Chapter 1: Prolegomena Chapter 2: Hypothesis Chapter 3: Context Chapter 4: Application Chapter 5: Reconstruction
L.L. Welborn is professor of New Testament and early Christian literature at Fordham University.
In this fascinating study of intergenerational conflict in the
church in Corinth, Welborn employs, once again, his superlative
scholarly skills: he makes brilliant use of his encyclopedic
knowledge of the Greco-Roman world, he offers a subtle, close
reading of a complex text, and he constructs a new and convincing
historical reconstruction of a church struggle between young and
old. As a result, he exposes in 1 Clement a decisive moment in the
advance of the hierarchical ideology that came to dominate the
early Christian movement. Welborn has now solved the conundrum of
the exigence and rhetoric of 1 Clement as never before. Quite
simply, a brilliant piece of work. -- John M. G. Barclay, Lightfoot
Professor of Divinity, Durham University
Welborn's The Young Against the Old: Generational Conflict in First
Clement is a tour de force that assembles the case for
intergenerational conflict in First Clement. The exquisite care he
takes in situating the many rhetorical tropes of the letter within
their ancient discursive contexts is matched by his systematic and
penetrating review of practically all the literature on First
Clement. This is a model of careful scholarship. -- John S.
Kloppenborg, University of Toronto
Many have speculated on the nature of the conflict that, that
according to the so-called First letter of Clement, disturbed the
congregation at Corinth in the late first century CE. Welborn
solves this riddle by arguing that First Clement takes a position
in ongoing intergenerational conflict. After drawing an
impressively vivid image of what it meant to be a young male at
Rome and Greco-Roman Corinth, and how far social and political
power and the notion of good political order was shaped by a regime
of the old, Welborn demonstrates in an absolutely convincing way
that First Clement constructs its epistolary discourse so as to
crush the revolt of the young and to ensure the reinstatement of
the deposed church leaders for the older generation. First Clement
becomes thereby not only one of the first witnesses to subvert the
original message of its own hero Paul, but also points to some
hidden social and political conflicts that need attention in
contemporary theological discussion. -- Angela Standhartinger,
Philipps University of Marburg
In this excellent prolegomenon to an eagerly awaited Hermeneia
commentary, Larry Welborn, leading voice of our generation on 1
Clement, addresses the topic of the letter's opponents ("young")
and purpose ("reinstate the old"). In a meticulous investigation
driven by genuine curiosity and a comprehensive knowledge of all
appertaining texts and contexts, Welborn convincingly demonstrates
that the late first-century church in Corinth suffers
intergenerational strife-discord parallel to, if qualitatively
different from, that of the churches in the same city to whom Paul
addressed his letters. In a letter characterized by sophisticated
rhetorical argumentation, Welborn argues it is nevertheless clear
that a few young men have brought about the deposition of some of
the presbyters with the consent of the church. Viewing the shift of
leadership as a violation of proper procedures of succession,
Clement writes to persuade the usurpers to withdraw in the interest
of peace and concord. This book informs not only about First
Clement but about late first- and early second-century
Christianity-its priorities and struggles. Readers have much to
learn from Welborn's capacious breadth of knowledge of the
Greco-Roman world, ancient texts, ancient rhetoric, and the
moral-philosophical topos of age over youth-not to mention the role
of this letter as a link in the development of Christian
institutions. -- Clare K. Rothschild, Lewis University
Professor Larry Welborn has over several decades acquired a
well-deserved reputation as a meticulous and imaginative historian
of early Christianity. In this monograph, a first-fruit of a
forthcoming Hermeneia commentary on First Clement, Professor
Welborn amply demonstrates his extensive knowledge and
understanding of the dynamics of early Christian communities. The
monograph focuses on one of the most vexing issues regarding First
Clement, namely the cause of the conflict in Corinth which provided
the impetus for the author's composing the letter. Because there is
little or no external evidence regarding this conflict, a careful
analysis of the letter itself is required. In the history of
interpretation, however, scholars have interpreted the textual
evidence in many different ways. One of the strengths of this
monograph is therefore the lucid and instructive overview of the
history of research on this topic. In view of the divergent
conclusions reached by earlier scholars, Welborn first establishes
important hermeneutical principles that will guide his own
investigation into the problem, before turning to a detailed
substantiation of the hypothesis that intergenerational conflict in
the church at Corinth provided the occasion for the letter. This
hypothesis, first mooted by Harnack and Lietzmann, has come under
attack under influence of the greater appreciation of the
rhetorical character of the letter, which lead scholars to assume
that the references to opposing groups are mere rhetorical cliches.
Welborn shows, to the contrary, that the rhetorical devices in the
letter are not merely conventional and ornamental, but are indeed
used to allude to, and admonish, the conflict between the younger
and the older generations in Corinth. He further undergirds this
hypothesis by a careful analysis of the scriptural allusions
throughout the letter as well as by a detailed examination of the
role the topos and reality of intergenerational conflict played
within the broader cultural context of the letter. Welborn's
extensive description of the theme of conflict between generations
in the history and literature of the Greco-Roman world is a
significant contribution by itself, while his application of the
insight gained by this survey to a reading of First Clement
provides an exemplary illustration of how knowledge gained from a
close consideration of the literary and historical context could be
used to advance our understanding of early Christian texts. This
monograph, with its wealth of literary references and historical
comparisons, offers stimulating and fresh perspectives on the
social dynamics at work in early Christian communities. It is
essential reading not only for the study of First Clement, but for
the social history of the formative period of early Christianity in
general. -- Johan C. Thom, University of Stellenbosch
Larry Welborn's monograph on the conflict in the congregation of
Corinth for the first time makes full use of the deliberative
discourse ( ), of the First Letter of Clement. On the basis of his
superb knowledge of ancient rhetoric and familiarity with
international (including Dutch) research on the letter since the
19th century, Welborn convincingly argues that the symbyleutic
letter strongly rebukes the instigators of generational conflict
between the younger men and elderly presbyters in the congregation.
Based on deep insight into the Greek text and built on sound
knowledge of how congregational conflict was viewed in ancient
society, the thesis that the discourse is about generational
conflict is for the first time fully developed and lucidly
presented. The monograph is a fine contribution to research on 1st
Clement and will pave the way for discussion on Welborn's much
awaited Hermeneia Commentary. -- Cilliers Breytenbach, Humboldt
University of Berlin
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