Abstract
In this Ph.D. thesis, Mikael Sundkvist elicits the help of Greek Church Fathers to determine the meaning of four elusive passages in Paul—Gal. 6:2, 1 Cor. 9:21, and Rom. 3:27 and 8:2—which he groups together as the ‘Christian laws’. Though not every section ultimately proves valuable in advancing beyond contemporary exegetical impasses, Sundkvist’s overview does produce compelling readings for each of these difficult texts, providing validation for his methodology as potentially constructive for modern exegesis. In Part I, Sundkvist introduces the problem of contemporary division on the meaning of Paul’s ‘Christian laws’, and offers an apology for reading the apostle alongside his early Greek interpreters: as Paul himself was a Hellenistic Jew, his subsequent readers often shared similar cultural and conceptual worlds, and faced similar challenges from Jews regarding non-observance of the Law. Turning to methodology, Sundkvist makes a case for examining early exegesis as a heuristic tool, as interests like historical background are shared by early readers—particularly Antiochenes—and moderns alike.
Published Version
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