Matthew’s and Paul’s inclusive tendencies: A comparison

In-Cheol Shin,Andries G Van Aarde

doi:10.4102/hts.v61i4.488

In-Cheol Shin, Andries G Van Aarde

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v61i4.488

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Abstract

This article compares the inclusive tendencies of Matthew and Paul by evaluating the inclusive structure of their respective communities. The article mainly investigates two issues: Matthew’s and Paul’s practice of the Law and their perspectives on the Gentiles. The community that strictly keeps the Law is a more exclusive community. The Law is used to reject unclean and lower class people from the Israelite community. Secondly, Matthew’s perspective on the Gentiles and that of Paul are investigated to determine tendencies of inclusivity in their respective thinking. It is observed that the Law-free Gentile community is more inclusive than the Law-observant Gentile community. The approach adopted by this article is one of cross-cultural interpretation.

Highlights

During the last half of this century, the issues concerning the relationship between Matthew and Paul have never really been dominant in any proper study of Matthew’s Gospel
We have argued that the Matthean community had a close and open relationship with the Gentiles and the world of the Gentiles
We have identified the inclusive tendencies in the writings of Matthew and Paul by focusing on their perspectives on the Law and on Gentiles through cross-cultural interpretation

Summary

INTRODUCTION

During the last half of this century, the issues concerning the relationship between Matthew and Paul have never really been dominant in any proper study of Matthew’s Gospel. In concurrence with this view, the First Evangelist, according to SeGl (1991:9), focused more on ecclesiastical concerns as can be seen in Matthew 13:53-18:35 This passage includes three important episodes regarding Peter: his walking on water (Mt 14:28-31), his confession of Jesus as the Son of the living God and the question about paying the temple tax (Mt 17:24-27). The obverse, cultural relativism, maintains that such beliefs and practices should be evaluated relative to the culture of which they are part (Craffert 1996:449; see Lett 1987:11; Winthrop 1991:235-237) This means that an ethnocentric interpretation judges all people in the whole world in terms of one’s own. We would like to establish the difference between their respective perspectives concerning the Gentiles in terms of a cross-cultural interpretation

CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS OF MATTHEW’S AND PAUL’S COMMUNITIES

MATTHEW’S AND PAUL’S PERSPECTIVES ON GENTILES

CONCLUSION