Andrey Romanov, «Through One Lord Only: Theological Interpretation of the Meaning of 'dia', in 1 Cor 8,6», Vol. 96 (2015) 391-415
The present study attempts to clarify the theological meaning of dia, in 1 Cor 8,6. Traditionally the preposition is understood as an indication of a contrast between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus' role is described as either instrumental or analogous to the role of Jewish Wisdom. The present study questions these interpretations on the basis of the analysis of the structure of the verse. In this author's opinion, dia, here indicates the unique functions of Jesus Christ which make him the co-worker of God the Father in both creation and salvation.
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in the philosophical writings of antiquity. Also Paul seems to have felt
no need to follow philosophical formulas. Paul uses the prepositions
in 1 Cor 8,6 in order to demonstrate that the universal functions of
creation and salvation make God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ unique (ei-j) in comparison with other “gods” and “lords”;
this idea is rooted in the Jewish idea of the unique God.
4. But even in prepositional metaphysics the meaning of dia,
should not be understood simplistically. In fact the instrumental
cause turns out to be the form of the activity of the first cause. Gen-
erally speaking, God’s instrument is God’s own phantasia, nou/j,
Sophia, Logos, etc. and existed only as a specific form of God’s
self-manifestation. This use of dia, in the metaphysical writings of
Paul’s time points to the same reality as u`po, or evk.
5. This explains also why Philo’s formula in Cher. 125 cannot
clarify the meaning of dia, in 1 Cor 8,6. Philo’s Logos here in fact
means the way of God’s acting; the “instrumentality” is used as the
device to explain how God creates the world; it is not an indication
of a specific reality distinct from God. Philo does not hesitate to
use dia, with God himself in his other writings (like Leg. 1.41). Also
Jewish “Wisdom” seems to be an inappropriate source for 1 Cor 8,6b;
the Jewish Wisdom literature does not indicate Wisdom’s specific
functions; moreover, Wisdom is apparently not an independent phe-
nomenon but rather, like Philo’s Logos, the way of God’s commu-
nication with the world. In contrast, Paul ascribes dia, in 1 Cor 8,6
to a concrete person, Jesus Christ, who has his own functions and
who is designated as ku,rioj, that is, through the term which was
preserved in Philo and Wisdom literature for God alone.
6. The distinctiveness of the person of the Lord in 1 Cor 8,6
should not overshadow the unity of the acting of God the Father
and of the Lord Jesus Christ as co-workers. Taking into account
Paul’s use of the same prepositions with a single referent in Rom
11,36, one can conclude that the functions depicted in both passages
belong to the single Godhead within which God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ exercise their particular functions. Paul’s implicit
inclusion of Jesus Christ in the Shema in 1 Cor 8,4.6 simply points
to his understanding of the uniqueness (oneness) of both God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
7. Thus, dia, in 1 Cor 8,6 designates both the difference and the
unity between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The first
dia, indicates the Lord’s co-working in creation and the second dia,