Paul, Speech Acts, and the stoicheia tou kosmou

Abstract

This article argues that the scholarly gridlock surrounding Paul’s use of the phrase τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσµου can be unlocked if scholars revisit the interpretive question. Rather than asking “to what does τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσµου refer?” given the formal nature of the term, one could simply ask “what is Paul doing with the phrase τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσµου ?” On this question, most scholars tend to agree. Paul is using the phrase to level the playing field between Jew and gentile by stating to the Galatians that their desire to live under the law returns them to the state they lived in in the present evil age before Christ ushered in the new age.