Paul's Ambivalent Parrēsia

Abstract

The Pauline texts are often associated with frankness of expression and boldness in argument. However, scrutiny of the letters suggests some caution in ascribing to Pauline rhetoric or expression the audaciousness that has come to characterise descriptions of Pauline rhetoric in modern scholarship. While a somewhat reluctant boldness emerges from a broader survey of the parrēs-lemma and related notions in the NT generally, a gender-attuned appraisal of Paul's self-presentation in his letters brings to light the fluid environment in which he attempted to establish himself and exercise his authority. The portrait of a triumphant Paul of the interpretive tradition invokes a discursive boldness that both hides instances of rhetorical hesitancy and obscures the careful, guarded, and even timid moments in his letters. Pauline parrēsia is best described as ambivalent.