Stone tell Stories

The Gallio Inscription in Delphi

One of the most significant archeological artifact I saw in The Delphi Museum in Greece is the Gallio inscription. Gallio was the proconsul of the province of Achaia when the apostle Paul was brought before him as documented by Luke in Acts 12:17.

Acts 18:12–17 (NIV84)

¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. ¹³ “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

¹⁴ Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. ¹⁵ But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” ¹⁶ So he had them ejected from the court. ¹⁷ Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.

With the Gallio inscription, we are now able to narrow down in time, almost the exact year when the apostle Paul was in Corinth during his 18 months stay. Lucius Junius Annaeus Gallio was the elder brother of the Stoic philosopher Seneca who was the personal tutor of Nero and who later took on a more political role when Nero became emperor after the death of Claudius. Gallio was appointed by Emperor Claudius to be proconsul of Achaia around July 51 A.D. He was proconsul for about only a year. The Gallio Inscription which was found in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi was dated to be written in the spring or summer of 51-52 A.D.

Hence we are able to place the apostle Paul time in Corinth during his second missionary journey at between 51-52 A.D. He was probably brought to face Gallio in spring or summer of 51 A.D.  The incident recorded in Acts 18:12–17 probably occurred at the beginning of Gallio’s term, since the Jews would have hoped to get a ruling against Paul from their new proconsul. Not long after that, Paul left Corinth, probably in the summer or autumn of 52. Elwell and Beitzel adds,

According to Acts 18:11 Paul had spent 18 months in Corinth, which means that he probably arrived in the early months of 50 or the end of 49. That arrival date is confirmed by Acts 18:2, which says that Aquila and Priscilla had only recently been exiled from Rome when Paul came to Corinth. A 5th-century historian, Orosius, dated the edict of Claudius expelling the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49. Therefore Paul and Aquila and Priscilla probably arrived close together late in 49 or early in 50. Early in his 18-month stay Paul wrote his first and second letters to the Thessalonians.

             (Elwell, W.A. & Beitzel, B.J., 1988. Baker encyclopedia of the Bible, pp.446–447.)

Using this as a fixed point, we are now able to pin point the start of Paul’s missionary journeys and even some events in Acts. Working forward, we are able to date Paul’s other activities until he went to Rome around 60 A.D. Two possible chronology are as follows:

1		2
31 or 32	Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:3–19)	32 or 33
33 or 34	First Jerusalem visit (Acts 9:26–30)	34 or 35
46 or 47	Famine visit (Acts 11:30)	46 or 47
47–48	First missionary journey (Acts 13:4–14:28)	47–48
48	Jerusalem council (Acts 15:1–29)	48
late 49 or early 50	Paul’s arrival in Corinth on second missionary journey (Acts 18:1)	late 49 or early 50
autumn 51	Paul’s departure from Corinth (Acts 18:18)	autumn 51[1]

This is significant because this was be one of two events which we may accurately date. The other event was the date of the famine visit in Acts 11:30 which is either 46 or 47 A.D.

Acts 11:27–30 (NIV84) provides the context.

²⁷ During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) ²⁹ The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. ³⁰ This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

We can be sure that events recorded by Luke and the other evangelists have a historical basis. This is important because the Bible is a book with historical foundations. The Bible records the incarnation of God in human history.

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^[1] Elwell, W.A. & Beitzel, B.J., 1988. Baker encyclopedia of the Bible, p.447.

Paul's Travels

Orthodox Church Icon of St.Paul

Travel in New Testament times was not easy. Though the Romans had built their roads which link major cities and towns, these roads were paved with stones and not comfortable to travel on. The carts drawn by mules did not have spring suspension and were bumpy. Most people, except for the rich and nobles, walked. Travelers were exposed to the weather and at risk from bandits or pirates. They were also at the mercy of unscrupulous innkeepers and their dirty unhygienic inns. One could imagine that the people would not want to travel far unless they had no choice. What then were the reasons the Apostle Paul have to travel? The conversion experience of Paul near Damascus may provide the answer:

AC 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

AC 9:5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

AC 9:7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

AC 9:10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.
AC 9:11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."

AC 9:13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
AC 9:15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (NIV)

Paul was God's chosen instrument to spread the gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles. While the majority of Jews were in Judea and Samaria, the Gentiles were not but spread out all over the Roman empire. These meant that Paul had to travel far to reach the Gentiles. However Paul did not wander around aimlessly. There seem to be a strategy in Paul's traveling. What then was this strategy?

