Abstract

The thesis of this dissertation is that Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 9:22b, "I have become everything in turn to men of every sort," is a part of a specific tradition of Greco-Roman society which underscores the importance of adaptability in light of human diversity in the unreserved association with all and psychagogic adaptation in view of different human dispositions. Adaptation in light of human diversity is underscored by Paul in his reference in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 "Jews," "those under the law," and "the lawless ones," and psychagogic adaptation in light of different human dispositions by Paul's reference to the "weak." Both Philo's discussion of Joseph's political life and Maximus of Tyre's defence of versatility in his discourse That the speech of a philosopher is adapted to every subject, clearly show this twofold perspective of adaptation required by human diversity and different human dispositions. Psychagogic adaptation was often discussed in conjunction with the common practice of the "care of the young." It is the thesis of this dissertation that within this tradition of psychagogy it is in the practices of the Epicureans at Athens and Naples less than a century before Paul that we find the closest comparative material to Paul's psychagogic nurture of the proto-Christian communities. Chapters two through five spotlight various aspects of this tradition of psychagogic nurture and versatility; chapters six through seven focus on Philodemus, an Epicurean of late Republican times, and chapters eight through ten on the apostle Paul. The dissertation documents a widespread pattern of mutual exhortation, edification, and correction evident in the Pauline corpus and in Philodemus' On frank criticism. This social practice of participatory psychagogy, a defining and constitutive feature of the proto-Christian and Epicurean communities, aligns them close together. ;Paul closely relates psychagogic adaptation to his conception of leadership. He uses gentle speech directed towards the weak but is appropriately harsh towards the supposedly wise and recalcitrant Corinthians. Paul's psychagogic leadership is thus one of a benevolent patriarch who can be both harsh and accommodating, contingent on the condition of those under his care. Paul's use of patriarchal imagery and the somewhat contrasting demagogic imagery in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 reflects then his conscious pedagogical approach