“He Who Refrains from Marriage Will Do Better”: The Rationale for Paul’s Promotion of Singleness in 1 Corinthians 6:12–7:40

Abstract

This thesis seeks to clarify Paul’s reasoning on marriage and singleness in 1 Cor 6:12–7:40 by identifying the conceptual context that best illuminates his rationale. Paul’s logic has previously been examined against the backdrop of Greco-Roman medical theory or the philosophical debate surrounding marriage. By analysing primary sources from these traditions, this study finds that the Greco-Roman philosophical debate resembles Paul’s rationale more than medical theory does. Although there are important lexical and thematic parallels between Paul’s rationale and that found in the philosophical debate, this thesis argues that Paul’s promotion of singleness in 1 Cor 6:12–7:40 is shaped by a different conceptual framework. It explores whether Paul’s reasoning aligns more closely with Jewish texts that share an Urzeit-Endzeit eschatology informed by reference to Genesis 1–3. By a comparative examination of the themes of death, authority, sexuality, and procreation in Isaiah 40–66, the Apocalypse of Moses, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and the Sibylline Oracles 1–2, and in Paul’s eschatology within and beyond 1 Cor 6:12–7:40, this study concludes that this Jewish context more closely resembles and better illuminates Paul’s rationale than the Greco-Roman philosophical debate on marriage. This thesis shows that recognizing the reliance of 1 Cor 6:12–7:40 on Paul’s Urzeit-Endzeit eschatology clarifies the coherence of his logic regarding marriage and singleness. The argument of this thesis is that Paul promotes singleness in 1 Cor 6:12–70 as a fitting anticipation of an Endzeit in which marriage and procreation cease. In addition to offering a novel perspective on Paul’s reasoning on marriage and singleness, the thesis contributes to broader discussions on first-century eschatology, interpretations of Genesis 1–3, and sexual ethics.