Firstly, Paul identified and focused on provinces in Asia Minor. Both Luke and Paul referred consistently to provinces rather than cities. Thus Paul was forbidden to preach the word in Asia (Acts 16:6), he was called from Troas not to Philippi or to Thessalonica but to Macedonia. In Paul’s view, the unit was the province rather than the city. Then within these province, Paul identified cities to which he would preach. Paul did not plan to preach in every city in a province but key cities only. He would first preach to the local Jews in the synagogue and if his message was rejected, to the Gentiles outside the synagogues. He planned to establish missional churches in these cities which will spread the gospel into the province itself.

Secondly, Paul usually start with the Jewish communities in the selected cities. Under the Roman government, the Jews enjoyed many privileges. Their religion was recognised. They had liberty to administer their own laws. They were not obligated to share in the worship of the Emperor and they were exempt from military service. Thus Paul entered these centres as member of a powerful and highly privileged group. He can enter and preach in any synagogue.

Thirdly, Paul chose cities which were centres of Greek civilisation. Even in Lystra, half the inscriptions, which have been discovered, are Greek while the other half are Latin. Everywhere Roman government went hand in hand with Greek education. The education provided Paul with his medium of communication. There is no evidence that Paul translated the Scriptures into the local dialects of Asia Minor. The influence of Greek civilisation was an influence, which tended to the spread of education, and Christianity from the first was a religion of education. The disciples were learners. Paul preached in Greek, wrote in Greek and expected his converts to read the Scriptures in Greek. For Paul, one common language was as important as one government under Pax Romana.

Fourthly, Paul’s work was confined within the limits of the Roman administration. In preaching in south Galatia, Paul was preaching in the Roman province next to his native province of Cilicia. Between these two cities lay the territory of Lycaonia Antiochi, and across this territory Paul must have passed when he journeyed from Tarsus to Lystra and Iconium. Yet we were never told that he made any attempt to preach in that area. In areas of Roman administration, Paul knew that he could obtain for himself and his people the security afforded by a strong government. As a Roman citizen, he knew that as a last resort, he could expect and receive protection from his fanatical countrymen. In these Roman provinces, there is religious tolerance, peace and security of travel. In Corinth, Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, was impartial and refuse to hear the case, and in Ephesus the city clerk was reasonable and fair.

Fifthly, the Roman Empire also gave Paul the groundwork for the gospel. The idea of a world-wide empire, the idea of the common citizenship of men of many races in that one empire, the strong authority of one law, the one peace, the breaking down of national exclusiveness, all these things prepared men’s mind to receive Paul’s teaching of the Kingdom of God and of the common citizenship of all Christians in it. Paul used the terms and concepts of his time and 'baptised' it for the purpose of spreading the good news. Caesar Augustus' proclamation of the good news (gospel) that he was the saviour of all humankind through Pax Romana, was subverted by Paul into that the gospel (good news) is Jesus Christ is the saviour of all humankind and has established the kingdom of heaven.

Sixthly, Paul chose cities which were centres of the world’s commerce. They were cities of importance as leaders of the provinces. These were cosmopolitan cities. In them were many travelers who will carry the gospel back to their own provinces. Their wealth makes these cities powerful. They were the trendsetters, foremost in any new fashion or policy. One example was Ephesus a major trading port city in the Asia Minor coast. Paul spent a lot of time there. Another example was Corinth, another powerful maritime city.

Finally, Paul trained leaders from different provinces. He taught them and brought them along with his travels. This is an effective training model, one which Jesus also used. As the team travelled, Paul would teach the core content of Christian beliefs (teaching), his trainees would observe his life (modeling), and Paul would get them involved in the ministry (praxis). No less than seven disciples were travelling with Paul on his trip through Macedonia, making it a mobile school (Acts 20:4). Even when Paul was a prisoner in transit to Rome, he was able to have Aristarchus and Luke goes with him (Acts 27:2-8; 28:1, 10-15). At one time, Paul’s entourage consists of nine men from different provinces: Sopater (Berea, Macedonia), Aristarchus and Secundus (Thessalonica), Luke (Philippi), Gaius (Derbe, Galatia), Timothy (Lystra, Galatia), Tychicus and Trophimus (Ephesus, Asia) and Titus (Achaia).

