Pauline Letters Research Articles

Uma «nova teologia» para um tempo novo

Luther was, fundamentally, a theologian, but a theologian for a new time.He is, probably, one of the first fruits of the «new theology» heralded by Lorenzo Valla, founded on the Scriptures and the Church Fathers, both anti-scholastic and anti-speculative. Like others in Alcalá, Paris, Salamanca, or Louvain, hedesired a «positive» and pastorally relevant theology. Luther, moreover, championed an existential theology that impacted the believer’s daily life. This perspective was driven by his discovery, during years of teaching the Pauline letters, of the true meaning of justification by faith! He found in this theological theme the core of the Christian proclamation. Subsequently, he engaged in a struggle against the «theology of glory» (scholastic and speculative theology), to emphasize the true theology revealed by God, the «theology of the cross». He was not interested in an abstract God (the God absconditus), but in the God who communicates and relates with man. That is, the pro me of Lutheran soteriology.

Deeds of Will on Papyrus and the Use of the Term διαθήκη in the Letters of Paul

AbstractThe numerous testaments on papyrus provide a valuable basis for an investigation of legal language around διαθήκη in the Pauline letters. Of particular importance is the ancient practice of revoking wills, which I consider to be the legal frame of reference for the recipients of the Pauline letters to grasp expressions like καινὴ/παλαιὰ διαθήκη. In the Corinthian correspondence the conformity to the current legal practice is evident, but in Galatians Paul turns the whole procedure upside down, manipulating in the construction of his argument not only the practice of testamentary cancellation, but also the traditional connection of Abraham with circumcision. We are compelled to a text-internal solution of the problem in Gal 3.15–17 by the fact that the papyrological evidence shows clearly that no other type of document than the ordinary revocable διαθήκαι can be taken into consideration. This approach is not compilatory, as it is often the case when dealing with documentary papyri applied to New Testament texts, but heuristic, with the purpose of elaborating new exegetical insights in old controversies.

Redating Barnabas

Abstract The undisturbed consensus that three verses in Barnabas (Bn) 16 refer to the Temple’s destruction by Titus, and to a rumoured rebuilding sometime in the subsequent 65 years, neglects to ask whether those verses would make good sense to readers in the generation before Titus. They would, and as references to the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, and reconstruction by Zerubbabel, vassal of Cyrus, would cohere much better with the preceding 14 chapters. And since the intertextual ‘echoes’ between Bn and Pauline letters (and 1 Peter and Hebrews) are all more plausible when reversed, and the 11th ‘king’ in Bn 4 may be Agrippa I rather than Vespasian, Nerva, or Hadrian, we can look to a date c.40. Then Bn’s linguistic and thematic links with Acts’ accounts of Stephen’s Speech and of Barnabas in Syrian Antioch are best explained if Bn was written by Barnabas to his Antioch congregation, when fetching Paul to Antioch. The classic but long-doubted objections to Barnaban authorship weigh even less if Bn was thus a generation earlier than they assumed. Finally, the sequence of the earliest witnesses to the Christian Two Ways is clarified.

Creation in Christ in Aquinas’s Creation Theology in the Light of His References to the Pauline Letters

Creation in Christ in Aquinas’s Creation Theology in the Light of His References to the Pauline Letters

What Justification? Pauline Reception and the Interpretation of Phld. 8.2

While studies of how Paul and the Pauline letters were received in early Christianity continue to appear at an ever-quickening rate, there are still corners of early Christian literature that remain underexplored with regard to Pauline reception. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch would not usually be included in the underexplored category, but this article argues that one statement within Ignatius’s letters is deserving of more careful attention vis-à-vis its relationship to Pauline themes and terminology. After showing that interpretations of Ignatius’s Philadelphians (Phld.) 8.2 have typically run along two opposing tracks, the article argues that both ways of interpreting Ignatius’s letter fail to do justice to his rhetoric in the letter. The article proposes an alternative way of reading Ignatius’s justification language in Phld. 8.2. Whereas Paul wrote about justification before God, Ignatius desires to be proven right in the eyes of his Philadelphian readers, with whom he has had a dispute. The article concludes by offering ways to account for the different meanings evidenced in the letters of Ignatius and Paul while also endeavouring to explain the purpose for which Ignatius employs terminology that is similar to that of Paul. In the final clause of Phld. 8.2, Pauline terminology provides Ignatius not with his doctrinal substance but rather with authoritative rhetoric that evokes the Apostle.

