The Gifts of God and the Authentication of a Christian

Through an exegetical examination of 1 Corinthians 8-11:1, a central hypothesis is developed that seeks to facilitate a coherent understanding of these chapters and clarify their place in the epistle as a whole. It is suggested that in the Corinthian church the gifts of the Spirit, and most notably the gift of ""knowledge,"" had come to be regarded by the so-called ""strong"" as authenticators of their secure status in the covenant community. Paul argued that spiritual gifts could not and should not function in this way. Rather, for the apostle, it is ""love"" for God and for the community that alone can function in this way.

""Gardner offers a coherent reading of these three chapters of 1 Corinthians and views them as a connected and integrated argument. His work therefore adds further weight to the growing consensus that the chapters should not be divided up and assigned to different letters . . . . His hypothesis, moreover, offers interesting explanations for some of the more puzzling phrases in the text."" --Dr. David Horrell, Professor of New Testament Studies, Exeter University Review in Journal of Theological Studies.


""Gardner's exegesis of these chapters . . . is admirably thorough and clear. . . . His central hypothesis is that in the Corinthian church the gift of the Spirit called 'gnosis' was regarded by the 'strong' as an authenticator of their secure status in the covenant community . . . . To its credit Gardner's view makes sense of the whole argument of chapters 8-10, is not overly speculative (the position of the strong is only a minor distortion of Paul's own teaching), and draws out the congruency of what Paul says here with what is said elsewhere in the letter."" --Dr. Brian Rosner, Principal, Ridley College, Melbourne Review in The Expository Times.


Rev. Dr. Paul Gardner is currently the Senior Minister at ChristChurch, Atlanta. He lectures internationally, mainly on New Testament subjects and on homiletics. He is the author of several books including commentaries on Ephesians, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation. Before moving to the United States from England, he served as Archdeacon of Exeter. Previously he was Lecturer in New Testament and Academic Dean at Oak Hill College in north London (an Anglican Seminary). He is married to Sharon and has three grown children.