Paul the Apostle, His Life Letters and Thought– Part Thirty

Last updated on: February 26, 2017 at 1:36 am by Ben Witherington

Paul the Apostle, His Life Letters and Thought– Part Thirty 2017-01-17T16:43:35-05:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

p. 473—It is important to distinguish: 1) what Paul’s conclusion was on the matter; 2) how he argued for it, and 3) his reason for coming to the conclusion. A distinction between the arguments and the reason behind them is important.

p. 475— This is an angry letter, dictated in anger and it led him to make a few extreme statements which when compared to his other letters are exaggerations. The proof is that he modifies or retracts some of these things in Romans. He finds anger in the absence of the thanksgiving in the repeated cursing of the opponents (1.8-9) and his wish that his enemies would mutilate themselves (5.12). The statement that the law was ordained by angels (3.20) and therefore not by God is an exaggeration of his most negative view of the Law, since throughout his letters he quotes the OT as God’s Word, as true, as Scripture. Or perhaps the appearance of anger was a rhetorical tactic [e.g. to scare the converts back into line].

p. 476—Astonishment and cursing have replaced the usual thanksgiving just after the blessing. Another hint that he is greatly upset— the oath in 1.20— before God I do not lie! Not to mention his statement that those who accept circumcision are severed from Christ and have fallen away from grace (5.4). This is an extreme reaction compared to 1 Cor. 7.19; Rom. 2.25-3.4 the other passages on being circumcised.

p.477—- Sanders will pursue a mirror reading of Galatians to figure out what the opponents were saying and doing, but he knows of the cautions for example by John Barclay, “Mirror-Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians a Test Case,” JSNT 31 (1987), pp. 73-93.

But Sanders is not cautious he says “For every negative in Gal. 1-2 explicit or implied, we should assume that someone holds the position that he denounces.” [Not necessarily among the Galatians themselves. Paul is trying to prevent them from getting circumcised, he is forestalling what he sees as disaster]. Sanders concludes from 1.8-9 that there is someone who opposes Paul [but Paul says ‘if anyone…’]

p. 478–Here is Sanders mirror reading: 1) someone is accusing Paul of being an apostle of secondary importance dependent on human authority, to which Paul replies ‘not by human commission but thru Jesus Christ’. 2) they accused him of having a human message to which Paul replies my message didn’t come from a human source but from a revelation from Christ—1.15-17 3) the oath proves beyond doubt he is answering charges, charges for instance that he went up to Jerusalem soon after his conversion to get authorized. Paul says no, I didn’t go for 3 years, and when I did go I only saw Peter and James the Lord’s brother 4) in 1.10 Paul says he is not trying to please people so they must have been accusing him of doing so 5) according to 2.2 he went up again to Jerusalem according to revelation, so Sanders says this rebuts the notion he was sent for to be given his marching orders. 6) on the second visit he took Titus along and Paul says ‘he was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek’. This could mean that the false brothers tried and failed to have him circumcised, or that Titus voluntarily got circumcised.

p. 479—“In either case, something happened in Jerusalem with regard to Titus and circumcision to which Paul needed to reply.” [Reading the whole of Galatians it is hard to imagine Paul allowing Titus to be circumcised]. Paul insists the pillar apostles added nothing to Paul’s Gospel or mission which may imply he was accused of modifying his message under compulsion from the Jerusalem leaders, or that his opponents were seeking to add something to his message. Paul asserts his independence and says his mission was recognized (and approved), the only condition being remembering the poor.

p. 480– In general there were some who were insisting that Gentiles must be circumcised keep kosher and observe the Sabbath, and Paul says no. Those were the things that set Jews off from Gentiles the most, in terms of praxis. Sanders enunciates the principles or basis for ‘getting in’ and for ‘staying in’. Getting in involves being a descendent of Abraham. In ordinary Judaism, staying in is by observing the Law and repenting of transgressions. The latter is called ‘being righteous’.

p.481— But according to Jewish Law, Gentiles wanting in had to be circumcised and keep the Law. 5.2 indicates of course that the Galatians had accepted Christ but were now contemplating accepting circumcision— Paul says if you do that, Christ will be of no advantage to you. Someone is trying to persuade the Gentiles in Galatia to do this.