To summarise, Paul's travels were not aimless wanderings but a planned evangelistic outreach. An estimation made by Eckhard J. Schnabel suggested that Paul travelled a distance of 25,000 km (15,500 miles) in 663 days which is a long distance over a long period of time. Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, 3) notes, "In little more than 10 years, Paul established the Church in 4 provinces of the Empire, Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia. Before AD 47 there were no churches in these provinces; in AD 57 Paul could speak as if his work has been done and was planning to go further afield". It appear that the strategy worked!

Destination	By land (25 km/day)	By sea (100 km/day)	Journey total
Arabia	300 km (12 days)		300 km (12 days)
Syria/Cilicia	1,800 km (70 days)		1,800 km (70 days)
Jerusalem (AD 44)	1,080 km (45 days)		1,080 km (45 days)
Galatia	1,440 km (60 days)	980 km (10 days)	2,420 (70 days)
Jerusalem (AD 48)	1,080 km (45 days)		1,080 km (45 days)
Macedonia/ Achaia	3,110 km (125 days)	2,060 km (20 days)	5,170 km (145 days)
Asia	2,900 km (115 days)	3,210 km (35 days)	6,110 km (150 days)
Spain	1,000 km (40 days)	1,800 km (15 days)	2,800 km (55 days)
Crete	120 km (5 days)	1,300 km (14 days)	1,420 km (19 days)
Last journeys	900 km (35 days)	1,700 km (17 days)	2,570 km (52 days)
Totals (approximate)	14,000 km (8,700 miles) by land	11,000 km (6,800 miles) by sea	25,000 km (15,500 miles) in 663 days

 

Table Source: Adapted from Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 122.

Random Glimpses of My Desktop (23)

hand carved olive wood figurine of Apostle Paul from Bethlehem

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Daniel Kirk referees John Piper and N.T.Wright (3)

And now the conclusion (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3a, Part 3b)

Several years ago, fall of 2007, I was part of planning a conference on Paul for Emergent-like people. As the New Testament scholars sat around chatting with more church and theology oriented people, we were talking through what we wanted to cover, how we wanted to approach Paul. Just batting around ideas, someone said, “What is the angle? New Perspective?” To this, one of the Paul scholars said, “No, I think we’re pretty much post-New Perspective now.”
Three years ago, New Testament scholarship had already moved on. And that doesn’t mean that 2007 was the year we decided to leave it behind. It means that Sanders had broached the issues in the late 70s, Jimmy Dunn had codified them in an early 80s lecture followed by his late 80s Romans commentary; Wright had written Climax of the Covenant that worked through some of the key texts, and so by the end of the 90s scholars had worked through the issues taken what they were going to take left what they were going to leave and moved on.
Enter the church (bless its heart) 15-30 years later, all excited and agitated over these new developments.
In some ways this makes sense. People outside the academy are often unaware of the programmatic nature of an argument being advanced in a 1,000+ page commentary, for example. But when Wright publishes a 120 page book on Paul in his accessible prose, and directly challenging many long-held ideas about justification, imputation, righteousness, and the like, then it is much easier for the ideas to spread broadly.

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and I leave you my dear readers to draw your own conclusions.

Daniel Kirk referees John Piper and N.T.Wright (1)

J. R. Daniel Kirk, New Testament Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in his blog Storied Theology has decided to referee between John Piper and N.T.Wright. This promises to be four interesting blog posts.

The Righteousness of God (1 of 4)

Tuesday September 28 2010at 10:09 am

A couple of times over the past month or so I’ve been asked in one way or another to weigh in on what is becoming the Piper v. Wright showdown, what before that was the Presbyterian v. Wright showdown, what before that was a vigorous conversation in New Testament scholarship. Since I discovered just yesterday that Piper has been selected as the “leading exegete” to represent North America at the Lausanne Conference in South Africa, I figured now was the time.

Here’s how I dissect the different positions on offer by Piper and Wright: Piper’s understanding of righteousness and justification flows from an understanding of the cosmos in which the law of God (an essentially timeless entity, but with some historical representations such as the Decalogue) regulates humanity’s standing before God. Wright’s understanding of righteousness and justification flows from an understanding of the cosmos in which the in-time story of Israel, and God’s covenants with this particular people, regulates humanity’s standing before God.

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The Righteousness of God (2 of 4)

Wednesday September 29 2010at 01:09 pm

Both Piper and Wright actually agree that “righteousness” in and of itself, its lexical definition, is not going to solve this conundrum. The question is, what sort of biblical / theological framework helps us understand what it means for God to do what is right.
The challenge that faces both exegetes as they turn to Paul is that the larger frameworks are often what must come into play when the specific term “righteousness” or “righteousness of God” appears.