Talking about Oneself to Talk about Christ: The Autobiographical Text of Philippians 3:1–4.1 in Light of Ancient Rhetorical Heritage

In this contribution, we will proceed in three steps. First of all, we will investigate the rhetorical approach for studying the Pauline letters, considering different methodological options. In this context, we will propose the approach of the literary rhetoric as the most valid. Secondly, we will analyse the autobiographical text of Philippians 3:1–4:1, starting from its delimitation, textual criticism, and its arrangement, according to oral and discursive models. Then, we will proceed with genre and literary origins; here, we will discover the periautologia as the point of reference of the Pauline autobiography. This eulogy of self is a genre, well known in the rhetorical tradition, to which Plutarch dedicated the treatise On praising oneself. This discovery determines the following exegetical analysis of the text. Thirdly, we will conclude with a reflection about Paul’s way of speaking about himself in this passage. In light of ancient rhetorical heritage, he does not use his autobiography to praise himself but to praise Christ, who completely changed his life. Ultimately, Paul’s talk about himself is a way of talking about Christ for the benefit of the addressees who should creatively imitate the Apostle and his Christian life.

Rhetorical Approach to the Periautology of Philippians 3:2–16

This article examines why Paul uses self-praise, or periautology, in Phil 3:2–14 to respond to Christians who boasted of their Jewish origin. It shows the importance and relevance of this type of rhetoric, clarifies its purpose, and examines the way Paul uses it. Paul does not only use periautology in Phil 3, but it is in this passage that it has the most force and originality. As, until now, very few monographs and articles have shown the existence of periautology in the Pauline letters, this article invites exegetes to be more sensitive to the existence of literary models and their importance for better interpreting the apostle’s thought.

Critical Reflections on the Role of the Canon in New Testament Scholarship

AbstractThe modern discipline of New Testament Studies has subjected the various components of the New Testament to close scrutiny, yet it persistently fails to ask critical questions about the New Testament considered as a whole. In its familiar twenty-seven book form, the New Testament may be seen as a fourth-century anthology of early Christian writings based on earlier collections or sub-collections (the fourfold gospel, the Pauline letter collection), yet innovative in establishing a sharply defined boundary between included and excluded texts. An analysis of contributions to this journal over a recent five-year period demonstrates the pervasive influence of this fourth-century construct in determining the scope and priorities of (so-called) ‘mainstream’ scholarship. Greater attention to the contingencies of canon-formation will enable us to locate the texts that came to form the New Testament within a wider early Christian literary landscape.

A felszabadulás ígérete. A szubjektivitás problémája Agamben és Badiou Szent Pál-értelmezésében

In this paper, I will explore the problem of subjectivity in the philosophy of Giorgio Agamben and Alain Badiou, based on their interpretations of Saint Paul. In Agamben’s reading, St. Paul’s letters have a messianic structure that can be linked to a specific form of subjectivation, closely related to the concept of “vocation” or “calling” (klētós). In Badiou’s case, the political universality introduced in the Pauline letters is explained through the ontological relation between the concepts of event and truth. In Agamben’s and Badiou’s thought, the concepts of subject and subjectivity appear in a different conceptual framework, despite sharing the same starting point. The Badiouian approach aims to present the messianic motivation found in the writings of St. Paul from an ontological and political perspective through which the concepts of event and subject are related. Agamben situates the messianic klētós on a political basis from which he connects the linguistic expressions of the Pauline letters to the problem of subjectivization. Despite their different ontological framework, Agamben and Badiou offer an emancipatory political-philosophical perspective whose conceptual constitution is both the universality of the event and the ‘remainder’ (resto) of subjectivity based on difference through a specific linguistic expression, the hōs mē.

Disciplinary Procedures in the Early Church

The paper refers to numerous documents from the period of the early Church which give testimony to the fact that the Church was never ruled by a charismatic anarchy or boundless democracy. Nevertheless, the data concerning the arrangement of the Church, which is passed on to us through the Scriptures, specifically the New Testament, and the writings of Apostolic Fathers, is not found in the form of a systematic treatise. Rather, it is found occasionally, mostly in connection with resolving some concrete issue. It is therefore necessary to arrange these various mentions in logical accordance with one another. The text of the paper firstly analyzes the issue of charismatic authority which is, above all, described in the Acts of the Apostles, Pauline letters, and especially in the early Christian treatise, the Didache. This treatise also mentions the hierarchical duties of the bishops and deacons, which can also already be seen in the New Testament alongside the duties of apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists and presbyters. Some of the Church offices mentioned have primarily a missionary role, others are established for the pastoral care of existing and stable Christian communities. The Church order described in the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew is chiefly addressed to these stable communities. The First Epistle of Clement, written still in the first Christian century, gives testimony to the deposing of presbyters in the Church of Corinth and the intervention of the Roman authority in this dispute. Canon Law, which gradually begun to develop in the Church, followed directly in the footsteps of these disciplinary customs, which we know from early Christian literature.

Τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τὸ εὐαγγελισθὲν ὑπ’ ἐμοῦ (Gal 1:11)

Abstract In this contribution the author will proceed in three steps. First, he will raise questions about the various rhetorical approaches one might follow in order to study the argumentative development of Galatians, considering the different methodological options. Second, he will offer a survey of existing rhetorical research on Galatians. Then he will seek to outline the argumentative structure and development of Galatians, in order to understand what is really at stake in this Pauline letter. At the end it will be proven that the literary rhetorical approach in studying Galatians is highly useful for a deep understanding of the text of the letter and its aim: Paul wants to re-evangelise the addressees.

Who is My Neighbour: Interfaith Dialogue and Theological Formation (Keynote Address)

“Who is my neighbour?” is a good question for both the Bible and today, but it is a complicated one. In this paper, I will focus on unpacking the idea of “love of neighbour,” first in its Levitical context, then in certain New Testament passages, and finally in contrast to its relationship with the concept of “stranger.” The term “neighbour” (רֵעַ) has multiple meanings in a Hebrew Bible context, and similarly, there are distinct meanings of “neighbour” within the New Testament – specifically between the gospels and the Pauline letters. I argue that the common understanding of the “Good Samaritan” passage, that Jesus promotes accepting everyone as neighbour, is incorrect; instead, I suggest that the literature demonstrates how a non-neighbour reveals how real neighbours should behave. The scope of the article is to demonstrate how discussions about “neighbour” and “stranger” can be used to segue into questions to dialogue between Christians and Jews.

Pointing out persuasion in Philemon

This informative and insightful work reveals the vast field of the history and life of the Letter to Philemon after it was written. This approach to biblical texts has received greater attention in recent years when the reader’s contribution to the meaning of textswas first recognised. This attention to the reception of biblical texts is the special subject of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR), which started in 2009 and of which 20 volumes have already been published. This encyclopedia surveys not only sermons and commentaries, but also the various ways in which biblical texts have been received, such as in the creative arts, including paintings, sculptures, novels, films and music. Professor Tolmie’s study, however, focuses on how commentators and preachers have “pointed out persuasion” in this Pauline letter. He has selected, as the subtitle indicates, 50 readings of Philemon from three periods, the early church (starting with Ambrosiaster in chapter 1), the Middle Ages (chapter 2), and the period from the 16th to the 18th century (Chapter 3). For each of these interpreters, Tolmie offers a brief introduction and then focuses on the way they explain the rhetorical situation. He then focuses on the way each author explains the rhetorical strategy by moving through the letter, section by section. Chapter 4, the conclusion, is actually a synthesis, in which Tolmie looks for tendencies in the interpretation of Paul’s letter by focusing first on the way the rhetorical situation is imagined and then on Paul rhetorical strategies in the different literary units of Philemon.

Das Amt und die Ämter

In the Pauline letters, the institutionalization of the ministries progresses step by step from 1 Cor 12:28 through Eph 4:11 to the pastoral letters. In view of today’s exegesis, it is striking that Luther was able to implement the proclamation of the gospel (CA V) with careful and adequate reference to the divine institution of the gospel in 1 Cor 12:28, Eph 4:11, and Acts 20:28. By the same token, Luther manages to align the appointment to the pastorate in his time (CA XIV) with the understanding of ordination and ministry in the pastoral epistles.

The Lion Against the Eagle: A Critical Appraisal of the Anti-Imperial Reading of Paul

The article presents a synthetic analysis of empire criticism in Pauline letters, beginning with the omnipresence and character of imperial cult in Paul’s time. Subsequently, the author highlights the places in Pauline letters that are usually associated with anti-imperial rhetoric. The following part of the article critically appraises the arguments for the presence of an anti-imperial script in Paul’s letters. The conclusions critically assess the methodology and premises of empire criticism, which essentially ignores Paul’s argumentative context, refers to the problematic “hidden transcript,” and can be strongly informed by contemporary ideologies. According to the author, Paul does not fight with the Empire, accepting its institutions and social order and trying to change them from within. Although the apostle does not consciously use the anti-imperial script, the Good News he preached and the communities he founded possess an anti-imperial potential. In light of this, the article ultimately advocates a careful application of empire criticism to Paul, which can serve a better understanding of the New Testament background and the message of Paul.

