The Young Against the Old: Generational Conflict in First Clement

L.L. Welborn

doi:10.5771/9781978700161

Summary

The so-called First Epistle of Clement has long intrigued historians of early Christianity. It responds to a crisis in the Corinthian church by enjoining an ethic of subordination especially to the presbyteroi and episkopoi, but the exact nature of that conflict has eluded scholars. L. L. Welborn sets out a clear methodology for reconstructing the historical situation behind the letter, then examines the conventions of its deliberative rhetoric, its blending of citations from the Old Testament and Paul’s letters, and its reliance on topoi from Greco-Roman civic discourse. He then presents a compelling argument for the letter’s occasion. First Clement assails a “revolt” among the youth against their elders, invoking epithets and characterizations that were, as Welborn demonstrates at length, common in political discourse supporting the status quo. At length, Welborn proposes two possible scenarios for the precise nature of the “revolt” in Corinth— a revolt possibly inspired by memories of the apostle Paul— and details the replacement of a Pauline ethic with a strict code of subordination.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2018
Copyright Year: 2018
ISBN-Print: 978-1-9787-0015-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-9787-0016-1
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 278
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
2. Prologue No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. Abbreviations No access
Ch01. Prolegomena No access Pages 1 - 20
Ch02. Hypothesis No access Pages 21 - 48
Ch03. Context No access Pages 49 - 128
Ch04. Application No access Pages 129 - 172
Ch05. Reconstruction No access Pages 173 - 222
Epilogue No access Pages 223 - 228
Bibliography No access Pages 229 - 256
Index of Modern Authors No access Pages 257 - 264
Index of Ancient Sources No access Pages 265 - 276
About the Author No access Pages 277 - 278