Abstract
The article reviews the book by Andrzej M. Gieniusz, CR, “Inesperto nell'arte di parlare”? (2 Cor 11, 6). Retorica al servizio del Vangelo (Percorsi culturali 25; Roma: Urbaniana University Press 2018). The author begins by discussing the publication in detail, and then proceeds to the specific issues related to it. These include Rom 7:1-6 read as transitio, Rom 8:12 as the test case of orality and literacy in Paul, the category of “religious experience” in Paul, the apocalyptic background of Paul’s attitude toward work, and the role of 1 Cor 15:8 in constructing the apostle’s ethos. The main characteristic of the book by Prof. Gieniusz is a creative combination of rhetoric and theology, discussed in the last part of the article. The book shows how to do theology focused on the newness of the Christian life, the primacy of grace and the uniqueness of Christ’s way (solus Christus).
Highlights
Professor Andrzej Gieniusz is a New Testament lecturer at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, where he headed the language department for many years
The author begins by discussing the publication in detail, and proceeds to the specific issues related to it. These include Rom 7:1-6 read as transitio, Rom 8:12 as the test case of orality and literacy in Paul, the category of “religious experience” in Paul, the apocalyptic background of Paul’s attitude toward work, and the role of 1 Cor 15:8 in constructing the apostle’s ethos
We shall close stressing the author’s fundamental contribution to the development of biblical studies, which is the relationship between rhetoric and theology in Pauline letters
Summary
The book in question is composed of a collection of articles previously published by the author in Festschrifts, biblical periodicals and magazines such as New Testament Studies or Biblica. Memory does serve Paul as a discursive strategy involving the listeners and legitimizing his own authority It is an essential element of his preaching and a tool through which he introduces believers to the experience of the Crucified and Resurrected, who changed his life giving him the new vision of God and the new way of understanding the world. The core of the Pauline theology of justification is not so much the Law and how the apostle understands it, but the decisive primacy of Christ as the only way of salvation for mankind (solus Christus) At this point, the New Perspective on Paul shows its fundamental weakness, impoverishing Pauline Christology and replacing it with a discussion on socio-cultural topics
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