This paper proposes to examine a passage from the Pauline epistles that occurs with great frequency in early Christian writings up to the middle of the fourth century: 1 Corinthians 2.6-9. The basis of this focus is a methodological tool employed by the classical study of literate education – a comprehensive survey of all extant texts from a specific time period. For our purposes, this methodology is applied to all explicit quotations of Pauline writings within a wide variety of genres of extant Christian texts (school exercises, apologies, homilies, to name a few) that are dated within our time period. The results of this comprehensive survey have led to and provide support for our study of 1 Corinthians 2.6-9. From this foundation, this paper will seek to answer the questions: for what purpose is 1 Corinthians 2.6-9 referenced over 350 times by more than 35 patristic authors? Is it being used to make the same argument across a wide range of texts—is there a community of interpretation among patristic authors who rely upon 1 Corinthians 2.6-9—or is there great diversity in its use?
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