The Origins of the Corinthian Christ Group

The Origins of the Christ Movement in Corinth: Paul’s Chord of Gods argues that Paul’s language about his god (father, lord Jesus Christ and pneuma) would have been familiar to Corinthian gentiles as a small group of gods – a chord of gods. Worship of Paul’s chord of gods matches the common religious practice (in Theodore Schatzki’s sense) around the ancient Mediterranean and in Corinth and would have been very familiar to the Corinthians. This religious practice is documented at representative locations, settings, time periods, and social strata around the Mediterranean and in Corinth. From this survey the book posits that chord of gods religious practice could have formed the basis of attraction for the Corinthians to join Paul’s Christ group, served as a social engine for its growth among gentiles in Corinth and been a source of conflict with Paul that he tries to address in his letters to the Corinthians.