Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: Gal 4:8-10 (To Mark Nanos)

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <nanos AT gvi.net>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Gal 4:8-10 (To Mark Nanos)
  • Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 23:01:22 -0500


Mark said:

But why have they been considering this other (traditional) message
of proselyte conversion as good for themselves? (by the way, they do
not appear to desire to be under the Law per se, but just accepted
unambiguously on the terms of those who are, that is, to be
Law-people; thus Paul's subversive rhetoric in 5:3 undermines their
naivete). That is the issue, and if it is as I have proposed, then
these situational units undermine the same situational factors that
are undermined in 4:8-10; namely, the perception that they must
comply with the influencers' (and their family's/neighbor's)
constraints or lose out on that which they had been led by Paul to
believe they have already attained.

[Moon]

Let me ask some clarifying questions:
Q1:
Do you mean that some of the Galatians considered complying with the
Jewish norm and some with the Roman norm, to avoid the social
pressure/persecution from the pagan society? If so

[Mark]

No. Both norms were at work, and in agreement that the world was divided, as far as Jewish identity is concerned, into those who are not Jewish, and those who are Jewish. So according to both Jewish and pagan norms it would be expected of pagans to behave paganly in the pagan sphere of life, and Jewishly if and when guests in the Jewish sphere. But these addressees were claiming to no longer be pagans, yet not to have become Jews/proselytes. But there is no category for such identity claims on either Jewish or Greco-Roman terms, hence pressure to comply/conform with the prevailing norms in one direction or the other, remaining pagan friends of the Jewish and pagan communities, or becoming members by way of proselyte conversion.


Q2:
The social pressure from the pagan society would have been there right
after they were converted. It means that they had this problem of
social compliance immediately. But Paul implies that they did well
at the beginning, and got wrong later. How would you explain it?

[Mark]

Yes, but pressure is exerted in various ways, to various degrees, and on the basis of various amounts of information, including various responses by others. I suggest that the problem of identity and security arose immediately, but Paul was there to guide this subgroup, and to shape their concept of reality/identity. Also, new converts are often in a radical phase of re-identification, so that, in this case, pagan norms may not seem that important initially, since they are being rejected for a new set of norms, a new court of reputation and opportunity. But after Paul's departure, and with continued and growing interaction with the dominant Jewish group and its norms, the issues arose more often, intensified, and so did the reactions on all sides. The consequences were becoming clearer if they did not find a way to comply with the prevailing norms, some of which they have only begun with time to recognize as different than those they had learned from Paul. These competing norms and their keepers they were not conditioned to reject, but rather were vulnerable as relatively new converts. Those experiencing identity dissonance and at the margins of a group in which they seek acceptance are vulnerable, as were the Galatians, and try to sort out the competing ideas, persons, etc. If compromise that reduces this dissonance seems possible...

I have appealed before to the (paradigmatic) example (constructed here for the sake of clarity) of those converted into a charismatic subgroup within a mainline denomination who were not familiar with this denomination or the charismatic movement. If the initial contact was only with representatives of this subgroup, they might not realize for some time that this was not what all people of this mainline denomination believed. But with time they would find out otherwise, especially as attendance at functions and meetings involved them in the larger group. Anyway, there are many aspects one could draw out here, but the point is that their awareness of the identity issues of "this" group would develop with time in various ways, one of which would be the unsettling hunch and then realization that "reality" was not perhaps just as they had imagined it to be, and they would need to make identity decisions, e.g., if they wished to be full-fledged members of the denomination, and not merely "guests" of a group considered deviant or at least strange by some, including most likely some rather influential persons, such as the non-charismatic pastor and elders, if that were the case!

Regards,
Mark Nanos





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page