The second aspect of the distinctive characteristic of
‘but for us’ is that there is an intended literary contrast between ‘many’ and
‘one’ in 8:5b and 8:6:
5 … ὥσπερ εἰσὶν
θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί,
6 ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν εἷς
θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ … καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς …
8:5b actually affirms the existence and plurality of
gods in the society. The structure of v. 6 is set as a contrast to v. 5b, a
contrast which seems is to emphasise the uniqueness (one God, one Lord) of the
object of worship ‘for us’. The conjunction καὶ connecting v. 6a and v. 6b is better translated ‘as
well as’, similar to the meaning of καὶ in v. 5b. Thus, the contrast is many vs. one:
outsiders may believe that there are many gods and many lords, but for us
insiders we believe in one God … as
well as one Lord.
This may be the key issue Paul intends to tackle here.
Unencumbered by the theological principles of Jewish monotheism, Gentile
Corinthians would have had no difficulty confessing Jesus Christ as divine. The
point that is at odds with the Gentile audience lies in the exclusiveness: If
we have already worshipped Jesus Christ, why can’t we add other gods after him?
James Crossley has shown that a notion of ‘pagan
monotheism’ may have existed in late antiquity:
What is significant is the ways in which monotheistic
tendencies in a pagan context are defined. It is effectively described in the
same way as Jewish and Christian monotheism(s) in that there is the idea of one
God over all and upon whom everything depends yet at the same time lesser
divinities are allowed their place in the supernatural system … A pagan
opponent or a different kind of Christian may well have replied to Paul in a
similar manner (cf., e.g., 1 Cor. 8:5–6; 10:20–21).
In the light of this ‘pagan monotheism’—one God, many
agents—we may understand more the concern that Paul intends to address and
correct. The echoes of Scripture alone cannot stop the Corinthian Christians
from keeping the gods they had previously worshipped, for worshipping other
gods under the authority of the Most High God Yhwh
in Scripture can also be counted as worshipping him. Therefore, Paul states in
8:5 that although there are many ‘gods’ and ‘lords’ in the supernatural system
(in heaven or on earth), we do not regard it in the same way. Insiders worship
Jesus Christ ‘through whom are all things and through whom we exist’ (8:6). He
is situated at the same level of authority as the creator God or the Most High
God. Not only is Jesus Christ divine, He is equally ranked with the Most High
God and so cannot be regarded as a god under the authority of the Most High
God. As the Corinthian audience was familiar with the binary gods like Demeter
and Kore, it was not difficult for them to regard the Father God revealed in
the OT and the Lord Jesus Christ as one object of worship.
In sum, the rhetorical purpose of ‘Lord Jesus Christ’
in 8:6 is to affirm Jesus Christ as the object of worship as well as the unique
object of worship by the insiders. (Sin-pan
Daniel Ho, Paul and the Creation of a Counter-Cultural Community: A
Rhetorical Analysis of 1 Cor. 5:1–11:1 in Light of the Social Lives of the
Corinthians [Library of New Testament Studies 509; London: Bloomsbury
T&T Clark, 2015], 191-92)