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Reexamining the ‘Aborted Apostle’: An Exploration of Paul’s Self-Description in 1 Corinthians 15.8

Department of Religion, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122-6090

In Paul’s description of his vision of the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15.8) he refers to himself as ‘one untimely born’. The Greek word underlying this phrase literally means a ‘miscarriage’ or ‘abortion’, and presents a problem for commentators seeking to understand the precise manner in which Paul considers himself to be an abortion or miscarriage, since Paul’s vision of the risen Christ is unusual in its lateness, while an [UNKNOWN]µ arrives before its time. Studies of the word’s extra-biblical use, though extensive, have failed to provide an explanation for Paul’s use, often attributing it to a function of Paul’s humility or his regret over his past persecution of the church, and suggesting its difficulty can be explained away as a ‘unique’ use of the word by Paul. It seems more plausible, however, in light of the well-established semantic range of the word and its context, to understand it as a reference to the rejection of his apostolic authority as equal to that of the other apostles.

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