Last April 26, 2012,
Ma. Marilou “Malou” Ibita defended her dissertation entitled If Anyone
Hungers, He/She Must Eat in the House” (1 Cor 11:34): A
Narrative-Critical, Socio- Historical
and Grammatical-Philological Analysis of the Story of the Lord’s Supper in
Corinth (1 Cor 11:17-34) under the direction of Prof. Dr. Reimund Bieringer. The event was chaired by the dean of the Faculty,
Prof. Dr. Lieven Boeve and the dissertation was defended in the presence of
three correctors, viz. Prof. Dr.
Ekaterini Tsalampouni from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Prof. Dr.
David Horrell from University of Exeter, and Prof. Dr. Joseph Verheyden from KU
Leuven. Amid the downpour outside
and the friendly jest of one of the jurors of not being able to take his lunch
due to the “unholy” schedule of the defence, (viz. 13:30), Malou presented her
dissertation, answered questions, and parried with the jurors with wit, confidence, and
mastery.
Using
a variety of methods as reflected in the title, Malou defended the hypothesis
that Paul’s command in 1 Cor 11:34 (εἴ τις πεινᾷ, ἐν οἴκῳ ἐσθιέτω, ἵνα μὴ εἰς κρίμα συνέρχησθε. τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ὡς ἂν ἔλθω διατάξομαι) can be interpreted to mean that
Paul advocates a celebration where the hungry members of the Corinthian ἐκκλησία, together with the
rest of the ἀδελφοί (brothers and sisters), eat a satisfying κυριακὸν δεῖπνον (bread – meal – cup) with the same food and drink at the
same time and ἐν οἴκῳ (in the house)
where they gather (possibly in a
rotating manner) in order to uphold, nurture and maintain their symbolic
universe in the making that is encapsulated
in the celebration of the Lord’s
Supper. Whereas common English translations of 1 Cor:11:34 reads “If you are hungry,
eat at home, so that when you come
together, it will not be for your condemnation” (NRSV, cf. NAB, RSV), Malou’s study has shown that a
more contextually appropriate translation of 1 Cor 11:34 is
“If anyone hungers, he/she must eat in the house (i.e. in the place where
the ἐκκλησία gathers as κατ᾽ οἶκον ἐκκλησίᾳ) so that when you come together [to eat the Lord’s Supper], it
will not be for your condemnation.” The
number of methods that have been used to study the pericope and the total
number of pages of the dissertation (around 500) reflect the thoroughness with
which research on the topic has been done.
Fittingly, the defence
was followed by a reception with an Eucharistic celebration and a Filipino
snack afterwards.
