Paul, His Letters, and Acts (Library of Pauline Studies) , livre ebook

© 2009 by Thomas E. Phillips

Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P. O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com

Previously published in 2009 by Hendrickson Publishers

Ebook edition created 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in 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.

ISBN 978-1-4412-4194-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Except where otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com (Italics in scripture quotations are author’s emphasis.)

Cover art: Bassano, Francesco (1549–1592), Saint Paul Preaching. Oil sketch.
Location: Musei Civici, Padua, Italy
Photo credit: Cameraphoto Arte, Venice / Art Resource, N.Y.
To George Lyons, from whom I learned the best and the most
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction

1 The Plurality of Plausible Pauls
Chilton’s Plausible Paul
Crossan’s and Reed’s Plausible Paul
Reflecting upon the Plurality of Plausible Pauls

2 Paul, Let Me Introduce You to Paul
The Story of Paul’s Estrangement from Paul
The Recurring Problems
A Modest Methodological Proposal

3 Putting Paul’s Life in Order
The Pauline Data Set
The Acts Data Set
Comparing the Data Sets

4 Putting Paul in His Place: The Greco-Roman World
The Pauline Data Set
The Acts Data Set
Comparing the Data Sets

5 Finding Paul a Place in the Church: The Participants in the Jerusalem Conference
The Pauline Data Set
The Acts Data Set
Comparing the Data Sets

6 Finding a Place in Paul’s Churches: Paul’s Associates, His Converts, and Apollos
The Pauline Data Set
The Acts Data Set
Comparing the Data Sets

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Subjects
Index of Scripture References
Notes
A BBREVIATIONS AB Anchor Bible ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary . Edited by David N. Freedman. 6 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1992 AGJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums AJT American Journal of Theology ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt BAFCS Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting BAIAS Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archeological Society BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium Bib Biblica BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentaries BW The Biblical World: A Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology . Edited by C. F. Pfeiffer. Grand Rapids, 1966 BZ Biblische Zeitschrift BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft CBET Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CBR Currents in Biblical Research ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses ExpTim Expository Times FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments HTR Harvard Theological Review ICC International Critical Commentary Int Interpretation JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JR Journal of Religion JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series KEK Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar über das Neue Testament LNTS Library of New Testament Studies LPS Library of Pauline Studies NCBC New Century Bible Commentary NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology . Edited by C. Brown. 3 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971 NIV New International Version NovT Novum Testamentum NovTSup Novum Testamentum Supplements NTM New Testament Monographs NTS New Testament Studies OBT Overtures to Biblical Theology PEGLBS Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society PEGLMBS Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Biblical Societies PRSt Perspectives in Religious Studies RB Revue biblique SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers SBLSymS Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series SJT Scottish Journal of Theology SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series TAPA Transactions of the American Philological Association WBC Word Biblical Commentary WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament ZNT Zeitschrift für Neues Testament ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
P REFACE
P AUL IS so inherently interesting that anyone who writes about Paul should feel an appropriate sense of intimidation, lest one’s words detract from the writings and accomplishments of Paul himself. The immense body of secondary literature on Paul can also become daunting—one sometimes wonders, what more can be said? As I compose this volume, my hope is not to offer the last word—or even many truly original words—on Paul. My hope is merely to introduce some aspects of Paul’s life that intersect in Paul’s letters and in Acts, and secondarily to expose the reader to some of the intriguing scholarly discourse surrounding those aspects of Paul’s life.
As with any project of similar size, several people have supported my research, writing, and reflection. I have been unusually blessed with a host of supportive friends and colleagues. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Robin Ottoson, the former director of the library at my own former institution, and to the many skilled librarians in the Ryan Library at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU), where I now teach. Additionally, I wish to thank the Wesleyan Center at PLNU for its financial support of my research time.
Many colleagues have contributed to the discourse behind this volume, notably, Brad E. Kelle, John W. Wright, Robert Smith, Mark Bilby, and Sam Powell at PLNU. My appreciation for PLNU extends to all of the students, faculty, staff, and administration who have prompted, questioned, and otherwise supported me in my research and writing. As I sit in my new office overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I am especially grateful to the Smee family, whose generosity provided the office where I now sit.
Finally, I end this preface where the original idea for the volume began, with Stanley E. Porter and Shirley Decker-Lucke. Their invitation to contribute to this series came when I was privileged to cochair the section on Acts at the Society of Biblical Literature. It is, therefore, fitting to begin this printed work with a note of gratitude to them for their kind patience while waiting to see the finished work.
I NTRODUCTION
H AVING LIVED and worked on both coasts of North America, in Boston on the east coast and San Diego on the west coast, I am drawn to maritime metaphors. If the vast and varied field of Pauline studies can be likened to a sea of scholarly discourse that extends even beyond the horizon of any particular scholar and writer, then the Library of Pauline Studies is designed to provide a chart by which to navigate all—or nearly all—of that sea. As for this particular volume, however, the cartographical agenda is much smaller, comparable perhaps to the charting of a single bay and its accompanying terrain. That bay, the overlap between the Paul of the letters and the Paul of Acts, is, however, particularly interesting. It is the place where the Paul of the narrative of Acts meets the Paul of the discourse in Paul’s letters. It is a bay of brackish waters where one cannot always discern what has entered from the river of Acts and what has entered from the sea of Paul’s letters. Although both the river of Acts and the sea of Paul’s letters are rich and productive environments, each nurtures different species of flora and fauna. To the casual observer, the blending of these environments can be so subtle as to produce the illusion of one continuous and undifferentiated environment. To the more astute observer, however, the differences between the saline sea waters and the fresh river water are profound and clearly discernible. But the brackish waters—where the waters meet, intermingle, and become one—present a challenge to even the most skilled observers.
This volume will explore those brackish waters where the Paul of Acts meets the Paul of the letters. What can be distinguished as belonging only to Paul’s letters? What can be distinguished as belonging only to Acts? What belongs to both or to neither? To what degree are the Paul of Acts and the Paul of the letters the same character, and to what degree are the Paul of Acts and the Paul of the letters two distinct—and perhaps incongruous—characters? These are the questions that drive this volume.
To some readers, the very idea of distinguishing between the Paul of Acts and the Paul of the letters will be new and surprising. For many such readers, the two Pauls have often been uncritically blended and seldom clearly distinguished. To many other readers, the Paul of Acts and the Paul of the letters will have long ago been separated. For some within this second group of readers, the two Pauls are so deliberately cordoned off from one another that they have never been compared in a careful and disciplined way. It seems to me that many readers—both scholarly and lay—have erred in their reflections about Paul. The central project of this volume, therefore, has two di