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The Multicultural Situation of the Greco-Roman World Reflected on Paul's Theological Languages Sung-Woo Chung (Yonsei University) The purpose of this paper is to explore the multicultural characteristics of the Greco-Roman world reflected on Paul's theological language in his authentic letters, especially Romans and 1 Corinthians. According to accounts of Acts, he was not only a Diaspora Jew but also a Roman citizen. He grew up in Tarsus, a Greek-Hellenistic city in the eastern part of Asia Minor. He wrote his letters in koine Greek. It means that Paul was deeply influenced by the Greco-Roman multculturalism. In this regards, it is not strange that he often used the Greco-Roman rhetorical technique to stress his theological argument for his gentile audiences. In the letter to the Romans, Paul employs Diatribe which is a dialogical form of teaching by means of question and answer with students. In Romans 2:1-5, Paul dialogues with an imaginary interlocutor by using diatribal format. Like cynic philosopher, Paul carries on a dialogue with himself, posing rhetorical questions that he then answers in order to get at the issue of God's judgment. Meanwhile, Paul's use of the athlete imagery in his letters echoes the themes and values of his contemporary culture. He employs the language and symbolism of the Panhellenic games, especially Isthmian games which were held near Corinth every two years in honor of Poseidon, god of the sea. In 1 Cor 9:24-27 Paul clearly uses foot-race-in-a-stadium metaphor to describe faithful life as a contest. He says that every athlete must exercise self control in all respects. He also employs boxing metaphor to encourage his audiences. For Paul, the purpose of the metaphor in the multicultural context of the Greco-Roman world is to call the Pauline Christians to exercise of faith in self-control(ἐγκράτεια), an athletic self-denial(αὐτάρχεια) of privilege and rights. During his time, Paul tried to adapt the Greco-Roman culture in order to communicate his theological argument within the Pauline Christians who has a different cultural background. He also makes an effort to break the social barrier between the Jewish and Gentile Christians of Pauline community. Paul emotionally describes this effort as followers: “I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews...To those outside the law I became as one outside law so that I might win those outside the law...I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.”(1 Cor. 9:19-23)