p. 482— It was not just in Galatia that Paul was under attack. The evidence of the letter shows opposition in Jerusalem and in Antioch too. Sanders thinks Acts shows Paul was dependent on the Jerusalem Church, not independent as Paul asserts in Gal. [But both Acts and Paul agree that Paul was called, equipped etc. by a vision of Christ, not by the Jerusalem church, and even if you throw in Ananias, he is part of the church in Damascus, not Jerusalem]

The first visit to Jerusalem seems to have involved him just getting acquainted with Peter and James, and perhaps also learning things about Jesus. The second visit he took Barnabas and Titus with him.

p. 483— Paul seems to talk somewhat sarcastically about the Jerusalem leaders ‘those reputed to be pillars’ 2.6— ‘those believed to be something’ ‘what they were doing doesn’t matter to me, God shows no partiality’ (2.9)— does 6.3 also refer to them— ‘those who believe themselves to be something’ [I would say this has to do with the opinions of others about the pillars— about their honor rating]. Note Paul distinguishes between the pillars and the false brothers, and he is glad to have the hand shake and approval of the pillars. They ‘recognized the grace’ God had bestowed on him and agreed he and Barnabas should convert Gentiles. Paul wanted their support. We don’t know who the false brothers were, are they the same as the false apostles in 2 Cor. 11.26.

p. 484— Probably there were only a few false brothers, as Paul says they slipped into the meeting. Antioch was clearly the second most important city for Christians after Jerusalem in Paul’s lifetime, mentioned 13 times between Acts 11-15. If Paul had a home base it was probably Antioch. He was already there when Peter showed up, and there was a common meal shared by Jewish and Gentile Christians there, Sanders suggests a meal including the Lord’s supper which Peter and Barnabas and others joined at first, but then withdrew due to pressure from the ‘men who came from James’.

p. 485— We don’t know the outcome, but Paul may have lost the battle in Antioch, and perhaps also lost the churches in Galatia. Sanders says we don’t know what ‘the men from James said’ that caused withdrawal, but if they came specifically to convey a message to Peter then they had to know he was there, and he must have been there for a while and Jerusalem knew about it. “But…let us say that the ‘people who came from James’ spoke as James representatives, whether or not James had explicitly told them what to say.”

pp. 486-87— Here are some possibilities: 1) the common meals at Antioch broke the kosher food laws, and so Jews in these meals were breaking explicit divine commands; The laws in question are in Lev. 11 and Deut. 14 and specifically pork and shellfish were forbidden, birds of prey (doves and pigeons permitted), there were no chickens in these regions at this time, snakes and most insects were forbidden except those who have legs above the feet (i.e. locusts). Jews can’t eat fat or blood of animals 2) the 2nd possibility is that the Gentiles themselves were regarded as impure and the opponents would under no circumstances eat with them; 3) perhaps the food was kosher but it had not been tithed or handled in purity; 4) eating with Gentiles might have damaged Peter reputation as apostle to Jews, [or made it hard for him to convert them]. Acts 10 is not evidence that Jews like Peter started to violate the food law, it just meant they should accept Gentiles without their observing them. Sanders doubts the real issue here is food since he thinks neither Peter nor Paul would have simply eaten pork etc.

p. 488— In regard to Peter “Separating himself from the abominable meats would not have required the advice of James’ representatives.” Neither the impurity of Gentiles nor the purity and tithing laws would have affected meals in Antioch. The reason is that Jews in the Diaspora were already impure themselves due to corpse impurity which could only be removed at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is true that Gentiles were regarded as inherently impure and so couldn’t enter the inner courts of the Temple. [The issue of impurity is a red herring here?]. Moreover Jewish lit. discusses eating with Gentiles and always focuses on the food not the people cf. Let. Of Aristeas 181-94 which shows the translators of the LXX regularly dining with the king of Egypt and his court! The king’s kitchen prepared kosher for the Jews.

n. 17—when Diaspora Jews came to Jerusalem they had to have corpse impurity removed which required 7 days before entering the temple.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 25, 2017

Paul the Apostle, His Life Letters and Thought-- Part Twenty Nine

Next Post

February 27, 2017 Paul the Apostle, His Life Letters and Thought-- Part Thirty One

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz