Apostle of Persuasion

W. Thompson James

Description

This book is the culmination of a career of researching and teaching Paul's letters. Highly respected senior New Testament scholar James Thompson offers a unique approach to Pauline theology, focusing on Paul's attempts to persuade his audience toward moral formation. Thompson recognizes Paul as a pastor who brought together theology and rhetoric to encourage spiritual formation in his communities. Attempts to find total consistency in Paul's writings fail, says Thompson, because Paul's persuasive tactics changed depending on the situation he was addressing.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 19 mai 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493423613
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2020 by James W. Thompson
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-2361-3
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled AT are the author’s own.
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Dedication
For Carolyn
Contents
Cover i
Half Title Page ii
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Dedication v
Abbreviations ix
Introduction: Rhetoric and Theology in Paul 1
1. The Rhetoric of Paul’s Letters 19
2. Paul and the Pharisaic Tradition 37
3. Where Christian Theology Began: Jesus and the Early Church 57
4. Paul’s Ethos and His Theology 71
5. First Thessalonians: A Template for Theological Reflection 101
6. Christology and Persuasion 127
7. Greco-Roman Values and the Theology of the Cross: The Corinthian Correspondence 143
8. The Theology of the Cross and Justification by Faith 169
9. Romans, the Righteousness of God, and the Defense of Paul’s Ministry 185
10. “Seek the Things That Are Above”: Persuasion in Colossians and Ephesians 219
11. Pauline Theology and Rhetoric in the Pastoral Epistles 247
Conclusion: Paul’s Pastoral Theology 267
Bibliography 273
Name Index 290
Scripture and Ancient Sources Index 293
Subject Index 305
Cover Flaps 308
Back Cover 309
Abbreviations General // parallel (to) §(§) section(s) alt. altered AT author’s translation bis twice Eng. English versification/translation KJV King James Version LCL Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann, 1912–. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934–. lit. literally LXX Septuagint NASB New American Standard Bible NIV New International Version NRSV New Revised Standard Version par(r). parallel(s) RSV Revised Standard Version Old Testament Gen. Genesis Exod. Exodus Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers Deut. Deuteronomy Josh. Joshua Judg. Judges Ruth Ruth 1 Sam. 1 Samuel 2 Sam. 2 Samuel 1 Kings 1 Kings 2 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chron. 1 Chronicles 2 Chron. 2 Chronicles Ezra Ezra Neh. Nehemiah Esther Esther Job Job Ps(s). Psalm(s) Prov. Proverbs Eccles. Ecclesiastes Song Song of Songs Isa. Isaiah Jer. Jeremiah Lam. Lamentations Ezek. Ezekiel Dan. Daniel Hosea Hosea Joel Joel Amos Amos Obad. Obadiah Jon. Jonah Mic. Micah Nah. Nahum Hab. Habakkuk Zeph. Zephaniah Hag. Haggai Zech. Zechariah Mal. Malachi New Testament Matt. Matthew Mark Mark Luke Luke John John Acts Acts Rom. Romans 1 Cor. 1 Corinthians 2 Cor. 2 Corinthians Gal. Galatians Eph. Ephesians Phil. Philippians Col. Colossians 1 Thess. 1 Thessalonians 2 Thess. 2 Thessalonians 1 Tim. 1 Timothy 2 Tim. 2 Timothy Titus Titus Philem. Philemon Heb. Hebrews James James 1 Pet. 1 Peter 2 Pet. 2 Peter 1 John 1 John 2 John 2 John 3 John 3 John Jude Jude Rev. Revelation Old Testament Apocrypha 1–4 Macc. 1–4 Maccabees Sir. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) Tob. Tobit Wis. Wisdom (of Solomon) Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2 Bar. 2 Baruch (Syriac Apocalypse) 1 En. 1 Enoch (Ethiopic Apocalypse) 2 En. 2 Enoch ( Slavonic Apocalypse) 4 Ezra 4 Ezra Jub. Jubilees Pss. Sol . Psalms of Solomon Sib. Or. Sibylline Oracles T. Jud . Testament of Judah T. Levi Testament of Levi T. Naph. Testament of Naphtali T. Sim. Testament of Simeon Dead Sea Scrolls CD Damascus Document 1QH Thanksgiving Hymns ( Hodayot ) 1QH a Thanksgiving Hymns ( Hodayot a ) 1QM War Scroll ( Mil ḥ amah ) 1QpHab Pesher Habakkuk 1QS Rule of the Community (Serek Haya ḥ ad ) 1QSa Appendix a to 1QS Philo Alleg. Interp. Allegorical Interpretation Confusion On the Confusion of Tongues Creation On the Creation of the World Flight On Flight and Finding Good Person That Every Good Person Is Free Heir Who Is the Heir? Migration On the Migration of Abraham Planting On Planting Prelim. Studies On the Preliminary Studies Spec. Laws On the Special Laws Virtues On the Virtues Worse That the Worse Attacks the Better Josephus Ant. Jewish