Thus, Piper will turn to Rom 3:23 and say, “All sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and there show how God’s own glory must be to make up for the deficit of glory-rendering due his name. So God will manifest his righteousness in the death of Jesus, condemning him representatively for all who failed to glorify him.

Alternatively, Wright will ask us to take stock of how all of chs. 3-4 or Romans (and reaching back into ch. 2 at points) are about how God will fulfill the promise to Abraham to make one world-wide family. Within this covenant promise, God has to overcome Israel’s own faithlessness to be a missionary people, and provide an alternate means for the blessing of Abraham to come to the nations.

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more to come.

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New Perspectives on Paul and the Jews

Thanks to budding NT scholar, Lim Kar Yong who alerted me to this conference and conference notes. This is fantastic timing as I have spent the last long weekend thinking about N.T.Wright's book, Justification (Downers grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009).

The twenty-first century is proving to be a challenging time for Jewish-Christian relations. 2008-2009 is the bi-millennial anniversary of Paul’s birth, a figure not unproblematic for Jewish-Christian dialogue. On different levels initiatives are being taken to promote Paul and his legacy. Our Leuven interdisciplinary research project on the New Perspectives on Paul and the Jews is seeking to address the issue of Paul and his relationship to Judaism in an academic setting. An important feature of our project consists in the fact that the exegetical issues are being discussed in a larger hermeneutical, theological and dialogical framework.

The conference is organised around 8 topics:

1. What nomenclatures best represent the Judaism that Paul was in dialogue with: covenantal nomism, variegated nomism, ethical monotheism, etc.? What are the notions of covenant or works-righteousness that lie behind the use of these terms?
2. Is covenant a central notion in Paul? What are the merits of a semantic domain linkage between diatheke and dikaiosyne? Can one argue for an embedded covenantal framework in Paul’s thought? If so, does this framework supersede the Mosaic covenant (cp. 2 Cor 3:7-18)?
3. What is the relationship between creation and covenant in Paul’s thinking, specifically the motif of kaine diatheke and kaine ktisis (2 Cor 3 and 5 respectively)?
4. Does Paul move away from an Israel kata sarka to a notion of Israel kata pneuma? Is the new reality the ekklesia tou theou? Is this church part of, or distinct from, Israel?
5. Was Paul Torah-observant? Did Paul’s Christ transcend the Law, embody it or something else? Is Paul in continuity or discontinuity with the prophetic reading of the Law? Is Paul an interpreter or manipulator of Israel’s scriptures?
6. What is the relationship between Pauline studies and Jewish-Christian dialogue? Should Pauline studies take into account the post-Shoah context of contemporary ecumenical and interreligious dialogue between Christians and Jews?
7. Are the classical interreligious and soteriological models of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism acceptable or useful for Christian/Jewish dialogue? How do they relate to the typical dialogical positions of single and double covenant schemes? What is the best way forward?
8. Are the religious ends of Christianity and Judaism compatible? Is the church in mission with or in mission to the Jews? How should this apparent tension be portrayed in homiletics, liturgy, catechetics, etc?

Programme

The programme will consist of offered papers and panel discussions. The following scholars have already confirmed their participation:

• Michael Bachmann (Germany)
• Michael Bird (UK)
• Thomas Blanton IV (USA)
• William Campbell (UK)
• Philip Cunningham (USA)
• James Dunn (UK) Unfortunately unable to come at the last minute but has offered to contribute an Epilogue to the seminar publication
• Hans Hermann Henrix (Germany)
• Daniel Langton (UK)
• Mark Nanos (USA)
• John Pawlikowski (USA)
• Anne-Marie Reijnen (Belgium)
• Hans-Joachim Sander (Austria)

The seminar is now concluded and pictures of the two-day seminar are now available.

Will the Real St.Paul Please Stand Up?

Written by two Jesus scholars, this 2009 HarperOne book is a fascinating search for the real Paul, a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth. Marcus Borg is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture, Emeritus at Oregon State University and Canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, co-authoring this book with Catholic theologian, John Dominic Crossan, an Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University in Chicago. Thus there is a lot of scholarship behind the book and an interesting interaction between Protestant and Catholic theology.

