Joseph Marchal: Studying Paul’s Letters
These authors apply this approach to the Philippians Hymn, Philip. 2:6-11.
According to Laura S. Nasralleh (Chapter 3, Spatial Perspectives: Space and Archaeology in Roman Philippi), place and space matter, that is, where the letters were written to and from, as well as where the recipients lived, impacts their theological, social, and economic selves – as well as ourselves as current readers. In addition, the perspective of power in place and space leads to a different understanding and meaning of the texts. She illustrates this in her treatment of the example of Roman Philippi.
In chapter 4 (Economic Strategies: Scarce Resources and Interpretative Opportunities), Peter Oakes shows that the economic status of Paul’s readers sheds light on the meaning of the letters (77).
He suggests three possible approaches for reading the text:
- Economics as the analytic framework for interpretation.
- Economics as the aim of interpretation.
- Economics as provider of resources for interpretation.
He demonstrates these approaches on Romans 12:60.
Davina C. Lopez in Chapter 5 (Visual Perspectives: Imag(in)ing the Biblical Pauline Picture), addresses the importance of visual perspective in the ancient as well as in our world. She suggests that because Biblical scholarship has focused on the ancient world as primarily literary, the value of the visual perspective has been overlooked. She states, “I suggest taking seriously the reality that images are not just to be looked at or used but are readable in their own right as a form of language – after all, what are words but strings of symbols, small images about which we are all trained, from an early age, to make sense” (101). Images articulate human relationships and reality and hence constitute a “complementary system to literary remains”. (101). Davina demonstrates what this would look like by treating Galatians 4:21-5:1.
Cynthia Briggs Kitteridge (Chapter 6, Feminist Approaches: Rethinking History and Resisting Ideologies) defines feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexual exploitation and oppression” (117). She takes as a starting point “a commitment to the well-being of all women.” (119). She agrees with Johnson-Debaufre that Paul and his community were not the center of the church as implied in Acts, but represents only one component of the early church movement. Hence, the Pauline letters indicate only one perspective on women. She uses Romans 8:14-39 as an example to demonstrate the different understanding of the text which emerges from this rhetorical approach.
In Chapter 7 (Jewish Perspectives: A Jewish Apostle to the Gentiles), Pamela Eisenbaum describes the “revolution in Pauline studies” which sees Paul as transformed by a prophetic call to the Gentiles rather than as a convert to Christianity from Judaism. This changes Paul’s apparent “anti-Jewish stance” and message of hatred of Judaism to an emphasis on hope and inclusion of the Gentiles into God’s plan. This means that Paul is functioning as a Jew with a powerful apocalyptic message to the gentiles that God is finally including them in his apocalyptic plan and promise for the end times. This is rooted in the promise given to Abraham by God, that at the end of time, the nations would be gathered to and be blessed by Israel. Eisenbaum shows how this perspective significantly impacts the interpretation of passages such as Galatians 3:1-14.
Category: In Depth, Spring 2014
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