Christ in the Letters of Paul: In Place of a Christology PDF
Preview Christ in the Letters of Paul: In Place of a Christology
Hendrikus Boers Christ in the Letters of Paul Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche Herausgegeben von James D. G. Dunn · Carl R. Holladay Hermann Lichtenberger · Jens Schröter Gregory E. Sterling · Michael Wolter Band 140 W DE G Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York Hendrikus Boers Christ in the Letters of Paul In Place of a Christology w DE G_ Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York © Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability. ISBN-13: 978-3-11-018992-6 ISBN-10: 3-11-018992-5 ISSN 0171-6441 Library of Congress Catahging-in-Publication Data Boers, Hendrikus. Christ in the Letters of Paul : in place of a Christology / Hendrikus Boers. p. cm. — (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die ncutcstamentliche Wissen- schaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche ; Bd. 140) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 3-11-018992-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Jesus Christ — History of doctrines — Early church, ca. 30 — 600. 2. Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul — Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. II. Series. BT198.B615 2006 232.092-dc22 2006016014 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografic; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at < http://dnb.ddb.de >. © Copyright 2006 by Walter de Gruytcr GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin \I rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permis- sion in writing from the publisher. Printed in Germany Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Berlin For Ernst Käsemann July 12, 1906 - February 17, 1998 Preface This study is a reading of Paul in an attempt to learn from his writings what Christ meant for him. For that reason I quote him repeatedly to focus on his own formulations of his thoughts to prevent the development of abstractions of his meanings based on prior readings, also those that develop in the course of the investigation. Methodologically, this procedure is important for the in- vestigation. It ensures that the Pauline text always remains in focus, not an abstraction from memory. Thus, the repeated readings were not always identical in meaning, leading frequently to different, sometimes corrected, understandings of the texts. The investigation proceeded on two levels. At the basic level it is a read- ing of those texts which express the meaning of Christ for Paul, without atten- tion to the secondary literature, as described in the previous paragraph. This constitutes the main text. At a second level, represented by the footnotes and excurses, I take into account the texts exegetically, to make sure that there are not meanings I missed, and to control possible misreadings. Here too my in- terest is not primarily in abstractions or abstracts of the scholarly discussion, but to present the accumulation of scholarly insights on the texts. Only rarely do I find it necessary to engage in the general issues involved in their inter- pretation. I hope they make good reading for the Pauline scholar. My interest at this second level is not limited to what these texts reveal about the meaning of Christ for Paul, but extend to all aspects of the texts as background to the readings that form the substance of the investigation at the primary level. They can be read in that way; I tried to make sure that one could move fluent- ly from the primary investigation in the main text to this exegetical level in the footnotes and excurses. I dedicate this investigation to Ernst Käsemann, who, along with Herbert Braun, was a decisive influence on my thinking throughout my entire aca- demic career. My relationship with him continued to the end of his life, as my initial methodological reflections in this investigation will show. A few expressions of appreciation are in order. I started this investiga- tion at the Philipps-Universität in Marburg, and remember with appreciation the hospitality I received there, especially from the colleagues in New Testa- ment, Dieter Liihrmann, Wolfgang Harnisch and Gerd Schunack. Part One was read by Wolfgang Harnisch of the Philipps-Universität in Marburg and Steve Kraftchick of Emory University in Atlanta. Both provided important Vlll Preface information about details, and Steve especially made some insightful and sensitive observations about the content, including that the original title was misleading about the purpose of the investigation, which lead to many hours of reflection to find one that more accurately expressed that purpose. Carl Holladay encouraged and supported my submission of the manuscript to Walter de Gruyter for possible publication. At the press I found understand- ing support from the editor of the Beihefte. Given the history of our family names — Bur- (North-West German) = Boer (Dutch) —, I would like to think of him, not as Carsten Burfeind, but as what he has been to me, Carsten Burfreund. To all of them my sincere appreciation. Table of Contents Preface vii Introduction: In search of a method 1 Part One The meaning of Christ for Paul personally 8 1. Christ's appearance to Paul 8 Excursus: Issues in the Interpretation of Gal 2:19-20 26 Assessment 31 2. The meaning of Christ's death, resurrection and parousia 32 Excursus: The Interpretation of Rom 7:24-25 36 a. Four categories in the interpretation of the passage 36 (i) Existential tension in Paul 36 (ii) Paul retrospectively under the Law 39 (iii) A Jew under the Law 42 (iv) Gentiles who are not believers 43 b. Restructuring of the text of Rom 7:23-8:2 46 Assessment 49 3. Three expressions of the meaning of Christ for Paul 58 a. 2 Corinthians 13:3-5 58 b. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 61 c. 2 Corinthians 4:7-14 64 Summary 67 Conclusion 69 4. Paul's call: Proclamation of the gospel 70 Excursus: The Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 9:16-18 74 a. Two ways of reading verses 17-18a 74 b. Rewards? 75 c. The problem of works of supererogation 76 Summary of Part One 99 X Table of Contents Part Two The meaning of Christ for the believer 107 1. Paul's earlier preaching as foundation of his reasoning 107 a. 1 Cor 2:2 108 Excursus: The Meaning of Christ in 1 Cor 1:4-4:21 112 Themes in 1 Corinthians 1-4 117 (i) Paul's relationship with his readers 135 (ii) The factions 140 (iii) Paul's apostleship 143 (iv) Wisdom 146 (v) Christ crucified 149 Conclusion 154 b. 1 Cor 15:1-7, 12-19 155 c. Gal 3:1-5 162 Conclusion 171 2. The Meaning of Christ's Death, Resurrection and Parousia 172 a. Distinguishing between what Paul says and what he means 174 (i) 1 Thess 5:1-11 174 Excursus: Issues in the Interpretation of 1 Thess 5:1-11 175 a. The structure of the passage 175 β. Verse 1 in the form of a rhetorical praeteritio 176 γ. Apocalypticism 178 δ. The addressees, gnosticism and the concept of time 178 ε. Relationship to a baptimal formula, or other traditions ... 179 ζ. Theology and Christo logy 182 η. Faith, hope and love 183 Θ. The paraenesis of verse 11 184 (ii) Rom 14:1-13 190 b. A model of possible levels of meaning 193 Excursus: Christ's death ύπέρ ήμών 196 Summary 198 c. The meaning of Christ's Death, Resurrection and Parousia 199 (i) Dying with Christ and living in him 199 (ii) Christ's death and resurrection as liberation from sin 201 (iii) Other benefits from Christ's death, resurrection and par 202
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