The Wise Master Builder and His Coworkers
Excerpt
In this section of the argument, several important points become clear. When Paul is discussing divisions in Corinth, he has in mind divisions caused by the response of the Corinthians to Paul and to the chief coworker who followed him in Corinth, Apollos. The so-called “Christ faction” (cf. 1:12) is nowhere to be found here, and Cephas (also mentioned in 1:12) is only named in passing in 3:22. I see no evidence that Paul is trying to tiptoe around a problem really caused by Peter, that is, Cephas, in Corinth. It is the relationship between himself and Apollos that he must explain. He refers to Peter in ch. 1 and in 3:22 because some Corinthians, perhaps especially Jewish Christians, admired Peter, not because there was a “Peter party” created by Peter’s visit to Corinth. The argument in 3:4ff. also makes it very likely that the reference to the “Christ” group in ch. 1was simply a reductio ad absurdum of the whole foolish divisive behavior, functioning rather like the question “Was Paul crucified for you?” in 1:13. More
Witherington, Ben, III. Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995. Print.
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