As Yoder acknowledges, this essay has provoked enormous amount of angry objection from the ...

292 Pages·2012·1.58 MB·English

John Howard Yoder on Christian Nonviolence
and the Haustafeln

by

In-Yong Lee

Graduate Program in Religion
Duke University

Date: _____________________

Approved:

___________________________
Stanley Hauerwas, Supervisor

___________________________
Amy Laura Hall

___________________________
Allen Verhey

___________________________
Susan Eastman

___________________________
Douglas Campbell

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program
in Religion in the Graduate School
of Duke University

2012
ABSTRACT

John Howard Yoder on Christian Nonviolence
and the Haustafeln

by

In-Yong Lee

Graduate Program in Religion
Duke University

Date: _____________________

Approved:

___________________________
Stanley Hauerwas, Supervisor

___________________________
Amy Laura Hall

___________________________
Allen Verhey

___________________________
Susan Eastman

___________________________
Douglas Campbell

An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program
in Religion in the Graduate School of
Duke University

2012
Copyright by
In-Yong Lee
2012
ABSTRACT

One of the focuses of John Howard Yoder’s theology is Christian nonviolence.
From the teaching and example of Jesus, who dealt with the evil in the world and
defeated it through obedience to the will of God to the point of dying on the cross, Yoder
derives the normative Christian stance of nonviolence. It is expressed in the life of the
disciples in their suffering with Christ the hostility of the world as bearers of the kingdom
cause and in their living out the suffering servanthood in place of dominion. For Yoder,
subordination is how Christ’s model of servanthood is carried out into the concreteness of
family life, and it is most extensively explored in his essay, “Revolutionary
Subordination,” in The Politics of Jesus.
This dissertation is an attempt to read household codes in the New Testament,
especially Col. 3:18-4:1, together with Yoder, with a special emphasis on the
husband/wife relation. Due to an exceptionally controversial character of Yoder’s essay,
it seeks to understand his main points, while identifying the elements that have caused
strong opposition. The fact that these Haustafel texts have been historically abused to
legitimate oppression and exploitation of persons poses a warning in one’s endeavor to
interpret them. Particularly telling is Americans’ experience around slavery during and
after the Civil War. The conflicting interpretations of the Bible between the proslavery
camp and the abolitionists leave us in a hard place in addressing the issue of women’s
status in the household and in society.
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Through examining key debates on the Haustafeln in the biblical scholarship
focused on James Crouch and David Balch; two alternative views on the subject in
theological ethics – Yoder and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza – and further discussions of
their views aided by theologians such as Gordon Kaufman, Alasdair MacIntyre, and
Jeffrey Stout, this study addresses issues found in Yoder and Schüssler Fiorenza. It
concludes that Yoder’s undue reliance on David Schroeder and his refutation of Martin
Dibelius have led him to overlook the preexisting schema that was adopted and
Christianized by the early church, and that he fails to name patriarchy a sin. Schüssler
Fiorenza’s problems are found in the areas of the biblical canon, tradition and democracy.
The relevance of the slavery debates to this study is revisited through discussions of Mark
Knoll and Dale Martin, and Yoder’s nonviolent kingdom ethic is compared to Paul
Ramsey’s just war theory and backed up by Rowan Williams, Bernd Wannenwetsch, and
Sarah Coakley.

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Dedicated to Hee-Soo, my husband and best friend

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... ix

INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1
Challenge of Reading the Haustafeln Today ..................................................................5
Exegesis of Col. 3:18-4:1 ...............................................................................................18
(A) Authorship ..........................................................................................................18
(B) Outline .................................................................................................................18
(C) Boundaries and Placement ..................................................................................19
(D) Translation Problems ..........................................................................................20
(E) Key Words ...........................................................................................................21

