Even when he was a prototype of European identity, Paul transgressed the limits of Europe. It is not clear whether he was conformist or rebellious, orthodox or liberal, sexist, or egalitarian. Instead of pushing the Apostle into the arbitrary categories of modern European identity, Fatima Tofighi takes into account the challenge that Paul brings to normative conceptions of political theology (Rom 13), 'religion' (Gal 2.12-14), and women's veiling (1 Cor 11. 5-16). Alternative interpretations of these passages, with the help of postmodern theory, both solve the major problems of biblical exegesis and offer a critique of the allegedly well-defined European categories.
Scott S. Elliott reconsiders the autobiographical statements Paul makes throughout his letters (particularly Philippians 3:4b-6; Romans 7:14-25; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 and 2 Corinthians 12:1-10) in light of the theoretical work of Roland Barthes. Elliott draws particularly on Barthes' later poststructuralist writings, many of which touch either directly or indirectly on self-narration (e.g., Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes, Mourning Diary, Camera Lucida, and A Lover's Discourse: Fragments). These provide fruitful dialogue partners with which Elliott can interrogate and examine Paul's own writings and consider the ways in which Paul saw himself and how the application of this theory can yield a greater understanding of Paul's letters.
In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of a classic reference work, topics like Christology, justification, and hermeneutics receive careful treatment by trusted specialists. New topics like politics, patronage, and different cultural perspectives expand the volume's breadth and usefulness for scholars, pastors, and students today.
No extant text gives so vivid a glimpse into the experience of an ancient prisoner as Paul's letter to the Philippians. As a letter from prison, however, it is not what one would expect. For although it is true that Paul, like some other ancient prisoners, speaks in Philippians of his yearning for death, what he expresses most conspicuously is contentment and even joy. Setting aside pious banalities that contrast true joy with happiness, and leaving behind too heroic depictions that take their cue from Acts, Abject Joy offers a reading of Paul's letter as both a means and an artifact of his provisional attempt to make do. By outlining the uses of punitive custody in the administration of Rome's eastern provinces and describing the prison's complex place in the social and moral imagination of the Greek and Roman world, Ryan Schellenberg provides a richly drawn account of Paul's nonelite social context, where bodies and their affects were shaped by acute contingency and habitual susceptibility to violent subjugation. Informed by recent work in the history of emotions, and with comparison to modern prison writing and ethnography provoking new questions and insights, Schellenberg describes Paul's letter as an affective technology, wielded at once on Paul himself and on his addressees, that works to strengthen his grasp on the very joy he names. Abject Joy: Paul, Prison, and the Art of Making Do by Ryan S. Schellenberg is a social history of prison in the Greek and Roman world that takes Paul's letter to the Philippians as its focal instance--or, to put it the other way around, a study of Paul's letter to the Philippians that takes the reality of prison as its starting point. Examining ancient perceptions of confinement, and placing this ancient evidence in dialogue with modern prison writing and ethnography, it describes Paul's urgent and unexpectedly joyful letter as a witness to the perplexing art of survival under constraint.
The catastrophes of the twentieth century have decisively broken the grip of Aristotle's fixed universe on our minds. "Society" is no longer the logical category of statecraft that is to determine our lives. The glorious horrors of fascism discredited the survival of the fittest, upstaged even by the compulsory class equality of the Soviets. Instead we now appeal to "culture" and mutual "communication" as we hope to grow together in response to each other. The universe itself at last is open-ended. Particle physics and the genetic code ensure diversity for us all. Our individual gifts will reveal our identity and our mission in life. We are indeed personally answerable for the choices we make. The twenty-first century's great leap forward is Jerusalem's long foreshadowed answer to Athens. Not logic but experiment has been the mainspring that has unlocked it. The transformed life of the apostle Paul in Christ first experienced the developmental prospect that has inspired the cultural reformation of our time.
