it is argued that Paul has consistently indoctrinated new values for the audience to uphold which are against the main stream of social values in the surrounding society throughout 1 Cor 5-11:1. Paul does not engage in issues of internal schism per se, but rather in the distinctive values insiders should uphold so as to be recognisable by outsiders in their everyday social lives. While church is neither a sectarian nor an accommodating community, it should maintain constant social contact with the outsiders so as to bring the gospel of Christ to them. In addition, the social lives of the insiders should live out some radical values that could challenge the existing shared social values prevalent in the urban city Corinth. Those new values are mainly based on Scripture, ancient Jewish literature and the implications of the new social identity of the church defined by Jesus Christ. As a result, the logical flow, unitary design and coherence of 1 Cor 5—11:1 become more apparent.