Paul, Jerusalem and the Judaisers: The Galatian Crisis in Its Broadest Historical Context

270 Pages·2009·1.109 MB·English

by  Ian J. Elmer

Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen
zum Neuen Testament · 2.Reihe
Herausgeber / Editor
Jörg Frey (München)
Mitherausgeber / Associate Editors
Friedrich Avemarie (Marburg)
Markus Bockmuehl (Oxford)
Hans-Josef Klauck (Chicago,IL)
258

Ian J.Elmer
Paul, Jerusalem
and the Judaisers
The Galatian Crisis in Its Broadest
Historical Context
Mohr Siebeck
Ian J.Elmer,born 1958;1999–2007 Research Fellow and Lecturer in Theology at ACU;
2007 Ph.D at Australian Catholic University (ACU);2008 Lecturer in Biblical Studies
at ACU, McAuley Campus, Brisbane Australia; 2008 staff member (research and
teaching) of the Centre for Early Christian Studies (CECS),Brisbane Australia.
e-ISBN PDF 978-3-16-151601-6
ISBN 978-3-16-149807-7
ISSN 0340-9570 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament,2.Reihe)
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-
graphie;detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
© 2009 by Mohr Siebeck,Tübingen,Germany.
This book may not be reproduced,in whole or in part,in any form (beyond that permitted
by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission.This applies particularly to
reproductions,translations,microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems.
The book was printed by Laupp & Göbel in Nehren on non-aging paper and bound by
Buchbinderei Nädele in Nehren.
Printed in Germany.
Preface
The author of Luke’s Gospel (1:1-4) and the Acts of the Apostles prefaced
his works with a reference to the “many others” who preceded him in the
attempt to “set the record straight” concerning the events that had tran-
spired during the life of Jesus and the first decades of the Christian church.
In compiling this present study, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Luke,
Paul and the many other scholars, theologians and, as Luke would say,
“servants of the word” who followed after the halcyon days of the earliest
Christian movement. Like Luke and Paul, but perhaps without Luke’s skill
at “telling a good yarn” or Paul’s rhetorical agility, I too have attempted in
the following pages to “set the record straight” concerning the crisis in Ga-
latia. And like Luke and Paul, my aim is not simply to recover and recon-
struct the events surrounding this significant event, but to draw lessons
from the exercise that have significant bearing on how we deal with the
vicissitudes of Christian life today.
The writing of this monograph, which began its life almost a decade ago
as a doctoral thesis, would not have been possible without the generous
support of a number of people. To begin, I must offer my thanks to Asso-
ciate Professor David C. Sim, my doctoral supervisor, without whose en-
couragement, albeit sometimes vociferous, this work would never have
been completed. He was ably supported by my two co-supervisors, Profes-
sor Pauline Allen and Associate Professor James McLaren. I am sure that
we will all be spared many years in purgatory as a reward for our persever-
ance. I would also like to thank my examiners, Professor John Barclay,
Professor John Riches, and Dr. Keith Dyer, whose reports helped me clar-
ify and improve the argument of the thesis in several key areas.
Research is always a community effort, and my research is no different.
Hence, I want to recognise the efforts of fellow scholars at Australian
Catholic University who supported this endeavour in many ways. In par-
ticular, I would like to acknowledge Professor Pauline Allen and the mem-
bers of the Centre for Early Christian Studies who provided a forum for me
to test out my ideas. The various Heads of the School of Theology at ACU,
in particular Associate Professor Gerard Hall, gave me the opportunity to
teach and, therefore, keep life and limb together while I conducted my re-
search. The Brisbane campus of ACU has over the years been blessed with
VI Preface
many generous and caring individuals, and I have benefited from their
friendship and support – especially the other members of the School of
Theology, from whose number I must name Ms. Fran Wilkinson, Dr. Anne
Tuohy, Professor Tony Kelly, Dr. Margaret Hannan, Dr. Alan Moss, Dr.
Damien Casey, Mr. Yuri Kosarycz, Associate Professor Mary Coloe, and
Dr. Terry Veling.
Special thanks must go to Professors Jörg Frey and Friedrich Avemarie
for accepting the manuscript for publication in Wissenschaftliche Unter-
suchungen zum Neuen Testament and to Ms Tanja Mix, along with the rest
of the editorial staff of Mohr Siebeck for their painstaking efforts in assist-
ing me navigate the exegensies of preparing the manuscript for publica-
tion.
Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my family. I offer my thanks to my
parents, Arthur and Claire Elmer, who imparted to me a love for the
Catholic faith and a passion for the study of the scriptures. As is fitting,
however, I reserve my deepest and most heartfelt appreciation for my wife
Linda, for her unfailing patience and love, and for the gift of two children,
Christopher and Elizabeth. Linda has been steadfast, courageous and ever-
supportive of a husband who, in the middle years of life, sought to follow a
different path. Together these six people have sustained me throughout the
process and kept me from despair when the going got tough. To Arthur,
Claire, Linda, Chris and Lizzie, I dedicate this book.

