{"title":"C Andrew Ballard","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"to-know-all-mysteries-book-c-andrew-ballard-9781978711105","title":"To Know All Mysteries","description":"This book examines the way that Paul presents himself as a guide into mysteries, a mystagogue, in 1-2 Corinthians. By describing himself as a type of mystagogue for the community, Paul was following a precedent in both Jewish and non-Jewish sources for invoking mystagogic language to engage in polemics with a rival. In opposition to the precedent, however, Paul understands the mystagogue to be a bi-partite figure--comprised of both foolishness and wisdom simultaneously. C. Andrew Ballard argues that ancient mystagogues were often described in two disparate ways: figures of power, and figures of weakness and foolishness. Paul synthesizes both aspects of the mystagogue in his self-presentation to the Corinthians. The figure of the mystagogue, as a wise-fool, was useful to Paul because it was descriptive not only of his own experience as a suffering yet authoritative apostle, but also of the experience of his deity, the suffering and glorified Christ. By presenting himself as both a powerful and foolish mystagogue, Paul could argue that he was a more authentic imitator of Christ than his opponents in Corinth, who boasted in self-exaltation instead of self-humility. In this way, Paul used the character of the mystagogue as a strategic rhetorical tool in his communication with the Corinthians.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49747194872081,"sku":"NGR9781978711105","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52407902044433,"sku":"NLS9781978711105","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52758740369681,"sku":"NIN9781978711105","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1978711107.jpg?v=1759400439"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-c-andrew-ballard.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}