The 'Ultracharismatics' of Corinth and the Pentecostals of Latin America as the Religion of the Disaffected

Abstract

This paper arises from research on 1 Corinthians within a Latin American milieu. It shows the value of studying God’s word from non-first world perspectives, particularly with regard to the themes of societal status and the charismata in the first century church. The majority opinion is that 1 Corinthians was written to correct a ‘pneumatic enthusiasm’, with such diverse components as the denial of the resurrection, egalitarianism and triumphalism. It would follow that the teaching about the charismata in chapters 12–14 is directed against that same outlook. We will argue that the majority of the letter is addressed to Christians who dabbled in philosophy as a sign of their upward mobility. But then, using sociological insights from Roman Corinth and from the contemporary Latin American church, we will propose that chapters 12–14 speak to the marginalised of the church. They had turned to the showier charismata as a means of creating an identity for themselves in a church where the elitists received all the attention … as well as invitations to the table of other rich Christians. Thus while the bulk of the letter is a harsh rebuke to the arrogant elitists, chapters 12–14 are directed to the marginalised ultracharismatics, showing them that all of God’s gifts must be used in the loving service of the body.