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  • From: "Karl P. Donfried" <kdonfrie AT email.smith.edu>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Autonomasia
  • Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 21:36:32 -0400


Hi Jim,

Glad you like Kathy Eden's Hermeneutics and the Rhetorical Tradition.
Allow me to boast! Kathy is Smith '74 and one of my finest students
ever. She is a real powerhouse at Columbia not only as an outstanding
scholar but as one of their all time great teachers.

Cheers,
Karl

Jim Hester wrote:
>
> Mark Nanos wrote:

>
> [snip]
> > I do not understand what the ritual act of circumcision represents
> > in Galatians apart from completing proselyte conversion, however. Do you?
>
> Mark!
>
> I can't think of any other reasonable understanding of the act in the
> context of the argument of Galatians either. However, knowing that you have
> written about Paul and proselyte conversion, I offer with timidity, an
> observation.
>
> I think Paul gets blindsided by his own argument. If you take the extended
> metaphor of the olive tree in Romans 11:13-24 as illustrative of his
> teaching about the relationship of Gentile Christians to Judaism, then, if I
> am a Jewish Christian, it seems to me reasonable to assume that Paul is
> teaching that the Gentiles are included in the Covenant, the "rich root" of
> Judaism. Since the sign of the Covenant is circumcision, then it seems to
> follow that Gentile Christians should be circumcised. I think I would have
> the right to argue that in arguing for circumcision I am simply following
> Paul's argument to its natural conclusion. However, now that I am, in
> Bormann's words, chaining out the argument in that fashion, I hear from Paul
> that I am not only mistaken but subversive of the Gospel! I hear that
> circumcision is a component in "works of the law," which subverts
> justification by faith. It is that hermeneutical outcome that leads me to
> assert that the olive tree metaphor (i.e., the teaching it illustrates)
> doesn't work! It is both convoluted and misleading! And it causes Paul to
> have to do battle with his interpreters again and again.
>
> That then takes me back to your point: I don't think that Paul wanted to be
> understood as advocating proselyte conversion but that his teaching about
> the inclusion of the Gentiles in the promises of the Covenant made it appear
> as though he did. As a result, in his congregations hermeneutics are the
>
> engines of rhetorical situations, again, a self-evident observation on my
> part! (BTW, if you haven't already -- and here I am addressing primarily
> other members of the list -- you might want to take a look at Kathy Eden's
> Hermeneutics and the Rhetorical Tradition.)
>
> As always, forgive me if I have made too many leaps in logic!
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jim Hester "Never be afraid to try something new.
> 736 Buckingham Drive Remember, amateurs built the ark.
> Redlands, CA 92374 Professionals built the Titanic."
> (909) 792-0533
> hester AT uor.edu http://rhetjournal.uor.edu
> http://www.ars-rhetorica.net
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ---
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--


Karl P. Donfried
Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor
of Religion and Biblical Literature
Neilson Library A10
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063

kdonfrie AT smith.edu
413 585-3669 (phone)
413 256-6202 (fax)




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