This paper attempts to understand the abuses of the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian church (1 Cor 11:17–34) from the perspective of ritual theory. Analyzing the abuses of the Lord’s Supper by using the types of ritual infelicity as described by Ronald L. Grimes, I argue that the practice of the Lord’s Supper by the Corinthians was a socio-religious ritual failure caused by its participants’ inappropriate manners. These inappropriate manners in the ritual performance were both social and religious, namely the stratification of social status and the defilement of the sacred meal, both of which are the results of the imitation of pagan meal practices.
BarrettC. K., A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (London: Black, 1968).
2.
BauckhamRichard J., “The Lord’s Day” in CarsonD. A. (ed.), From Sabbath to Lord’s Day: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Investigation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982), 221–50.
3.
BealeG. K.CarsonD. A.Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007).
4.
BookidisN.“Ritual Dining at Corinth”, in MarinatosNannoHäggRobin (eds), Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches (New York: Routledge, 1993), 45–58.
5.
CosgroveC. H., “Banquet Ceremonies Involving Wine in the Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity”, CBQ79 (2017): 299–316.
6.
DasA. A., “1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Revisited”, CTQ62 (1998): 187–208.
7.
DeSilvaD. A.Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010).
8.
von DobschützE.BremnerG.MorrisonW. D., Christian Life in the Primitive Church (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904).
9.
FeeG. D.The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014).
10.
FitzmyerJ. A.First Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008).
11.
GrimesR. L.Ritual Criticism: Case Studies in Its Practice, Essays on Its Theory (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1990).
12.
GruenwaldI., Rituals and Ritual Theory in Ancient Israel (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2003).
13.
HarlandP. A.Associations, Synagogues and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2003).
14.
HorrellD. G., The Social Ethos of the Corinthians Correspondence: Interests and Ideology from 1 Corinthians to 1 Clement (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996).
15.
JamirL., Exclusion and Judgment in Fellowship Meals: The Socio-Historical Background of 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2016).
16.
JeremiasJ., The Eucharistic Words of Jesus (London: SCM, 1966).
17.
KeenerC. S.1–2 Corinthians (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
18.
KodellJ., The Eucharist in the New Testament (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991).
19.
KöstenbergerA. J., “Was the Last Supper a Passover Meal?”, in SchreinerThomas R.CrawfordMatthew R. (eds), The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ until He Comes (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010), 6–30.
20.
LaVerdiereE., The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1996).
21.
McGowanA., “The Myth of the ‘Lord’s Supper’: Paul’s Eucharistic Meal Terminology and Its Ancient Reception”, CBQ77 (2015): 503–521.
22.
McGowanA. B., Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
23.
McRaeR. M.“Eating with Honor: The Corinthian Lord’s Supper in Light of Voluntary Association Meal Practices”, JBL130 (2011): 165–81.
24.
NeyreyJ. H.“Loss of Wealth, Loss of Family, Loss of Honor: The Cultural Context of the Original Makarisms in Q”, in NeyreyJerome H.StewartEric Clark (eds), The Social World of the New Testament Insights and Models (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2008).
25.
ÖhlerM., “Cultic Meals in Associations and the Early Christian Eucharist”, Early Christianity5 (2014): 475–502.
26.
PitreB. J.Jesus and the Last Supper (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015).
27.
RordorfW.BlondG.JohannyR.JourjonM.HammanA., The Eucharist of the Early Christians (New York: Pueblo, 1978).
28.
SchwiebertJ., Knowledge and the Coming Kingdom: The Didache’s Meal Ritual and Its Place in Early Christianity (London: T&T Clark, 2008).
29.
SmitP.-B., “Ritual Failure, Ritual Negotiation, and Paul’s Argument in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34”Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters3 (2013): 165–93.
30.
StreettR. A.Subversive Meals: An Analysis of the Lord’s Supper Under Roman Domination During the First Century (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2013).
31.
TheissenG., The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1982).
32.
WeissJ., Der Erste Korintherbrief: Völlig Neu Bearb, KEK (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1910).
33.
WitheringtonB., Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995).
