Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians

Sometimes you feel like that book in your hands, the one you base all your major life decisions on, the one that holds the keys to your eternal destiny... yeah that book is a little hard to relate to. And the mistake we make is assuming that it's a universal revelation. That the words of 1 Corinthians are a timeless, mystic communication from God directly to you. Well, that's not the case. And to love and appreciate the beautiful truths revealed in letters like 1st Corinthians you have to get to know the author (Paul) and the culture, believes and worldview of those he was writing to. Once you do this... wow the words fly off the page and you can see the "perfect words and the perfect time" Holy Spirit inspiration of the text. And then, we can apply those truths, to our lives. Kenneth Baily is a tireless academic, the works can be a bit dry and ridged... but if you use books like these to help you develop your understanding of the world of the Bible... then its truths come alive like never before. Good stuff!

This is a great book for those who pursue Biblical scholarship. I gives depth and "meaty" insights into Paul, his language and the culture which are essential for understanding a book written to a people and time so different from us. At times it required a great deal of concentration, more so than Bailey's book, "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes", an equally wonderful study. For those who long to understand the "tough" areas or conversations of the Bible, who have at times questioned whether there was something more concerning particular parables or lessons, this will help to answer those questions. Bailey's books have enriched my personal life and brought me into a closer relationship with God.

First I got 4 friends to read though the book together as a discussion group. Then I gave the book as a Christmas gift to more of my friends and we will read thought it together next. Bailey has one of the most diverse cultural backgrounds of any biblical scholar and breaks the mold of interpretive thought carefully and often.

Bailey uses his considerable analytical talents to show that Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is a carefully thought out, and logically structured thesis rather than a collection of angry corrections to that early church's various forms of misbehavior. Perhaps he succeeds, but if you have not read his "Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes", you would be far better off to start there.

This book is mistitled. It is a commentary on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians with emphasis on Paul's rhetoric. There simply isn't much discussion on Mediterranean or Middle Eastern culture that might lead to a better understanding of this letter or the other letters that Paul wrote.I had previously read with interest Bailey's companion book on Jesus with a similar title. However, I don't share the positive views of most of the other reviewers of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book even though I probably missed half of the message as I’m not great at deciphering language structures.I missed The understanding of the poetry of the text.However the introduction to a Mideastern mindset and how reading the Apostle Paul’s work through that mindset was fascinating.

I really enjoyed Bailey's Jesus Through Moddle Eastern Eyes. This one left me flat; I couldnt really get into it. The print is very small, even wearing my glasses didn't help. If you order from Words...., it comes from the UK. So, it took awhile to get to California. Im thinking of returning it, even if it's across the pond.

While Bailey goes a little overboard on seeing everything in I Corinthians as a chiastic structure he does offer some good thoughts along the way. After getting about a quarter of the way through the book, I found myself skipping to the commentary part of each section rather than read more about the rhetorical structure that Bailey thinks is there. Having lived in the Middle East for many years he does have a good perspective on their culture and how it likely would have been in Paul's day. However he does offer a lot of questionable ideas that don't have a strong basis. Worth a read, but take it with a grain of salt.

This is an extraordinary book written by an acknowledged master over a lifetime of study and prayer. Kenneth Bailey is an outstanding scholar who has ministered throughout the Middle East for decades, and has brought both his experience in Arabic culture and also his knowledge of the Christian literature in the Arabic and cognate languages to bear on his reading of what is perhaps Paul's most polished letter.For Bailey maintains that the First Letter to the Corinthians was written by Paul self-consciously using the rhetorical methods of the Hebrew Scriptures. Bailey reads the Letter as a well-structured series of homilies, each of which has its own well-defined rhetorical structure deriving directly from "prophetic rhetoric". Bailey points to specific passages in Isaiah as "rhetorical templates" that Paul deliberately used in constructing his own Letter. One thinks of Churchill using the rhetoric of Cicero to craft his own extraordinarily persuasive speeches.Bailey wishes to explicitly locate Pauline theology firmly in the Hebrew Scriptures. I myself have long thought that the answer to people who express a desire to know what Jesus said to the disciples on the road to Emmaus have only to read Paul's letters! And the massive recent work of N.T.Wright ("Paul and the Faithfulness of God", 2013) also details how very deeply Paul was immersed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Bailey takes this a step further, and shows how Paul actually uses the WAY Isaiah brings the Word of God: Paul follows Isaiah's methods, he echoes his voice.We are used to analytically extracting "what he says" from an author's text. But surely, paying attention to "the way he says it" is taking much more seriously Paul's own instruction to us to "conform" ourselves to Him (Phil.3:10)? This wise book will change the way you approach the Word.

