Belly and Body, pt. 4
We’re looking at the work of Karl Sandnes in Belly and Body in the Pauline Epistles.
6 – 8. After looking at the belly theme in Graeco-Roman conceptual field, Sandnes turns our attention to the analogous material in the OT and other Jewish sources. The linguistic field of the belly and mastery of the passions remains in view as he begins to map the Pauline material.
The OT material generally -
- the ungodly are portrayed with the metaphor of the open mouth ready to devour (Ps. 22:14, Ps. 73:4-6, Prov. 19:28, Job 20:12-15, Micah 3:2-3, Ps. 53:5, Ps. 27:2)
- politically, the enemy is a devouring enemy (Lam. 3:46, Dan. 7:23) and specifically Jer. 51:34: “King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me like a monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies, he has spewed me out.”
- death is also the devouring enemy (Isa. 5:14, Prov. 1:12, Job 24:19; Sir 51:5)
Jewish-Hellenistic Sources and highlights of Sandnes’ summary of the material -
- Sir. 23:6. The prayer of the wise man who “prays not to be overcome by gluttony and lust … the yearning of the belly … the stomach is spoken of as an enemy from which the pious prays to be protected … The righteous consideres himself under threat from two great inner powers, that of the belly (gluttony) and sex.”
- T.Rub. 2:1-3:8. Humans have 7 “spirits”, life itself, breathing, seeing, hearing, speaking, tasting, procreating. The work of the demon is to deceive those spirits. The demon spirit that affects the stomach results in “insatiability”.
- 3Macc. 7:10-11. In these texts, “transgressors of the dietary laws for their belly’s sake were self-pleasing people. The king should therefore not put any trust in them.” Also, “The belly-people, who please themselves, are seeking a life without costs.” And finally, a most significant point in consideration of the Pauline material is worth quoting in full.
Since New Testament scholars often take Paul’s belly-dicta as referring to observance of food laws, it is relevant to make a brief comment on this here. As we have argued, the relationship between the belly and dietary laws in this text by no means favors an identity between the two. On the contrary, 3 Macc. 7:11 militates against such an identification. The belly here is the power that overturns the divinely given food laws. Since this text refers to transgressing the dietary laws, it is a hardly relevant analogy for Paul, who is supposed to be blaming those who continued to observe the food laws. From the perspective of this text, it is rather Paul who is a candidate for being called a belly-devotee.
- 4 Maccabees. ”Being enslaved by gluttony is thus related to the transgression of the Jewish food laws, and it is presented within the framework of Hellenistic philosophy. To eat unclean food means subjugation of reason to slavery of the desires.” Further, this material presents “reason [as] the absolute master of desires, and the Jewish law is the best ally of reason. Gluttony is therefore fought by means of Jewish dietary laws.” The material also harmonizes with Graeco-Roman material by presenting mastery of the desires, both food and sex, within the political sphere. ”A person who restrains his appetites enables himself to fight suffering and wage war well. … the appetite for food and the endurance of pain are presented as contrasting poles … The struggle is presented in athletic terms … abstinence, training, being goal-oriented, and in the end victory.” The relevance to our understanding of Paul …
If we relate this treatise to Paul’s sayings on the belly, it does not support the view that he is addressing jewish Christians who continue to observe the food laws. If Paul really meant that, he is turning this literature upside down. Paul would hardly consider those who are observing the food laws to be conquered by the stomach. Actually, from the perspective of 3 and 4 Macc. this is inconceivable. From the perspective of these two writings it is more likely that Paul’s Jewish opponents would turn this accusation against Paul for setting the food laws aside. If they did so, they would be in harmony with both these writings on this particular point. They are likely to have claimed that Paul, by abandoning circumcision and dietary laws, was paving the way for the unruly belly.
- Philo. Sandnes gives Philo an entire chapter in order to lay out his anthropology and highlight some of Philo’s interpretations of the stories of the snake in Genesis, Esau and Joseph, as well as Philo’s take on the food laws and Sabbath observance. Some of the most essential points are that Philo interprets the snake in Genesis in terms of it’s belly nature … snakes live on their bellies. Sandnes highlights that according to Philo, “the pleasure lover and the snake are connected by the stomach-nature of the two.” Esau sold his birthright for the sake of his belly. Philo reads the Joseph story as an allegory about desires and their mastery. The King’s servants are “servants of the bodily desires and represent the pleasures of the belly … the focus is on the butler … the butler is said to have the belly as king; he is ruled by the stomach.” Paul and Philo differ in their anthropology but they mutually see “a life governed by the belly as a mark of paganism, and thus for both men, how one rules the stomach is a question of true identity”.
To Philo, every day was a religious festival and Jewish homes seen as temples, since believers had to fight passions on an everyday basis. To Paul, living was an act of bodily sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2), and hence the body was a temple. Both Philo and Paul took this as their point of departure when it came to how to control the belly. In Philo’s view, however, Paul is likely to be seen as paving the way for belly-worship since he has done away with the means of fighting the pleasures deriving from the stomach. Thus the two hold opposite views on how to fight these pleasures. Taken together, there is sufficient evidence to say that the Graeco-Roman topos of the belly was appropriated by Jewish Hellenism, and therefore that Paul’s line is to be seen as a variant of this.
Belly worship and body in Paul, the overview -
- the Law has no power over the passions
- the devouring stomach, mouth or throat become telling metaphors for humanity’s despair (Rom. 3:10-18)
- the passions can be dealt with by being crucified with Christ (Rom. 6)
- conversion and baptism (before vs. now) involve a transition which has implications to how believers should conduct their lives
- self mastery is still a concern for believers (Gal. 5:16-17), Paul is aware that his message about freedom could be taken by some as an opportunity for the sinful flesh to abound
- self control is fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:23)
- formulas for fighting the desires are expressed in the language of athletic competition (1 Cor. 9:24-7)
- bodily desires are related to vices and are idolatry, earthly (Col 3:5)
- Phil 3:19 and Rom 16:18 – “serving the belly” represents a relapse into a lifestyle of the past and is incompatible with being crucified with Christ.
In parts 1-4 we’ve set up the background for looking at the belly-dicta in Paul. Sandnes goes on to devote entire chapters to the analysis of Phil 3.17-21 (the lifestyle of citizens of the heavenly city), Rom 16:17-20 (‘serving the belly’ as kinship with Satan), and the Corinthian belly, respectively. Check it out.