These two scholars purposed to discover the theology of the origin historical Paul. They carefully lay the groundwork by emphasizing that Paul can only be discovered by interpreting his writings through the context of the communities he wrote to, the early Jesus movement, first century Judaism and the influence of the dominant Roman empire. They further set the stage by identifying four 'Pauls.'

(1) The "Radical" Paul who wrote Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians and Philemon.
(2) The "Reactionary" Paul who wrote 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus
(3) The "Conservative" Paul who wrote Ephesians, Colossians and 2 Thessalonians
(4) The Paul as depicted by Luke in Acts

According to the authors, the "Radical" Paul is the historical Paul and the other three are attempts by others to modify his teachings in order to make it acceptable to the Roman Empire.

This "Radical" Paul

(1) is against slavery (the authors did a masterful study of Philomen)
(2) is for equality of the sexes
(3) is a Jewish Christ mystic in his personal encounters with the risen Christ
(4) understood the cross as (a) God's plan is for peaceful empire (versus the Roman empire); (b) participatory atonement as a transformational pathway; and (c) revelation of God's character
(5) Justification by grace through faith is God's distributive justice, not retributive justice. God's grace for a new nature or 'Spirit transplant' is available for all people.
(6) Life together 'in Christ' is a sort of 'share community' of Gentiles and Jews.

This is an interesting fusion of Protestant and Roman Catholic Pauline theology done during the Year of Paul as celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church. The authors put forth convincing arguments for their claims but it would have been better if a more detailed study is presented instead of what appear to be a brief abstract of certain key points. A work of this magnitude should merit more than 224 pages (Hardcover edition) and a single page of notes!

While this is an excellent work of scholarship, it begs the question, "what then?" Are we supposed to only retain the seven epistles of the "Radical" Paul and throw away the rest? That will be a large proportion of the New Testament we will be discarding. Yet that is what we must do if we follow through in this study and remain true to Paul's teaching.

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St Paul and his bones

My good friend, the Reverend Dr Lim Kar Yong, our local St. Paul expert went to Rome a few days ago and then the Paul announced that St.Pauls remains are found. Coincidence?

From Times Online

June 29, 2009

Basilica bones are St Paul's, Pope declares after carbon dating tests

(Patrick Hertzog)

The tomb of St Paul in Rome

Richard Owen in Rome

Pope Benedict XVI said last night that bone fragments found inside the tomb of St Paul in Rome had been carbon dated for the first time, "confirming the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul".

He said that archaeologists had inserted a probe into the white marble sarcophagus under the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls which has been revered for centuries as the tomb of St Paul.

The pontiff said: "Small fragments of bone were carbon dated by experts who knew nothing about their provenance and results showed they were from someone who lived between the 1st and 2nd century. This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that these are the mortal remains of Paul the Apostle."

The Pope, who said the discovery "fills our souls with great emotion", made the unexpected announcement during Vespers at St Paul's Basilica last night, marking the end of the Pauline year held in honour of the apostle. He said that as well as bone fragments, archaeologists had found grains of red incense, a piece of purple linen with gold sequins and a blue fabric with linen filaments in the tomb.

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Jesus, the Universe and Red Cliff

The latest from Thinking Faith...


The Letter to the Colossians: Jesus and the Universe
As we conclude the Year of St Paul, Brian Purfield looks at Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, in which the primacy of Christ is highlighted. The apostle tells the Christians at Colossae that Christ is the ‘the first-born of all creation’ – why was this such an important message for Paul to teach, and how do we let this shape our faith? Read >>

http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090623_1.htm

Film Review: Red Cliff
Reviewed by Nathan Koblintz
Red Cliff depicts the battle between the end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms that sits as a myth at the centre of popular Chinese history. It is beautifully put together, the battle scenes played out at every perspective and speed imaginable, interspersed with long descriptive shots of weapons, feathers, mountains, facial features. Perhaps we can find something challenging in the film’s depiction of heroism... Read more >>

http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20090623_1.htm

The Sufferings of Christ

I am very proud to introduce my good friend, Kar Yong's new book. I have already ordered it from amazon.com.