An excellent product offering insight and historical context to the origin of the church age. It shouldn't surprise us that the people of the time are not too different from today's folk. Strip off the veneer and we see ourselves: not logical, unemotional Anglo-Saxons, but emotional Mediterranean types, who, surprise, surprise, still live in this current world. Does this not say that we need to be a lot more like them to appreciate the world-changing nature of the Gospel? Can we not be ready to adapt to this life-changing nature of the message of the glory of the blessed Messiah? To ditch our hard logic, and be ready to believe in a supernatural God? All we need is to see the evidence...

This is a genuine eye-opener! Ken Bailey, who lived and taught in the Middle East for 40+ years has used his outstanding knowledge of semitic and other languages and culture combined with an awesome understanding of the text to show that Paul, who had been schooled in the Rabbinical Tradition, wrote the first letter to the Corinthians using a carefully crafted format throughout. The sheer skill and effort required to achieve this make one realise how much Paul had been influenced by and benefitted from his training under Gamaliel and the other Jerusalem academics. Ken Bailey shows the beauty of the chiastic structure in this unbelievably well planned letter and shows how this was cross-referenced to the Hebrew Scriptures over and over again. His demonstrates recurrent references to contemporary life in the port city of Corinth at the same time as addressing the pastoral concerns in the local church whilst sending a general pastoral letter to other churches.I have more admiration for Paul as an academically skilled apostolic writer than ever before and am grateful to Ken Bailey for this wonderful exposition. It is a must for anyone who wants understand the Pauline letters and Paul himself. He encourages the reader to re-examine the place of women in the church and head-covering and other subjects which often polarise opinion in the light of textual nuances and authorial intention in a refreshing way. At the same time he acknowledges and freely refers to the work of many other skilled commentators on the epistle, both from history (including sources unavailable to the average Western reader) and from the present.This book is essential reading for anyone (academic or otherwise) who wants to read and understand the First Letter to the Corinthians with more than a basic and possibly prejudiced outlook. It should stimulate debate and encourage lively discussion in churches and colleges. It joins Ken Bailey's book "Jesus through MIddle Eastern Eyes" as a contemporary classic which brings new and essential light to understanding the New Testament.

Kenneth Bailey established his reputation reviewing the most difficult parables of Jesus through Middle Eastern cultural eyes. He now turns to looking at 1 Corinthians with the same method. The results are less revolutionary, and offer incremental insights rather than a complete change of thinking. Nonetheless, he has a lot to say which is compelling on points of controversy which have troubled the church over the last fifty years, and his solutions will satisfy both confessional and progressive readers.Considering for a moment the question of women leading worship — widely viewed either as Pauline misogyny or a requirement to return to a 19th century understanding of gender roles — Bailey points out that the common translations, on which most of the controversy is based, translate 'dia' in quite different ways in the same statement. Both 'for' and 'because of' are grammatically acceptable translations, but the meaning of the passage changes substantially if a consistent translation is used. Bailey's solution to the problem is compelling, and it is hard to see why one did not spot it earlier.Most students of the New Testament are probably more familiar with the Greek world than the Middle Eastern world, and so Bailey's insights are less radical than his work on Jesus's parables. I was initially disappointed not to find the same penetrating studies. However, this is merely a reflection of fewer cultural presuppositions getting in the way. Where 19th-21st century English-speaking culture gets in the way of understanding the text, Bailey exposes it with great precision.Much of this book is about poetic form, and I found this perhaps less significant — and, at times, less persuasive — than his conclusions on difficult passages. Nonetheless, this is a rewarding book, and deserves a wider readership.

Love all the books by this amazingly knowledgeable yet humble theologian. A very enlightening read which can get a bit laborious with all the academia and hence be a bit of a struggle to get through. However, his arguments are clearly presented and very well researched which keeps you reading to the end.I think St. Paul has been greatly misunderstood, even misrepresented, by various denominations down through the ages. This book sets out to prove this and I think the author lends his knowledge in an unbiased, systematic and meaningful way. I feel much better for having read this!