Carol Rifelj Lecture Series, Eunyung Lim

Dear Aborted Apostle (1 Cor 15:8): Reproductive Loss and Women’s Rituals in Ancient Corinth

In 1 Corinthians, Paul uses an unusual metaphor to describe his past, saying that Christ appeared to him “as to one untimely born” (ektroma; ?κτρωμα). Because ektroma can denote “abortion,” “miscarriage,” or “stillbirth,” scholars have long debated Paul’s use of the term, often interpreting it as a form of rhetorical self-defense. Yet little attention has been paid to how this expression might have resonated with women in Corinth, especially those who had experienced ektroma in a newly established Roman colony. Bringing biblical interpretation into conversation with Mediterranean archaeology, this paper foregrounds the emotional and ritual dimensions of reproductive loss. Drawing on uterine amulets, devotional practices surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, and perinatal burials, it considers Corinthian women not merely as recipients of Paul’s rhetoric but as primary bearers of child loss and religious actors whose embodied experiences helped shape ritual practices and theological ideas in the Corinthian church.

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