Would Paul Have Written Something Like This? The Justification Clause of Philippians 3:12 and the Last Judgment

Abstract A reading that has Paul claiming he has not already been justified (οὐχ … ἢ ἤδη δεδικαίωμαι) appears in some important witnesses to the text of Phil 3:12 (e.g., P46, 06, Irenaeus [Latin translation], Ambrosiaster). Known as “the justification clause,” this variant reading is often dismissed as spurious based (in part) on the assumption that Paul would not have written any such thing. In this article the author challenges this assumption. Included is an overview of Paul’s wider theology of justification, an examination of the four texts in the Pauline Letters in which verbal forms of justification terminology appear in the future tense, and a discussion of three additional Pauline texts in which future justification is implied. These analyses clarify that the reading is compatible with Paul’s use of justification language elsewhere and is coherent as a reference to final justification at the last judgment.

The Silenced Women in Pauline Letters with Possible Interpolation

Women silenced in the Assembly, prevented from asking their husbands in public, and having to bring their heads covered. All this points to a situation of subjugation of the woman/wife in relation to the man/husband. This textual situation, present in Paul’s letters which are considered authentic, generally advocates a situation of gender equality, and raises questions about the figure of the Apostle and about the possibility of late textual interpolation in the Pauline letters. In this paper, we seek to analyze Paul’s personality within his cultural and religious background. We also seek to identify who are the women with whom he worked in terms of apostolic and ministerial parity in order to understand the possible reasons for late textual interpolation in his written liberating message. The investigative procedure employed in this research is, mainly, the interpretative and analytic critique of the textual analysis. The main conclusions are that the Word of God is always a force of renewal capable of transforming the structures of a society. Wherever Paul went, this transformation took place in a germ. However, because of the incarnation process, the Word of God can suffer adverse forces, especially in the context of a sexist and misogynist society, making it possible, therefore, to think of textual extracts interpolated within the authentic Paulinum corpus.

Pauline Pseudepigrapha and Early Christian Literacy: Are the Clues Hidden Right in Front of US?

Within Biblical scholarship, there have been a limited number of studies which examine ancient literacy and education in relation to the production of the Deutero-Pauline letters. When such topics are addressed together, the discussions rarely go beyond some generalities, and this article seeks to partly address that gap. Literacy rates in the Greco-Roman world, of which the earliest Christians were a part, are universally agreed to be significantly lower than modern literacy rates, with most estimates being between 5 and 15%. This fact, coupled with the limited number of Christians by the end of the first and the beginning of the second century CE, should be taken more seriously when considering how the Deutero-Pauline literature came to be produced and, eventually, circulate with other authentic Pauline letters. In short, this article will argue that when the realities of the educational landscape of the New Testament world are taken in conjunction with what we know about textual production, early Christian communities and leadership structures, there is a plausible argument to be made that those who were responsible for at least some of the Deutero-Pauline letters may be hiding in plain sight.

Paul, a stranger in Africa?

Scholars in the past have signalled the almost complete absence of Paul – as a cypher for the Pauline letters and tradition(s) – in Africa. The apparent lack of use or deliberate ignoring of Paul in Black, African and Liberation Theologies on the continent in all its pluralist variety and richness is generally taken as testimony to the perceived strangeness of the apostle in Africa. However, even if Paul’s strangeness does not equate with his absence, at least not altogether, Paul’s profiles in Africa include dimensions such as Paul as a stranger, as an unwelcome guest, as a conquering traveller and as a victim of tradition. I argue that Paul’s absence from as well as strangeness in Africa may be more apparent than real, and that hermeneutical patterns and practices more than epistolary content may have played a stronger role in the construal of Paul in Africa.Contribution: Evaluating a range of entrenched interpretive profiles of Paul in Africa exposed certain hermeneutical tendencies that offer the potential for reinterpretation and reassessment of the use of Pauline materials on the continent and elsewhere.

Neither Jew nor Greek

Abstract Ignatius of Antioch makes very little reference to specific texts from the Scriptures of Israel. This has been interpreted as evidence of little interest in Scripture, which, in turn has been used to plot Ignatius on a parting of the ways trajectory. The evidence for this interpretation is weak. Ignatius refers to Scripture in a way that is comparable to some Pauline letters. Furthermore, his statements about Scripture and his use of texts suggest that he differs little from the hermeneutical assumptions of apostolic Christianity.