Inspired Body: Paul, the Corinthians, and Divine Inspiration, The

The Inspired Body: Paul, the Corinthians, and Divine Inspiration. By Allen Rhea Hunt. Macon: Mercer University, 1996, viii + 168 pp., $19.95 paper.

This volume is a reworked dissertation written under the direction of Wayne Meeks at Yale. Hunt's writing style is a model of organization and logical flow of argument. The reader is never at a loss to understand and follow the author's development of his thesis. Hunt's thesis is that Paul adopted Greek terms and motifs related to inspired speech and divine inquiry and utilized these terms and ideas to form a view that the human search for the divine mind is pursued through "corporate inspiration" (pp. 10, 71). This body approach to how God operates is one of Paul's methods to address the problem of factionalism within the Corinthian community. Corporate inspiration is available to all Christians and thereby places all believers on an equal spiritual base. Hunt finds evidence of his thesis in 1 Corinthians 2, 3, 12 and 14. The result of Hunt's evaluation of Paul's use of language in these texts revises the traditional understanding of divine inspiration by shifting it from a Pauline claim of conveying inspired speech into spiritual words (1 Cor 2:13) to a Pauline promotion that all Christians have equal access to inspired speech and therefore have equal access to the mind of God. Hunt sees this as Paul's master stroke against privatized divisions within the body. No one person or group can claim authority over another but instead God reveals himself to the believing community as a whole.

Hunt develops his thesis by correlating the ancient Greek search for divine knowledge with Paul's presentation of knowing God's mind. Hunt does not insist upon an exact match but builds an argument by analogy. In chap. 1, he endeavors to locate Paul in the Greek tradition by surfacing key Greek words and concepts of inspiration in the literature from Plato, Plutarch and other writers on this theme. Chapter 2 continues this theme by investigating the Jewish side via Philo, Josephus, the Septuagint and apocalyptic traditions. Hunt gathers a helpful data base to illustrate the presence and nature of a search for divine mind in the ancients. Then, in chaps. 3-7, he claims that Paul's adoption of similar language and themes argues that Paul is merely a continuing part of that search. The new twist that Hunt brings is his endeavor to argue that Paul's interest in inspiration is communal not individual, to put down factionalism not to present an authoritative apostolic revelation from God (cf. pp. 11, 80, 86, 91).

While Hunt has provided an interesting theory for further thought, it seems to me that his thesis, although skillfully presented, is not proven. Several key issues are not adequately engaged in his reconstruction. First, the question of 1 Corinthians as an intense polemical interchange between Paul and a variety of factional groups is not adequately considered (cf. Fee). If the historical context of a challenge by some at Corinth to Paul's apostleship and thereby his teaching authority is valid, then the polemical flow of 1 Corinthians 1-4 places 2:6-16 in the light of a defense of the origin of Paul's teaching. The message of the cross is not Paul's own idea, it is by revealed authority (2:10). This revealed "mystery" was particularly conveyed to Paul and thereby to the community. Second, Hunt does not adequately account for the force of 1 Cor 14:3738. Here Paul unequivocally correlates his speech with God's speech. It is an appeal to individual apostolic authority to which the community must conform or render itself without knowledge (14:38).

Hunt's reconstruction is engaging and informing reading, even if the reader remains unconvinced by the overall thesis. This volume provides the interpreter of 1 Corinthians with much to think about and trajectories for further research.

Gary T. Meadors

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Dec 1999
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