August 15, 2008 Ian J. Elmer
Brisbane, Australia
Table of Contents
Preface.......................................................................................................V
Table of Contents....................................................................................VII
Abbreviations...........................................................................................IX
Chapter 1. Understanding the Crisis: Paul and Jerusalem .......................... 1
1.1. Survey of the Scholarly Literature .................................................. 3
1.1.1. Jewish Chistian Judaisers from Jerusalem……………………4
1.1.2. Local Non-Christian Opponents ............................................ 13
1.1.3. The Galatian Crisis in Its Broader Context .......................... 20
1.1.4. Summary .......................................................................... 25
1.2. Methodology ................................................................................ 27
1.2.1. Difficulties in Interpretation .................................................. 27
1.2.2. The Use of Acts ................................................................ 35
1.3. The Plan of the Study ................................................................... 38
Chapter 2. The Roots of the Crisis: Hebrews and Hellenists .................... 43
2.1. The Earliest Jesus Movement ....................................................... 44
2.1.1. The Apostolic Community at Jerusalem .............................. 44
2.1.2. The Hellenists ................................................................... 51
2.1.3. Contrary Views ................................................................. 61
2.1.4. Reasons for the Hellenists’ Defection .................................. 64
2.2. The Advent of the Gentile Mission ............................................... 67
2.2.1. The Conversion of Cornelius ................................................. 67
2.2.2. The Hellenists in Antioch ....................................................... 70
2.2.3. Paul and the Hellenists ........................................................... 73
2.3. Conclusions .............................................................................. 79
Chapter 3. The Background to the Crisis: Antioch and Jerusalem ........... 81
3.1. Historical Background .................................................................. 82
3.1.1. The Ascendancy of James ...................................................... 82
3.1.2. The Expansion of the Gentile Mission ................................. 86
3.2. The Jerusalem Council ................................................................. 90
VIII Table of Contents
3.2.1. Reasons for the Calling of the Council ................................. 90
3.2.2. The Meeting with James, Peter and John ............................. 96
3.3. The Incident at Antioch ............................................................... 104
3.3.1. The People from James ......................................................... 104
3.3.2. The Outcome of the Conflict ............................................... 110
3.4. Conclusions ................................................................................. 116
Chapter 4. The Crisis in Galatia: Paul and the Judaisers ......................... 117
4.1. The Provenance and Date of Galatians ........................................ 118
4.1.1. The Location of the Churches in Galatia ........................... 118
4.1.2. The Date of Galatians ........................................................... 127
4.2. The Judaisers from Jerusalem ...................................................... 131
4.2.1. Membership in the Family of God ...................................... 134
4.2.2. Paul’s Apostleship ........................................................... 145
4.2.3. The Truth of the Gospel ....................................................... 155
4.3. Conclusions ................................................................................. 162
Chapter 5. The Aftermath of the Crisis: Paul and Jerusalem ................... 165
5.1. The Corinthian Correspondence .................................................. 165
5.1.1. The Cephas Party ............................................................. 168
5.1.2. The False Apostles .......................................................... 175
5.1.3. The Identity of Paul’s Opponents at Corinth ..................... 185
5.2. Philippians ................................................................................... 188
5.2.1. Provenance and Date ....................................................... 189
5.2.2. The Impending Crisis in Philippi ........................................ 191
5.3. Paul’s Final Visit to Jerusalem .................................................... 196
5.3.1. Paul’s Situation Prior to his Visit to Jerusalem ................. 196
5.3.2. The Collection ................................................................. 200
5.3.3. Paul’s Visit to Jerusalem ...................................................... 206
5.4. Conclusions ................................................................................. 212
Chapter 6. Revisiting the Crisis: Paul, Jerusalem and the Judaisers ........ 213
Bibliography ........................................................................................... 223
Index of Ancient Sources........................................................................235
Index of Modern Authors........................................................................244
Index of Subjects and Key Terms...........................................................248
Abbreviations
AB Anchor Bible
ABR Australian Biblical Review
AGJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums
ANTC Abingdon New Testament Commentaries
BA Biblical Archeologist
BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium
BibInt Biblical Interpretation
BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands Library
BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentary
BSac Bibliotheca Sacra
BTB Biblical Theological Bulletin
CBNTS Coniectanea Biblica New Testament Series
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBSS Continuum Biblical Studies Series
CNT Companions to the New Testament
CTJ Calvin Theological Journal
CTL Christian Theological Library
EvQ Evangelical Quarterly
ExpTim Expository Times
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments
HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
HTKNT Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUT Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie
ICC International Critical Commentary
Int Interpretation
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JRH Journal of Religious History
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSS JSNT Supplement Series
JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
KEK Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar über das Neue Testament
LEC Library of Early Christianity
MNTC Moffatt New Testament Commentaries