We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Judgment, Justice, and Destruction: Defixiones and 1 Corinthians.
- Authors
NASRALLAH, LAURA SALAH
- Abstract
The defixiones (curse tablets) at the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Roman Corinth are an underexplored source for ritual life in the city, including the practices of early Christ-followers. Against scholars who are uncomfortable with a Paul who curses, I argue that 1 Corinthians incontrovertibly contains curse formulae. It demonstrates philological parallels between the cursing of a man in 1 Cor 5:1-5 and a double defixio against a woman from Roman Corinth. More importantly, this article shows that ritual curses should be understood as legal formulations that call upon gods and other beings to effect justice. Curses can be attempts at ethical intervention. Contemporary theorizations of race, justice, law, and the definition of the human provide a framework to make sense of legal mechanisms developed outside of dominant forms of "justice."
- Subjects
JUDGMENT of God; RIGHTEOUSNESS of God; DEMETER (Greek deity); PERSEPHONE (Greek deity); JESUS Christ
- Publication
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2021, Vol 140, Issue 2, p347
- ISSN
0021-9231
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1353/jbl.2021.0017