The dominant portrayals of the apostle Paul are of a figure who no longer valued Jewish identity and behavior, opposing them for both Jew and non-Jew in his assemblies. This prevailing version of Paul depends heavily upon certain interpretations of key "flashpoint" passages. In this book and the subsequent volumes in this series, Mark Nanos undertakes to test a "Paul within Judaism" (re)reading of the apostle, especially of these "flashpoint" texts. Nanos demonstrates how traditional conclusions about Paul and the meaning of his letters are dramatically altered by testing the hypothesis that the historical Paul practiced a Jewish, Torah-observant way of life, and that he expected those whom he addressed to know that he did so. Nanos also tests the hypothesis that the non-Jews addressed were expected to know that his guidance was based on promoting a Jewish way of life for themselves, at the same time insisting that they remain non-Jews and thus not technically under Torah on the same terms as himself and the other Jews in this new (Jewish) movement. In conversation with the prevailing views, Nanos argues that the "Paul within Judaism" perspective offers not only more historically probable interpretations of Paul's texts, but also more promise for better relations between Christians and Jews, because these texts have informed Christian concepts of, ways of talking about, and behavior toward Jews based on the premise that Paul considered Jews and Judaism the mirror opposites of what Christians should be and become.
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians deals with key aspects of the formation of the Christian community at Corinth. Paul uses his correspondence with the Corinthians to address issues of morality, of community structure, of ritual and of religious behaviour. The letter is a key document for understanding the development of Christianity and for understanding Christianity in its earliest context. In this Social Identity Commentary, J. Brian Tucker provides a comprehensive coverage of the issues and concerns related to 1 Corinthians from the perspective of social identity. Tucker outlines his interpretation of the theoretical issues concerned, and then applies this to provide a clear overview of historical and critical issues related to the study of 1 Corinthians. This provides a clear engagement with the text that will serve as a useful resource for scholars, students, clergy, and people interested in the formation and purpose of the letter.
In the first of a three-volume work, Daniel Patte presents three very different critical exegeses of Romans 1, arguing that all are equally legitimate and hermeneutically plausible. By expanding upon and respecting the exegeses of many erudite scholars of the last two centuries, Patte concludes that three families of vastly different critical interpretations are fully justified: traditional philological and epistolary studies; rhetorical and sociocultural studies; and figurative studies of the “coherence” of Paul's teaching. Arising from a long-standing interdisciplinary investigation of many receptions of Romans in light of recent diversification of exegetical methodologies, Patte concludes that the interpretation of a scriptural text necessarily involves making a choice among equally legitimate and plausible alternatives; and second, that this choice is always contextual and ethical. When these points are denied (by failing to respect the interpretations of others and absolutizing one's interpretation), instead of being a scriptural blessing, Romans becomes a deadly weapon against others – heretics, Jews (Shoah), and many others. The result is a threefold commentary of Romans 1 that is unique in its scope and thorough-going exegesis.
Richard J. Britton uses the critical theory of Jacques Derrida, Giorgio Agamben, and others to examine the financial, gift, and olive tree metaphors of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Drawing upon papyri about money, gifts, and friendship, Greek and Roman farming handbooks, and later sources, including the Book of Mormon and writings from colonized places, Britton questions the way some people understand faith, grace, and identity in the New Testament and beyond. Britton asserts that the believer is not a passive recipient of God’s grace and righteousness but rather an interpreter, reader, and decision maker actively involved in reciprocal exchange and enhancement of God’s eschatological and soteriological project. Believers, he concludes, negotiate meaning through their own interaction with texts and traditions in combination with their own personal relationship with the divine and the world. Turning to the contemporary world, Britton contends that, if we want to upend the oppression of established religion and ideology, we must first appreciate the believer as a powerful and responsible agent within God’s cosmic project.
The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies brings together a diverse international group of experts on the apostle Paul. It examines the authentic texts from his own hand, other ancient texts falsely attributed to him, the numerous early Christian legends about him, and the many meanings that have been and still are made of these texts to give a twenty-first century snapshot of Pauline Studies. Divided into five key sections, the Handbook begins by examining Paul the person - a largely biographical sketching of the life of Paul himself to the limited extent that it is possible to do so. It moves on to explore Paul in context and Pauline Literature, looking in detail at the letters, manuscripts, and canons that constitute most of our extant evidence for the apostle. Part Four uses a number of classic motifs to describe what modern experts describe as 'Pauline Theology', and Part Five considers the many productive reading strategies with which recent interpreters have made meaning of the letters of Paul. It is demonstrated that 'reading Paul' is not, and never has been, just one thing. It has always been a matter of the particular questions and interests that the reader brings to these very generative texts. The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies thoroughly surveys the state of Pauline studies today, paying particular attention to theory and method in interpretation. It considers traditional approaches alongside recent approaches to Paul, including gender, race and ethnicity, and material culture. Brought together, the chapters are an ideal resource for teachers and students of Paul and his letters.
