Paul, empire and eschatology

Philip La.G Du Toit

doi:10.4102/hts.v77i4.6904

Abstract

Various approaches to Paul’s relationship with the Roman Empire have come to the fore, including those who see Paul’s discourse as anti-imperial, pro-imperial, ambiguous towards empire and those who argue that Paul’s discourse transcends that of empire. The nature and influence of the Roman Empire are examined, and the various scholarly approaches to Paul’s relationship to empire are considered. Romans 13:1–7 is used as a test case to better understand Paul’s stance towards the Roman Empire or government authorities in general. Although it has been argued that Paul’s stance towards empire was influenced by ‘Jewish apocalyptic’, in this contribution, it is argued that Paul’s eschatology as laid out in his letters rather than ‘Jewish apocalyptic’ as such is key to understanding the seemingly ambiguous statements about the Roman Empire in his letters.Contribution: This article’s contribution mainly lies in its approach to understand Paul’s relationship to the Roman Empire from the perspective of his own eschatology. Here, traditional understandings of Paul’s relationship to empire is put in a larger perspective, which contributes in solving Paul’s seemingly ambiguous stance towards Roman authority.

Highlights

The hermeneutical approach to read Paul through the lens of his relationship to the Roman Empire has gained momentum in the past few decades
I have argued that the understanding of Paul’s own eschatology is the key to understanding the seemingly ambivalent way in which he positions himself towards the government authorities
I have critiqued the tendency amongst scholars to model much of Paul’s eschatology on ‘Jewish apocalyptic’, which is largely a later development

Summary

Introduction

The hermeneutical approach to read Paul through the lens of his relationship to the Roman Empire has gained momentum in the past few decades. As Horsley (2004:1–3) explains, reading Paul through the lens of empire can be understood as a reaction on reading Paul from the lens of his relationship to his Judaean heritage.. By reading Paul through the lens of his relationship to the Roman Empire, the assumption of the separation between religion and politics is questioned. In this approach, the Roman Empire is understood in terms of the interwovenness of religious and political elements, which was especially evident in the cultic divinisation and veneration of emperors. Because the gentiles were subjects of the Roman Empire and comprised the bulk of Paul’s audiences, his letters are read through the lens of his relationship to empire rather than through his relationship to his Judaean heritage

Objectives

Conclusion