The Sufferings of Christ Are Abundant in Us: A Narrative Dynamics Investigation of Paul’s Sufferings in 2 Corinthians (Library of New Testament Studies) (Hardcover)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This book investigates the centrality of suffering to Paul's argumentation in 2 Corinthians. This study investigates why Paul makes the theme of suffering so central to his argument in 2 Corinthians. It is pursued through an exegetical analysis of passages where Paul's suffering is described, namely 1:3-11; 2:14-116; 4:7-12; 6:1-10 and 11:23-12:10.By employing a narrative approach, this study argues that Paul's apostolic suffering is grounded in the story of Jesus. There are several implications arising from this approach. First, Paul understands his suffering as necessary and integral to his apostolic mission. Second, Paul claims that his suffering has positive missiological benefits, resulting in giving birth to the Christ-believing community in Corinth. Third, for Paul, the story of Jesus does not end at the event of the cross, and so he extends the invitation to the Corinthians to participate in the story of Jesus. Fourth, Paul's understanding of his suffering also finds its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures as seen in the allusion to and citations of Isaiah and Jeremiah/1 Kingdoms. Finally, Paul expresses his deep concern for the Corinthians in this letter.In essence, Paul sees his own suffering as a reflection of his embodying the ongoing story of Jesus - a story of suffering and death leading to life - and calls the Corinthians also to this cruciform pattern of living. Taking all the above implications together, it is suggested that 2 Corinthians should be read as primarily parenaetic in nature and that Paul's apology for his apostleship only plays a secondary role.Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of JSNTS, examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. European Seminar on Christian Origins and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of JSNTS.

About the Author
Dr Kar Yong Lim is a Lecturer in New Testament Studies at Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (Malaysia Theological Seminary), Seremban, Malaysia.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: T & T Clark International (July 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0567107280
• ISBN-13: 978-0567107282

N.T.Wright's Justification

N.T. Wright (2009), Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision, Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

N.T. Wright is Bishop of Durham and was formerly Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and dean of Lichfield Cathedral. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities. Wright's full-scale works The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and The Resurrection of the Son of God are part of a projected six-volume series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God. Among his many other published works are The Original Jesus, What Saint Paul Really Said and The Climax of the Covenant. He is also coauthor with Marcus Borg of The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions and the volume on Colossians and Philemon in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.

This is an interesting book because it is mainly written in response to John Piper (2007)'s The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright which was in turn written in response to N.T. Wright's perspective or the so called "new" or "fresh" perspectives on Paul. So when two theological giants goes into the ring with each other, the rest of us mortals should sit back and enjoy the show. Unfortunately, many have decided to get into the ring with them thus making what should be a theological dialogue into a free-for-all melee.

In this latest round, Wright was forthcoming in saying that he wrote this book in response to Piper and that he needed to defend himself to avoid being branded a 'villain' in this dialogue.
In the preface itself, Wright lays down his thoughts about Paul. He seek to frames the argument by structuring it as,
(1) the nature and scope of salvation (which he has dealt within his Surprised by Hope , 2008 , San Francisco: HarperOne).
(2) the means of salvation
(3) the meaning of salvation

It is mainly in the meaning of salvation that the main focus of this book is about or rather what the Pauline understanding of salvation is. Wrights identifies these themes,
(1) Paul's doctrine of justification is about the work of Jesus the Messiah of Israel
(2) Paul's doctrine of salvation is about covenant (God's covenant with Abraham)
(3) Paul's doctrine of salvation is focused on divine law court terms
(4) Paul's doctrine of salvation is bound up with eschatology i.e. Paul's understanding of God's future for the whole world and God's people. Or more specifically present justification and final justification.

The issue lies in the exegesis and hermeneutics of key texts and Wright went into a few of the key ones in this book. I believe he has dealt with the key texts fairly and accurately. It is not so much in the exegesis itself but in the nuances in the hermeneutics. In the Reformed tradition, theology is always forming and reforming. This means that there is always room for dialogue and it is the height of arrogance for anyone to think that they have the full understanding of all theological truths. Also it is folly for anyone to think that all Christians have misunderstood Paul for the last two thousand years. I prefer to see it as expanding our understanding of Paul's writings in light of our latest scholarship. Personally I do not think that Reformed theology is being threatened by this argument that has been going on for the last two decades. If it is so easily toppled, this means there is something wrong with it. I believe that Reformed theology is big enough for such dialogue to take place without too much emotionalism and mud-slinging.

This is a good book to read in the series of books that Wright is writing in defending his thinking about Paul. As he takes pain to point out it is a work in progress. I am looking forward to his coming fourth book (about Paul) in his Christian Origins and the Question of God series.

