Bodies of Grief: On Space and Affect in 2 Corinthians 7:2–16
Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 7:2-16 unfolds within a complex interplay of spatial and affective dynamics. Beginning already in 2 Corinthians 5:11, Paul seeks both reconciliation with the Corinthians and the re-establishment of his contested authority as an apostle. The a...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Neotestamentica
Year: 2025, Volume: 59, Issue: 2, Pages: 238-255 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 7:2-16 unfolds within a complex interplay of spatial and affective dynamics. Beginning already in 2 Corinthians 5:11, Paul seeks both reconciliation with the Corinthians and the re-establishment of his contested authority as an apostle. The article explores how he tailors his argument to a specific cultural and emotional register. In Roman Corinth, the myth of Medea was deeply rooted in the cultural memory and monumental space, functioning as a symbol of embodied grief and a moral warning. Paul’s repeated use of λύπη is imagined to participate in a culturally embedded emotional repertoire shaped by Corinth’s monumental and mythic associations with Medea. Drawing on spatial theory and affect theory, the article explores how Paul harnesses bodies, his own, those of his co-workers and the intended audience, as spatialised sites of persuasion. Paul’s rhetoric constructs a lived "thirdspace" in which grief, comfort, and reconciliation are negotiated. This article emphasises the importance of spatial affectivity in Pauline discourses and urges greater attention to the role of cultural-emotional repertoires in early Christian epistolary discourse. |
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| ISSN: | 2518-4628 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Neotestamentica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/neo.2025.a977269 |