Paul, Democracy, and the Corinthians

Name: Paul, Democracy, and the Corinthians
Brand: Bloomsbury Publishing (AUS)
Price: 270.75 AUD
Availability: PreOrder

By: Professor L. L. Welborn

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Hardcover | 19 March 2026

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Format
Hardcover

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6

Hardcover

$270.75

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Available: 19th March 2026

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In this short and remarkable book L.L. Welborn outlines the complex and contested nature of âdemocracyâ in the Greek cities of the Roman East, where the apostle Paul established Christ groups, showing that writings of Paul and the development of Christianity reveal a strong and radical form of democracy that holds ever-greater relevance in todayâs contentious political landscape.

Welborn begins by showing how, paradoxically, language around the concept of democracy is largely absent from political thinkers in the first century. By contrast, we learn that Paulâs Corinthian correspondence is full of vocabulary associated with democracy, not only the term we know as âChurchâ (ekkesia) or âpeopleâs assemblyâ, which the Christ-group adopted as a self-designation, but other terms with a democratic history and resonance such as eleutheria (âfreedomâ), paressia (âfreedom of speechâ), koinomia (âpartnershipâ), isotes (âequalityâ). Moreover, as Welborn shows, several passages give evidence of democratic practices, such as voting (2 Cor. 2:6-8). Especially significant is the revelation that women were praying and prophesying in the assembly (1 Cor. 11:5), enacting a radical extension of the democratic-egalitarian ethos.

In these chapters Welborn assesses the complex evidence of Paulâs Corinthian epistles in an attempt to answer the question: How âdemocraticâ was the assembly of Christ followers at Corinth? If, as Welborn suggests, the answer is exceptionally âdemocratic,â at least in comparison with the political regime of first-century Roman Corinth, what consequence might this discovery have for those who are concerned about the failure of democracy today?

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