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Thinking about Christ’s Resurrection in the Year of St Paul
‘For Paul, Easter shapes and colours the very identity of God.’ In Easter week of the Pauline Year, Gerald O’Collins SJ explains what the apostle tells us about early faith in the resurrection. What did the resurrection mean for early Christian understanding of God, the Eucharist, and universal salvation – and what does it mean for us today? Read more

Read more of Thinking Faith’s series on Saint Paul:

Who Was Saint Paul? – Peter Edmonds SJ

The Long Road to Damascus – Bishop John Arnold

Paul the Pastor – Jerome Murphy-O’Connor OP

The Vision of Saint Paul – Nick King SJ

Getting to know Saint Paul today – David Neuhaus SJ

Paul, Trinity and Community – Michael Mullins

Power in Paul – David Harold-Barry SJ

St Paul and Ecumenism – Bishop John Arnold

The Letter of Paul to the Philippians – Peter Edmonds SJ

30 December 2008

True Power in Paul David Harold-Barry SJ Zimbabwean Jesuit David Harold-Barry looks at the concept of power expressed in the letters of St Paul, as part of Thinking Faith’s series for the Pauline Year. How does Paul’s idea of power differ to the manifestations of political power we see today? read more Interesting perspective of Pauline Theology from Africa .

Considering New Paradigms on St Paul

Getting to know Saint Paul today: A change in paradigm?
David M. Neuhaus SJ

Recent Pauline scholarship has revealed new perspectives from which we can examine the life of the apostle and the world he lived in, claims David Neuhaus SJ. What are these developments, and how can they change our traditional understanding of Saint Paul?


Introduction: Who is Saint Paul?
The figure of Paul marks the passage from Jesus of Nazareth, recognized after his death by his disciples as the promised Messiah of Israel, to the Universal Church that preached the Gospel to all the nations. Paul has been seen as the pioneer of Christian mission, the father of Christian theology and even the real founder of Christianity. Some have seen him as a apocalyptic thinker, others as a Pharisee rabbi become Christian yet others as a cultivated Hellenist or a Gnostic syncretist or an incoherent religious fanatic.

Getting to know Paul has never been easy. It is difficult to derive a clear autobiographical picture from his own writings. There are contradictions between these writings and the supposedly “biographical” presentation of Paul by Luke in Acts. In addition to this, in the past few decades, new historical and exegetical perspectives have changed how we understand the world in which Paul lived and worked. These perspectives have undermined at least some of our most basic suppositions in getting to know Paul. They would seem to necessitate a change in paradigm in order to read Paul and ascertain his role. I will propose here four aspects on which our understanding of Paul and his world have changed in the past decades. The question I pose here is: have the consequences of these changes been integrated into our reading and understanding of Paul? Can we integrate them without a new paradigm in Pauline studies? What can the new paradigm be?

read more

Random Musings on St.Paul Footsteps (3)

The Meteora is situated in the northwest Plain of Thessaly and is made up of numerous giant rocks amidst a flat plain. Often called a stone forest, these rocks became a wonderful place for ascetic monks to be so that they may be close to God. By the late 11th century, there were records of monasteries being built in Meteora.

Meteora means ‘in the air’ because it seems to be suspended between heaven and earth. During the peak of monasticism during the 16th century, there were many monasteries. Today there are only six living monasteries left in Meteroa. They are called living monasteries because there are still monks and nuns living and praying in them. These monasteries are open to the public are the Great Meteoron or of the Transfiguration, Varlaam, St. Stephen, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholaos Anapafsa and Roussano. We visited the Great Meteoron and St. Stephen monasteries.

Monastery of Varlaam

Monastery of Saint Nicholaos Anapalsas

Monastery of Roussanou

Monastery of Holy Trinity (where a James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only, has a scene there)

The Monastery of Great Meteoron

The Monastery of Aghia Triada

Monastery of Saint Stephen

I have never ceased to be amazed by the devotion and dedication of the men and women who devoted themselves to God. It must be very costly to build these monasteries in terms of time, effort and of the cost to physical and mental health. Yet these ascetics left behind everything they had, or relate to in the world so that they can spend their days and nights praying, lectio divina, and trying to be close to God. Their life must have been brutally and uncomfortable and harsh. I am told their lifespans were very short.

Immediately after my return to Malaysia, I have to prepare a sermon for the Sunday service, and also have to conduct a funeral service for a church member. Again I am reminded of how precious life is and how it important it is for us to make the right choice of what we do with our lives.

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