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  • From: Richard Fellows <rfellows AT shaw.ca>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Re: Paul's poverty in Ephesus and the cost of travel
  • Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 16:08:01 -0700

Thanks, John, for moving the discussion forwards.

you wrote:
> The point for the present discussion is obvious. Paul may well have been
> hungry and badly clothed at the time of writing to the Corinthians for the
> simple reason that he was (as usual) refusing maintenance from the
> Ephesians. However, to make a journey which the apostle regarded as
> important for his mission and for the good of another congregation, Paul
> will have felt no embarrassment (based on the evidence elsewhere) in
asking
> the local Christians to provide him with travelling expenses.

I had been of the opinion that Paul's refusal to receive maintenance was
limited largely to Achaia and was a result of the specific circumstances
that pertained there. However, your email has caused me to rethink. I am
beginning to think that Paul's policy on receiving matterial support was
actually quite consistent and I will share some ideas about this in a new
thread. One thing I like about your view is that it does neatly explain why
Paul was poor in Ephesus, where he seems to have had rich friends. Prisca &
Aquila had a house, and Sosthenes had been an archisynagogos and was
therefore probably wealthy.

If Paul did indeed refuse maintenance in Ephesus then, as you say, this
greatly weakens my argument that the funding of unexpected trips at that
time woud have been difficult.

Regards,

Richard Fellows.






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