“The Presence of His Body Is Weak”: A Materialist Remapping of the Complaint in Corinth

Abstract:In 2 Cor 10:10 Paul cites a criticism in Corinth concerning his “weak” bodily presence. This accusation is generally interpreted non-somatically, as a denigration of Paul’s personality or deportment. In this article, I will situate this criticism against the material and cultural backdrop of agonistic festivals in Roman Achaia, and the Isthmian Games in particular, in order to localize this complaint in its first-century setting. This will result in an interpretation that recognizes the charge as one of somatic, bodily inferiority. After evaluating the non-somatic interpretation, I will focus attention on demonstrating the intersection of material culture and exegesis through a reconstruction of the cityscape of Roman Corinth—its monuments, statuary, and inscriptions. Revisualizing Corinth’s urban landscape will embed the complaint of Paul’s poor physical appearance more tangibly in the agonistic milieu of first-century Corinth, one of the premier venues of athletic competition in the ancient world. This reconstruction will also attempt to capture the agonistic ethos of the city through literary sources that represent firsthand descriptions of vibrant centers of athleticism in antiquity. Finally, I will locate this project within the larger theoretical framework known as “the material turn” in religious studies. This will foreground the importance of materiality and visual culture in shaping beliefs and will help to explain the harsh evaluation of Paul’s physicality by denizens of a world-class athletic center like Corinth.