04_Romanov_391_co_415 30/10/15 13:10 Pagina 396 396 ANDREY ROMANOV 396 This description of the universal course of history from origin to goal, however, does not seem to be sufficient for Paul. In 8,6b he adds the figure of Jesus Christ who is described as “one Lord”. It is worth noting that Paul does not merely add Jesus Christ as a complement within the statement about God; Paul forms a new statement. The content of v. 6b is parallel to the content of v. 6a, for Paul describes the relations between Jesus Christ and “all things”/“we” in a manner similar to what he says about God. Also grammatically, v. 6b has the same structure as v. 6a; the only dis- tinction is the use of the different preposition, namely dia,. In other words, v. 6b is an independent unit of the verse, and this makes it an equal part of the phrase as a whole. It seems that Paul’s concern is to stress the significance of the actions of both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; what is said about them has equal importance. This impression is strengthened when one notes that the two units (v. 6a and v. 6b) are connected with kai,. The meaning of this conjunction can be illuminated if one takes a look at v. 6 in its context. In v. 5 Paul writes about “many gods and many lords” in opposition to “one God… and one Lord” in v. 6. This, on the one hand, places God and Jesus Christ on the same side against other “gods and lords”, but on the other hand, it implies the independent significance of one Lord along with one God. However one understands the correlation between “gods” and “lords” in the Hellenistic beliefs in Paul’s time, one can- not deny that these “lords” were understood as independent entities distinct from “gods” 23. Thus, by placing kai, between God the Fa- ther and the Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Cor 8,6 Paul explicitly under- lines the distinctiveness of both. The content of the verse is about God the Father and Jesus Christ, not about God the Father only. Since the two statements of the verse have an equal importance, they also indicate equally important but still different actions. Using one statement for God the Father and the other for Jesus Christ, Paul underlines the difference in their interactions with “all things”/”we”. The functions of Jesus Christ described in v. 6b can- 23 The religious significance of the Hellenistic “lords” in comparison with “gods” is discussed, for instance, in B.W. WINTER, “Theological and Ethical Responses to Religious Pluralism ‒ 1 Corinthians 8–10”, TynBull 41.2 (1990) 209-226. According to Winter, “The two terms here [1 Cor 8,5] are synony- mous”, 214.