Antiquities J.W. Jewish War Rabbinic Works and Tractates Avot Avot Deut. Rab. Deuteronomy Rabbah m. Mishnah Sanh. Sanhedrin Classical Authors A NAXIMENES OF L AMPSACUS Rhet. Alex. Rhetoric to Alexander A RISTOTLE Eth. nic. Ethica nicomachea ( Nicomachean Ethics ) Rhet. Rhetorica ( Rhetoric ) C ICERO De or. De oratore ( On Oratory ) Inv. De inventione rhetorica ( On Rhetorical Invention ) Rab. Post. Pro Rabirio Postumo D EMOSTHENES Cor. De corona ( On the Crown ) Or. Orations D IO C HRYSOSTOM Conc. Apam. De concordia cum Apamensibus ( Or. 40 ) ( On Concord with Apamea ) 4 Regn. De regno iv ( Or. 4 ) ( On Kingship ) Hom. Socr. De Homero et Socrate ( Or. 55 ) ( On Homer and Socrates ) Nicom. Ad Nicomedienses ( Or. 38 ) ( To the Nicomedians ) D IOGENES L AERTIUS Lives Lives of Eminent Philosophers E PICTETUS Diatr . Diatribai/Dissertationes ( Informal Talks ) I SOCRATES Antid. Antidosis ( Or. 15 ) ( Defense or Autobiography ) O VID Metam. Metamorphoses ( Transformations ) P LATO Apol. Apologia ( Apology of Socrates ) Phaed. Phaedo ( On the Soul ) Phaedr. Phaedrus Prot. Protagoras Q UINTILIAN Inst. Institutio oratoria ( The Orator’s Education ) S ENECA Ep. Epistulae morales ( Moral Epistles ) S UETONIUS Claud. Divine Claudius T HEOPHRASTUS Char. Characteres Secondary Sources BDAG W. Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, eds. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature . 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. BDF F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and R. W. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. EDNT Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament . Edited by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider. Eng. trans. 3 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990–93. NIDB New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible . Edited by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld. 5 vols. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006–9. OTP Old Testament Pseudepigrapha . Edited by James H. Charlesworth. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1983–85. TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament . Edited by Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–76. TLNT Theological Lexicon of the New Testament . By C. Spicq. Translated and edited by J. D. Ernest. 3 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.
Introduction
Rhetoric and Theology in Paul
A rthur Koestler once described a children’s puzzle from his childhood; the puzzle was a paper with a tangle of very thin blue and red lines. If you just looked at it, you couldn’t make out anything. But if you covered it with a piece of transparent red tissue paper, the red lines of the drawing disappeared and the blue lines formed a picture—it was a clown in a circus holding a hoop with a little dog jumping through it. If you covered the same drawing with a blue tissue paper, a roaring lion appeared chasing the clown across the ring. The puzzle is illustrative: you can do the same thing with every mortal, living or dead. 1
The multilayered drawing is an appropriate metaphor for the study of any figure of the past, as Koestler maintained. It is especially the case with the apostle Paul. N. T. Wright also illustrates the same point, but with different metaphors, recalling that “Water Lilies,” Claude Monet’s painting, employs layer upon layer and that no interpretation can limit itself to one layer. Wright offers another metaphor, imagining accompanying a song with only two or three strings and suggesting that many interpretations of Paul proceed as though his writings were a one-stringed instrument. 2 He has been described variously as a moral philosopher in the Greek tradition, a mystic, a rabbi, the founder of Christian literature, and a rhetorician. 3 Because of these multiple dimensions of Paul, Wayne Meeks describes him as the “Christian Proteus.” 4 But as Luke Timothy Johnson says, “Much more difficult is the question of what holds these dimensions together.” 5 The task of this book is to examine the relationship between two layers in the Pauline correspondence: his theology and his rhetoric.
Paul the Theologian
Because of the importance of normative doctrine in Western Christianity, interpreters have described Paul as the first Christian theologian. 6 Protestant churches in particular have looked to Paul as the source of timeless truths that can be applied in all ages. 7 According to N. T. Wright, “Paul actually invents something that we may call Christian theology.” 8 His letters include a discourse that is unprecedented in the Jewish and Greek traditions. He demonstrates an awareness of the rabb