CHAPTER 1. DEBATES ON THE HAUSTAFELN IN THE BIBLICAL
SCHOLARSHIP .....................................................................................24
1. Previous Research on the New Testament Haustafeln ..........................................24
2. James E. Crouch’s Historical Search ....................................................................30
(A) The Unwritten Laws of the Greek Ethic ..............................................................33
(B) List of Duties in Stoicism ....................................................................................39
(C) List of Duties in Hellenistic Judaism ...................................................................50
3. David Balch and the Influence of the Aristotelian Tradition ................................58
(A) The Topoi “Concerning the Constitution” & “Concerning Household
Management” ........................................................................................................59
(B) The Apologetic Use of the Subordination Ethic in Roman Society ....................77

CHAPTER 2. TWO ALTERNATIVE VIEWS ON THE HAUSTAFELN IN
THEOLOGICAL ETHICS ...................................................................89
1. No Neutrality in Biblical Interpretation ................................................................89
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2. John Howard Yoder on the Haustafeln: Tradition from Jesus .............................93
3. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s Critique of Yoder’s Study .................................116

CHAPTER 3. SCHÜSSLER FIORENZA’S CRITIQUE .........................................142
1. The Biblical Canon and the Authority of the Bible ............................................143
2. Tradition: Schüssler Fiorenza, Kaufman and MacIntyre ....................................159
3. Democracy: Schüssler Fiorenza, Stout and Yoder .............................................175

CHAPTER 4. JOHN HOWARD YODER’S CRITIQUE AND BEYOND .............192
1. American Civil War and Greco-Roman Slavery Revisited ................................194
(A) Civil War and “the Synthesis” at Work .............................................................194
(B) Greco-Roman Slavery and Salvation .................................................................207
2. The Ethic of the Kingdom People .......................................................................213
(A) Resurrection and a New Humanity ....................................................................213
(B) Presence of the Absence ....................................................................................220
3. Yoder’s Nonviolence and the Haustafeln ...........................................................227
(A) Yoder on Nonviolence .......................................................................................227
(B) The Haustafeln ...................................................................................................238

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................256

BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................................................268

BIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................282

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has been such a long journey that I was not always sure whether I could finish
writing my dissertation. Now that I stand at its ending point, I am happy to see that the
questions, which prodded me so hard that I came all the way here from Korea looking for
their answers, have been at least in an oblique way addressed in this study. My studies at
Duke were challenged from the very beginning by the economic crisis that hit Asian
countries hard in 1997, when I started my M.Div. years. Without the encouragement of
Maurice Ritchie who was the director of the Field Education office and preceptor of my
CM 10 class, and without the generous scholarships that the Divinity School has granted
in my M.Div. and Th.M. programs, that the Graduate School and AFTE (A Foundation
for Theological Education) have given in my Ph.D. program, I would not have been able
to come this far. I also owe a lot to professors, such as Teresa Berger, who now teaches at
Yale, Amy Laura Hall, who helped me become a John Wesley Fellow, and Willie
Jennings, who has always shown confidence in me. Their unwavering support and love
have kept me going. I thank them greatly.
How can I express my gratitude to Stanley Hauerwas? To me, he has been the
most wonderful teacher, most supportive advisor, and staunchest advocate of churches. It
has been a great honor and privilege to study with him. With him, I want to say thank you
to the other professors who graciously agreed to be on my dissertation committee: again
Amy Laura Hall, Allen Verhey, Susan Eastman, and Douglas Campbell.
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My special thanks go to the people of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in
Asheville, NC. No pastor can wish for any better congregation than they, when she has an
extra burden of having to finish her degree program on top of all the ministry
responsibilities. Over the last five years, they have ceaselessly shown me incredible
support, love, encouragements, and gentle nudges, for which I thank them greatly. My
friends and colleagues at Western North Carolina Conference, friends at So-Mang
Korean UMC in High Point, at Calvary Korean UMC in Raleigh and at Brooks-Howell
Home in Asheville, who have shown me support all these years, also deserve my thanks.
Most importantly, my gratitude goes to my parents, parents-in-law, and former
students at church in Korea who traveled to America to celebrate my ordination in 2008
and now my graduation in 2012. To Hee-Soo, my husband and best supporter of my
ministry and study, who has been the most beautiful example of a Christian to me, I
dedicate this work. Also, our sons, Ju-Heung and Ju-Sung …. I cannot thank them
enough for their love and support.

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