The Blinding of Paul and the Power of God: Masculinity, Sight, and Self-Control in Acts 9

Abstract

Treatments on Lukan Paul have traditionally taken his status as a for granted, rarely assessing central character of Luke's second volume in relation to ancient constructions of masculinity. Yet while Paul evinces some characteristically masculine traits, he is by no means paragon of a man. This point is particularly evident in Acts 9 with Paul's conversion, or call to follow Jesus. Here Paul, while en route to Damascus, loses control of his bodily faculties as a result of his encounter with the Lord, culminating in his loss of sight. For at least a number of Luke's hearers, Paul's divinely inflicted blindness would have arguably undermined his standing as a man, since blindness in ancient world was viewed as particularly debilitating and, for a who has that disability foisted upon him, emasculating. This article traces story of Paul's encounter with the Jesus and his resulting blindness in Acts 9, examining (1) Paul's loss of self-control, (2) unmanly nature of blindness in ancient world, and finally (3) Paul's restoration of sight and subsequent characterization. After journeying with Paul on his way to Damascus, I will maintain that Luke's first snapshot of his so-called Paul is anything but heroic and is, in fact, manifestly unmanly. When Paul loses his sight and self-control in Acts 9, he becomes subject to a God whose power is made complete in persecuted person of Jesus, crucified Lord.(ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)Despite Paul's status as one of central male characters in Acts of Apostles, his status as a often goes unmarked. Scholarship rarely situates Lukan Paul in relation to constructions of masculinity in Greco-Roman world, even though such constructions are increasingly becoming a topic of inquiry in field of NT studies.1 The few works that do look at Lukan Paul through a gendercritical lens, however, tend to dovetail with a popular trend in Acts scholarship that underlines Paul's apologetic role in narrative as a whole.2 According to this typical interpretative bent, Luke parades Paul as a hero of faith in an effort to legitimate Paul in eyes of his elite audience. Paul, so argument often goes, navigates landscape of Acts in guise of an able philosopher and rhetorician, displaying cardinal virtues of Hellenistic world, especially virtue of selfcontrol. Before his conversion, or call on road to Damascus, Paul was out of control, but after his conversion, he in fact epitomizes self-control.3Works on Lukan Paul and gender, few though they may be, take up this emphasis on Paul as a powerful speaker and a of self-mastery.4 Such works highlight that public speaking and control of one's body were important masculine traits in ancient world, and they portray Paul as an especially potent manly man who perpetuates imperial virtues of masculinity and reinscribes male control among followers of the Way.5 Paul, so some claim, functions as a powerful apologetic in Luke-Acts, for he persuades men of high standing like himself that following a crucified Lord ??? is actually manly.To be sure, such arguments have validity on several fronts. In ancient world, public speaking and self-control were important markers of masculinity, and Paul exhibits both of these qualities after his encounter with Jesus on Damascus road.6 Paul speaks quite frequently in a variety of public forums ranging from Areopagus in Athens (17:22) to audience hall in Caesarea (25:23). He also addresses his speeches to other men (13:16; 14:15; 17:22; 22:1; 23:1, 6; 27:21, 25; 28:17) in vein of his predecessors Peter and Stephen (2:14,22; 3:12; 7:2) and frequently follows rhetorical practices that were popular among elite males.7 Paul also conveys more self-control after his Damascus road encounter in sense that he no longer performs excessive acts of violence against followers of Jesus (8:3; 9:1-2, 13-14; 22:4-5; 26:9-11) and often remains calm in crisis situations in contrast to those around him (e. …