Paul's Strategy Research Articles

Connecting Research to Teaching: Comparing Pays Off

Consider the following, perhaps familiar, scenario. A mathematics teacher is circulating around the classroom, looking over the shoulders of students who are busy solving linear equations such as 3x + 2 = 5x + 8. The teacher notices that one student, Paul, persists in using his own somewhat idiosyncratic and quite inefficient strategy (see fig. 1). Although Paul's strategy is not fundamentally incorrect, the extra steps required can lead to more calculation errors and wasted time.

Two-batch liar games on a general bounded channel

We consider an extension of the 2-person Rényi–Ulam liar game in which lies are governed by a channel C, a set of allowable lie strings of maximum length k. Carole selects x ∈ [ n ] , and Paul makes t-ary queries to uniquely determine x. In each of q rounds, Paul weakly partitions [ n ] = A 0 ∪ ⋯ ∪ A t − 1 and asks for a such that x ∈ A a . Carole responds with some b, and if a ≠ b , then x accumulates a lie ( a , b ) . Carole's string of lies for x must be in the channel C. Paul wins if he determines x within q rounds. We further restrict Paul to ask his questions in two off-line batches. We show that for a range of sizes of the second batch, the maximum size of the search space [ n ] for which Paul can guarantee finding the distinguished element is ∼ t q + k / ( E k ( C ) ( q k ) ) as q → ∞ , where E k ( C ) is the number of lie strings in C of maximum length k. This generalizes previous work of Dumitriu and Spencer, and of Ahlswede, Cicalese, and Deppe. We extend Paul's strategy to solve also the pathological liar variant, in a unified manner which gives the existence of asymptotically perfect two-batch adaptive codes for the channel C.

Philipper 4.4–7: Aussage und situativer Hintergrund

Phil 4.4–7 is best understood against the background of a society with an imperial ideology, mirrored in the epistle's terminology. The church is under pressure from its social environment and opposes the claims of the state's officials. The various parts of the passage are united by this context. Christian emotions should be shaped by the relation to Christ who is ‘near’, said in contrast to Caesar's proclaimed omnipresence. Christians are called to behave nobly towards their fellow citizens. The terminology of prayer reflects imperial customs. The peace of God surpasses the pax Romana. Paul's strategy is to strengthen the unity of the church and to enhance a convincing social behaviour.

"Let the One Who Claims Honor Establish That Claim in the Lord": Honor Discourse in the Corinthian Correspondence

Attention to honor discourse leads the reader to particularly salient features of Paul's strategy for advancing the Corinthian believers' socialization into the norms and values of the Christian culture. Many of the individual problems which Paul addresses stem from the more basic issue of the believers' continued allegiance to their primary socialization. The believers still seek to establish their honor, and to evaluate the honor of others, in terms of external appearance, social and spiritual precedence, and successful competition. Paul motivates them to distance themselves from their former values, establishes new criteria for claiming honor in terms of the world-construction of the group, and replaces competition within the group with cooperation and mutuality. He posits the true "court of reputation" to consist of God, Christ, Paul's apostolic team, the supra-local church, and the local Christian community. Ascriptions of honor and dishonor before this court should alone guide the believers in their desire for honor and in their estimation of the value of each individual Christian. Perhaps more than any other Pauline epistle, the Corinthian letters address the basic issue of what constitutes honor for the Christian and within the Christian community.

Who Can Read Abraham's Story? Allegory and Interpretive Power in Galatians

This article develops some arguments found in Richard Hays's Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul in regard to Galatians 3-4. First, it argues that Paul's strategy in interpreting the Abraham story for the Galatians is allegorical throughout and not simply in 4.21-31. Further, this allegorical reading is based on and judged by Paul's account of the Galatians' experience of the Spirit. Secondly, Paul's allegorical reading is an exercise of interpretive power. This exercise of power is in large measure underwritten by the account of his character which Paul gives in the first two chapters of Galatians.

The Collection: A Study in Paul's Strategy

The Collection: A Study in Paul's Strategy

Jesus and the Kingdom: The Eschatology of Biblical Realism by George Eldon Ladd. S.P.C.K., 32s. 6d. - Parables of Jesus: Introduction and Exposition by Eta Linnemann, translated by John Sturdy. S.P.C.K., 35s. - The Collection: A Study in Paul's Strategy by Keith F. Nickle. Studies in Biblical Theology 48. SCM Press, 16s. - Christianity According to Paul by Michel Bouttier,

JESUS AND THE KINGDOM; THE ESCHATOLOGY OF BIBLICAL REALISMPARABLES OF JESUS; INTRODUCTION AND EXPOSITIONTHE COLLECTION: A STUDY IN PAUL'S STRATEGYCHRISTIANITY ACCORDING TO PAULINTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENTTHE RULE OF QUMRAN AND ITS MEANINGMAN'S PLACE IN NATUREHOMINISATION: THE EVOLUTIONARY ORIGIN OF MAN AS A THEOLOGICAL PROBLEMCREATIVE PERSONALITY IN RELIGIOUS LIFE.A HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM.THE SPIRIT OF PROTESTANTISM